Many Virginia Republican leaders who have attended the Republican convention for decades will not be in attendance this year.
Former Congressman Tom Davis who chaired John Kasich’s campaign in Virginia will be watching Nats this week.
“The Dodgers are here for a three-game series. I’m going to the Nats games,”
Former Governor and Senator George Allen will be on a camping trip in the west this week. Of our 8 Republican Congressmen and women, only one has committed to going to Cleveland, Rob Wittman, who is running for Governor next year. He needs to be there. The 10th district’s Congresswoman, Barbara Comstock has made it VERY clear that she wants nothing to do with Trump and will not attend the convention. She has not even committed to voting for him. Congressmen Dave Brat and Scott Rigell have also said they will not attend the convention.
Ed Gillespie, another candidate for Governor next year, will attend the convention although his focus will not be on Trump. From the Washington Post,
“Yes, Ed will be there next week for a couple of days to spend time with the Virginia delegation,” said Chris Leavitt, executive director of Gillespie’s political action committee.
Former Lt. Governor John Hager was not chosen to be a delegate and will miss this convention,
“They were hoping for a coup. I was just hoping to just get selected as a delegate,
“This will be the first one I’ve missed since 1980″, he said.
Hager’s son Henry is married to Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of George W. Bush. Hager is very well connected in Virginia politics and never misses a chance to be in the political arena, except this year when he won’t be at the convention.
Former Governor Jim Gilmore was also not chosen to be a delegate but he was in Cleveland last week to preach Republican unity,
“I am not a ‘Never Trump’ person like Romney or Bush or any of those people,” he said in an interview earlier in the week. “I’m trying to hold the party together.”
“There’s not a role for me to play (at the convention),” Gilmore said. “I have constructive things I can do here.”
More on the story here.
Jeb Bush won’t attend the convention or even vote for Trump. Many Republican Senators also won’t attend. More on that story here.
30 comments
Don’t think Republicans are compelled to support Republican nominees, just can’t support a candidate in opposition to them. However, she shouldn’t be surprised when Trump supporters don’t support HER.
Ok thanks Susan…your response was much more helpful than Mr. Hedricks.
The only difference was that she mocked you indirectly.
This is a very good point. If the current litmus test is #nevertrump, then the obvious alternative is #nevertrumpopponent. One of the reasons I am working for trump is that there is an obvious backlash coming against the likes of the never thumpers – particularly if trump loses because of their efforts. The Republican Party is embracing a self-destructive situation and whether you like Trump or not it is time to put away the idea that you can take your ball and go home and not suffer consequences.
By the way, Romney was a poor candidate. I specifically told my Republican friends that he would lose six months before the election. People dismissed my concerns and then the election happened. Should I have done a #neverRomney? Of course not. I sucked it up and worked fo the man. Time to suck it up and work for Trump.
If Trump loses, it will be due to his inability to get votes with xenophobia, racism, and smack talk. But of course, Trump’s supporters will blame the NeverTrumpers. Blaming others is easier than being accountable.
Your last sentence says It all. You are blaming everybody but yourself for Trump and refuse to be accountable for the outcome. Somehow, another 8 years of Obama is preferable to Trump – this is plain idiocy.
By the way, I don’t find it xenophobic or racist to protect the nation against illegal and islamic invaders – and that is what they are when the sneak in or over stay their welcome. I don’t like Trump’s profane language, but he is certainly not the first president to curse – try LBJ and Nixon.
….
If Trump loses, it will be because the Democrat will get more votes than he does — the numbers will eventually show that the NeverTrumpers have less relevance than their vitriol.
Who has more vitriol is up for discussion, but you’re essentially agreeing with the assertion made by Trump’s opponents — they form a majority.
If the opponents of Trump formed a majority, they would be the nominee rather than him. They didn’t, couldn’t, or wouldn’t.
The NeverTrumpers are, for the most part, non-Republicans or lousy Republicans specifically choosing to be ignorant regarding political realities. The alleged leaders are usually losers in their own right and choosing to put their own personal and political interests above the body that selected them.
In this election, like most of them, there is no middle ground, you either are campaigning/voting to win, or you are behaving as a political Kardashian.
The GOP, in its infinite wisdom, has created a screwy and byzantine excuse for a party and it has bit them in the fanny. All sides, the establishment, the “conservatives” and those will-o-the wisp ‘Grassroots’ have all congealed into a right unpleasant political morass that can only be extricated by an ‘unRepublican Republican’ like Donald Trump.
If you think the country can do better with a democrat, or there is something about The Donald that twists up your knickers so much that you feel compelled to squeal and madly dance about — have at it, but don’t pretend to be, or claim, Republican bona fides.
Really a simple construct: ‘Republicans support Republican nominees.’ If you have trouble with this, and/or prefer to politically self-immolate, go right ahead, the rest of us actual Conservatives will be standing at the docks waving you a fond farewell.
Trump has said he doesn’t need conservatives to win the election. I’ve accepted that as my ticket not to be involved; he doesn’t need me.
The outcome will all be on you and other Trump supporters; stop trying to shift blame for failure before he’s even gotten the nomination.
Or it could be a commentary on the faction of the party more focused on purity then winning and governing. Trump will win with you or without you, I would like to think you party of the solution rather than party of the problem.
Thanks, Roc, but since Trump’s going to win without my involvement, I can’t very well be part of the problem if I’m not involved, can I? Enjoy the ride, though. It will be interesting to see where we are next year.
Cheers,
Nothing about the awesome pun?
You gotta do what you gotta do, but the reason the party is so screwed up is because of people sitting out and the residue remaining. “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
Next year we’ll be calling Trump ‘Reagan 2.0!’ Get in on the ground floor!!!
I just don’t understand politically she hopes to gain by NOT embracing Trump, does she perceive her district to see her Trumpreluctance and thus think more highly of her? Just plain weird. I don’t know where her finger is on the pulse of the district, but it’s not any part of the 10th I travel in.
com/2016/07/651554-republicans-skipping-donald-trump-republican-national-convention/?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=afternoon-newsletter&utm_medium=owned
Some members of Congress avoid conventions because they are more interested in meeting real voters rather than party members. This is hardly news. I applaud Congresswoman Comstock for her desire to meet with her constituents. Virginia’s 10th District should be SO proud.
Another missed opportunity for Barbara to be a leader, but good on her for shoring up her support — I suggest she look west.
Do Comstock’s comments rise to the level where it would be required to remove her from the party? I guess the timing covers her…”he’s not officially the nominee yet” or something.
No. But you could probably get Howie Lind or Shak Hill to try it for you.
And everybody would laugh at them. Again.
What made you think I was shopping for someone to “try it for me”? Strange assertion.
It’s a joke. Those two nutballs are known for making stupid-ass statements like yours.
OK. Well have a great day.
Shak, Yes; Howie surprisingly not.
I don’t understand how Wittman’s desire for election to governor made his presence at the convention necessary.
To schmooze the money folks.
That makes sense. We often examine our legislators’ voting records as litmus tests of their support for conservative issues. I look first at my legislators’ biggest contributors, then at their voting records, and ask myself whether my legislator would cross a contributor to support a constitutent.
For example, if a legislator claims to support the many veterans in his district but is funded mainly by defense contractors, I look at his voting records on defense spending caps and veterans benefits, to determine which is the focus of his fiscal conservatism and which is not. Very telling.
One aside, defense contractors often hire many veterans.
Rob wants to explain to the Virginia Delegation that Enron Ed Gillespie is not from Virginia, is a carpetbagger, a Lobbyist, and served as Globalist George W. Bush’s chief of staff.
Remember George? Two unfunded wars, Trillions in Debt, a decade of Wounded Warrior commercials, Medicare Part D unfunded, a near Depression under the leadership of his Goldman Sachs Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson who has endorsed Hillary for POTUS, OPEN BORDERS, No child left behind, the PATRIOT ACT, and that is why Rob must go.
To remind Virginians that Enron Ed was part of 8 years of George W. Bush that gave America 8 years of Barrack Hussein Obama.
But GW is a principled conservative, unlike that horrible Trump who wants to trim govnt, stop nation building, stop footing Europe’s defense and close our border. That is so unprincipled of him!!!