( – promoted by lowkell)
by Paul Goldman
The continuing RINO hunt by the self-described anti-incumbent “real conservatives” in the Virginia GOP is the developing big story in 2012 Virginia politics.
Early in the 2012 cycle, the challenges being made to those derided as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) seemed nothing more than classic internal party politics, the new challenging the old, a pattern dating from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
Sometimes these battles can lead to serious political bloodletting. But at some point, as the general election approaches, the twos sides, for the good of the party, their nominees, and their desire for unity next year, normally agree to a temporary truce so all can put their shoulders to the wheel for — in this case, for the Romney/Allen ticket.Indeed, Republican unity seemed doubly important this year, given that Bob McDonnell remained Romney’s VP list.
Except: As we know now, it is already August, and the RINO hunt by the “true conservatives” continues, played out once again at today’s Republican state party meeting in contests for toothless, honorific party posts, with US vs THEM challenges.
This kind of internal party feud – easily postponed until after November – is all DOWNSIDE for any Republican running this year. Believe it or not, one of the RINOs being targeted for defeat is actually the campaign manager to George Allen! Brilliant.
If these two sides were truly united this year behind the GOP ticket, such infighting would not be permitted at this stage in the 2012 cycle. But they aren’t united; thus, today’s pointless war over honorific titles.
I have to ask: Who is advising Ken Cuccinelli to go along with this? And no, his campaign guru’s statement that the AG is officially “neutral” doesn’t fool anyone who didn’t just get off the boat from a far-off-land and is hoping to learn his or her first word of English. That’s a silly response to a silly, pointless, self-defeating “purge.”
Yes, I get that many of the “real conservatives” never liked Romney. I get that they secretly feel their cause would be better advanced by losing in November, giving them the opportunity to fight Obama for the next four years, as opposed to having to pretend to support President Romney’s policies.
The Reaganites sat on their hands of Jerry Ford in 1976, and after watching Ford lose that year, got Reagan elected over incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter four years later.
Moreover, history says that the sixth year of a Presidential term is a good one for the “out party” in the mid-term elections. And “real conservatives” are doing great winning GOP primaries against incumbent Senators or party establishment candidates.
SO: I get all this and realize these folks don’t like Romney, didn’t want Allen, and could care less about McDonnell since the Governor is backing Bolling.
BUT WHY MAKE IT SO DAMN OBVIOUS?
Sure, I suppose they could be praised for not being hypocrites; that is to say, they’re being honest by refusing to even PRETEND to want to help these RINOs get elected.
But Reagan raised taxes, expanded social programs, exploded the federal debt, appointed Sandra Day O’Connor (the swing vote on whether to uphold or overturn Roe v Wade) to the Supreme Court, signed a mass amnesty of “illegal immigrants,” negotiated with the “Evil Empire,” etc. The point being, no purist is ever going to be even close to being satisfied.
Let me say this: What is happening in the Virginia GOP right is the best possible news for the President, Tim Kaine, and Terry MAC, far more important than the polls and whatever.
The Virginia GOP is cracking at the edges, and once that sets in, they won’t have real unity this year and this will cost them whatever chance they might have had for Romney and Allen.
In turn, those two guys have powerful supporters who will, over time, blame the Cuccinelli/Tea Party/Ron Paul combo for playing “rule or ruin” politics. This will drive a lot of them to abandon Cuccinelli in 2013, and likely his whole ticket, should he win the GOP nod for governor as expected.
Net, net: what Virginia’s Republican RINO-hunters are doing right now is about the dumbest thing you can do in politics. Given that the odds favor Romney losing anyway, McDonnell not being chosen as Romney’s running mate, and Allen facing at best a 50-50 chance of winning, these RINO hunters could have their cake and eat it too — being seen as fully helping but knowing there is a good chance the guys they don’t want to win will lose anyway. But noooo.
Let’s be candid: The RINO hunters are so much out for blood that they just can’t help themselves. Indeed, they appear to actively WANT to be seen with Romney’s and Allen’s and McDonnell’s blood on their hands, politically speaking.
Normally, Ken Cuccinelli is too smart a politician not to know how to accommodate different factions. He could stop this blood-letting with just one tweet, or at least postpone the fight for a few months On a risk vs reward basis, his stance seems baffling from all angles. He gains nothing by trying to purge now, so it is lose-lose for him in 2013. Why’s he doing it then?
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