Was McDonnell a moderate? I was part of the Rep party in Fairfax County dutifully attending the FCRC, acting as a poll watcher, attending state conventions as a delegate, etc. I was at the convention when we got Jeff Frederick elected as Chairman of the VA GOP much to the chagrin of John Hager. And I was down in Richmond protesting Jeff's removal.
I conducted one on one briefings on immigration with Eric Cantor, George Allen, and yes, Ed Gillespie. I did others with Rep candidates and was part of the Middle Resolution screening committee on candidates. I also was part of the VA Tea Party and helped sponsor the Richmond convention. And I helped Dave Brat beat Cantor using 40,000 robocalls. I worked with Dave Albo on getting immigration-related legislation passed in the VA legislature, a number of which became law.
You can pontificate all you want about the GOP in VA. I am intimately familiar with all of it.
Republican primary voters supported Gillespie on the “promise” that Gillespie would win whereas Stewart would not.
Corey lost by less than a percent. I don't know how you can draw such conclusions in a race that was decided by a razor thin margin. Maybe Vogel got her additional votes from disgruntled Stewart voters who refused to vote for Gillespie.
The evidence is clear: The conservatives got more votes than the moderate, on the same day, on the same ballot, by the same voters.
It really proves nothing. Both lost big. Romney received 53,000 more votes than Trump. Romney received more votes in VA than any GOP Presidential candidate in history.
Because too much of the Republican Party is convinced of the false theory that a moderate will win.
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What’s your argument? That there are many sane, adult Republicans who reject the insanity of the establishment?
Making the same mistakes over and over and hoping for different results has been called a definition of insanity.
Establishment candidates lose and lose and lose and lose and yet the establishment is unwilling to learn the lessons.
Repeating the same mistakes over and over is the establishment’s only skill.
Was McDonnell a conservative? He was perceived that way by the voters.
What’s the point?
Sometimes the adults in the room — the conservatives — nominate a good candidate and the establishment traitors are not quite able to screw it up.
Republican primary voters supported Gillespie on the “promise” that Gillespie would win whereas Stewart would not.
Corey lost by less than a percent. I don’t know how you can draw such conclusions in a race that was decided by a razor thin margin
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It is not a conclusion. That was the sales pitch for Gillespie — the failed strategy that has been proven false.
The sales pitch for voting for Gillespie was that Gillespie would win over moderate Counties like Fairfax, where he was smashed.
The reason for voting for Gillespie was put to the test and proven false.
Moderates don’t win statewide elections. They just don’t. They cannot.
It is fundamentally impossible to run a candidate who stands for nothing and gives voters no reason to vote for him or her and win statewide.
Votes vote for REASONS — not just because the candidate looks and acts like Mr. Rogers.