Congressman Rigell is showing little respect this week to the hardworking grassroots in his district with his latest decision to continue his support of a fundraiser for Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms this Friday that will feature Democrat Governor McAuliffe as the “Special Guest” for the evening.
It is difficult to understand why Rigell would want to stick his neck out for the Virginia Beach mayor or be associated with any fundraising event that involves Mr. Medicaid Expansion himself, Governor McAuliffe, but after speaking with Rigell’s office today that is exactly where it stands.
Sessoms is considered by many Republicans to be a habitual turncoat in the Virginia Beach Republican Party. Although the position of mayor in Virginia Beach is officially a nonpartisan office, as Rigell’s office repeatedly pointed out, Sessoms represents himself as a Republican and has been a member of the VA Beach Republican Committee when he is not getting thrown out for supporting Democrats. Ironically, Sessoms supported Jody Wagner over Bill Bolling for lieutenant governor; Warner over Gilmore for U.S. Senate; Northam over Jackson for lieutenant governor; and McAuliffe over Cuccinelli for governor. Sessoms has repeatedly advocated for tax increases, bigger budgets and more debt as mayor. He was also part of the slating cabal that unsuccessfully attempted to disenfranchise over 900 delegates to the Second District Republican Convention.
What is more disturbing is the continued support of this event after Rigell’s office learned that Governor McAuliffe would be the headliner. Both Rigell and Congressman Randy Forbes were listed as “special invited guests.” You can’t blame someone for being listed as invited, as Rigell’s office was quick to point out. The problem becomes the response once you find that your name has been associated with something you do not support.
Congressman Forbes’ office responded quickly with a statement distancing themselves from the event and expressing a clear desire that they not be associated with it:
Congressman Forbes is not a host of the event. His name was listed as a “special invited guest.” Congressman Forbes does not plan to accept the invitations nor attend the event.
Rigell’s office dismissed any controversy around the invitation and expressed no desire to distance the Congressman from the event. His staff simply said that Rigell is the only Virginia congressman who continuously votes for the conservative Republican Study Committee budget in the House, and that stance should speak volumes.
The problem is that our Virginia Republicans are embroiled in a bitter battle with McAuliffe over Medicaid expansion. McAuliffe made Medicaid expansion one of his top priorities during his campaign and Sessoms was quick to jump on that train and help McAuliffe during his campaign. Now we have the Sessom/McAuliffe fundraiser, in the midst of the Medicaid Expansion standoff, and Rigell, unlike Rep. Randy Forbes, is unwilling to disassociate himself from the event. The grassroots have fought hard to elect Cuccinelli, oppose Medicaid Expansion, and grow the Republican Party. Suffice it to say, many grassroots Republicans in the 2nd District are not happy.
Waverly Woods, a Republican and Chairwoman of the Hampton Roads Tea Party, held nothing back in her response to the situation:
Words are hard to find when describing this flyer. To think any “Red Blooded Conservative ” would support Mayor Sessoms after all he has done to destroy the Republican Party by supporting one Democrat after another. To call Mayor Sessoms anything less than a turncoat is just being too polite. Who in their right mind (friend or not) would want to risk political suicide with such a toxic Mayor? I think the Republican Party has been through enough. The taxpayers sure have!
38 comments
Ya’ tell it like it isn’t, Jamie…
The truth is, despite Rigell’s staunchly conservative voting record, there’s next-to-nothing this man can do right in the eyes of the Tea Party but sadly, the Tea Party can’t field a candidate to beat either Rigell, McAuliffe or Sessoms. So instead of working within the confines of what is available, they’d rather hand the election to the candidate they REALLY don’t want.
So if the Tea Party is so unhappy with Rigell, why didn’t they primary him? Because they couldn’t find a candidate with a political death-wish.The Tea Party doesn’t have to support Rigell, they can stay home and keep their dollars in their pocket-which is the same as handing the election to the candidate they REALLY will disapprove of.
I think what drives the Tea Party NUTS is, Sessoms won by like 63 or 68% in the last election which is basically telling the Tea Party that their message isn’t being heard, cared about or (God forbid) the majority of the voters are actually HAPPY with the job Sessoms is doing.
The problem I see with the “Liberty” faction of the party is simply this: If you don’t agree with them 100% of the time all of the time, you are guilty of treason in their myopic view and they turn on you for good and most of the time, it’s to their own detriment.
Can we get past the posturing here and to the meat of the matter? This event has little to do with Rs and Ds, as is often the case with Virginia Beach’s non-partisan local elections.
Why is Sessoms holding a major fundraiser when the Mayor’s seat won’t be on the ballot for nearly another 2 1/2 years? What will be on the ballot in November are 7 of the 11 seats of the Virginia Beach City Council. Sessoms is putting together a war chest to smash any serious challenges.
The TEA Party cries foul and tries to paint things in partisan terms. No, TEA Party-associated local candidates have been abysmal at fundraising here at the Beach, while Sessoms is the master of it. They see the guns being arrayed against them, and have nothing to respond with but bellicose words.
What’s the point in excoriating Rep. Rigell for simply attending an event with Governor McAuliffe and Mayor Sessoms? Why can’t Rep. Rigell disagree with them and still associate with them, as it’s important for him to do in his role representing CD2? Scott Rigell is a Republican who can actually win an election, unlike so many others the “grassroots” have supposedly supported. This is just silly. One criticism too many.
My problem with this is that the Mayor – or his people, depending on what version you hear – have gotten caught lying about relationships in the past. Remember in 2008 when some flyer went around that associated Obama and Will Sessoms? Some PR firm took the hit but this just sounds to me to be freakishly similar.
Whatever else one may think about Virginia Beach politics, a huge problem is voter apathy. The perception is very strong that the developers run the show and that there isn’t any point in showing up to a council meeting because the mayor doesn’t care what regular citizens think. And frankly, he doesn’t do much to convince any of us otherwise.
What better reason for voters to get out and vote him out!!!!!! If you can’t rally people to vote him out then what are they going to do when our Country totally collaspes under the wait of all these Socialist/Communists and WE become slaves to the elite.
Many? Waverly and Cohen don’t represent many, as proven by their repeated support for candidates who lose elections. I’ll grant you that these two aren’t happy. They never are. But the way other cities quit the Hampton Roads Tea Party to form their own, I wouldn’t bet the ranch on these two being a bell weather.
Don’t you have some more lying to go do somewhere? I’m enjoying the epic take-down of your “Brat the liberal” pablum on Smearing Drift….
But I do understand the appeal of being a lapdog…its all warm and cozy-like. You have a great evening now, ya hear!?
Paid Sessoms consultant Kirwin wins all the time.. So how is Sessoms close pal Mark Warner these days?
34-42% of the voters in Virginia supported Golden and McCormick, I’d say that’s a lot of people, especially considering how the “Conservative” Coalition’s Socialist campaign apparatus operated.
And Brian always wins because he understands math. You don’t get above 50% when you paint yourself into a corner. No democrats + no moderate Republicans will never equal 50+1. Unfortunately the HRTP leadership is mathematically impaired.
“This message brought to you by Charlie Crist”. 🙂
Just being an “R” doesn’t always mean a “win”.
I don’t get what you’re talking about. 50+1 or a plurality in 3+ way races is always a win. That the Tea Party doesn’t see that as priority number 1 in elections is the reason that they have had limited to no success in the Hampton Roads region.
I’m saying that if you win with a turd that it might not be a win worth celebrating, generally. Team Politics hasn’t done the country any favors over the last several decades.
And team anti-politics has not done the country any favors by running flawed candidates or campaigns where winning from a mathematical standpoint isn’t actually a goal. A win is a win. Until you can get your candidate elected, then generally you have nothing to celebrate.
If the math says you can’t win without moderate Republicans and Democrats and you decide not to go after those votes, then you are an idiot. That was their strategy of choice in 2012 in Virginia Beach and all of their candidates lost and all of Brian’s won. And 3 of those elections would have been winnable with a different strategy.
I totally get what you are saying…I’m a math guy too. Unfortunately though, by running and supporting squish candidates, we undermine the trust of the grassroots and tell candidates that its OK to be a squish… which it isn’t. I’m a bold colors guy, and generally reject pale pastels.
And your definition of squish candidates is what exactly? People with broad enough appeal to win a general election in a closely divided area? Rigell has always been a moderate, the HRTP were just too struck with his money in 2010 when they endorsed him to realize it.
Max, they endorsed him after he won the primary. I get what you are saying though. The political class supports one candidate and the tea party/grassroots supports multiple candidates to our detriment. The inability of our side to coalesce behind one candidate has caused us to lose some elections because we can’t achieve 50+1 in a 4-way race. Your point is further proven by the fact that when we have managed to coalesce, we have been much more successful in achieving electoral victories.
They endorsed him after he won the primary to try and depress Tea Party support for Kenny Golden. That’s what Karen Hurd said at the time.
And I’m not just talking about supporting 1 candidate instead of several, I’m talking overall strategy. In 2012 when the Tea Party got behind 6 candidates for local office in Virginia Beach (1 per seat), they refused to see the logic in appealing to Democrats and Moderate Republicans. They mistakenly thought they could win without them and the numbers showed otherwise. Granted at the end of the day the walk lists still contained Democrats, because I was making them, but most of the volunteers refused to talk to those people because they felt like they would never support our candidates.
The Tea Party paranoia that makes them think Democrats or Moderate Republicans will never support a Tea Partier is, along with the reasons you cited, a major part of why they have so much trouble winning general elections. When you brand yourself as Tea Party, as opposed to just being ideologically identical to the Tea Party and running as your own person, you paint yourself into a corner. When you do that AND refuse to reach out to Democrats and Moderate Republicans, you will lose every general election.
And I hate to nitpick, but that you just referred to getting 50+1 in a 4 way race is exactly the kind of mathematical challenges the Tea Party needs to overcome. 4 way race means a plurality.
“A win is a win.”
If we elect a Republican who goes on to vote for more government power, amnesty, bailouts, etc., for whom is that actually a “win”?
I don’t know any liberty Republicans who would consider that a win, and I’d wager the Tea Party Republicans wouldn’t either – and these are the two most numerous factions in the GOP.
That you don’t get I’m talking about elections and not policy is exactly the problem I am trying to illustrate.
What is the point of winning an election if it has no influence on policy?
That’s a stupid question. Winning in an election de-facto gives you influence over policy. Not the policies you want? Support another candidate or run yourself. But if the candidate you support can’t or won’t win because they can’t or won’t appeal to enough voters to mathematically have a chance to win, then you have a major problem. Or if they can’t raise the money to hit that magic plateau where you can communicate your message to enough voters to have a chance at winning if they are all paying close enough attention.
“Winning in an election de-facto gives you influence over policy.”
Are you sure you want to pursue this line of argument? I’d think it over real carefully before committing to it if I were you.
Yeah, if you’re the candidate who won, it does. Same if you’re one of the people working on the campaign in a leadership roll. Rank and file supporters who probably never met the person and just volunteered or gave a small contribution? Not so much, if at all.
Does Jason Miyares have influence over Rigell’s votes? More likely than not. Karen Hurd or Waverly Woods? Less likely than not.
Max, what exactly is the point you are arguing? You just went from strongly implying (“a win is a win”) that grassroots conservatives benefit from any Republican being elected, and can therefore influence policy (“Winning in an election de-facto gives you influence over policy.”) yet in a single post you have done a complete 180 and pretty much admitted that if you’re not an insider with these folks you have no influence over them.
Pick a position and stick with it or stop wasting our time.
No, I think you just didn’t comprehend what I wrote. I said a win is a win in reference to elections. As in running in an election.You win an election by a vote or by a 1000 votes and you win and get to take the seat. That you seem incapable of comprehending this is a waste of my time. A great use of your time would be to re-read what I wrote because I never once referred to anything being a benefit to the grassroots or Republicans in terms of winning elections.
We’re back to my earlier question, which I will expand and clarify for you: Why in the world would I care who wins an election if I have no influence on policy and there is no benefit to me?
Because those people have an influence on policy and can/will/do negatively affect you. Which brings me back to my original reason for posting. Scott Rigell wants to stay in office. Scott Rigell does not want a more liberal Democrat to replace him. Therefore Scott Rigell does what it takes to keep getting elected in a district Obama won in 2012. Therefore Scott Rigell is preventing Virginia from having another Democratic Congressman.
Do I like Rigell? Absolutely not. Next to Turbo Cohen, there isn’t anyone who posts on the blogs who did more to see him not get elected in the first place than I did. But do I understand the logic in supporting Sessoms? Absolutely. You either do what it takes to win or you lose and someone else gets to have the seat.
Unless the HRTP wants to encourage people to vote for the Libertarian or Suzanne Patrick, Rigell and his people could not care less what they think. Actually, they probably enjoy getting attacked by the Tea Party. Helps him with the Democrats and Moderates in VA-2.
Max, that was a fine display of a circular reasoning, and completely unconvincing.
I’m in the political arena to affect policy. Period. I don’t give two squats what “team” the people who are willing to enact those policies are on, and likewise don’t even give a single squat what team people who oppose those policies are on.
I don’t “win” when a Republican who is a political opponent on policy wins. The plain truth is that those kind of Republicans and their counterparts among the Democrats are effectively a single, corporatist, party, and enemies of the people of the United States.
Now since you think you’re so good at math, try to put yourself together a winning electoral coalition which doesn’t give either liberty voters nor Tea Party voters (nor anti-Fascists, anti-Communists, other Constitutional conservatives, and many other groups) what we want on policy. If you’re as good at math as you claim to be, then it should be trivial for you to demonstrate to your own satisfaction that if we conservatives are not satisfied enough to be motivated to vote for those candidates, the candidates you support cannot win – unless you alienate SO many people from the electoral system that any claim of representative legitimacy becomes a joke.
That wasnt circular logic, you are just delusional and only see what you want to see as evidenced by your previous mischaracterizations of what I wrote.
But as for your challenge, its simple. Run on a Tea Party/Libertarian platform, never use the words Tea Party or Libertarian, and go after every voter regardless of their ideology. Also be an individual and dont paint yourself into a corner by declaring membership to one group or another.
Max, either you can’t actually do any math more complicated than figuring out 50%+1, or you are wholly ignorant of the exponential growth of the liberty movement.
WE will have an absolute majority soon enough, because our polices tear the Democratic coalition to shreds.
Let’s see you do some math, since you clearly love to brag about it. All else being equal, based on the voting distribution in the 2012 Presidential election, how many electoral votes do the Democrats get if the next Republican can pull 29% support out of the black community like Rand Paul does?
The Tea Party/Liberty movement will never get that big in terms of self identified voters. In terms of people who support the ideology seperate from the labels we are already pretty much there. Which is why I said the way to win is run on a Tea Party platform without ever using the labels. Ive knocked on enough doors in the projects to know that Rand Paul will never get 29 percent of the black vote if he is labeled as tea party. How many elections in minority-majority districts have you been a part of?
Rand Paul IS polling at 29% in the black community and he openly identifies with the Tea Party.
Your choice is to accept the inevitable, or get the hell out of the way before you get steamrolled. This isn’t a negotiation, by the way – you have absolutely nothing to bargain with that has any value at all to us.
Thats your problem, you look at polling, I look at reality. If you think I have nothing to offer perhaps you should try talking to the Tea Party/Liberty candidates and causes Ive helped in the past and continue to help.
Its been a while since I’ve bragged about it, so who do you think did all the data and logistics that got Ron Paul to 40% in VA. And then recrunched the numbers and lists so Stearns could take over SCC. Ill give you a hint, it wasnt Chris.
I’ll believe that one when I see it. Reserving judgment for now – but I was also involved in that campaign, and I ain’t never heard of you.
Also, for anyone else following along, http://profile.typepad.com/maxshapiro is quite enlightening.
Most of the people following along know me in real life. Like Turbo and Jamie Radtke. Or Chris Stearns, who ive known since he was a lowly congressional district coordinator for C4L. No one who knows me would ever say im a mercenary. Chris asked me to work on the campaign pro bono and I spent over $1000 of my own money buying voter lists, setting up IT infrastructure and paying for things at the Hampton Roads HQ that Matt Cheatham was able to lease in his own name. All of that was necessary because the official campaign didnt give us a damn thing except the volunteer and donor lists.
I’ve never heard of you either. But if you got a walklist during that election it came from me. Ask around if you dont believe me.
I suppprt the best man for the job, always. That includes Democrats, Independents, Libertarians and Republicans.
Now I understand you, Max. Of course “a win is a win” – when you’re a mercenary. One day you’re a Republican, the next you’re “independent”, the next you’re a Democrat, the next you’re “progressive”, and so on – depending on who you are working for.
That you once had a merc job doing something for one of Ron Paul’s campaigns doesn’t make you one of us. And unless you’ve had some grand epiphany in the past year, you are most definitely not a libertarian nor a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. You may have figured out that we’re right on economics, but you’re still clueless that the same principles of voluntary human interaction are just as correct when applied to non-economic issues.