A lone vulture circles over the RPV.

It was just a month ago that Del. Jeff Frederick, eager to get those last few votes in his race for chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, made a bold promise not to run for re-election to his seat if elected chairman. Today Frederick started backing away from that promise. At the time, he put some thought into explaining why this pledge was best for the party, and it’s well worth worth revisiting that pledge now. Don’t just skip past this block quote—read it.

I want to thank Misters Cobb, Malek, and Neel for their recent letter. After careful consideration of their opinion, those of others, and much prayer, I have decided that I will not seek re-election to the House of Delegates if I am elected RPV Chairman. This is something I have considered for some time and have not been opposed to, but the Cobb/Malek/Neel letter articulated the issue well, and I agree.

With the loss of 9 seats in the General Assembly in just the last 6 months alone, and RPV finishing 5th in fundraising to four Democratic committees last year, the risk is too great for me to not make the tough decision to eliminate any objections to my candidacy for Party chair. The future of our Party, and indeed our Commonwealth, is at stake.

[…]

Nevertheless, I see a great deal of benefit to the Party in not having their Chairman limited by the legislative calendar, even if then-Senator Randy Forbes handled both his RPV Chairmanship and legislative responsibilities well.

With a dedicated focus on the Chairmanship, however, I’ll not only be free to build upon my successes in winning tough Democrat leaning districts like the one I currently represent in Northern Virginia, but also to advance our conservative agenda statewide to help us win back seats where the Democrats have trumped us.

[..]

Using the same approach, I am comfortable that my House seat can continue to be represented by a Republican. Yet, I am not comfortable that the current RPV leadership is capable of retaining our House majority – and that is the larger problem we face, rather than just concern over my one seat.

[…]

You don’t have to be a mathematician to know that the health and well-being of 100 House seats warrants much greater consideration than one. If you believe that I am the best choice to hold our most competitive seats and win back others to build our majority, then you should have every confidence that I’ll also provide the necessary skill and leadership to hold the very seat I may be vacating.

(All emphasis Frederick’s.)

He’s left no wriggle room here. There is no escape clause. His logic is, in fact, quite solid. He makes a fine case for why he shouldn’t run for reelection to his own seat, and there’s no cause to think that logic no longer applies.

It’s this commitment to principle that got Frederick elected in the first place. His opponent, Lt. Gov. John Hager, was seen as a squishy Republican, a guy unwilling to toe the party line or make party members toe the party line. Frederick, on the other hand, was a man who would stand up for principle, who would be consistent, no matter how foolish, in following the standards and beliefs set forth by the dwindling members of the RPV.

That’s what makes this so deliciously ironic. Whether or not Frederick ends up going back on his promise, what has already become clear is that he’s no more committed to principle than Hager. Frederick’s committed to power—his own—and was willing to lie in order to hold two seats simultaneously. There’s nothing inherently wrong with striving for power (such is politics), but given his bold-face promise, it’s the very model of hypocrisy.

This is what it looks like as the RPV enters its third stage of the four stages of political defeat. Stage one was the overreaching that came from great power—the wiretapping scandal that gutted the party. Stage two was the helpless slide into irrelevance that the party’s gone through in the years since, their terrified rigor mortis promoted as a bold consistency in position. Stage three is when the vultures show up—Jeff Frederick being the first—to feast on the bloating corpse of the party. Stage four, due to start in a couple of years, is rot. That’s when the party will wither away, statewide membership spiraling down to 40%, the seats in the legislature dropping similarly.

This is why I was rooting for Jeff Frederick. I couldn’t be much happier with this outcome.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »