From the Democratic Party of Virginia:
3 WEEKS OF SILENCE: While many Republicans take stand against Corey Stewart – Comstock, Brat, Taylor continue to duck and dodge
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RICHMOND, VA – Three weeks to the day of Corey Stewart’s nomination as the VA GOP standard-bearer, many Republican Party leaders and elected officials have publically taken a stand against Stewart. Their courage to push back against what Corey Stewart represents shows courage that both parties can applaud. Representatives Barbara Comstock, Dave Brat, and Scott Taylor have not shown that same courage as they have again and again refused to answer the Corey Stewart question.
There is speculation Whitbeck does not want to spend the next four months answering for Stewart, who is known for provocative campaign antics.
“I am extremely disappointed that a candidate like Corey Stewart could win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. This is clearly not the Republican Party I once knew, loved and proudly served. Every time I think things can’t get worse they do, and there is no end in sight.” In the days after Stewart’s primary win…Davis C. Rennolds stepped down as chair of the Richmond GOP. Kevin Gentry, vice president for special projects and development at Koch Industries, resigned from his job on the executive committee of the party’s governing board.
“These days, if you say you’re a Republican, you’re immediately called a racist,” Fox said. “I can give you policy and stuff to explain why our party isn’t racist, but that’s hard to do when our party decides to stand behind somebody like Corey Stewart.”
The Republican Party of Virginia…has descended into a parody of itself…in the hands of one man: Corey Stewart. For 25 years, I have believed — perhaps erroneously — that the Republican Party was the best home for my beliefs… With the nomination of Corey Stewart? That is now an impossibility. “I can’t vote for Stewart,” Mr. Schoeneman said. “His whole philosophy of governing is anathema to me. All the immigration-baiting … all the Confederate crap and the hanging-out with the Jason Kesslers of the world — that’s the exact antithesis of everything I’ve been trying to do with the party the last 20 years.” “Can we just skip past the part where the media focuses on all the idiotic, racist & embarrassing things Corey Stewart will say & do the next five months and just acknowledge Tim Kaine won his re-election tonight. And he has Stewart voters to thank for it.”
“We have a big map…I don’t see Virginia in it,” Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who leads the Senate GOP campaign arm, told CNN.
…the Republican National Committee is focused elsewhere. “Virginia is not high on the list at this point,” said Garren Shipley of the RNC.
…the Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity…said they would not put any resources into the Senate race… Bobbie Kilberg, a Northern Virginia fundraiser and veteran of three Republican presidential administrations, said she will not open her checkbook — or home — to Stewart.
…and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, a two-time NRSC chair, couldn’t say whether he will endorse Stewart because he doesn’t know him.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky)…said he was “disappointed” in the result and refused to say he will support Stewart. He said the race is now up to the “people of Virginia.”
As the list of Republicans brave enough to stand up to Corey Stewart and his divisive, hate-filled politics continues to grow, Comstock, Brat, and Taylor have time and time again remained silent and have refused to say whether they will support Corey Stewart or not. While Comstock, Brat, and Taylor attempt to dip and hide from the Corey Stewart dilemma, others in the GOP have had the courage to state where they stand on Corey Stewart and his vitriolic politics. Why can’t Comstock, Brat, and Taylor show the same conviction? The voters of Virginia deserve to know. |
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