When Good Teenagers Go Bad

It seems that Vince Thoms, the self-described "Too Conservative," has had some fantasies about Chairman Sean and the status of Kate Obenshain Griffin as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. TC thinks that Chairman Sean should replace Kate.

While the wailing and gnashing of teeth over a few GOP losses in special elections against an energized Virginia Democrat Party is interesting, one really has to wonder whether it is merely the effort of so-called "moderate" Republicans to reclaim the control over the GOP that they lost nearly three decades ago. You know: when the GOP started winning in Virginia.

But Chairman Sean as RPV Chairman? What a great idea! Elect as Party Chairman someone who holds in contempt one of the four Republican state-wide office holders (and the highest Republican vote-getter in 2005), and one whose candidacy for statewide office was rejected by Republican voters. Great message that would send to the grass roots. And that's a great way to insure evenhandedness if there is a contest between McDonnell and Bolling in 2009.

TC also decided to belittle those who find Chairman Sean's character and ethics wanting, but ignores the fact that the dispute that many of us have with him is about policy, first and foremost: his tax and spend ways. TC and others try to talk their way around it, but the fact is that Chairman Sean has presided over massive tax increases in PWC.

And he has done so not by justifying his spending increases --- some of which may be justified --- but by demonizing fiscal conservatives and conducting the debate in Left-wing terms: "Where would you cut?" In fact, the thoughtful opposition of the Prince William Taxpayers Alliance has only suggested that the rate of increases be limited to a far greater extent than he has ever been interested in, or, at least, was ever interested in until he got statewide ambitions.

Chairman Sean learned his lessons well, and adopted the same tactic used by Clinton and congressional Democrats in the late Nineties: have bureaucrats write budgets which propose massive increases, and label (inaccurately) any proposal to limit those increases as "cuts." My conception of leadership is somewhat different: grab a spendthrift bureaucracy by the gonads, and don't let go 'til they scream.

Without saying anything else about Chairman Sean, I stand by my earlier comment: elected public officials should not hold Party office. And that includes my friend Eugene Delgaudio, running for Tenth Congressional District Chairman.

Aside from the absurdity of TC's suggestion, it is his premise which is faulty, as I fail to see why the long knives should be out for Kate. Sure, we've had a bad string in specials, but we won two out of three statewide offices in the General. Kilgore's loss is attributable to three things: Kilgore's inept campaign; Kaine's dishonest campaign; and Marky Mark's inexplicable popularity. Our losses in the specials, I would contend, are due to local factors not attributable to Kate's leadership.