BREAKING NEWS: TLF Endorses Ken Vaughn in the 11th District Primary

As many of you know, The Last Federalist had previously endorsed Chris Perkins for Congress. However, after much consideration, the Editorial Board is rescinding that endorsement.

There are several reasons for this decision. First, the Perkins campaign has failed to run a race that proves that Chris could “take it” to Gerry Connolly if he was the Republican nominee. Moreover, the recent acknowledgement by Chris that he is pro-choice is a polarizing issue that has caused grave concern among many party activists and will dampen the support he will receive from grassroots conservatives who need a nominee that shares their conservative values.

What is even more disconcerting is the lack of a ground game by the Perkins campaign. Whether it is their voter identification program or the lack of signs in the median, the Perkins campaign has been unable to prove that they have the organization and campaign strategy necessary to win in November. The fact that there is a growing concern that Ken Vaughn might actually win on June 12^th, shows how weak and inept the Perkins campaign strategy is and how the senior management of their campaign has failed to put a structure together that sufficiently demonstrates his operation has what it takes to succeed. "Team Perkins" has many failings chiefly among them is he has not hired a campaign manager, Chris has decided to give the keys to his campaign over to a corrupt consultant with a track record of running dirty campaigns. See this press report about his previous track record. This consultant named Tyler Harber has not only taken Chris a new comer to the political world to the proverbial woodshed and suckered him for all the money that he is worth they haven't developed a winning strategy. Looking at the FEC reports Prosper Group Tyler’s company and there contractors have been paid $97,850 from the Perkins Campaign. This is and unheard of amount to spend on Consulting in a primary! AND the best part is that’s only through April so since Tyler is averaging 11K a month from this candidate so I can’t wait to see what the next FEC reports show us.

For all that money spent Chris has NOTHING to show for it. I haven’t seen one yard sign except for at hard “R” events where they are always obnoxiously and poorly placed. I have requested a year sign for my front yard and haven’t heard back from the campaign in months. On the other hand Ken Vaughn has been working it. I have seen him around at a ton of events around Fairfax, and Ken himself not a bunch of red t-shirt wearing, dip spiting cronies that are paid to be walking billboards. I have seen his signs on the Parkway, Braddock and most importantly in my neighbor’s lawn (and soon to be my lawn). Vaughn has personally asked me for my vote and explained to me his stances on the issues; this is more than I can say for Chris who has taken my vote for granted and subsequently lost it. As a long time Fairfax resident who has had the privilege of living in the 10^th and 11^th and voting for Tom Davis and Frank Wolf as a common-sense conservative I have no pause about throwing my full support behind Ken Vaughn.

Don’t get me wrong, Chris is a great guy and definitely someone who would be great to sit down, enjoy a beer and listen to his stories as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Special Forces. However, he has proven to be an unskilled candidate who micromanages his operation and surrounds himself with incompetent staff and his crony consultants running the show who are more concerned in making money than helping their candidates win elections.

I am not a Witch... Jamie Radtke the next Christine O'Donnell

As many can see, the editorial board at The Last Federalist has endorsed George Allen for U.S. Senate. He is currently in a Primary, and will hopefully become our nominee on Tuesday, June 12th. While one can certainly like and respect E.W. Jackson and Bob Marshall, neither of them have what it takes to beat Tim Kaine in the fall. However, they have both run a positive campaign for the most part and focused on the core issues that Virginians care about.

The same cannot be said about Jamie Radtke. Recently, Jamie has gotten so desperate, she has launched an assault on George Allen, attacking him as being a "career politician" and part of the "political class." Of course, this type of rhetoric shows Jamie's immaturity and why she is totally unfit for public office. Let's take a look at the facts regarding George Allen:  

-George Allen was the Tea Party before there was a Tea Party. In 1993, when George Allen challenged Mary Sue Terry, he ran a grassroots campaign that focused on common-sense issues. Its the same type of campaign he ran in 2000, and for the most part, the same type of race he is running now;

-George Allen is a fiscal and social conservative. Jamie Radtke is trying to channel some sort of Christine O'Donnell here in Virginia and George Allen is simply not Mike Castle. Jamie needs a better message because the package she is selling is bad;

-George Allen has bent over backwards for years helping Republicans at all levels get elected. He has been the headliner at innumerable events, and all the while, no one has ever heard of Jamie Radtke.

Jamie Radtke is a candidate that is full of lies, distortions and empty rhetoric and her nomination (slim as it might be) would be a total disaster for the Republican Party. All she has achieved with her candidacy is propping up the Tea Party and charging up a group of people who are totally outside the mainstream of most voters. These individuals seek not to help grow the Republican Party, but to destroy it. They use whatever tactics necessary, under the guise of "defending liberty" to infiltrate and control the GOP. In short, the Tea Party in Virginia is a corrosive force that is having a negative impact on our ability to win elections.

But, did the Tea Party start out this way? The short answer is no. When the Tea Party was formed in 2008-2009, I was initially supportive of the effort. For starters, I believed in its purpose and its message. I believe the power of government should belong in the hands of the people, and moreover, I believe in a fiscally responsible, small government. To that end, the Tea Party provided a true grassroots movement that capitalized on this message and worked to get individuals involved in the political process, who had never been involved before. That is a good thing!

However, as time moved on, the Tea Party began working against the Republican Party, rather than alongside it. And in 2010, even though we had numerous victories in the House, it was the Tea Party that ultimately cost us the U.S. Senate. In Colorado, Delaware, Nevada, Tea Party endorsed candidates were able to beat conservative main stream Republicans but failed to beat the Democrats in the fall. In short, it was the Tea Party that cost the GOP control of the Senate.

Many thought that after 2010, the Tea Party would simply vanish. It hasn't, and unfortunately, the Tea Party has become corrupted by outside influences which have sought to co-opt the movement and influence the Republican Party through exerting control over the processes. We are seeing this play out in Virginia over and over again at the various District Conventions. Through a coalition of Tea Party/Ron Paul individuals, long-term GOP leaders are being taken out and replaced with individuals who have little understanding of the process. 

2012 will prove a pivotal year for the Tea Party but might well decide the fate of the Republican Party. If the GOP loses the White House, it will mean four more years of an Obama Administration and the Tea Party will undoubtedly continue to exist. The unfortunate side effect of that is the Tea Party will continue to exert influence over the Republican Party and push the GOP not farther to the right, but rather to the radical fringe. This will only alienate middle-of-the-road voters who the GOP must persuade if we hope to win in the Commonwealth.   

End of An Era

Well, its over! The 5th and 11th Congressional District conventions elected their Chairman and members to State Central Committee and concluded up what has been a sweep across Virginia for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Needless to say, the bloodletting is finally over for establishment Republicans.

What is unfortunate is that the leadership that saved the Republican Party of Virginia from the disastrous Chairmanship of Jeff Frederick has all been swept out of office. On the RPV Executive Committee alone, only two of the eleven District Chairmen who voted to oust Jeff Frederick remain. Yesterday, Becky Stoeckel was the last of the "old guard" and lost on the first ballot at the 11th CD Convention to a Cuccinelli-backed candidate.

In each of the 11th Congressional Districts, Cuccinelli-backed candidates won key seats on the State Central Committee, and certainly puts Ken in a key position to control the Republican Party's governing body. Never before in the history of the Virginia Republican Party, has one Elected Official had such control over RPV, and in looking at those who were elected in the past month, it is extremely disconcerting. These "leaders" have no understanding of what it takes to win elections, and are only interested in pursuing an ideological agenda.

Even more scary is the impact the Ron Paul contingent had at the District Conventions this year. In numerous congressional districts, Ron Paul "RNC Delegates" were elected and that includes candidates in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, and 11th Districts. Unfortunately, the Ron Paul crowd was very disruptive and ultimately formed a coalition with Ken Cuccinelli to highjack the Republican Party by electing extreme State Central Representatives.  

2012 is the end of an era for the leaders that have helped guide the Republican Party back from the dark ages. Even with a strong RPV Chairman, the lack of new talent on the RPV State Central Committee means that we are unfortunately headed back to a period when RPV is irrelevant and candidates must rely on their own organization and operation to have any hope of getting elected. 

If Virginia Republicans are smart, they will see the mistakes made this year and correct in 2016. In the meantime, lets hope that the few pragmatic members of State Central can keep the organization doing the great work of helping elect Republicans. 

A special thanks is owed to all the pragmatic, solutions-oriented District Chairmen and State Central Representatives who lost to the ideological/purists. Your leadership and hard work will be sorely missed but we appreciate the leadership, vision and dedication you've shown the Republican Party of Virginia.