Bill Bolling: Move Virginia GOP forward

By Bill Bolling

First of all, let me thank you again for everything you do for our Republican Party.

Needless to say, we had a spirited convention in Richmond this past weekend. It was my honor to chair the convention, and I did my best to keep it moving in a positive direction and make sure it was conducted in a fair and impartial manner. I think we achieved that goal and I hope you agree.

With the election of a new Chairman, this is obviously a time of change for our party. However, I am confident that we can find our party emerging stronger as a result of this change if we work together with our new Chairman to make certain he succeeds. Your experience will be critical to our success in this effort.

I know that many of our party leaders supported Jeff Frederick and many supported John Hager in the Chairman’s race. Regardless of which side of this campaign you were on, we must now all work together to make certain that we maximize the opportunity change brings and prepare for the future. I look forward to working with you in that effort.

I know Jeff Frederick well and I know that he has many skills our party can use. Jeff will help improve the organizational strength our party, he will help revitalize our grass roots and he will help improve our communications. In addition, Jeff will be a strong voice for our conservative values and he will certainly be on the front line in holding the Democrats accountable. In other areas, Jeff will need our help in strengthening the party.

Bob McDonnell and I have offered our full assistance to Chairman Frederick and we hope you will do the same. We will certainly encounter a period of flux as people adapt to their new roles, but we are confident that everyone will get their feet on the ground as quickly as possible. With the 2008 elections fast approaching, we have no time to waste.

I also want to thank John Hager for his years of dedicated service to our party in numerous positions. There is no one I know in politics or any other aspect of life that I respect more than John Hager. John has done much for our party and I am confident that he will continue to do so in the years to come.

I look forward to working with each of you through these times of change. Let’s dedicate ourselves to make the most of it, for the good of our party, for the good of our country and for the good of Virginia.