March 27, 2008 [LINK / comment]
News Leader stresses conscience
The editorial in today's News Leader discussed the upcoming Staunton Republican mass meeting, refraining from taking sides and simply urging party members to "vote their conscience." Indeed. They hit the nail on the head with these observations about the Staunton and Augusta County GOP units, recalling what happened last year's Hanger vs. Sayre primary race:
The division, it seems, is between the membership of these local parties and their leadership.
...
Until strong leaders take control of the committees and answer to the membership, these rifts will continue.
As I keep saying, as long as we listen to each other and follow the rules in resolving differences of opinion, everything will work out fine. That is my firm and earnest pledge to the Republicans of this fine city.
Download this: Clem campaign brochure 2008 (PDF, 3 MB)
As for the required published meeting call, one of our members finally tracked down when and where it appeared in print: March 3 in the News Leader. I wasn't even looking for it that early, and I seriously doubt many people in the public noticed it either. But it seems to have met the letter of the RPV provisions, if not the spirit. Oddly, however, the ad was not paid for with committee funds, which makes you wonder who is bankrolling us, and why. Ads aren't cheap; this one was going to cost a few hundred dollars, as I recall. That is only one of many such irregularities over the past two years...
Elsewhere on that page was a letter endorsing the incumbent candidate, but the staccato gibberish in it left me bewildered. Redefining the word "conservative," indeed!
Todos se fueron
Translation: "Everybody has left." Well, that's the way it seems lately in in Prince William County, where the "crackdown" on illegal immigrants has caused a number of Latino businesses to shut down. It's not quite like the movie A Day Without A Mexican Yet, however, not by any means! See Washington Post. If local leaders handle this the right way, PWC Board Chairman Corey Stewart could get a huge career boost.