Longtime GOP Operative and Consultant Endorses McAuliffe

While far too many of my former Republican compatriots continue to guzzle down Christofascists Kool-Aid, some are waking up to the reality that the 2013 GOP statewide slate is not only frightening but also poisonous for Virginia's future.  Now, Boyd Marcus, campaign consultant to Jim Gilmore, George Allen, and other true remotely sane conservative Republicans, has come out and endorsed Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe.   Even more stunning, he is now advising the McAuliffe campaign.  Not surprisingly, the GOP Kool-Aid drinkers are livid with Marcus.  Here are highlights from the Miami Herald:

Boyd Marcus, a veteran Republican political consultant whose client list has included U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, is endorsing Democrat Terry R. McAuliffe and advising his campaign against GOP nominee Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia's neck-and-neck race for governor..

The announcement by McAuliffe's campaign, confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday in a phone interview with Marcus, rocked Virginia politics and exposed the clearest sign to date of bad blood within the GOP between its establishment and the tea party conservatives who comprise Cuccinelli's ardent army and control the state Republican Party machinery.

Marcus, who most recently guided the aborted gubernatorial campaign of Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, became a paid adviser to McAuliffe knowing it would sever many longtime GOP ties for him. But he felt it necessary.

"I was looking at the candidates, and I saw Terry McAuliffe as the guy who will work with everybody to get things done," Marcus told the AP in a telephone interview.

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In a statement announcing the endorsement, McAuliffe's campaign quotes Marcus as saying, "I've never before supported any Democrat, but this election Terry is the clear choice for mainstream conservatives."

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Democrats were giddy at Marcus' defection. A Democratic National Committee noted the news in a blast email, gloating that it was "just the latest example of dysfunction and infighting within the GOP, and the Civil War that is pulling the party apart."

Marcus's defection struck even the GOP's establishment figures as a breathtaking apostasy, an action tantamount to Marcus forever forsaking the party.

"How can you ever go back?" former Lt. Gov. John H. Hager, a moderate Republican, said in a telephone interview. "Basically, it's Boyd's move to hang it up. Maybe this is his ultimate move."

Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins was furious over what he viewed as a betrayal.

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Marcus was the architect behind the 1997 campaign in which Gilmore harnessed public hatred for the personal property tax Virginia localities assess on privately owned cars and pickup trucks, allowing the Republican to win in a rout behind the slogan "No Car Tax!"

Marcus served as the governor's chief of staff during Gilmore's term from 1998 to 2001. He earned the nickname "the Prince of Darkness" among political adversaries — and even a few allies — who grudgingly acknowledged his ability to almost invisibly achieve political or policy objectives. 

I love it!!  Would that some of my former compatriots would wake up to reality and flee the Cuccinelli-Jackson-Obenshain triumvirate.  Yes, Karen, I am talking about you among others.

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Jim Gilmore, Former RNC Head: GOP Risks Becoming Permanent Minority

I've known Jim Gilmore (pictured at right) since 1974 when we were law school classmates at the University of Virginia.  Indeed, while he was governor, he appointed me to a state authority responsible for financing for Virginia's colleges and universities.  No one would ever describe Jim Gilmore as a liberal by any stretch of the imagination.  Nonetheless, he sees the Republican Party's perilous mark towards a permanent minority party if moderation is not restored.  A piece in National Review looks at Gilmore's call to the GOP to cease its extremism and to let go of the hate and bigotry that is driving voters away from the GOP.  Here are some article excerpts:

Jim Gilmore, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, says the GOP is quickly becoming a “permanent minority.”

“I don’t think the party dies immediately,” Gilmore says. “It’s not going to just disappear like the Whigs did, since there is so much law that supports the two-party system. But Republicans will be locked into a permanent minority at the national level unless we seriously rethink our approach.”

Gilmore, a former Virginia governor, spoke with National Review Online on Wednesday. He says he and other longtime Republican leaders have been privately fretting about the GOP’s future since Mitt Romney’s defeat.

“The world has changed beneath us,” Gilmore says. “Shrillness and extreme language are driving away the voters who could help us build a majority. We’re not speaking to them as reasonable conservatives. Republicans have to decide if they want to govern or play ideological parlor games.”

“Young people today have a more tolerant, hands-off perspective,” he says. “Their libertarian philosophy, for example, has to be taken into consideration. Yet we keep projecting anger at the gay community and the Hispanic community, even though they’re open to many of our ideas.”
“It’s a real political problem when Hispanics don’t believe that the Republican party is their friend,” he warns. “You’ve got to fix that.”

I believe that Gilmore is 100% on point.  Sadly, the Christofascists and Tea Party elements of the GOP base refuse to hear the message that Gilmore and others are trying to send to them.

Virginia GOP Stoops to New Lows

I have often felt of late that the Republican Party of Virginia is even more reactionary, bigoted and down right nasty than the Party at the national level - even though the Virginia GOP claims to be the party of "family values" and "decency." While the GOP as a whole has sunk to despicable lows in this election cycle, the Virginia GOP has risen to the challenge to prove it is utterly sleazy and racist. The Talking Points Memo has a story that is almost too much to believe in terms of the racial overtones and bigotry now on display by the Republican Part of Virginia. The image above is from a a new mailer from the Republican Party of Virginia. Its hard to believe that any legitimate political party would put out such vile trash, but sadly it is indicative of how the Christianists and lunatic base has remade the Party into something evil. Here are some story highlights (other images from the vile mailer can be seen at TPM):

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In the race's final stretch, much of the real sludge and slime that floats to the surface will be the work not of the campaigns but of under-the-radar operations run by state parties and the like. Here, for instance, is a new mailer from the Republican Party of Virginia that has to be seen to be believed. It hits Dems -- and by extension, Obama -- for wanting to appease terrorists and rogue leaders.

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But the key is the last page, which displays a man who looks like Obama but with the same dark and sinister aspect as the bad actors depicted elsewhere in the mailing. . . . . We asked Virginia spokesperson Gerry Scimeca whether the likeness to Obama was in fact the Illinois Senator, and he said he couldn't immediately say. Asked to defend the mailer, he said: "It's about the fact that the world is evil," he said, referring to the multiple bad actors that populate the planet. "Choosing a president is about standing up to them."

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As Raising Kaine properly notes:

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All Virginians should utterly reject this entire approach to politics, as well as this specific mailer. And we're all still waiting for Bob McDonnell, Jim Gilmore, Bill Bolling, John Warner, etc. to denounce Jeff Frederick and demand his resignation as RPV chair. If not, we can only conclude that they agree with his approach, then vote accordingly.

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I suspect John Warner may condemn this action, but my bet is that Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, Jim Gilmore and Bill Bolling will not. In fact, it looks like the type of bigotry McDonnell would support based on some of his past low life actions (e.g., the lynch mob atmosphere he helped create in forcing Verbena Askew from the Circuit Court bench because - my heavens - she was rumored to be a lesbian).

Republican Retreat From Reality Continues

As a former GOP activist some years back, I find it amazing how the GOP, particularly in Virginia, continues to move the the extreme lunatic far right thinking that somehow this will improve the Party's chance for electoral success. A case in point is yesterday's GOP Virginia State Convention where former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore (a former classmate who appointed me to a state board back in 2000, but nonetheless not someone I want to see back in office) just barely won the GOP nomination to run for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring John Warner who held the seat for over 30 years. Gilmore's opponent for the nomination was the totally gay-hating and delusional Bob Marshall who has flat out stated that he'd like to drive all the gays from Virginia. Out of some 10,400 votes cast, Gilmore won by only 66 votes. As much as I dislike Gilmore's poltical views, to have this close of a race, they must have been serving huge barrels of mind altering drug laced Kool-Aid at the Convention. I hope the Virginia GOP continues its far right trend, thereby assuring Democrat victories as all by the most insane theocrats bail from the Party and its candidates. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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As he introduced Prince William County Republican Del. Bob Marshall on Saturday at the state GOP convention, former state party chair Patrick McSweeney called for a return to conservative roots. The staunchly pro-life Marshall narrowly lost the nod to former governor Jim Gilmore – about 66 votes separated the two in a contest that saw nearly 10,400 ballots cast.

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But ardent conservatives ended the day with a victory when Del. Jeff Frederick, R-Prince William, won the state party chairmanship over current chairman and former Lt. Gov. John Hager. Those fractious contests reveal a philosophic and strategic divide in the state party at a time when the Republican brand has lost some luster. The fight is not new, but rather a recurring battle for the soul of the party that this year is set against the backdrop of a presidential election and several statewide contests.

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Intensifying GOP concerns are the recent successes of Democrats in Virginia: The party has won the last two gubernatorial elections, the state’s most recent U.S. Senate race and gained seats in the General Assembly. Additional baggage comes from public worries about the economy and escalating gas prices, the ongoing American military campaign in the Middle East and the low approval ratings of President George W. Bush.

Kool-Aid Drinkers Vie for GOP Nomination

With former Governor Mark Warner the all but official Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by long time incumbent John Warner, the question of the moment is who will be the GOP nominee. At this point, it is a constest between dumb and dumber: former Governor Jim Gilmore who left office as one of the most unpopular Governors in recent memory, or Delegate Robert Marshall who makes the Taliban look liberal on social issues. The fact that the Republican Party of Virginia cannot find better would be candidates is telling as to the GOP's groing weakness in Virginia outside of backwards rural areas.

Increasingly, Virginia voters seem to be waking up to the fact that slavish adherance to an ultra-far right Christianist agenda is NOT in the state's best interest. As a result, GOP moderates have abandoned the Party in droves, most of my own family being prime examples. Meanwhile, the Christianists blame the defections on the Party not being conservative enough, although I'm at a loss as to how the party base could get more conservative other than perhaps by pushing to re-enslave blacks, have gays publicly executed and taking the right to vote away from women. Barring some unforseen disaster, Mark Warner should win this contest by a land slide. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Former Gov. Jim Gilmore says he's all but clinched the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. "Baloney," replies Bob Marshall, an outspoken state delegate also vying for the GOP's senate banner. No one can say with certainty which candidate is right, given the complex rules of the nomination that will be awarded at a GOP state convention on May 31. But there's a strong hunch among party loyalists that Gilmore is sitting pretty.

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The winner will be rewarded with a new set of problems. He will have to take on former Gov. Mark Warner this fall, who is highly popular, well financed, and unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Warner is slated to launch his U.S. Senate campaign in the coming days with a series of speeches and rallies across the state. At stake is the seat that Republican John Warner - no relation to Mark Warner - has held for 30 years. The incumbent announced last year that he will retire.

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Gilmore's belief that abortion should be legal during the first two months of pregnancy puts him at odds with social conservatives. Marshall dismisses Gilmore and Mark Warner as cookie-cutter politicians. " Neither of them will challenge the traditional political status quo," Marshall said. "What we need in Washington are people willing to throw policy grenades." Marshall wants to put military troops on the Mexico border, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, pass a balanced-budget amendment, tap into the nation's strategic oil reserves and "make the right to life fundamental." He opposes embryonic stem cell research and believes the Iraqi government should help pay for the presence of U.S. forces.

Virginia GOP Cancels Plan to Require Loyalty Oaths

The Republican Party of Virginia continues to veer off to the far right and sees a plot and conspiracy behind every bush. For now the Party has rescinded it's call for a loyalty oath to be signed by anyone voting in the GOP presidential primary. Not that any such oath would be enforceable anyway. Frankly, fears that Democrats will vote in the GOP primary are probably without merit: the GOP is much more capable of nominating an extremist candidate with little likelihood of winning in the general election than any would be cross over voters in my opinion.

In point of fact, I was at Mixers last night and was speaking with an appointee of Governor Kaine and the consensus was PLEASE let the GOP party convention confirm Jim Gilmore as the candidate for retiring U.S. Senator John Warner's seat. The GOP wingnuts love Gilmore but do not seem to grasp that most of the public does not and that Gilmore was VERY unpopular when he left office. With Gilmore as the GOP candidate, Mark Warner is all but guaranteed to be the next U.S. Senator from Virginia. I attribute my former law partner, Mark Earley's loss in his run for Governor largely to the fact that (1) he did not sufficiently repudiate Gilmore's policies - as I and others urged him to do - and (2) people were voting to punish the GOP for the mess Gilmore had made. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot's coverage ( http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=138016&ran=178199):

Virginia Republicans on Friday voted to rescind their demand that voters in the February presidential primary sign a written oath of loyalty to the party's presidential nominee. A committee at the party's annual winter retreat voted overwhelmingly to rescind the request to the State Board of Elections regarding the Feb. 12 primary. The party had been criticized for imposing the oath. State GOP Executive Director Charlie Judd said because Democrats are holding their primary in Virginia the same day, that reduces the possibility that Democrats or independents could meddle in the GOP selection process.

Voters in Virginia do not register by party. Since the mid-'90s, the state's Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their primaries, which are open to all registered voters. Virginia Democrats require no oath for their presidential primary.

Former Virginia Governor Gilmore Announces He will run for U.S. Senate

As expected, former Governor Jim Gilmore [pictured on the right at left] has announced that he will be running for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator John Warner. His opponent will be former Virginia Governor Mark Warner who, unlike Gilmore, left the Governor's mansion with a high approval rating. The Christianists and wingnuts in the Republican Party of Virginia will love Gilmore - who will no doubt soon visit Pat Robertson to kiss his ring - but I do not see him doing well at all in Northern Virginia or in most urban areas. The combination of those voting blocks has increasingly been able to blunt the far right voting from the rural areas of the state. I sincerely hope the trend continues. While Jim Gilmore appointed me to serve on a state agency while he was Governor, I can truthfully say that we do NOT need him in the U. S. Senate and that my wholehearted support will go to Mark Warner. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=137208&ran=57827):

Former Gov. James S. Gilmore III made his long apparent candidacy for the U.S. Senate official this morning, announcing his bid in a video posted on the internet and e-mailed to supporters. “Our leaders have let us down, and we badly need new hands at the wheel,” he asserted. Gilmore’s announcement sets up what will almost certainly be a bruising battle for the Senate seat being vacated by five-term Republican John Warner, who announced in August that he will retire when his term expires in January 2009.

Gilmore, a Republican, and former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, are expected to be unopposed for their respective party nominations. Both are experienced campaigners who have been successful in past statewide runs; with control of the Senate potentially hanging in the balance, both men figure to be well-financed.

Gilmore was governor from 1998-2002. His campaign and then his term in office was marked by his relentless advocacy for repeal of the state’s personal property tax, or ”car tax,” an annual levy based on the value of taxypayer automobiles and boats. Gilmore retains a strong base of support among the party’s conservatives however and the prospect of his candidacy helped convince Rep. Tom Davis, R-11th District, a relative moderate, to abandon plans to seek the GOP nomination.

It is interesting that out of the comments posted on the article by Pilot subscribers, only one was positive towards Gilmore. He and the "social conservatives" are incapable of moving the country forward.

Virginia Congressman Tom Davis says GOP Needs a Broader Base

This is an interesting story about remarks made by Northern Virginia GOP U. S. Congressman Tom Davis, whose own wife lost a re-election bid in last week's Virginia state elections. Davis is not just all hot air - he voted for passage of ENDA, so he is trying to practice what he is preaching. Hopefully, most of the wingnuts and minions of Daddy Dobson will disregard Davis' comments until much more damage is done to the GOP. I have told those I know who have not yet left the GOP the same sorts of things, only to have it all fall on deaf ears. Am I vengeful? You bet. In my view for what the GOP has done to this country, the Party needs to be severely punished. Prolonged minority party status is a good first step. Here are some highlights:

WASHINGTON — - In bowing out of next year's U.S. Senate race Thursday, Rep. Tom Davis might have ceded the Republican nomination to former Gov. Jim Gilmore, a staunch conservative.But Davis — part of a dwindling breed of moderate Republicans — didn't go quietly. The veteran Northern Virginia congressman vented his frustration at a Republican Party that he says is failing to broaden its base to better address the needs of an increasingly diverse electorate.

"This state is changing markedly," Davis said, pointing to Virginia's job growth and influx of people from other states and countries. "The country is changing markedly. And the party has to change along with it."The tax-cutting, anti-abortion agenda of conservatives like Gilmore, Davis suggested, will no longer be a winning formula for Republicans seeking statewide office.

After losing the governor's mansion twice in a row and a prized U.S. Senate seat last year, Republicans now risk losing their other, once-secure Senate seat when Sen. John Warner retires next year at 81.Davis' hopes of succeeding Warner were effectively dashed two weeks ago, when the state party decided to choose its nominee through a convention of party activists, instead of a primary election. Conventions typically draw the party's base of hard-core conservatives. Davis was counting on a primary election to draw more moderate, independent-minded voters."It is a control factor to limit participation," Davis said of the convention. "We need to grow the party at this point, not shrink the party."

"There is no longer room for a Tom Davis in the shrinking Republican tent," state Democratic Chairman Richard Cranwell said, in a statement issued shortly after Davis' announcement: "The fact that Davis is abandoning his Senate campaign after years of planning, even though he is not comfortable with a Jim Gilmore candidacy, speaks volumes about how divided and out of touch the Republican Party of Virginia has become."

Mark Rozell is a political analyst at George Mason University who studied the rise of the Christian Right in Virginia in the 1990s. He agreed with Davis that the Republican Party must change."I think he realizes the Gilmore formula is a potential disaster for the GOP in the long run," Rozell said. "You can't just run up the hot-button issues and expect to win an election in many parts of the state anymore."

I hope the extremists who control the RPV continue to make their way into oblivion. Virginia needs to look and move to the future, not attempt to turn back time to a society which, in fact, never really existed.

Sen. John Warner blasts Va. GOP

This story from the Richmond Times Dispatch (http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-11-08-0206.html) is very interesting and I believe sums up the problem with the "Christian Taliban" controled Republican Party of Virginia. Fortunately, I do NOT expect RVP to get the message and, hopefully, the Party will suffer more loses in future elections until the Party returns to its former values. Here are a few highlights:

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va. sharply criticized the Virginia GOP yesterday as rigid and intolerant of moderation. "The rigidity of this outfit is going to keep taking it down until they hit bottom. And I don't know when that will be," Warner said of Tuesday's election results. "And I find it quite distressing." The election resulted in important gains for Democrats. The fifth-term senator said he was saddened but not surprised. The late political adviser Lee Atwater, a friend of Warner, espoused a "big-tent" philosophy of inclusiveness for the GOP, Warner said. But the Republican Party of Virginia has "just strayed away from that concept and become intolerant of those members that express even a modest amount of moderation."

Warner, 80, a moderate-to-conservative Republican, is not running for re-election next year. He did not appear on the campaign trail for state legislative candidates. He made some endorsements and contributions, a Warner aide said. Warner deferred comment yesterday when asked his opinion of the presumed candidacy of Gilmore to succeed him. Gilmore has asked to call on him, Warner said, and "I've decided to wait until he comes up to visit."

Personally, I cannot think of two politicians more incompatible in their approaches than Gilmore and Warner. If Gilmore is the candidate against Mark Warner in 2008, I predict a Gilmore massacre. Even if that happens, I doubt the Christian Talibanistas will figure it out.

Warner and Gilmore poised for '08 U. S. Senate battle

I hope this story (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=136132&ran=237314&tref=po) plays out and Jim Gilmore does in fact run against Mark Warner for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by John Warner. Gilmore left office as an unpopular Governor in contrast to Mark Warner who left with a roughly 70% approval rating. In fact one reason that Mark Earley did not succeed in being elected as Governor and lost to Mark Warner was because Earley, a former law partner of mine, did not sufficiently disavow and repudiate some of Gilmore's unpopular positions. In fact, when I first met Mark Warner as Governor, it was at the Equality Virginia Legislative Reception during Mark Warner's first year in office. Needless to say, people found it humorous that I had switched parties since Gilmore had appointed me to a state authority and I had been Earley's campaign co-chair in Virginia Beach. But I digress. Here are highlights from the story:

A long-brewing confrontation between Virginia's past two governors appears certain to be played out before voters next year, as Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore move toward a show down for the U.S. Senate. Warner, 52, announced his candidacy in September. Gilmore, 58, is expected to toss in his hat before Thanksgiving, according to several of his political advisers. "These men don't like each other, they don't respect each other, and there should be a lot of fireworks,Gilmore and Warner are different in style and substance.

Gilmore, the son of a Richmond meat cutter, is proud of his working-class roots. He is blunt, conservative, highly partisan and confrontational. Warner, the son of an insurance man, made a $200 million personal fortune in cellular phones and technology investments. He is a cautious dealmaker who prides himself on building bipartisan coalitions." said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington.

Gilmore has billed himself as an expert in assessing terrorism. He points to his chairmanship of a federal commission on homeland security that issued a 1999 report warning that the nation was vulnerable to a terrorist attack. He was governor when the Pentagon, in Northern Virginia, was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. He still serves on public and private think tanks that recommend policies for combating terrorism. As a presidential candidate, Gilmore pledged to oppose new taxes and take conservative stands on social issues. He said the nation needs to maintain a strong effort in Iraq.

Warner has not yet staked out positions on some national and international issues. Warner starts the race as the frontrunner. A poll by The Washington Post last month showed him leading Gilmore 61 percent to 31 percent. After announcing his Senate candidacy on Sept. 13, he raised more than $1 million in campaign donations in the second half of the month.

Barring something terrible happening, Mark Warner should be able to defeat Gilmore. I have known Gilmore since law school, and believe me, Mark Warner is who we need in the U.S. Senate, not Jim Gilmore. In addition to being the weaker individual for a Senate position, Gilmore would be a Christianist tool - I suspect he's already received a pledge of money from Pat Robertson.

Mark Warner running for John Warner's Senate seat

Mark Warner should be pretty hard for the GOP to beat. He left office as one of Virginia's most popular governors. If former Governor Jim Gilmore if silly enough to run against Mark Warner, I suspect it will be a massacre. Gilmore left office rather unpopular and his would be GOP successor, Mark Earley (a former law partner of mine) went down to defeat, in my view largely because he failed to disavow some of Gilmore's unpopular policies. Here is some of the Virginian Pilot coverage (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=132386&ran=4033):

Former Gov. Mark R. Warner declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate this morning, giving Democrats a solid chance next year to regain a seat long held by Republicans. In an e-mail to supporters and video on his campaign's new website, Warner said he will run in the 2008 election for the seat Republican Sen. John W. Warner will vacate next year after five terms. The two Warners are not related. No other Democrats have formally announced they would compete with him for the party's nomination.

The announcement starts what could be a high-profile race in Virginia. Two prominent Republicans are considering bids for the Senate next year: former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who preceded Warner in office; and U.S. Rep. Tom Davis of Fairfax County. Warner left the governorship with positive job performance ratings from 75 percent of Virginia voters, according to public opinion polls.

"What I hear over and over again is that people want elected officials to spend more time getting our coutnry fixed and less time on partisan bickering. Actually they're sick to death of the bickering. because our country is at a crossroads," Warner said in the video. "We're dealing with a mismanaged war. Our stature in the world is declining. We have no national competitiveness plan and no thoughtful approach on energy policy that would actually create jobs, make us more secure in the world and that deals with the threat of climate change." "I've decided the way I can contribute most to getting our country back on the right track is to serve in the United States Senate," he said.