Option 1
You love Corey Stewart. You fought for years to see someone like him get elected. You’ve battled the libertarians, the establishment, the softies in the social conservative movement too afraid to play hardball, for years. Now is your chance to rub it in their faces. Everyone told you that your populists couldn’t win. Everyone told you that the little people didn’t count. Everyone told you that you were a racist or a bigot or a xenophobe. Now is your chance to rub your victory in everyone else’s face. Now is the time to threaten politicos who don’t support Stewart. Weed ‘Em Out! Throw ’em out of the party! Threaten every politico and elected official that isn’t 100% Trump and Stewart. Run out everyone who isn’t you from the Republican Party.
Option 2
You love Corey Stewart. You want him to win in November. You decide to swallow all the gnashing of teeth and human misery amongst those who didn’t support Corey, just as they must now swallow the gloating of the Corey folks. You decide that now that Trump and Stewart represent and control the Republican Party of Virginia, John Whitbeck and John Findlay, that now is the time to try to bring the other factions into the fold. You have no idea how many conservative, libertarian, and moderate activists would kill for a job right now. They will give you all their data, all their contacts, all their inside baseball knowledge for a shot at being apart of the Stewart Campaign. There are Republican who would rather die than see a Democrat elected. So, you take the opportunity to mend fences, build bridges, and expand your coalition. You work your butts off to get Barbara Comstock, Scott Taylor, Rob Wittman, Morgan Griffith, Ben Cline, Denver Riggleman, and Dave Brat elected.
Option 3
You are uncomfortable with White-Identity politics, but you want to hold the party together. You come out in favor of Corey Stewart. You support him in order to support the entire ticket. You talk about unity and winning and defeating the Democrats.
Option 4
You are horrified by Stewart’s victory, but you want to see the Republican Party live on. You go to work for your Congressional candidates and do everything in your power to make sure that every Republican shows up to vote in November. You don’t support Stewart, but you support the party or you support your Congressional nominees and you don’t want to see them defeated just because you disagree with one person on the ballot. If your Congressional candidate of choice wins and Corey Stewart is sent to the United States Senate, that’s OK by you.
Option 5
You quit the Republican Party. You concede power to Corey Stewart and to White-Identity Politics. You spend hours on Facebook trying to convince your fellow Republicans to stay home, despite the fact that your allies running for Congress need those very voters. You talk about leaving the Republican Party, ensuring that the Republican Party no longer has your voice in the mix. You decide that it is better for Democrats to hold office than Republicans. You make erudite and impassioned Facebook posts virtue-signaling your way to oblivion. You accept defeat as something permanent, not temporary. In November, you comment that the Democrat’s victories were all Corey’s fault. You pay higher taxes. You can’t find a doctor. You can’t get insurance. You get laid off. Your kids go to school and learn that the reason they are poor is because of capitalism. They vote Democrat.
Perspective
At 21:05 last night, did Congressman Dave Brat become less of a liberty candidate? Did Denver Riggleman become less exciting? Did Ben Cline, who has served us for years in State Government become less important to your movements? Did Rob Wittman’s leadership position in the House of Representatives matter less?
Did Nick Freitas stop fighting for liberty in the Commonwealth?
I have watched all morning and afternoon as Corey Stewart’s supporters have threatened every elected official, party leader, activist, and aspiring candidate. Either you are 100% pro-Corey or they are going to f’ing destroy you. You are to submit and surrender or they will go after you with everything they have.
Friends, these are people who have fought for years to get a statewide candidate. This is the first one they ever had. They are passionate and scared to death that the entirety of the Republican Party is going to leave Corey Stewart out to dry.
How does responding to their attacks help the Republican running for Congress in your district?
How does engaging in social media nastiness get Dave Brat, Ben Cline, or Denver Riggleman elected?
I am miserable and depressed that Nick Freitas didn’t win – but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to fight like hell for Dave Brat, Rob Wittman, Morgan Griffith, Denver Riggleman, Barbara Comstock, Ben Cline, and Scott Taylor. If all the voters I get to the polls in November help Corey Stewart, fine. That’s not my fault, or your fault. Corey has several months to reach out to Jackson and Freitas Supporters to gain their trust and support. Corey Stewart even has the opportunity to try to bring Shaun Kenney back into the fold. Let’s not decide November in June. Let’s all support who we support and accept the fact that those we didn’t support are going to be on the ballot whether we like it or not. Let’s win. We don’t have to love each other. We don’t have to like each other. Hell, we can flat out hate each other.
But I want Rob Wittman and Denver Riggleman and Dave Brat in the United States Congress next year. Don’t you?
36 comments
Your good butt buddy Kenney who you wrote a love note to over at Bearing Drift when he wrote his usual virtue signaling bull crap once said to people who wanted a border:
Drive out the Nativists from his party.
So you can take your rhetoric about Corey supporters wanting to drive out people and… you know what to do with it.
Thanks, SBT. You have given us another brilliant article.
Corey Stewart won because I proudly voted for him. I am one the most politically informed people in Va.. I am also an Independant.
Fine, you don’t support Stewart then I won’t support Wittman, Riggleman, Brat, or Comstock. And, you people who do not support Stewart, stop calling yourself Republicans. You are either Democrats or Independents.
Humility is clearly not your strong suit. But vindictiveness is.
SBT – sometimes you really make sense. This is one of these times. I would suggest that there isn’t alot of difference between EW, Corey, and Freitas on most issues. Most of it is a matter of style or resume. Yes Nick is a bit more libertarian, EW emphasizes social issues, and Corey is best known for wrapping hisself in the Confederate Flag. I voted for Corey on Tuesday and am looking forward to getting him over the top in November. It’s going to be a rough road – but having Nick or EW as the nominee wouldn’t have made things any easier. The RPV needs serious structural reforms – all the way from the top down to the Unit and Precinct levels. And until local chairs and their committees and RPV are serious about getting Republican candidates elected to office, there isn’t much that any candidate can do.
Hold much beer.
Corey is known more for being anti-establishment (all establishments) and getting elected in PWC.
Propaganda is propaganda. Efforts to use identity politics and to spread the big lie work independently of each party.
Bring it on. Does Corey support history and heritage? Yes.
Does he support those that do? Yes.
Is he a Racist? No.
Are there people smearing him with pictures of him supporting the Confederate flag as a racist? Yes.
Does honoring history and heritage equate to racism? Where do you draw the line? What other history and heritage needs to be erased? That Gadsden flag seems to be used by that known racist (real or staged) so we will now Alinsky those flying Tea Party plates. The Goliad flag is positively triggering — try and get that flag in a parade.
Social media is got quite the handle on ‘message management’ and use tools like filtering, programmed response, and banning/shadowbanning techniques.
We’ve seen the Editorial bias here (it is an opinion/editorial blog after all) as well as the memory hole effect.
If we accept the false argument and premises then the propaganda works, we are all SPLC and the Republic is fallen.
The way you get racism and the other ‘ism’s’ is by propaganda — divide and conquer — soon you’ll be able to do what the despots do.
Virginia Republicans just love losing. I voted for Freitas but I am now 100% behind Stewart – and republicans who aren’t are continuing the stupidity that puts Virginia in the blue column.
The anti-Trump doom and gloom squad has now picked another target, and will triumphantly claim righteousness if or when Stewart loses.?????????. (The little green water pistol emoji is Apples latest contribution to the gun control lobby. Non-violent, you know.)
Option 1.
Either you support the nominee or you choose a different party. Buh Bye.
If you are not supporting the Republican Ticket, you are a RINO by definition. We have no use for RINO’s of any stripe.
The RINO’s on the right and the left are easily replaced by those that support the President and his nominees. The President is also head of the party and these are his candidates that you are jacking with.
Please, feel free to continue along your way to political irrelevance with your #nevered nuance, faux forecasts, and imaginary indignation. You are not more special than the voters who chose the nominees. I truly feel sorry for you being triggered by Comstock, Stewart, Riggleman, or Cline.
Your fervor for your failed candidates is starting to exceed those still pining for a Hillary in the White House instead of signing books at the Poughkeepsie Costco.
4… with a side of savagery against lying populist dirt weasels in public fora.
You missed an option between 4 and 5:
You’re horrified by Stewart’s victory and recognize the faults within the Republican Party and with humanity in general: people are good at heart, but flawed. Generally speaking, people are most active and most energized by strong emotions (love, fear, hate), or by trying to fill a void in their lives by working toward a common goal. The fringe of the Republican Party is no different, including the most active people–those who are willing to spend weekends knocking on doors, weeknights making phone calls, and countless hours arguing with each other on Facebook. Assuming the best about Corey Stewart, he’s not a bigot. But he does use fear and hate as a tool in order to energize support, which is arguably worse.
You have no intention of abandoning the party, voting for Corey Stewart, or voting for Tim Kaine. But you want to do something to make sure that this never happens again. So you write in someone for senate; vote third party; or leave it blank. You support Republicans down-ticket. You give money directly to campaigns rather than the party because party funds may end up in Stewart’s pocket. You don’t try to convince anyone not to vote for Stewart or actively work against the party’s chosen nominee, but you follow your own conscious.
And that’s OK. You’re still a Republican. And if Stewart loses bigly, there’s still hope for the future of the Virginia GOP. Primaries are not meant to be a Party’s suicide pact.
You forgot option 6: Whining like a little baby.
If you think the commie, Little Timmy, is better than Corey, you have a screw loose!
They embarrass Del. Freitas and doom him with their antics. I guess they’d be equally Jimmie-rustled if Shak would have won, or if our National Committeewoman had prevailed in either of her attempts.
I never said anything of the kind.
“You decide that it is better for Democrats to hold office than Republicans”
You are the one that gave us our options, correct? I would prefer the option that promotes party unity for ALL GOP candidates. I have been on the the losing side of plenty of these campaign runs, I supported E.W. Jackson, FYI. While I did limit my participation for helping the eventual nominee depending on how much I had to hold my nose, what I didn’t do is try to generate a lot of discord throughout the party.
I was not excited by either candidate in the last governor’s race, but I did support Gillespie with a little more effort because I knew what medicaid expansion would do for Virginia. A democrat of Little Timmy’s caliber is going to be the worst option no matter how bad your feelings are hurt.
These are our options. My point is some options are preferable to others.
I took the whole article as negative waves. I know many feel like they can’t support Corey, but they don’t have to actively fight against his campaign, either. If you want to focus on negative waves, focus on the commie, Little Timmy. I would love to see some in-depth articles on his voting record.
Republicans won’t vote for a Democrat. But look, my purpose here isn’t to slam on Stewart. He won. His supporters should be happy. My purpose is reminding folk that there are reasons to go and vote even if they don’t like one of the nominees.
Fine, now go explain that to the two morally superior dipsticks who fancy themselves the voice and conscience of the GOP over at Bearing Left.
People are upset right now. Just give them time to vent.
I have no faith in their capacity for rational thought. Time will simply compound their venom.
Nope. Not publicly, not after the Primary. No safe space time for Fake Republicans.
Well, that is something I can agree with! I suppose I’m just reading more into your article than what you intended. Winning state wide will be difficult no matter who our nominee is. I agree it will be tougher with Corey’s nomination in some ways, but I also believe he will be able to get into Little Timmy’s head and show the clear differences between a communist and a conservative.
SBT writes, what and, as SBT intends.
That’s a great purpose for people who are not Republicans.
You dropped the “for the Republican nominees” from your GOTV purpose.
It’s not okay to be a Republican and only support your nominee du jour — this is what makes you a ‘Fake Republican.’
Our option is to support our nominees, or to choose to affiliate with another party.
Another party option is self-executing, but not always.
Of course not, that’s not your style. Just so you can say “I never said anything of the kind.”
In this party, our party, you’re either with us or against us.
Dancing time is over.
Yes, I want to help Riggleman, Witman and Brat win!
Option 3 and a spot of tea.
It appears from news stories that some Senatorial GOP Members are not going to support Stewart , so why support any other of the Republicans?
The Swamp is alive.
Goverment from the top down is not the way that our Founding Fathers imagined it. Those on Capitol Hill know what is good for you better than you.
In many ways I agree with this…but here’s another thought…
Where were these various members of the Virginia Delegation during the Primary? (Denver aside, as he was a fully supportive Freitas support *prior to his nomination*) Even if their open support could’ve proved to be dangerous for Freitas in the 2nd or 10th, where was Dave? Morgan? Rob? Did they donate? Did they funnel donors, media contacts, supporters, etc. in the direction of an alternative to Corey Stewart? Of course not…because they run scared…the rest of the delegation is as complicit in Corey’s nomination as those who backed him the entire time. Whether they keep their seats or not was up to them, they knew the risk of having Corey at the top of the ticket and they chose to sit it out…
For God’s sake – get a grip!
SBT,
It is up to the guys running for office to decide there direction and policy bring it forth to the voter, then we decided when we vote.
One thing is for sure bussines as usual is out.
Wattcha got?
Denver, yes
Brat, hmmm
Cline, yes
Comstock, yes
Taylor, yes..
If Comstock & Taylor are yes, I would hope Brat would be too.
Nope
I was just looking for your reasoning, still unsure…