There is a very serious and important discussion taking place around the blogosphere this week. Unfortunately this discussion was brought on by the events in Augusta County last week, but fortunately it has forced many Republicans to look a little deeper at the problems that have plagued our Party in recent years.

First, I am confident that most of the individuals who have commented on this dust-up have the same goal, advancing and strengthening the Republican Party. However, there certainly seems to be a real difference of opinion about exactly what ails us and exactly how to fix it.

Brandon Bell identifies a reckless power grab that stands on no principle but the accumulation of more power as one potential cancer that infects the Party. D.J McGuire counters that the problem stems from a geographic division within the Party and the priority of social conservative issues against economic conservative issues. Shaun Kenney steps in to moderate the debate, to ask what the central principle of our Party is and to remind us who our real enemies are (The Democrats).

Frankly there is way too much material here to respond to in a single post, but all of the points are good and deserve to be read. I simply have a few observations of my own to throw into the mix.

While I don't claim to know the motivations of either side of the debate in Augusta, wherever there is power to be obtained, there will always be those who seek nothing more than to obtain it for its own sake. I have to agree with Brandon that the solution to these disagreements is not a scorched-earth campaign. The difference between what happened in Augusta and what apparently happened in a somewhat similar situation in Montgomery County is how the losing parties dealt with it. Disagreements can be resolved without resorting to personal attacks and parlimentary chicanery. Yes, elections can sometimes result in bitterness (though not the Barack Obama variety). But allowing bitterness to turn into anger and irrationality is simply destructive.

As to D.J.'s and Shaun's points, the problem is simply that there is no single overriding principle that guides our Party, and there never will be. Our Party, just like the Democrats, is a coalition of idea-groups that choose to work together for the benefit of all. The Republican Party can be generally described as a Party of social conservatives, fiscal conservatives and national defense conservatives. However, the fact is that while the majority of members of the Party adhere to these views, not every individual in the Party adheres to all three, and not every individual weighs these issues in the same proportion as everyone else.

And you know what? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Frankly, what I think is laughable is the fact that so many people seem to think that they are the gatekeepers of what is and is not a "real" Republican. I have great respect for Brandon Bell and I feel confident saying that, despite disagreeing with him on some issues, he is a Real Republican. I do not know Emmett Hanger as well, but the fact that he has won both primaries and general elections in a very Republican district tells me that he's probably a real Republican. If not, what does that make all the Republicans who voted for him?

To be clear, this is not to say that I would rather have Hanger in office than someone else. Obviously, I would much rather have a more fiscally conservative Republican in office who didn't vote for tax increases at every opportunity. But the point is that some people seem much too quick to impute ill motives and launch personal attacks against fellow Republicans with whom they have policy disagreements. I submit that this is not the best way to build a Party.

There is a time and place for the disagreements and there is a proper way to conduct them. However, if conservative Republicans want moderate Republicans to accept the results when they win primaries and chairmanships, then conservatives must afford the same courtesy to moderates when they win fair and square. Respect, like much else in life, is a two-way street.

Yesterday, I spent a good porton of the day travelling around the Roanoke Valley going to various GOP committee meetings and mass meetings, concluding with the excellent Reagan Day Dinner put on by the Roanoke City Republican Committee. Congratulations go out to Roanoke GOP Chair Adam Boitnott for an outstanding event!

For many Americans, their only exposure to politics is going to the voting booth once or twice a year and whatever they get watching Fox News or CNN. However, for political junkies like myself, yesterday's events represent what is so great about our American political system. It is people giving up their Saturday to freely assemble in local schools and government buildings to elect their local party representatives, listen to speeches from candidates and their surrogates, and discuss the issues of the day with other political animals.

In addition to experiencing American government at its most essential level, I also observed some encouraging signs for our Party. First, Republicans seem to be coalescing around John McCain. While there is still some grumbling when his name is mentioned, for the most part, the Republicans I have talked to realize that 1) He is the most electable candidate that we could have nominated and 2) He is way, WAY better than the alternatives.

Second, Republicans are excited about our ticket in 2009. As I said before, Bill Bolling may now be the most beloved Republican in Virginia for sparing his party from a bitter nomination fight. The McDonnell-Bolling team looks extremely strong and I believe that Republicans are going to be super-motivated to get back into the Governor's mansion for the first time since 2001.

Third, Jim Gilmore is ready for a fight. I've heard Gilmore speak three times in the last week and what has impressed me the most is the way that he has gone right after Mark Warner. While I was not initially thrilled at the prospect of Jim Gilmore as our Senate nominee, to me, Gilmore looks more like Senatorial timber every time I see him. Of course, he'll need that fighting spirit in order to get by the vigorous campaign of Bob Marshall. Marshall's supporters are very committed and they are engaging in some heavy duty arm-twisting among delegates to the state convention. Gilmore's delegate counters are going to earn their money.

In any case, I feel that all of the above is good for our Party and the longer the Dems fight amongst themselves, the rosier things look for John McCain and the GOP in '08. There are many months ahead and a great deal of work left to be done, of course, but there is no reason for Republicans to be hanging their heads and predicting doom for November. Instead, we need to work that much harder to ensure that the playing field doesn't shift back the other direction.

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!

A number of bloggers have already weighed in with their impressions of last weekend's YRFV Convention in Richmond, and all have done so superbly. However, I had such a good time at the convention that I wanted to add my own thoughts and observations to the mix.

I highly recommend also checking out Virginia Virtucon, Crystal Clear Conservative and a quartet of Conservativa posts here, here, here and here, for additional coverage.

First, I have to note the hard work of YRFV Chair Lori-Ann Miller and Richmond Chapter Chair Cristen Vehorn whose efforts made this gathering such a success. There are exciting things going on at YRFV and Lori-Ann's energy is an irreplacable component of that progress. It was a great pleasure meeting so many enthusiastic young Republicans last weekend. Anyone who doubts the strength of our Party in years to come need only spend a few moments speaking with these individuals to be reassured.

As to the festivities, the convention featured a number of panels that were both informative and encouraging to those who may be worried about the direction of our Party. The welcome speech by AG Bob McDonnell proved that we will have a strong advocate for time-honored and tested conservative principles at the top of our ticket in 2009.

This was followed by a legislative panel featuring Delegates Chris Saxman, Ben Cline, Bill Janis and Senator Ryan McDougle. The most interesting part of this panel was hearing the different stories about how each of these guys got involved in politics. All four of these men are great young advocates for our pParty and our principles. Each of them would also make a geat statewide candidate someday. Certainly many have already discussed the statewide potential of Del. Saxman and he did not disappoint his fan club this weekend (myself included). The legislator and small businessman from Staunton was absolutely everywhere and gave an impassioned and memorable defense of Sen. John McCain at Saturday's lunch.

After the intial panel was a discussion of immigration policy by former Del. Jack Reed and Save the Old Dominion's Greg Letiecq. While it might have been interesting to have another panelist presenting a different perspective on this issue (especially a conservative Republican), the panel was nonetheless informative. I was particularly impressed with Mr. Letiecq, who I was hearing for the first time. With all that has been said about him, I half expected him to emerge breathing fire from three heads or something. Yet, despite all the outrage his efforts have generated, I found his comments to stick closely to the facts of illegal immigration and its impacts and I did not find him engaging in the type of racial demagogery of which he is often accused.

Once again, Mr. Letiecq's example demonstrates that a rational, fact-based approach to the important issues facing Americans is often more successful than the emotional schoolyard taunts engaged in by the left. It is these types of realizations that make me proud to be a Republican and a conservative who gives the people of this great nation the credit they deserve. Fortunately for us, the liberal bag of tricks hasn't changed much in the last 40 years, nor is it likely to in the near future.

Part II will be forthcoming.

Who knew that a bespectacled blogger from Charlottesville was the kryptonite that weakens the Virginia Republican Party?

I kid, of course. I know Waldo isn't saying that he's personally responsible for Democratic successes, but he sure is having fun talking about it. Of course, I would too if the Republicans were on the same hot streak.

The thing about streaks, however, is that they don't last forever. Just ask the Patriots.

Now I am certainly not saying that the Democrats have just gotten lucky over the past few years. Attributing Democratic success to "luck" is just a rationalization that will only lead to more failure. We should credit the Dems for having taken advantage of their opportunities, while the Republicans have largely squandered theirs.

However, the picture is not quite as bleak for the RPV as Waldo would have us believe. For proof, you need only read this excellent post by Mason Conservative, who offers a sort of counterpoint to Wado's Democratic boosterism.

In fact, there are a number of positive signs that we Republicans are turning things around. One is the fact that the Republicans in the Senate actually seem to be functioning like a caucus again. Another has been the outstanding leadership of LG Bill Bolling and AG Bob McDonnell, who have not shied away from confronting the Governor's flawed policies on issues of importance to all Virginians, like Illegal Immigration and Fiscal Responsibility.

Further, I find it humorous that Waldo takes a post from Bob Gibson's blog about Paul Harris' potential run for RPV Chair and somehow turns it into a rant about Jeff Frederick how "far-right" and "out of the mainstream" the Virginia GOP has gotten.

To me, that story just reinforces the idea that there are a number of young Republicans across this Commonwealth who feel it is time for a new generation of leaders to step forward. You are hearing a lot about guys like Chris Saxman, Jeff Frederick, Paul Harris, Mark Obenshain, Ryan McDougle, Ken Cuccinelli and Corey Stewart, among others. That doesn't sound like a Republican Party that is dying to me. That sounds like a Republican Party that is young, vibrant and full of ideas to lead this Party forward.

Sure, there's a lot of work to be done. The Democrats believe that they can turn Virginia blue in this Presidential election. They believe that Mark Warner will have a cakewalk to the U.S. Senate. They believe that they'll be able to take the House of Delegates and keep the Governor's mansion in '09. They are confident and motivated.

Whether they are right, however, is a different story. Victory never comes easy. It is going to take a lot of Republicans rolling up their sleeves and getting down in the trenches to get it done. It is going to take good leadership, good campaigns, and dedicated volunteers. But it can be done.

I say it's about time we broke this blue streak.