Spank That Donkey

 The same phenomena that brought myself into contact with the Augusta County Republican Committee in 2004, will be repeated in 2008.  John Kerry's bid for the presidency brought me out of the woodwork of the general population, as will the threat of the 'OBAMA-NATION' will undoubtedly bring others this year.

I just flat out showed up, after a conversation with Thomas Nelson Jr. another committee member, after a conversation  meeting with him in my office.  I asked him six months previously if he needed help in his bid for Board of Supervisors against Nancy Sorrells.  At that time Tom said he felt really comfortable with his chances since he had the Republican nomination, and that he was facing two 'independents' for office.  Unfortunately for Tom, it's not just the nomination that counts, it's volunteer ground troops, and lots of them that brings victories in political battle.

So Tom brought me into the ACRC,  and we organized two golf tournaments for GWB, raising money for signs, shirts, buttons, and inevitably threw a great dinner/debate party that year.  In the end we had to answer to Dr. Roller the Treasurer, and Dr Michael for a $300 or so dollar deficit after running about $5,000 - $6,000 dollars thru the ACRC's ledgers.  Both gentleman agreed it was more than worth the effort; because Virginia was not considered a 'battle ground' state, and we got zero funding for the County from RPV.

All in all our efforts helped built a lot of unity, involved the business community, and regular folks in some good ol' GOP fun.

I was viewed with suspicion (by ACRC insiders), even though I came to the committee on Tom's impeccable word.  That is a problem on our committee.  Trust is typically about as how far anyone of us can throw the other.  Dr. Michael though was wise in this matter.  No one else was organizing events that brought in bucks and material, and he was glad to see volunteers manning the parapets.

Now a lot has transpired since then, but unfortunately the suspicion of everyone's intentions remains.... It needs to die.  When the state, county or town is threatened by the opposition; all hands are needed to put up signs, hand out pamphlets, man the phones, organize the defense, and then urge the like-minded to the polls.  We did this in 2004, and Augusta County went over 74% for GWB.  A lot of the credit goes to Kurt Michael in that regard.

Face it, politicians love a weak committee.  Why?  If it exists in a bare bones fashion, and just rubber stamps the elected's hides, it really only serves the purpose of the elected's...  The less organized the peasants, the harder it is for them to over throw the king and his lords.  That is again a function of lack of trust.  I hate to tell the Kings, Queens and Lords of Augusta county, but your inner wars need to be put to rest, because we face an enemy not from within at the moment, but from outside our little fiefdom.

During my last acts as Secretary of the Committee, I tried to make that point clear, but lost the vote on the make up of the committee.  I am not going to go into details, but volunteers fight with more vigor than draftees... Just as Citizens fight with more vigor than slaves.  Our committee needs to be opened up to our.... err.. fellow compatriots, for lack of a better term; that has lost a total means for any say whatsoever in the make up of the new committee.

Not only for our National fight of 2008, but for the state wide fight in 2009.  We must deliver a solid victory for our Presidential, Senatorial, and Representative candidates this year, just as we will deliver solidly for what is going to be the best Gubernatorial, LG, (and yet to be determined AG) GOP ticket ever in the Old Dominion.

Why is that 2009 ticket so strong?  Because like Big Boys, two Men got their heads together and figured out what was best for our party.  On top of that, after an awesome victory by Jeff Frederick for RPV chair, there is no doubt that the grass roots are tired of losing.... They are P'O'd and ready to go to work... but they need solid committee's to work in and around for the battle to be won.

I whole heartely endorse Bill Shirley for our new Augusta County Chair. He is coming off of a deep, deep Conservative GOP bench in our county.   We need to remember that the fight is about our greater good, and not certain individuals greater good.  Bill needs to keep this in mind as the committee moves forward also.

Sam Rasoul who is running against Bob Goodlatte is giving folks one dollar off per gallon up to 10 gallons it seems as a way to call attention to himself.  See this video here.  He may want to talk to his supporters, who thinks their time can be spent more wisely on oh say, something else?

It's no secret the Democrats are the ones against drilling in ANWR, and offshore here in the USA, and creating a supply shortage of fuel that is driving up our prices for fuel.  So I checked out his website.  Does he stand for drilling in the ANWR?  Drilling offshore in VA, to increase supply and provide the Commonwealth's coffers with royalties to go to Transportation, so we don't have to raise taxes?

It says:

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

America should invest in a vast array of alternative energies, that are not only friendly to our planet, but that also dampen our reliance on foreign oil. Energy can be harnessed from many different sources; one example is through wood chips. In Vermont, a good percentage of schools use heating systems that run on woodchips. Follow this link to a great article about the benefits of woodchip energy sources as published by the Federal Energy Management Program:
WOODCHIP SCHOOLS

Our government cannot continue to ignore the effects that greenhouse gases are having on the world. Significant increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been attributed to global warming, and to the rapid deterioration of our ice caps. Some say that this is paranoia, but though we cannot say for sure the consequences, we are seeing more frequent extreme weather events and seasons different from years past.

NEW "GREEN COLLAR" JOBS INITIATIVE

Didn't think so... My thoughts... cheap publicity stunt.  What we need to do?  Educate the public as to what is really going on, and what political party is bringing on this supply problem.

DJ maybe two hours away, but he has this situation pegged.  Kurt Michael announced in the press quite unexpectedly April 18th, that he would be stepping aside for the good of the party.  I think that is the right move, because if he stays as chair, it will further continue to divide the County Party. The Party needs to separate the personalities from the issues, and move forward.

As for our Supervisors.  They took a walloping 28% assessment increase in 2005, and didn't bother to drop the real estate tax rate one cent.  Just recently they announced that they will be doing away with the county stickers for our cars.  This of course will be less work on the Commissioner of Revenue and Treasurer's offices.  You would think they could drop a couple employees then?

Nope, nada, not gonna do, they instead increased the car tax rate in the county to make up for the lost revenue?

The situation on the ground is simple.  The Conservatives have a deep, deep, bench in Augusta County.   Everyone is paying attention now, and there will be a resolution as to what 'Fiscal Conservatism' means.. and I don't think it means raising taxes to fund a bigger government.  Others disagree, but we'll see soon enough what the citizens think.

And that folks is who decides....

Steve Winslow's Conservative Viewpoints has a good post up here explaining that winning magic that RPV needs to get back too, such as:

The moral of this story is simple; don’t mess with a motivated conservative who stands in a united front with those that refuse to lose sight of the greater goal which is to promote principles that unite and empower people by operating government as it is intended.

It really sounds a lot like Jeff Frederick and what he can transform RPV into, and just get away from the empty rhetoric mouthpiece that RPV has always been, at least since I have been involved in politics.  I can't wait to get down to Richmond and vote for that guy.

Talking grassroots is one thing, actually promoting them and giving them the tools necessary to get the job done is another.  RPV to me has just been an empty shell that is just a puppet organization for whomever the Top Dog in Republican politics.  That former top dog was Senator George Allen.  I don't sense in LG Bill Bolling or AG Bob McDonnell, who both have great grassroots networks that either of them would want to take RPV back into a lap dog type status.

I am sure it wouldn't be that way if we can get Jeff Frederick the chairmanship this May 31rst.  He'd be the Democrats worst nightmare, whereas LG John Hagar is a fine gentleman, his idea of Partisanship is to work for the other side in Governor Mark Warner's administration!  How in the world can anyone take seriously his desire as the chair of RPV to really defeat Warner this November?

It's time for a change at the tiller and unfurling of some new sheets so we can gather in those sails all of the Conservatives and Independents in Virginia and get back on course for limiting government and lowering the tax burdens on all Virginians.

Yankee Phil has the scoop here, on a big victory for Conservatives in Waynesboro, VA last night.  Chris Darden the new Republican Chair guided political newcomer Bruce Allen to a win last night with a great grass roots effort.

More on this later.  I think this election has some good insights into the upcoming US Senate race.