Desperate Measures By Cracked Eggs

The national GOP is desperate for a win in Virginia and is dumping $7 million into Bob Mc's campaign... mostly to fund negative ads. I'm using the word "dumping" for a reason. While I'm sure they think this is money well spent, I predict a pro-Deeds backlash. Virginians don't like outsiders telling us what to do.

The desperation to win at all costs has apparently hit the Repugs in the central Valley, too. One big "Deeds Country" field sign was vandalized with (family values) obscenities. Another was totally stolen (hope they at least recycled it!). Both were placed on private property at the landowners' requests. Guess the Valley GOP has something against free speech?

The tougher and nastier the wingnuts get, the better it is for Creigh Deeds.

A house divided

As you read here in the previous post, the Jeff Frederick saga is dividing Virginia Republicans every way imaginable. Most elected Republicans and those higher up in the party regime seem to favor booting the embattled chair. But, Frederick appears to have considerable support among activists, especially in local committees that have a strong contingent of right wingers (they call themselves "grassroots").

A noteworthy example - earlier this week the Augusta Republican Committee passed a resolution of support for Jeff Frederick. The vote was 10-9. The resolution says, in part, that Frederick is "doing the job he was elected to do, namely to make the state party the servant of the local unit and not its master.” 

Bill Shirley, the Augusta GOP chair, was noncommittal about the resolution and apparently didn't vote on it. He simply urged Republicans to pay attention to the issues swirling around Frederick before making up their minds. RightsideVA, in a post on the News Virginian's website, lays bare the rift:

Is it possible that we now have another level of “Party Govt” who feel that they are better at deciding what is right for the party and that the “Grassroot Citizens” should just trust their decision with disregard to any backroom deal to save their own position in the party?...

Stay tuned! The roof of this house divided is sagging under the strain. To be continued through April 4 and beyond.

Corn meal mush

The DNR has a top of the front page headline, McCain Recruits Locals. Wow! Could it be that his campaign is building a new organization? For a political junkie, this looked like must read material.

This breaking news comes on the heels last weekend's report that the Obama folks opened a HQ in Harrisonburg. Reports are that one in Staunton will soon follow. They've opened 24 headquarters in smaller and medium sized cities and towns.

OK, the McCain folks have lots of new recruits and a whirlwind of activity. Whoa rooster.... what is this? The article is basically a list of local GOP chairs. Nothing new here. Nothing! Local party chairs, both Republican and Democratic, are always the first line of locals who work for their candidate. This story is corn meal mush. No salt. No butter. No milk. No nothing.

So, why does the DNR print.... no, not merely print (this would have been a relatively meaningless but OK page filler in the back of Section B), but give front page headline billing to this mush? Pick your reason -

• Slow news day. Nothing happening.
• It really is news. McCain's campaign has generated so little enthusiasm and action in Virginia that it was doubtful anyone, even the local chairs, would get out and work.
• The DNR is a Republican mouthpiece. Obama has filled the local, state, national, even international news headlines this week. McCain countered with that stunning pic with Bush #1 (looked like Grumpy Old Men to me) and a "stimulating" interview in a grocery store cheese aisle. The editors of the DNR just had to find something to get their guy a headline.
• Remember the old joke (it is even mentioned on their website), GOP means Get Out and Push. Local party chairs are getting a public prodding to do something.

Got another idea why the DNR would run such bland mush on the front page? Love to hear it. 

Cluck.

Valley grist

No surprise that the House of Delegates Rules Committee, on a mostly party line 11-4 vote, killed Governor Kaine's transportation bill. The same committee did advance the the Senate bill increasing the gas tax to the floor where it will likely die by a party line vote. Playing politics, the GOP is hoping to back the Democrats into a politically difficult vote. Watch out Repubs, sometimes a cornered rooster fights back.

The General Assembly will recess for a couple weeks to cool off in the summer heat. Maybe when constituents get hold of them, the legislators will want to get back to the Capitol!

(Cartoon from The News Leader)

The Supreme Court ruling in the D.C. gun case is, of course, front page news in the Shenandoah Valley where hunting and gun ownership are taken for granted. It is a landmark case because, for the first time, the court has found (5-4) an individual right to keep and bear guns. But a close reading of the decision makes clear the justices were not endorsing an absolute right for anyone to own/possess any gun at any time or place. In the majority opinion, Justice Scalia wrote that the U.S. Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home." In typical fashion, the court's decision is pretty narrow and left open the power of state and local governments to enact reasonable regulations such as gun-free school zones, registration, and laws about concealed weapons. We'll see future cases that will spell out the meaning of reasonable. With some of the least restrictive laws in the nation, the ruling will have little impact in Virginia. 

Augusta Republicans elected Bill Shirley chair during a Thursday night meeting. Not to dig through all that litter again, but you'll recall the dispute between the reactionary right wingers (the Kurt Michael/Scott Sayre faction) and the conservatives (Larry Roller/Emmett Hanger faction) that led to disputed meetings, appeals to the district and state committees and threats of law suits. Some say Shirley was a compromise candidate, but that hardly seems likely as only the reactionary right wing faction (44 of them) was seated at Thursday's meeting and their loudest cheerleader is crowing. Mr. Shirley is a nice guy whose style will be dramatically different from the abrasive Michael's leadership. But, he's pretty far to the right so the ideological bent of the local GOP will change little. Senator Hanger, how do you spell O U T C A S T in your own county committee? I do agree with Mr. Shirley's observation that the hen fight  in the Augusta GOP is "stranger than fiction."

One final kernel, the Staunton city manager will not recommend a 4-day workweek for city offices. Steve Owen said the estimated annual savings of $21,000 would not justify the change and would create hardships for citizens and some offices.

The cockfight gets nasty

Feathers are flying in the Augusta Republican Committee. No wonder these guys have so much trouble governing responsibly. More in the Daily News-Record. 

Sorry about the bad link earlier. Now you have both parts 1 and 2 for your viewing pleasure.

Chief Rooster Until June 7

The News Leader reports that the GOP State Central Committee upheld Kurt Michael's election as Augusta chair. Ousted wanna-be chair, Larry Roller vows to fight on, perhaps going to court. He commented "I'm not going to let him steal the election, no matter what." Didn't Michael supporters try that once? I bet the courts stay miles away from this cockfight.

Michael says he'll step down on June 7 when the GOP 6th District Committee meets. What then? Does the district committee anoint someone? Will they call a new mass meeting that will be as poorly run as the last one? Will Larry Roller be chair by default? Will Kurt be convinced to stay on for the good of the party? Will Lynn step up and save swacland? Will Emmett Hanger be left partyless? Inquiring minds want to know!

This next tidbit is purely rumor mill stuff.... what do you think goes on in the chicken house, anyhow? Seems Kurt is chief rooster of the Emerald Hills POA. He crows so much he's run off most of the other chickens, running the POA as his own barnyard. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others? If true, seems to be some foul (or fowl?) parallels between Kurt's worlds.

Cluck.

New rooster crowing

There is a newbie blog poking fun at the twisted lives of Augusta Republicans - 141 MAJORITY. Check it out. I've been tempted several times to post reactions to the daily dribble from the News Leader about the fratricide in the Augusta GOP... but it is just too complicated for this simple pecker. If you want to check out the latest, see today's News Leader article. There are plenty of links to the earlier muck.

In a related story, I got an email alleging that Larry King asked Jon Stewart if America was ready for a woman or a black man. Stewart responded "were we asked in 200o if American was ready for a moron" (or something like that). Anyhow, have fun watching the waning days of Bush/Cheney and the kindergarten playground squabble of Kurt, Lynn, Larry, and friends. It is all good cracked corn.

Follow the Leader?

The News Leader just won't let the Augusta GOP, especially Capt. Kurt, alone! The Leader is all out of joint on this one, while most of the public could care less. But, such is the yellow journalistic style of that newspaper - run with a story and gin up people's emotions. Recall the endless "porn store" coverage and all the stories about the track at Expo. My guess is local Republicans don't really care about the Leader's position on the committee's problems. Neither do most residents. Give it a rest.

Kurt's clucking

Kurt Michael, one "chair" of the Augusta GOP, says he'll step down after the May 3 Sixth District Convention - step down from a phantom chair, I guess. Larry Roller, the other "chair" of the Augusta GOP announced a meeting by way of a letter to the editor - doubt that follows protocol. Fred Anderson, the chair (he really is) of the Sixth District says he'll resolve the chairmanship of the Augusta Republicans by the time of the convention. He knows a fight in the hen house won't be resolved by the hens themselves. What he won't resolve are the bitter (popular political word these days) feelings running rampant among the party faithful. One needs only read a few local blogs like Lynn Mitchell's swacgirl to know how deeply divided the party is between what I'll call "responsible Republicans" and the "reactionary Republicans." Would be nice to be a mouse in the Sixth District Convention which promises to be a fowl affair. My bet is the hens, led by Capt. Kurt, will still be clucking . . . and spreading litter.

In contrast, Sixth District Democrats seem a pretty calm bunch. Sure, there was a dust-up about local leadership in the Roanoke area, but for the most part their local committees seem united for the fall campaign. Reports are that attendance and donations are up. A potentially divisive nomination fight for House of Representatives was averted with Drew Richardson's gracious withdrawal. Valley Democrats appear to be enthusiastic in support of Sam Rasoul for Congress and Mark Warner for Senate.

Remember Will Rogers' quote about "I belong to no organized political party - I am a Democrat?" I'm sure they'll get in their own intra-party scuffle at some point, but Rogers' sentiments don't seem to be holding true in '08.

GOP Laying Mash

The feathers keep flying in the GOP cockfight. Larry Roller (elected chair at the first meeting) has called for an organizational meeting that he announced in a letter to the editor. Not sure this follows protocol or not? According to The News Leader, Kurt Michael (elected chair at the second meeting) lays claim to the chair by virtue of fact that his name is still on the state party roster. But the state GOP says nobody is chair. Ditto the 6th District committee.

Pecking around in the grist, I'm 99% sure the Michael folks pulled a slick one at the first meeting, quietly telling supporters to linger after the voting for another meeting. So, after the vote tally and some confusion and protests, the meeting was "adjourned" (seems to be dispute about that too). Many folks left believing they'd elected Roller as chair. Then Captain Kurt took the podium and declared the adjournment really hadn't happened and with precise parliamentary procedure (always easier when everyone in the room agrees with the outcome) conducts a "free and open" election of himself as chair.

Only one thing I'm sure of: Kurt and Larry won't be sharing a ride to the next 6th District committee meeting. One will be coming home early and very pissed off. The other one will come home smiling, but he better be watching over his shoulder. His enemies may be gaining on him.

At any rate, all this has been great fun in the henhouse. What will all the hens do when this is over? Guess it will be back to watching the bugs in the manure. Cluck. Cluck.