Sic Semper Tyrannis

Yesterday I talked a bit about last weekend's excellent YRFV Convention in Richmond. The success of this convention was due to many factors, including a top-notch lineup of Virginia GOP speakers. However, the majority of the credit again has to go to YRFV Chair Lori-Ann Miller and Cristen Vehorn for organizing the thing and pulling it off.

Following the morning panels, we were treated to a delicious lunch provided by the Omni Richmond. At lunch, we first heard from Delegate Saxman on behalf of the John McCain campaign. Delegate Saxman is a great advocate for Sen. McCain because you can tell that he actually believes that McCain is the best candidate to lead our nation and that he is truly inspired by McCain's story. As someone who can identify with Del. Saxman's admiration for McCain, it only helps our Party to have strong conservatives like Saxman making the case for McCain.

Later we had the opportunity to hear from the two candidates for the GOP's US Senate nomination, Jim Gilmore and Bob Marshall. I was very interested to hear from both of these candidates back-to-back and compare their styles and their messages. Former Gov. Gilmore spoke first and delivered a solid stump speech that seemed to have two goals: 1) establish his resume and 2) draw contrasts with Mark Warner. I'd say that Gilmore achieved both goals and that a continued emphasis on his military and national security credentials, as well as Warner's thin and duplicitous history, is the best way to run. Bob Marshall followed with a strong recitation of his credentials as a soldier on the front lines of the culture wars. The problem that Bob seems to face, however, is the perception that he is a weaker candidate against Warner than is GilmoreUnfortunately, his speech did nothing to address or dispell those notions.

After lunch, we heard speeches from the two candidates for RPV Chair, John Hager and Jeff Frederick. Again, I looked forward to hearing from these two as I remain uncommitted in the Chairman's race. Incumbent Chairman John Hager, who took over 8 months ago upon the departure of Ed Gillespie, spoke first. I am certainly more familiar with Mr. Hager and probably went into the day leaning towards supporting his re-election. John articulated the view that what RPV needs the most right now is consistent leadership and continuity after several years of turmoil. In addition, he noted some accomplishments that he felt were attained under his watch and did not sy away from ackowledging remaining challenges. He also noted that he has the complete confidence of the McCain campaign, which is certainly important this year. Mr. Hager also answered a number of questions from the convention attendees regarding issues like fundraising and candidate recruitment.

After Mr. Hager spoke, Jeff Frederick had an opportunity to speak. Del. Frederick gave an empassioned speech detailing what he believed were the problems at RPV and why he was the right person to fix them. He spoke about losing ground in the General Assembly and the importance of redistricting, he spoke about winning in Northern Virginia and other democratic areas of the state, he spoke about fundraising, he spoke about grassroots and he spoke about making RPV an effective helper for campaigns all over the state. I have to admit that it was a very impressive speech and I agreed with many of the arguments that he made.

However, after the speeches I remain unconvinced that Jeff Frederick is the right person to lead RPV going forward and I also remain unconvinced that John Hager deserves the blame for some of the problems down in Richmond. In any case, it was an interesting contrast of styles and visions for the GOP in the Old Dominion and I have no doubt that the contest will remain an interesting one.

For more on the RPV Chair race, I recommend reading the following posts for Hager (Conservativa and Shaun Kenney) and for Frederick (Mason Conservative and BVBL).

Finally, before adjourning into our YRFV business meeting, we heard from Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling on his way to a well-deserved week-long vacation. Lt. Gov. Bolling might well be the most popular man in the Virginia GOP right now for his selfless and inspired decision to run for reelection in 2009. Bolling's decision not only spares the Virginia GOP from undesireable intersquad squabbling, but it also gives the GOP an extremely strong top 2/3 of the ticket headed into '09. Bill Bolling's leadership is going to be a valuable asset to our Party for years to come and we are lucky to have him.

Finally, I want to extend my thanks to the YRFV Executive Committee for voting to charter the Roanoke/New River Valley Young Republicans Chapter that I started down here in January. I look forward to continuing to work with Lori-Ann Miller and all the great YR's I met this past weekend to continue building our Party, electing Republican candidates and bringing more and more Young Professionals from across our Commonwealth together to achieve our shared goals.

Congratulations to the YRFV on a great convention and I expect to see even more of you folks there next year!