Romney/Ryan BS express tanks in Virginia

It is quite telling when the Republican ticket has to campaign heavily in the Shenandoah Valley and other GOP strongholds in the commonwealth. It must be true that Romney's internal polls show the same thing as most published polls - President Obama has a strong lead in Virginia with Democratic coattails helping Tim Kaine.

After Ryan's visit to the Rockingham County Fair Grounds several local Repugs called on the ticket to "get tough." What does "get tough" mean? Call the President a "socialist?" Play the race card? Make up some new lies, a strategy that seems to be boomeranging on Romney/Ryan as the top dog keeps stepping in it?

Or perhaps blame the 47% for dragging America down? Jon Stewart calls out Romney, Ryan, and Hannity (he's the one wearing hip boots covered in sh*t) in "CHAOS ON BULL#%T MOUNTAIN" in the following clip from Wednesday night:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

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The morning after

The morning after a ho hum GOP presidential primary in Virginia. Most areas of the state saw turnout under 5% and some of those cast a blank ballot to protest the fact that neither Gingrich nor Santorum qualified for the ballot. That speaks in part to the Commonwealth's toughest ballot qualification standards in the nation, but more importantly to the lack of a good field operation by either campaign.

So the morning after the boring primary a Republican operative called for the General Assembly to lower the qualification standards for candidates. At the same time, Republicans in the General Assembly are making it harder for citizens to vote. Anybody see the irony, and hypocrisy, in that?

Guess it all fits in well with their battle plan following Citizens United: Fat cat donors bankroll candidates' (pay worker bees to circulate petitions) who will have to collect fewer signatures. Once their candidates are on the ballot, the fat cats and their super pacs bombard the airwaves and tweets with negative ads, character assassination, lies, and innuendo. And to drive the nail deeper in the coffin, they've disenfranchised segments of voter groups who have traditionally voted Democratic. Now that's a strategy to crow about!

Time to start spreading more Coarse Cracked Corn? I will admit the foul nature of politics makes it hard to get my feathers flying again. Some volunteering and other activities leave me feeling better when we turn out the lights each night. But, when the GOP litter starts getting deeper and deeper even an old bird has to crow every now and then. So, we will see how far this goes. Will the lights in the hen house stay on? Or not?

Chopping the Chicken's Head Off

With Virginia turning presidential blue for the first time since 1964 and with the RPV chairman, Jeff Frederick embarrassing many with his hateful rants, some Republicans are questioning if he is the far right guy to head the party.

Influential (in some Republican circles) Kenny Klinge, a lobbyist and longtime GOP activist, has called on Frederick to resign. Saying all that matters are results, Klinge says Frederick lack judgement and maturity, failed to raise needed money, has a poor relationship with the Republican congressional delegation, and has been repudiated by Bob McConnell and others. Klinge concludes that he knows a bad chairman when he sees one and JEFF FREDERICK IS INCAPABLE OF PROVIDING THE LEADERSHIP THAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY NEEDS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS IN 2009 [emphasis his]. Klinge's email was apparently received by many Republican activists and forwarded far and wide, we can imagine.

A couple of weeks ago, Republicans in the House of Delegates, met behind closed doors in Glen Allen to lick their wounds and plan for the upcoming state elections. Their pollster and others warned that moving farther to the right, as urged by Frederick and many others, could leave them as the minority party in the House of Delegates. Guess their big elephant ears were deaf to that message as a week later many were calling for cuts to public education and health care - programs that have broad public support. Hey guys, there are lots of Dems who have the GOP backs covered on this one!

Many of the younger generation of Republicans, in the House of Delegates and local committees, are kindred spirits of Frederick's. They love and believe in his in-your-face conservatism. They share generational bonds and don't trust an old bull elephant (Klinge was RPV executive director in the early 1970s!) rushing in and telling the herd what to do. Many of those Jeff Frederick acolytes are found grazing right here in the Shenandoah Valley. Where will their loyalties lie - is it true an elephant never forgets? Or remembers?

Stay tuned. Next month the Virginia GOP meets at The Homestead. Klinge and his allies may push a vote of no-confidence. If they win, Frederick may see resignation as a graceful way to exit stage right. Or, it could mean a formal vote to remove him. The rules give Frederick plenty of hope of avoiding the chopping block - such a vote requires a month notice and a 3/4 vote of the GOP governing body. The RPV could be running around like a chicken with its head chopped off well into 2009.