Jeff Frederick Takes The Helm
By Greg L | 1 June 2008 | RPV | 21 Comments
Today’s result in the race for Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia marks a huge shift in favor of the grass-roots that will absolutely change the face of the party. The Too Conservative today offers a poster of the movie “Apocalypse Now” as a commentary, which depending on your viewpoint either signifies this as being a dramatic air-assault that destroyed the ossified old-guard of Virginia political leadership, or is a complete and utter disaster to the trusted leaders who have carried us through some difficult times. While we all agree that this change is significant, I’m firmly of the opinion that the former option is the more accurate take-away for Republicans, and conservatives in particular.
The constant refrain I’ve heard about RPV is that the grass-roots have absolutely lost control, and RPV has been bought and paid for by special interests bearing large campaign contributions. In their quest to raise money so we can stuff another last-minute direct mail piece in a voter’s mailbox, or run another television or radio ad for us to fast-forward through on our TiVo, RPV hasn’t cared much at all about the foot soldiers that contribute to campaigns with their time and energy, and which make a far greater impact in achieving electoral success. Getting the attention of RPV without a big check in hand has pretty much been an exercise in utter futility in the past. As a result, the grass-roots outside of persons dedicated to a specific campaign or issue has entirely languished. The appearance of an unpaid volunteer working specifically on behalf of RPV up to now would be an unprecedented rarity.
Because Jeff Frederick has labored for his electoral victories and done so well not because of RPV effectiveness, but in spite of its ineffectiveness, he fully understands the malady that infects RPV as an organization for what it is. There’s going to be a wholesale change in the focus of the Republican Party of Virginia, and not change because the word sounds nice and is appealing, but because the situation demands it.
Among the first I expect to see will be that instead of having to get buzzed in to an empty lobby at RPV Headquarters on Grace Street in Richmond if you drop by, the doors won’t remain locked and there will actually be someone there interested in greeting you. I was flabbergasted when I visited Headquarters several times last summer and found that the doors were locked. Can you imagine a political party that actively discourages people from coming to visit them? It is completely insane. You’d think that not only would a political party actively invite visitors, but would have something dedicated just for visitors to encourage them to learn more about the party when they visit. So far, the message that RPV has delivered to passers-by, visitors and tourists is that we don’t want you. How nice. How utterly brain-dead.
Another change I expect is that Jeff is going to go out and start actively building up the volunteer base, and make it a special priority to do outreach to those who would be willing to devote their time and energy if only someone bothered to show them that they value such a contribution. And no, that “show them your appreciation” doesn’t mean send them direct mail every week asking for contributions like the RNC stupidly does. There’s lots of ways to make volunteering worthwhile, and sometimes all it takes is creating opportunities for volunteers to spend time with leadership, policy experts, and their own elected officials to learn about what’s going on, have some fun, and get brought up to speed on the issues that they’ll then take to their friends, family and neighbors. Jeff is a master at creating opportunities for voters to get informed, get passionate, and get moving, and no doubt he’s going to take his special gift in making that happen statewide.
I think we’ll also see increased transparency in party spending, how spending decisions are made, what technology is used to support the party. As an IT guy, I was absolutely shocked to learn how utterly crappy the information technology resources are that are available to candidates and local units, and I’ve no doubt Jeff feels the same way about them. Just watching people at the convention hand-feed individual ballots into a scanner in order to count votes should give some of the more IT savvy-people the jitters, not because this wouldn’t necessarily work, but because they way this was done was actually less efficient and time-consuming than hand-counting the ballots. Although the 21st Century may have arrived, the processes and systems used to employ those advances are decidedly obsolete by decades.
By far the best result of Jeff Frederick taking over RPV is in his outlook and dedication to principle, however. While the Chairman does not set policy, or tell elected officials how to vote, he is an important voice within the Republican political realm that weilds enormous influence in candidate recruitment, policy development, and defining political strategy. He is no fan of grand compromises, is unwilling to accept dire predictions of electoral gloom if Republicans fail to compromise their values, and is absolutely dedicated to the core principles of limited government, low taxes, protecting liberty and reinforcing the value of personal responsibility among us all. This alone is more than a worthy quality for a Chairman, but given his experience, insight and determination to make the right difference, we are poised on a potential rebirth for the Republican Party of Virginia.
And not a moment too soon. This air-assault was long overdue.
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Jeff has just taken on one of the toughest, most thankless jobs in the Commonwealth. It is coming at a pivotal time in the history of the Virginia GOP. Let’s all do what we can to help and support him. We should also unite in keeping his Delegate seat in GOP hands.
Congratulations Jeff!!
Congrats to a well-deserved win, Jeff! Now, can we replace the DAR-relic of a Secretary who can’t seem to function very well in receiving the counts and has difficulty writing them down?
Congrats to Jeff and Congrats to the VA Republican party…. time for the next generation to take over and bring this party to the next level
Terrence Boulden
The party headquarters need to be moved pronto. The doors have been locked because of the high crime rate in the area. I do not blame past administrations for keeping the doors locked but this will be a necessity until they can find better quarters in a safe area. Either that or find armed security during business hours.
Sara said on 1 Jun 2008 at 10:50 am:
Quick question–
QUICK andwer: sho fly!
Congratulations Jeff Frederick. This is absolutely a major step in the right direction for the Repb. Party.
Jeff took on Rollison a few years ago and won his seat. Rollison did nothing for P. W. all the years he was Delegate. He did nothing to help the local candidates,in fact he worked against some Party members.
The RVP has been in need of help for at least 10 years. And now we will get it.
We can start winning the seats instead of throwing them away. This hopefully will be a lesson to those who have been a part of the Repb. losing seats.
Jeff will turn this around. Now we need someone in his District. Does he have to resign or not run? I would hope he can stay.
Perhaps he has another go getter.
Great work Jeff, we knew you could do it.
Jeff has cautioned us many times that a storm is coming. We are probably going to get shellacked as a party in November. All Jeff can do at this point is stop the amount of blood we’re going to lose.
It’s important to keep that in perspective.
John Hager deserves our sincere gratitude for his decades long support of Republicans and his service to Virginia in both Republican and Democratic administrations.
The election of Jeff Frederick by such a landslide (turned to acclamation on the motion by John Hager) shows that the Republican Party members are eager to move forward and distance the Virginia GOP from the Bush years.
It will take more than a new Chairman. We can’t sit at home and take a, “Let Jeff do it” attitude. We all must recruit new members, citizens who love LIBERTY and want a return to Constitution based government, and rebuild our local precinct organizations from the ground, upwards.
As this Convention passes into history, my lasting memory will be how the current RPVA staff intentionally worked against Jeff Frederick and Bob Marshall, when they should have been held to a much higher standard of impartiality and professionalism. I will not forget how, when I visited the Obenshain Center in Richmond to help with Convention preparations that I found no Marshall or Frederick materials being included in the bags to be given to delegates who paid the $35 fee, even though materials from their opponents were being placed in the bags. When I went to use the Men’s room, I found the only Jeff Frederick sign in the building, on the toilet.
Every one of the people on the outgoing RPVA staff must resign. Jeff Frederick needs to fill all of the jobs with new staff who will be professional, friendly and fair to all of our candidates for all nominations.
If Republican Conservatives are going to wrest control of the Party from Establishment Republicans, then now is the time and Virginia is the place. And Jeff is the young man to lead us forward - he is going to have huge opposition from within the Party (the ERs) and demonization from the Left.
“legal2,” I don’t think your criticism of Polly (?) is fair. She couldn’t hear the vote totals in full when partisans erupted upon hearing that their candidate had prevailed in a district before the entire number had been read. There were a number of occasions when I didn’t hear the full number, either, and I am a few decades younger than our Secretary of the Convention. Furthermore, District Chairmen would give the number, and THEN the name of the candidate, which made it difficult for anyone else to keep track of the vote totals, or keep their own tally.
I would expect that Frederick will keep his word and resign from the GA now that he is the Republican Chairman. That will be one of the best things for PWC as his just say NO and not having any solution for solving the transportation problems he accomplished nothing as well. Maybe there might be a chance to get at least one Delegate in PWC who wants to solve Transportation funding but we will have to see. He is just what the Republican Party need to lead them doing nothing. Gilmore will certainly use up lots of contributions out of the pockets of Republican to accomplish nothing as well.
BobWills: If Gilmore does beat Warner, he’ll have to do it without my money or my vote. Too bad; I would have voted for Marshall. I will not compromise any more.
I believe his pledge was to not seek re-election to the House of Delegates…not resign.
My understanding is that “Gnarly” is correct. Because of this pledge (I live in Jeff’s district), I was planning on voting for Hager, until I observed the rank incompetence in the execution of the Convention.
Could we be considerate to those who have dedicated alot of time and years to serve in a variety of capacities in the Virginia GOP? Having attended the Convention in Richmond myself, I make this observation. It is always easier to criticize or ‘poke fun’ at others who are doing something. Yes, agreed, there were several aged people who struggled with words up on the platform. Give a little credit to them. Let’s see if our generation, the younger ones, will have the determination to remain committed and dedicated throughout our lives to the GOP cause as our older party leaders and volunteers have done. None of us are perfect and many of us are accustomed to watching a very polished presentation leaving no margin for simply being human. Let’s transition with dignity, gratitude and goodwill as our newly elected Republican Party State Chairman, Jeff Frederick, leads fellow Republicans towards rebuilding, restoring and reforming a tarnished image of the Republican Party here in our own state. We can be a light to other states to lead with honor, valor and become a party that is undivisible. We can agree to disagree without discrediting one another. Our fighting and competitive spirits can divide us so easily if we do not step back and take a second look. Winning at all costs is costly to us all.
We have two principled examples to model after. Both Delegate Bob Marshall and Delegate Jeff Frederick are not perfect, but practice principles that serve for the good of the Commonwealth and humanity. Job well done gentlemen!
Jeff Frederick NEVER said he would resign his seat.
From an email he sent out, he said specifically:
“Dear Fellow Virginia Republican:
… After careful consideration of their opinion, those of others, and much prayer, I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the House of Delegates if I am elected RPV Chairman. This is something I have considered for some time and have not been opposed to, but the Cobb/Malek/Neel letter articulated the issue well, and I agree.”
Gosh, it’s so hard to believe that Mr. Wills has gone off half-cocked, again.
JYoung-While there was sometimes noise, there were also plenty of times that Polly was told 2-3 times and still didn’t get it right. Many of the delegates around me also heard the counts after 1, 2 and 3 times, but the secretary recording it, did not. Why don’t those who are announcing the counts, hold up a big old sign in front of the secretary at the same time they are at the mic so we don’t have any confusion, assuming the secretary can see?
That’s probably not a bad idea, “legal2.” I just thought “DAR-relic of a Secretary” was a bit of a cheap shot to take at Polly (?). Particularly when I, too, had trouble hearing the full numbers when people started whooping and hollering before the speaking had given them.
“speaking” = “speakers”
anon said on 1 Jun 2008 at 9:11 pm:
Jeff Frederick NEVER said he would resign his seat.
From an email he sent out, he said specifically:
“Dear Fellow Virginia Republican:
… After careful consideration of their opinion, those of others, and much prayer, I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the House of Delegates if I am elected RPV Chairman. This is something I have considered for some time and have not been opposed to, but the Cobb/Malek/Neel letter articulated the issue well, and I agree.”
Gosh, it’s so hard to believe that Mr. Wills has gone off half-cocked, again.
Well going off half cocked is better then shooting yourself in the foot so I am human and wrong once again anon :)))
It is too bad he is not resigning for we might get rid of Stewart but will have to endure him for 3 more years and get nothing done in the GA to solve transportation
Prince William Delegates went to the State Convention to conquer and that “we” did. We dominated in numbers and enthusiasm despite RPV’s attempt to ignore the elephant in the room.
With Jeff Frederick’s leadership, now is the time to grow the party and we can do that by reaching out to Democrats, Independents, and Libertarian voters who stand together with us on issues such as limited government, lower taxes and to protect our freedom and liberty.