RPV Chairman – Final Question
By Brian Kirwin | Friday, May 30th, 2008 | Catch-AllHager and Frederick take on the Question of the 2008 cycle:
Polls show people oppose tax increases, but Mark Warner remains popular. Explain.
John Hager
The reality is Mark Warner broke his word to Virginians. He promised not to raise taxes and then he did. He claimed we had a deficit and then we ended up with a surplus. He tries to blame others for his dishonesty. It is our job as Republicans to hold him accountable.
He remains popular because he has been able to shift the attention away from what he did. I would remind the media and the pundits that Mark Warner has yet to face the voters since breaking his promise to them. I trust that Virginians will ultimately hold him responsible for his actions.
Jeff Frederick
Mark Warner is popular because Republicans keep making him popular. Virginians were outraged when he broke his most prominent campaign promise and proposed the largest tax increase in Virginia history – but then Republican Senators upped the ante by asking for $4 billion in tax increases. Instead of writing off Warner as the tax-and-spend politician he is, they helped him, and were critical of any Republican who objected to Warner’s tax-and-spend plans. My opponent for RPV Chairman, John Hager, even took a cabinet post with Warner, agreeing not to campaign or fundraiser for any Republican candidates, and giving his friend Mr. Warner cover as a “bipartisan” Governor due to Hager’s presence on his staff.
Adding insult to injury, when the Warner-friendly, tax-hiking Republicans faced fire from voters in their home districts, a group called the UNITY PAC was set up specifically to help them in their re-election campaigns. Mr. Hager sided with the tax-raisers by contributing to this PAC.
Now Warner has his friend John Hager actually proposing that he run the Virginia Republican effort against him. As Chairman, I will aggressively deploy RPV resources to communicate to the voters of Virginia why they should not trust Mark Warner, and the damage he has done to Virginia – but damage that the media fails time and time again to report or acknowledge.
Tags:
About the author
The right wants to jeer him. The left wants to censor him. Moderates usually want both. Brian Kirwin is a political consultant and public relations strategist in Virginia Beach with a lightning-rod flair. Brian also serves on the VB Arts & Humanities Commission and frequently appears on Hampton Roads theatrical stages, if only to prove that all actors aren’t liberals. Kirwin’s columns stir up debate and hit the political scene with no punches pulled.







Comments
2 Responses to "RPV Chairman – Final Question"
I very much like the answers from Frederick. I don’t like the way Hager speaks out of both sides of his mouth. I received a flier in the mail from Hager about Frederick stating that Frederick is “bashing” fellow Republicans and that should be enough for Hager to be reelected. But then, Hager turns around and says that we need to hold officials responsible for breaking their promises! Isn’t that what Frederick has been doing?
Weaving spiders indeed came here. Nice job, Jeff!
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.