Virginia Republicans have until Jan. 15 to lobby State Central Committee members to drop a loyalty oath designed to discourage independents or Democrats from voting in the March 1 GOP presidential primary.
John Whitbeck, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, acknowledges he’s caught between a rock and a hard place with the committee’s “statement of party affiliation†decision that will require voters wishing to participate in the Super Tuesday primary in Virginia to identify themselves as Republican. Virginians don’t register to vote by party, so typically primaries are open to all voters.
The Republican oath is not legally binding, and frankly, it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. Whitbeck acknowledges it would be difficult to prove if voters lie by participating in the GOP primary and then not supporting the party’s eventual nominee.
Still, the party affiliation statement has Donald Trump’s campaign in an uproar, suggesting the action by the RPV is meant to keep him from becoming the GOP nominee. Trump officials say they were not initially informed of the plan for the loyalty statement. Whitbeck says he has absolute proof the Trump organization knew and campaign officials did not object.
But clearly, the RPV’s action would not only discourage independent votes for Trump in the primary, but also hurt a candidate such as Sen. Marco Rubio, a favorite son of the conservative Hispanic community.
The issue has reached fever pitch, as the who’s who of Virginia conservatism opine on the issue of party exclusivity versus outreach.
Former Gov. George Allen went on Fox Business News recently and criticized such pledges, saying “There’s a lot of independent-minded people in Virginia.†He suggested the party “ought to be welcoming rather than exclusive.†Such words fuel a firestorm of editorials and blog activity denouncing the pledge. Allen, the commonwealth’s 67th chief executive, is 100 percent correct on the vow’s discriminating effect.
Still, Whitbeck indicates that no State Central Committee member has called him about reversing its decision. And after consulting the party’s attorneys, he says, “I alone don’t have the authority to repeal it.â€
Central Committee member Linda Bartlett, who is also president of the Virginia Federation of Republican Woman, voted against the measure. Speaking for herself, she says it’s not good policy and “does not demonstrate outreach to the voters we want to reach.â€
She’s right, considering the historical difficulty Virginia Republicans have winning statewide elections without support from independent voters.
Unfortunately, ongoing events continue to place conservative leadership in bad light. Whitbeck and Republican National Committee head Reince Priebus have made attempts to meet with Hispanic and other minority leaders in an effort to gauge concerns and have a sincere dialogue.
But minority voters are turned off by comments by establishment Republicans such as Prince William Board Chairman Corey Stewart bashing immigrants or Stafford’s House Speaker Bill Howell taking a hard legislative stance against the Dream Act or blocking health-care benefits.
And the ongoing battle for ideological control between tea party activists such as Fredericksburg’s Russ Moulton and vitriolic establishment Bearing Drift blogger Brian Schoeneman of Northern Virginia doesn’t grow the party. Both are unsuccessful conservative candidates for office who are striving for political relevancy. Their actions have become visceral rather than embracing when it comes to independents and minority voters.
Jeanine Martin, co-owner of The Bull Elephant, one of Virginia’s more reputable conservative blogs, joins Bartlett as another lady in opposition to the RPV action. She sees the oath kerfuffle as a possible call for voter registration by party. Martin says having open primaries is another form of “incumbent protection,†the very thing she and tea party activists rail against the most.
For conservatives trying to grow their brand, attention should be paid to the views of Hispanic businesswoman Deb Dameron of Fredericksburg. The senior partner of AAA Tax Service identifies herself as a free-thinking, independent, conservative-leaning woman. She told me, “Actions that prohibit independent and minority involvement do little to bring our community to the Republican voting booth.â€
Correct. And until Republican leaders grasp this issue, independent and minority voters attempting to shake the conservative tree may lie, and lie with conviction come March 1.
But then again, the State Central Committee could listen to the voice of reason and stop the madness now.
Originally published in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
22 comments
How is this for loyality ; A man who works hard and does right by his family is righteous in the eyes of the Lord.
How, who or where have Virginia Republicans worked hard { or even worked at all } on the issue of illegal aliens undermining Virginia’s legal workforce.
Ploiticians { excluding Trump } do not create jobs they are Lawyers not entrepreneurs { like Trump }.
Shouldn’t these self righteous , soft handed lawyers be enforcing the laws that protect jobs from being lost to a shadow labor economy at the expense of working class Virginia families.
Virginia Republicans want to exclude many votes from Trump in March , if sucessful in this counterproductive endevour how will the RPV appeal to these 30 to 40% voters in November when these same Republicans have lead { and still continue to lead } with infidelity on illegal immigration for the past 20 years.
Watch other candidates use bogus photos of construction sites , construction workers and speaking of job creation during the camphain all while they comprehensively sit on thier soft hands and foster illegal immigration.
Perfect example was the McDonnell / Cuccinelli administration
http://watchdog.org/2012/subcontractors-shadow-economy-
I don’t want to respond to this ridiculous piece of pandering in great detail, but I’ll just say that if we’d voted for a party-run process instead of an open primary, we wouldn’t have had to consider this statement of affiliation at all. Blame the moderates for campaigning hard for a primary. This is on them.
I’m really pretty upset about Trump pushing this and bashing the decision by the RPV to at least say that we have the party’s best interests at heart. Of course we want to welcome new participants to the party, but we also don’t want to have the opposition party vote for the weakest candidate because they think he’s/she’ll lose to Hillary. The whole thing is a double-edged sword. Will have to think about bringing back party registration in Va.
From Virginians for Bernie .com
I’m a Republican. Can I vote for Bernie?
Yes! Virginia is one of seventeen states to have “open†primaries,
which means you do not have to be registered with a particular political
party (just the state!) to vote in that party’s primary.
Note the difference? Come on out! Ballots for Bernie.
Sounds like they need a statement too!
Sounds more like we need to change election laws.
If they don’t scrap the statement then it’s time to ballot for Bernie.
You know, Operation Chaos was a clear example of the law of unintended consequences. Do we want to risk that again?
Mr Cortez,
In all due respect your obsession and hate for Chairman Corey Stewart makes your comments about him laughable.
Mr Cortez PWC Chairman Corey Stewart has won re-election in a county wide race in a majority-minority county. PWC county has gone to Obama each election cycle Corey could not win if he did not have the support of a cross section of the PWC voters, to nclude Hispanics, Blacks, and other tradionally Democratic groups. Those are the facts look it up.
Apparently you may think you are the voice of the Va Republican Hispanic electorate but clearly you are not. As a matter of fact, a Hispanic woman on the eastern end of PWC was interviewed by a reporter about whom she was voting for this past November and she stated the following,” She was voting for the first time and was casting her vote for Corey Stewart.” The reporter than asked what she liked about Corey and she stated,” His stance on illegal immigration.” Interestingly enough, the last part of her statement never made it in print form in the paper.
Mr Cortez you constantly flaunt your relationship with the Allens. You are everywhere they are at for a photo op. with them. Family friends don’t need to appear wiith friends for a photo op.
It is the pledge that all turn off voters not Chairman Stewart.
Lastly, Mr Cortez as the wife, daughter, and granddaughter of immigrants, as well as, the wife, daughter, and granddaughter of military veterans, you don’t represent my family. As a former USSecret Setvice Official, during the Reagan-Bush years, you certainly don’t represent my views on the rule of law.
Thank you for your civil comments Donna. Point of clarity. This is not about my respresentation….it is about theirs. You like me are entitled to an opinion. Even if we don’t agree.
No problem. You lost the argument with me when you interjected Corey Stewart into the commentary as a reason for why folks will not vote if there is pledge. I agree with you that the unity pledge needs to go.
I have been a grassroot activist for more then thirty years. I understand the political makeup of this area. I supported PWC Rule of Law mandate because I followed the criminal activity in the courts of those who entered our country illegally durin PWC policy implemention. Over 7,000 criminal illegal immigrants have been turn over to ICE since 2008.
Thank you for repeating that “illegal” is not a race. I am also disturbed at Mr. Trump’s attempts to play the race card in this issue with some of his remarks today.
Facts are not racist when it comes to the illegal immigration issue.Mr Trump’s appeal is that he is not “politically correct”
I also have witnessed firsthand a cross selection of support for Trump from a segment of the voting population who has become engaged in politics. Many crossover voters who have been energized by his campaign. Many voters who as out presidential elections because of the Republican establishment. A pledge would further alienate these voters.
For example, PWC has a population of over 400,000. Less than 100 have actually joined or became involved in the local Republican committee even though thousands of voters support Rep candidates in elections. People want to vote for whom they want to without being told who they should vote for. I have asked voters why they did not join their local Republican committee over and over againand the answer is that they are run by the establishment and don’t really care abou what the grassroot activists think. I happen to agree and I have found myself to be far more effective helping candidates on my own.
I’m assuming this is an article and not LTE. The points reiterated in this are still valid, but I think the entire process has been tainted and we should go to canvass or convention instead.
I have consistently believed the real impact from this issue will be the PR impact that it will inflict on not just the state party but the national organization as well. So far this has not proven to be a one and done media write up and move on. If you have made even the most cursory observations of the behavior of Donald Trump when he latches onto an issue (regardless of when or how he was or was not informed of the action) he is not going to let it go until he has wrung every drop of political advantage out of it humanly possible. He will use this as a motivator to drive voters to the poll by creating a party boogie man that is attempting to deny you a right to vote (that this is not true or even that he is misrepresenting the actual facts is of NO consequence to the outcomes). Even worse Trump’s communications and their national dissemination by a happy to comply national media is a particularly receptive message to the minority status and infrequent or new voter that the national party has expended millions of dollars in party funds on trying to attract to the Republicanism. This mess has spread well beyond the confines of the State of Virginia and if allowed to fester may will end up having national election implications. I don’t really believe this can of worms was the outcome any state committee member was anticipating when the vote roll call was made on this action. Every day you delay, every day the action lingers and garners more negative publicity accumulates. Call an emergency session of the state committee immediately and get rid of it now accompanied with a statement apologizing for the misunderstandings. Reince Priebus should have stepped in on this already as frankly the bad PR is beginning to undercut GOP 2016 presidential election strategies.
We lose with the statement, we lose without the statement — the Primary from now on will be more about the statement than the primary whether the statement is in or out. This primary has jumped the shark.
LOL! Love this.
Smaller government is what we want yet the RPV adds a bureaucratic weight to primary votes. Nonsense this is and Whitbeck should raise his hand and slap himself for letting this see the light of day.
It’s not Chancellor Whitbeck yet — he still must answer to the SCC — this is their tar baby.
If they have a lick of sense they will drop it, but I won’t hold my breath. I am glad my dad isn’t alive to see what the VA GOP has become. God Bless him, he loved the Commonwealth and was a proud Republican.
Dropping it won’t help, Larry is right with his analysis. The whole thing needs to take a dirt nap.