Virginia's GOP Hacks Lack Class

Rather than update again that earlier post on the shenanigans of our Commonwealth’s Republican Party, here’s an exerpt of the latest from Richard Faulknor at Blue Ridge Forum.

I have used his post and put in his italics, but the links he included are at his original essay:

“Political Class” Keeps the Reins: AG Pivots on Primary Fix

As we noted last night, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli backed off his call for emergency legislation “expected to state that if the Virginia Board of Elections certifies that a candidate is receiving federal matching funds, or has qualified to receive them, that candidate will upon request be automatically added to the ballot.”

The Republican leadership of the General Assembly was –not unexpectedly — less than enthusiastic about Mr. Cuccinelli’s proposal. Readers may find of possibly related interest the announcement last Thursday of Romney supporters in the Virginia General Assembly and among Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) leaders.

Former state senator Cuccinelli said yesterday –

“However, after working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system.”

Getting “Concerns” Right

Conservatives should certainly commend Mr. Cuccinelli for his Saturday initiative to try to fix the primary mess, but bring him to a better mind on his “concern . . . that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns. . . .”

The overriding concern should be to make real choice available to GOP voters in the March 6 presidential primary — not to give such solicitude to two campaigns that developed expertise in surmounting Virginia’s Rube Goldberg rules here and here and navigating the questionable implementation of these rules confronting serious GOP candidates. The objective is not to take care of fellow members of the Political Class, but to ensure voters have an opportunity to choose one of the major national candidates in the March 6 GOP Virginia primary.

The 2012 presidential election is a watershed election for America’s future — and certainly in the minds of Virginia conservatives. Most Virginia conservatives would agree that this election is vastly more important than the image of the Republican Party of Virginia or the advancement of its sachems.



Be sure to read the rest here.