John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican 10th District, has set January 23, 2014 as the date the 10th district committee will meet and decide the method for nominating our candidate for Congress to replace the long time incumbent Congressman Frank Wolf. The official call for the meeting:
TENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE
703-477-8476
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.vagop10.org
OFFICIAL CALL
Issued December 26, 2013
Pursuant to the Plan of Organization, Republican Party of Virginia, I, John C. Whitbeck, Jr.,
Chairman, 10th Congressional District Republican Committee, do hereby issue this meeting
notice:
There shall be an official meeting of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee as
follows:
– Date: Thursday January 23, 2014
– Time: 6:30 p.m., meet-and-greet beginning at 7:00 p.m.
– Location: Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., SE Leesburg, VA
Agenda:
I. Welcome
II. Invocation
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Roll Call
V. Approval of Minutes from December 3, 2013 meeting
VI. Chairman’s Report
VII. Budget and Finance Committee Report – Delivered by Treasurer
VIII. Old Business
a. 10th District Convention
b. Audit
IX. New Business
a. Selection of Nominating Process for 10th Dist. Cong. Seat
b. Spring Gala
X. Reports from Unit Chairs, Unit Representatives and VFRW, YR, CR RepresentativesXI. Reports from Committees
XII. Announcements
XII. Adjournment
John C. Whitbeck, Jr.
Chairman
Clarke County · Fairfax County · Frederick County · Loudoun County · Manassas City. Manassas Park · Prince William County · Winchester City
It is widely assumed that the committee will choose a convention rather than a primary to be held in the Spring. This seems to have angered the editors of the Washington Post so the 10th district must be making the right choice.
3 comments
In a nutshell, this decision boils down to whether the Republican leadership in the 10th Congressional District wants an open process that is inclusive or whether they want to shut out key Republican voting constituencies.
The pro-convention faction in the Republican Party will tell
you that conventions ensure that only Republicans can participate. This, of
course, is a fallacy, as I have attended a number of conventions and witnessed delegates who participated in democrat primaries vote at Republican conventions.
What pro-convention folks will not tell you is that conventions deny military voters and some government employees the ability to participate. Military voters cannot participate since they are often stationed abroad and some government employees are prohibited by federal regulation from participating in party activities. Beyond disenfranchising these voting
constituencies, conventions are often held on Saturday’s, to accommodate the
relatively few activists that can summon the time and courage to endure a
ten-hour marathon at a hot high school gymnasium. Saturday conventions mean that certain religious groups such as Orthodox Jews and Seventh-Day Adventists cannot participate. What better way to send the message of an open and inclusive Party then to select a nomination method that prohibits the
participation of certain religious groups?
Pro-convention dogmatists are also unlikely to highlight that conventions disenfranchise smaller localities because of a complicated weighted vote system that favors larger jurisdictions. For example, at the 10th District Convention, a candidate that does extremely well in Fairfax County and
Loudoun County can win, without receiving a single vote from smaller localities
such as Clarke County, Frederick County or the City of Winchester. How is this
fair? Simple: It isn’t.
Instead of bowing to a small faction of convention diehards, the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee could exercise sound judgment and select a primary as the method of nomination. Such a decision would send a much-needed message of inclusiveness to the various
Republican voting constituencies.
Now, some pro-convention enthusiasts will respond to this
article by saying that a primary allows democrats to fiddle with the selection
of our nominee. In this case, such an argument is unintelligent and should be
dismissed as pure tommyrot. The Democrats also must choose among three
candidates and therefore primary voters will need to choose whether to
participate in the Republican primary or the Democrat primary. It is highly
unlikely that any democrat is going to forsake participating in their own
process to meddle in the affairs of Republicans.
I respect the members of the 10th Congressional
District Republican Committee and have every confidence that they will make the right decision at the end of January. The choice is very simple: A party of big ideas and inclusiveness or a party of exclusivity. The facts make this decision very easy.
Here we go again…We are missing the point of the Washington Post editorial. A Primary is an inherently better method of nomination because it allows participation from key Republican constituencies, including the military. More importantly, it gives candidates the opportunity to build an organization that can be used during the General Election campaign.
The comPost has our best interests at heart obviously.