Gillespie, Hill, and Lind all want to be nominated at the next Virginia GOP Convention. Will they step up to help ensure that Convention is not the last one?
Facebook and the blogosphere are abuzz with the realization that legislators are poised to undo freedoms enjoyed for centuries in Virginia in one fell swoop, with little public involvement or scrutiny. I’m talking, of course, about the parallel bills in the Virginia House and Senate that would effectively mandate that every nomination of a party’s candidates be done via a state-administered process, instead of allowing the political parties the freedom to conduct their business freely in accordance with their First Amendment rights. See my post from yesterday (The Government Should Stay Out of GOP Nomination Contests).
This morning, former Lieutenant Governor candidate Susan Stimpson sent out an email to supporters outlining her opposition to these bills, and her support of the continued ability of the grassroots to remain relevant in Virginia. One bit of her email in particular caught my eye, where she calls on our candidates for U.S. Senate to stand in solidarity with the grassroots to protect the party’s Constitutional rights:
Shak Hill and Howie Lind have both served on the executive Board of the 10th Congressional District Republican Committee and Ed Gillespie was the Republican Party of Virginia’s Chairman as well as our Republican National Committee Chairman. Will they stand up and fight for our party? Contact them and ask them if they will stand in opposition to HB194 and SB507 because any candidate who refuses to stand up for the right of the Republican Party to choose its nomination process cannot credibly stand on a stage at a convention this May and ask for our support.
(Emphasis mine). [CORRECTION FROM THE COMMENTS: Shak Hill was not on the Executive Board of the 10th District Committee.] This is a crucial test for our Senate candidates. The ostensibly “pro-military” bills wending their way through the legislature are actually anti-party, anti-grassroots bills–taking the political power and influence away from party organizations entirely and leaving it to the state to decide on a blanket, one-size-fits-all solution.
So, I challenge Ed Gillespie, Shak Hill, and Howie Lind to publicly and loudly oppose these measures. I challenge each of them to call members of the General Assembly and work to have these bills killed completely. The candidates who do this will gain much favor from the grassroots activists who will make the trek to Roanoke in June, while any candidate who does not do this will feel their wrath.
If some version of these Republican-backed bills is eventually signed into law by Terry McAuliffe, the Roanoke convention will be the one last chance for the conservative grassroots to strike a huge blow against the established political class.
Ed, Shak, and Howie, which one of you will be the target?
