Posted on 12/07/2006 8:41:19 AM PST by Norman Bates
Virginia conservatives say they are galvanizing their base and raising money to elect candidates who share their core principles, even if that means campaigning against Republicans.
"We're looking at good, fiscal conservative candidates for 2007 and are very excited about getting them elected to the Virginia Senate, where we believe the real leadership problems exists," said Robin DeJarnette, executive director of the Virginia Conservative Action PAC (VCAP).
Virginia's conservative campaign mirrors a national movement that ascribes the Republicans' historic losses in Congress last month to the Bush administration and national Republicans' abandonment of conservative tenets such as limited spending, lower taxes and enforcement of immigration laws.
VCAP aims to identify 1 million supporters in key districts before elections next year, when all 140 seats in the General Assembly will be at stake.
The group has raised $1.5 million and has pinpointed 400,000 conservatives, many of whom live in Northern Virginia, where Republicans have struggled in recent statewide elections.
A recent VCAP fundraising event featuring former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia Republican, sold tickets for $200 to $1,000 and collected $25,000.
Republican strategist Craig Shirley, VCAP's honorary finance chairman, said the campaign undercuts the misconception that Republicans and conservatives are one and the same.
"I'm a conservative first and Republican second," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
...reading later.
In spite of this conservative group's good intentions, Virginia Republicans are following the national leadership into the drift to Rockefeller Republicanism.
The Virginia Senate Republicans are all for spending and tax increases. Many of them in the Senate and House refuse to take a stand or oppose any effort to control illegal immigration which is a scourge in far-from-the-border Virginia.
Their lead Republican office holder is the blow-dried Attorney General who speaks out of both sides of his mouth depending on the audience. He is for controlling the flood of illegal aliens to this group, then turns around and says he will not enforce Virginia law against hiring illegal aliens to that group. And he is the leading Republican for Governor in 2009.
Virginia is well on the way to becoming a solid blue state (Webb was not a fluke) because the voters who drifted away from the once overwhelming Democrat side are seeing that Republicans in power quickly lose their principles and become the devils they replaced.
did not know this- thanks oldbill- sad that we can't get a party to just run on principle and to live and die by moral dictates instead of being tossed all about by the winds of public's fickle opinion. http://sacredscoop.com
This is bad to hear. Hopefully the grassroots can correct this. Any chance Allen may be re-elected Gov.?
It should help that Ed Gillespie will be the new VA-GOP chair.
Not really. Virginia's blue state problem is that a lot of the Reagan Democrats and anti-liberal rural Democrats came back home because they saw the Republicans in power drifting away from their conservative campaign promises.
A big issue in recent Virginia elections that is underreported by the MSM and the political elites was the illegal alien invasion that are overwhelming state resources, depressing wages, displacing legal American workers, and increasing crime rates. Kilgore in 2005 and Allen in 2006 were late in exploiting this discontent and Kaine and Webb skillfully hid their pro-amnesty leanings with the help of a compliant media. Gillespie was one of those, along with Mehlman and Rove, who supported the President's amnesty and guest worker positions. It is difficult to see that he will come around on this important issue to get in sync with the overwhelming majority of Virginia voters. Hoping that Gillespie has some magic wand is like hoping that Karl Rove this year or James Baker in 1992 have some special magic to turn around a losing cause.
Webb even tried to do a Tancredo at times during the campaign, and re-read his Wall Street Journal op-ed on the war on the middle class addressing outsourcing and open-borders.
In those instances where illegal immigration has been the key issue, like in the liberal town of Herndon in May, the voters responded by throwing out the pro-amnesty open borders apologists.
Does anyone have a DelMarVa grassroots ping list? It would be a good idea.
Can you direct me to a link to AG McDonnell's illegal immigration remarks? I hadn't heard about him not enforcing the VA laws against hiring illegals.
I greatly admire VCAP. Put me on the ping list please (assuming one gets started)!
I'll try to find the news story - it's within the last week in response to some new legislation being requested by a town in Virginia that wants to put some enforcemnt muscle in an existing Virginia law that prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens but is not being enforced by the state and is forbidden to be enforced by the localities because Virginia is a "Dillon Rule" state.
Thanks. I'll look for it over the weekend, too.
Dillon Rule is a new term for me, also.
Dillon Rule states are those wherein subordinate jurisdictions (cities, counties, towns) can only pass and enforce laws if the state gives them specific authority to do so.
Thanks. I just did a google and there is a lot of info on it out there, much of it specific to Virginia. sigh. More stuff to read.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.