What a week for the Virginia GOP!
On Tuesday, John Cook, the Republican candiate for Sharon Bulova’s open Supervisor seat in Fairfax’s Braddock District, defeated his Democratic opponent in a district that John McCain, George Allen and Jerry Kilgore only obtained about 40% of the vote.
Cook’s performance is the 3rd special election in a row in which the GOP has performed well in NOVA since last November’s presidential debacle.
Republicans had been celebrating moral victories when GOP candidates came within 16 votes of taking Brian Moran’s House in Alexandria and lost the race for Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors with 49.4% of the vote. On Tuesday, they were toasting a real and not a virtual victory.
While all of the special election have been marked by relatively low turnouts, it appears that growing economic anxiety and an altered national political landscape has made NOVA far more competitive politically than anyone could have imagined in November when Barack Obama’s rang up a 109,000 vote margin in Fairfax County.
These results have certainly given the Republicans something to talk about.
If they weren’t all focused on Jeff Frederick.
The battle lines for the upcoming smackdown at the state party’s Emergency Central Committee Meeting on April 4th were drawn even more sharply this week.
Those pressing for Frederick’s removal released their bill of particulars to the media. At the top of the list are allegations that Frederick used his own firm as a vendor for the party and misled other members about this.
All five Republican members of Congress called for his departure.
Six prominent GOP state senators sent a letter asking for Frederick’s removal.
Reports in The Washington Post suggested that gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell had been more centrally inolved in the effort than first reported.
For his part, Frederick continued to deny the allegations and maintained that he would fight to the end for the grassroots activists that supported him. He is apparently ready to proclaim “victory” for the “grassroots” even if the vote to remove him is one vote short of the 75% required by the rules.
Delegate Bob Marshall suggested an independent group be brought in to evaluate the charges against Frederick and observed that if conservative activists were left with the impression that Frederick had been “railroaded,” the party’s electoral chances would be seriously damaged.
Many (though by no means all) contributors to the GOP blogosphere argued that McDonnell’s involvement was major tactical mistake that could alienate part of the GOP’s base.
Talk about stepping (maybe stomping is a better word) on your own message.
The entire GOP should have been tuned into FAIRFAX this week.
But how could you stop watching the JEFF FREDERICK SHOW?
The Democrats can’t believe their good fortune. They have a three way battle on their hands for a gubernatorial nomination that is likely to get far rougher in the next thirty days. But who’s paying attention to this.
They’re rooting for Frederick to get 26% of the vote at the April smackdown.
So they can enjoy watching his victory speech.
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