How bad has the Republican Party gotten in this area? Keith Drake has launched an attack campaign against Sen. Emmett Hanger. The outgoing Albemarle Republican chair, attacking a sitting Republican senator in an off year? The RPV is apparently unable to clamp down on these far, far-right Republicans — they’ve just lost control. This is a great illustration of why Republicans are sunk in Virginia for the foreseeable future.
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Keith Drake just exudes creepy.
Does he live in Hanger’s district? If so, then this would make a lot of sense.
Couldn’t it have been predicted? The Republican Party got liquored-up on the politics of personal attack and character assassination back in the days of Reagan’s Lee Atwater, who cloned himself into Karl Rove who managed to reshape an incompetent boob into our dear leader. A spectacular feat.
George Allen had his “A-Team”, and they couldn’t get past mean/ugly to believable with his abundant flaws and puny talents. The half-bright local yokels, Rove wannabees, A-Team mercenaries, fondly known as SWACjobs, have been buzzing around Hanger’s camp for years – sheltered by a Republican majority who found them useful. In fact when they went into open revolve against the moderate Hanger last year, John Hager rode into town to mediate and pronounced them “grassroots gold”. Such is the state of RPV leadership, and the long history of appeasing bullys.
The only thing surprising about this thing is Hanger’s inability to properly run a meeting, let alone his Party. He mounted a counter-attack to drive the SWACjobs from the Augusta Repub Committee, but fumbled the parliamentarian rules, and left the SWACers in control. Hanger and his Shenandoah Valley Caucus are used to back-room control, and Republican’s who vote as they are told. He thought he had these bad dogs under control too. There is something delightfully karmic about having them turn on their own. Restores my faith.
Too bad I won’t be able to “top” this post when GOP candidates win two out of three in ’09.
Well, I didn’t say that Republicans wouldn’t win 2/3. But I do think — and this certainly isn’t a very bold position — that Republicans are about to lose their second U.S. Senate seat in the past two years, and will lose the House next year. The statewide seats are such wildcards, party-wise (from Holton to Terry, we’ve seen some real upsets), and I think so much depends on the candidates that I wouldn’t claim to know what the outcome will be there from such a distance.
But, seriously, I hope you’ll call up this sort of thing if and when I’m wrong. I don’t claim to be psychic, and it’s always health to review predictions after the fact. Though, honestly, it’s been hard not to gloat recently. I posted routinely from 2003-5 about how the totally ridiculous behavior on the part of the Bush administration was going to catch up with them, and Republicans would spend years in the wilderness as a result. They certainly seem to be on that path now.