The Derg Show Up At The PWCRC
By Greg L | 11 February 2007 | PWCRC | 5 Comments
Perhaps now that the PWCDC is in some disarray, a few county Republicans think the time is right to have an all-out battle for the soul of the Prince William County Republican Committee. You have to admit that if it needs to be done, when the county democrats are in at least a leadership transition a better opportunity is unlikely to be found. Only would you want to?
First up we have the Faisal Gill/Julie Lucas race that promises to be a pretty muddy struggle that’s been accelerated somewhat by this website, but is pretty much inevitable regardless. There are lots of folks out there who think that a party unit, which has the responsibility of winning elections, has committed a major gaffe by injecting someone like Faisal Gill into the candidate selection process. And then there are those who think differently.
Next is the strong possibility that Chairman Tom Kopko is going to challenge Marty Nohe for Coles Supervisor. Marty is one of the big-tent Republicans and a great campaigner, but with a disturbing tendancy to align with Hilda Barg and John Jenkins in votes on the county board. Adding to this mix is another strong possibility that Wally Covington, who lately has appeared to get some sort of consevative “religion”, will challenge Corey Stewart for Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors. A Kopko & Stewart vs. Nohe & Covington smackdown would be another element of potential division pitting “moderates” against “conservatives” that should have happened in the previous Chairman elections but didn’t due to Maureen Caddigan’s indecisiveness.
And then we come to the county committee, where the appointment of Trent Barton as temporary Vice-Chair is developing into yet another battle as Denny Daugherty has come out guns-a-blazing making this a surprisingly sensitive pick. If Tom Kopko resigns in order to run, who is Vice-Chair becomes more of a political football than before. This aligns closely with the Gill/Lucas battle, as Denny Daugherty is clearly trying to position himself in order to assume control the method of nomination for the 51st District and give Faisal Gill an upper hand. Denny is a smart, tough political brawler who has little interest in a “big tent” philosophy, preferring instead to spearhead ideological battles to cement conservative dominance in the committee. Trent is less of a political fighter who is more competent administrator and conservative political realist to whom the ideological purity of Faisal Gill is immaterial when he stands so little chance of winning in a general election. That contest is rapidly turning ugly in a series of private emails and phone conversations that started picking up yesterday.
Should the committee start engaging in it’s own version of the Red Terrror, Marty Nohe and Wally Covington will walk through the smouldering ashes of the Prince William County Republican Committee and have an opportunity to become the Republican analogues of Hilda Barg and John Jenkins. If the question of Faisal Gill’s candidacy can be resolved early, it’s likely that there will be but a ripple of discontent, Tom Kopko will have a real shot at putting another reliable conservative voter in the Board of County Supervisors, and someone might be able to take advantage of Wally Covington’s own potential weaknesses and relationship with Paul Ebert, and give him a challenge.
It should at least be interesting to see which way all of this ends up going, and plenty of folks will be watching closely. Are the county democrats going to get a reprieve from their rush into electoral irrelevance? Will political disagreements develop into ideological purges and irreparable faults in the Republican committee? By the end of this month, the answers will be clear, and our local equivalent of Mengistu, or lack thereof, will be firmly established.
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The time has come for Prince William Republican’s to make some adjustments. The local GOP Party has been evolving under the leadership of Tom Kopko. He has strategically strengthened the party by staying focused on conservative principles, he was instrumental in Corey Stewart winning the Special Election. Most importantly he has invited all Conservatives regardless of religion or race to unite. As a result, the Party has grown and become a very effective political unit. TYet te Republican committees damaged reputation continues to live on in Prince William and in the surrounding counties.
In Prince William Conservative Republican’s are no longer hidden in the shadows of the Ideologues. Ideology doesn’t work, Pragmatism does.
It is more important than ever that the Committee support its Chairman. Aren’t we all tired of a stale economy because the County is perceived as a politically unfriendly place to do business? Ideologues try to run people off acting like bullies, but this time lets not let them get away with it. It’s time for Conservatives and Moderated (including it’s Committee defectors) to join together in promoting Integrity with the Republican Party.
If anyone thinks Barton would be an asset, they should look carefully at his past efforts. He is far from an adequate administrator and actually more in the vein of an opportunist with little to offer any organization. The republican committee is slowly imploding and none of the so-called leadership recognizes the problem being Kopko and his cabal.
Anyone who says that PWCRC is imploding is clueless and should keep their opinions to themselves. Kopko has done great things in the brief time he has served as Chairman. Again we’re faced with a very simple decision, who do you think can bring the most Integrity to the election process in 2007.
Denny has clear political ties to candidates that he is working to get elected. He is only doing this to make a point—ABT Anybody But Trent. Why? Google Trent’s name and read the news articles and maybe then you will see the light.
Skeptic, what news articles would that be? I googled Trent and I didn’t get a clue to what you were saying.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Trent+barton+christian+coalition
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3944/is_200104/ai_n8950191
http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/cc-lawsuit.htm
http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/01/top10_2001_09.html
Ten African-American employees at the Christian Coalition’s Washington, D.C., office have filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the organization of racial discrimination.
The complaint alleges that Coalition Executive Director Roberta Combs excluded black employees from staff prayer meetings and an inaugural dinner the group sponsored when George W. Bush became president. It also charges that the Coalition extended health care benefits to white employees but not blacks and maintains that black employees were forced to eat lunch in a segregated dining area.
According to the Lee v. Christian Coalition lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington Feb. 23, the workers, most of whom did data entry for the Coalition, were told they could not enter the Coalition offices through the front door, Instead, they were ordered to enter through the back door but were not given key cards to open it and thus had to pound on the door every day to get in.
The suit maintains that Combs said she did not want the black staffers entering through the front door because they would wear out an Oriental rug in the reception area and because she did not want visitors to see employees from the data entry department milling about in that area. It also asserts that she complained about the employees being “talkative and wast[ing] too much time in the kitchen.”
The court filing says black employees were denied use of a break room that has a television, refrigerator and microwave oven and were instead forced to use a “segregated break area, consisting of tables shoved against the wall of the remittance/data entry room.” It alleges that the Coalition failed to pay the employees the minimum wage.
A week and a half after the lawsuit was lodged, a separate legal action was brought by a white employee who says he was fired after he refused to eavesdrop on the black employees who had complained about working conditions. Trent Barton, a lobbyist for the Coalition, said he sympathizes with the African– American employees and told the St. Petersburg Times, “I believe they have a lot of factual information on their side.”
In his lawsuit, Barton charges that Tracy Ammons, a consultant to the Coalition who is Combs’ son-in-law, asked him on Feb. 22 to spy on the black employees. Barton asserts that he was fired after he refused.
Barton filed his legal case, Martin v. Christian Coalition, along with two former black Coalition employees, Rhonda Martin and Samantha Henson. Henson said Combs “became uncomfortable” when she and another black employee joined in employee prayer meetings. Henson said she stopped attending the prayer meetings and shortly thereafter African-American employees stopped receiving notification of the gatherings.
The Times reported that on Feb. 27 Combs prepared a memo denying that the Coalition had refused to allow black employees to enter through the front door. That same day they were issued card keys. Combs later released a statement repudiating the allegations raised in the lawsuits.
“This pro-family organization, one of the most effective in the nation, is committed to fighting religious bigotry and defending expressions of faith in the public square,” said the Coalition, “and we view any act of discrimination as morally reprehensible.”
The lawsuits are the latest in a string of problems for the Coalition. The group, founded with much fanfare in 1990 by TV preacher Pat Robertson, has fallen on hard times. It is in debt and seems to be losing its political influence in the Republican Party.
Washingtonpost.com Special Report: Clinton Accused… not be written in a style that will arouse sexual feelings,” said Dennis Daugherty, a board member who is also active in the local Christian Coalition. …
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/web091298.htm - Similar pages