John Fredericks: 'Slating not so ancient'

Amid the bruhaha from the Virginia Beach mass meeting where the winning side used slating -- they had 600 voters to the opposition's 300 -- comes this from conservative radio host John Fredericks who reminds that slating is not so ancient, as the Virginia Beach mass meeting losers would have you believe:

SLATING NOT SO ANCIENT
By John Fredericks

Appearing on my radio show on Tuesday, Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins lambasted State Senator Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) for “slating” delegates for his Second Congressional District convention at Virginia Beach’s GOP mass meeting on Monday night.

Mullins said the tactic has not been used since the mid-1980’s.

He was off by a few years.

This was shared with me by a reader who dug up an Associated Press story from April 29, 2001 that appeared in The Daily Press.

"State Sen. Randy Forbes won the Republican nomination for the 4th Congressional District seat Saturday in a raucous and bitter convention that literally became a shouting match.

"Forbes won 464.7 delegate votes to 332.7 for Del. M. Kirkland Cox for the right to run in a June 19 special election for the seat left vacant by U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky’s death last month.

"Forbes' victory came after a failed parliamentary bid by Cox supporters to free a major block of votes from Portsmouth’s delegation to vote as they wished. Delegates from Portsmouth and Forbes' hometown of Chesapeake were constrained by 'slating and instructing,' a practice that commits all of a delegation’s votes to the candidate that wins the majority.

"As a result, Forbes won all 93-delegate votes from Portsmouth and 261 from Chesapeake, the largest voting bloc at the convention.

"The practice is legal under GOP rules, but is regarded as a divisive tactic that often favors candidates from the most populated areas.

"Cox supporters sought to have the slating and instructing overturned in Portsmouth. They said that the vote among the delegation during a mass meeting earlier this month was not done properly."

Which leads us to the Second CD nominating convention on April 26 at Hampton University between Wagner and GOP activist Curtis Colgate.

Wagner supporters slated 32 delegates at the mass meeting in Virginia Beach that are expected to deliver over 600 votes for Wagner at the convention, virtually insuring his election.

But Colgate supporters, who control the convention by virtue of the current Chairman Gary Byler, are expected to mount a challenge to the slating process and allow all registered Virginia Beach delegates to participate, not just Wagner’s 32.

Colgate’s forces control both the rules committee and the credentialing committee.

And you thought Richmond was rough and tumble.

John Fredericks: 'Wouldn't it be fun to just have a regular primary....?'

I got a laugh reading John Fredericks this morning:

Wouldn't it be fun to just have a regular primary where you show up at the polls and vote for the candidate of your choice?

And your nominee has to prove they can wage an effective campaign against the NOVA Democrats in November -- and not just sign up 130 activists, buy 50 campaign signs at Kinkos and make a speech where you say "Constitution" every fourth word and "Liberty" 170 times?

Yep. Because these days it seems all you have to do is give a barn-burner speech, whip the crowd into a frenzy with the before-mentioned words, and  -- voila! -- you're nominated.

With those standards, we never would have had Winston Churchill.

Monday: Bill Bolling to be on John Fredericks radio show

Tune in Monday at 8:15 a.m. to hear radio host John Fredericks as he talks with Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling....

Quinnipiac: 61% of Virginians want Governor to stay in office

The just-released Quinnipiac University poll shows the overwhelming majority of Virginians are not clamoring for the Governor to resign, with 61 percent saying no, he should not, and 24 percent undecided. Quinnipiac also noted, "Among voters who say they voted for McDonnell in 2009, 84 percent say they would vote for him again...."

Also, a new Roanoke College poll shows that most Virginians are not paying attention to the story involving Star Scientific, Jonnie Williams, and Governor Bob McDonnell:

... more than half (60%) of registered voters said they have not been following it closely at all. Only 9 percent said they have been following closely, and 25 percent said they have been following it somewhat closely.

Radio host John Fredericks recently weighed in on the issue: "Gov. McDonnell gifts: Get over it. Governor Bob McDonnell broke no laws and didn't do anything we can find that is legally unethical or in conflict with Virginia's very liberal gift laws. If you don't like it, change the laws. But don't impugne the Governor. Did he exercise poor judgment? That is speculative. Did he break any laws? From what we have seen so far: no, he did not. So right now, this amounts to a hill of beans, although we acknowledge the depth of different gifts is reaching critical mass. Should he resign? That is his personal decision, but certainly not over this nonsense."

Calm down and take a breath

From radio host John Fredericks:

Gov. McDonnell gifts: Get over it.

Governor Bob McDonnell broke no laws and didn't do anything we can find that is legally unethical or in conflict with Virginia's very liberal gift laws. If you don't like it, change the laws. But don't impugne the Governor. Did he exercise poor judgment? That is speculative. Did he break any laws? From what we have seen so far: no, he did not. So right now, this amounts to a hill of beans, although we acknowledge the depth of different gifts is reaching critical mass. Should he resign? That is his personal decision, but certainly not over this nonsense.

Conservatives are proving to be very good at joining their liberal counterparts in taking part in the court of public opinion without even hearing from the Governor's side. Last I heard, in America we are innocent until proven guilty....

Dem Sen. Lautenberg dies at 89 ... will Christie appoint Republican?

Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey died Monday at the age of 89 of viral pneumonia. The oldest member of the Senate, he had served more than 30 years in Congress.

The Hill reports that Governor Chris Christie can appoint a replacement until a special election is held, and some are speculating whether he will appoint a Republican:

According to New Jersey election law, Christie may appoint a replacement to temporarily fill Lautenberg's seat until a special election occurs to elect someone to serve out the remainder of Lautenberg's term.

Christie may set the date of the special election. It's unclear whether he'll choose to schedule it on the same day as the gubernatorial and state legislative elections on Nov. 5.

Setting the special on the same date as the upcoming gubernatorial election could give a boost to a Republican candidate from Christie's coattails, as he's running far ahead of the Democratic candidate for governor and is expected to easily defeat her.

Lautenberg's passing offers the opportunity for Christie to appoint a Republican. Virginia conservative radio host John Fredericks speculated on Facebook Monday afternoon that two names Christie may be considering are Sen. Joe Kyrillos, a longtime friend, or Tom Kean, Sr., a former NJ governor.