The Republican Party of Virginia chose former Gov. Jim Gilmore as its Senate nominee, and elected Del. Jeff Frederick as its new party chairman during its convention May 30-31, 2008. Here is a photo slideshow of the convention highlights.
More photoblogging, and video blogging, from Rick Sincere.
Jane Dudley has enjoyed conservatism and photography for over 30 years. After looking around at the mediocre state of affairs of political photography as it exists on the right, she decided to start making better images, to document Virginia Republicans and to inspire them to make more of an effort to put a fine face on their fine ideas. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and works in new media. 
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I was a delegate to the Republican Convention this past weekend.
I believe the most important message to take away is that the grassroots Republicans want a fighter.
Bob Marshall made a significant challenge to Jim Gilmore, but most of his supporters were ones that he bused in and had not previously been involved in the Party. Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticizing him for doing that. That is what you are supposed to do. Well done Bob and I hope we can keep those delegates involved in the Party and help keep the Party on track for its conservative mission.
I think the most telling outcome was that of Chairman. The race for Chairman was not close and it was an overwhelming endorsement of “change”. I know that is Barrack Obama’s line, but it is true. This WAS NOT an overwhelming vote against John Hager. John is a nice man and I wish him all the best. This was simply a vote for a change in leadership. The grassroots Republicans are tired of our leaders conceding groung and cutting deals with the Democrats. We want someone who will stand up and fight for our ideals and not back down. Jeff showed that he was willing to do that and that is why he carried the Marshall people, as well as a significant number of the regular party activists.
I hope that Chairman Frederick can live up to the responsibility that has been bestowed upon him and will do all I can to see to it that he is a successful Party Chairman and gets things back on track towards being the dominant Party in Virginia once more.
We need to remember, we did not become the majority by conceding to the Democrats. We became the majority by standing up and fighting for our principles. I believe it is time to do that again.
Bad choice. Gilmore has too much past baggage. My party should get smart and enter candidates who can win rather than just run. Sometimes less than a full loaf is better than nothing. Unfortunately, Gilmore will be a sacrificial lamb in Nov.
John,
I think you are correct in needing a better choice for Senate, but Bob Marshall wasn’t it.
The reality of the situation is:
Gilmore has a “slim” chance of beating Mark Warner
and
Marshall would have had “NO” chance of beating Mark Warner
Although, there’s always a “Maccaca” (sp.) moment–anything can happen
The only bus I saw for any candidate had a big Gilmore sign in front.
Regardless, Bob Marshall is a candidate that conservatives can get excited about. He speaks the language many of us want to hear: Life, Liberty and Property, the Constitution and conservative/republican principles.
I’m not even a “values voter”, and there are some things with which I disagree with Bob Marshall, but I was excited about him and I would be more than willing to donate time and energy to an exciting, true conservative candidate. And you can say what you want but his near-miss was indicative of the split in the party.
P.S. Principled candidates such as Bob Marshall are what’s going to win republican seats again NOT those who lean left.
It took Bob Marshall to make Gilmore look moderate.
I’m tired of litmus test Republicans who throw spears at anyone who only agrees with them 99% of the time.
Terri K,
I agree with you 100%. I do not fault Bob Marshall for running, I commend him. I also agree with him on a lot of the issues, even though I supported Gilmore in this one.
I agree with Brian on one point–Jim Gilmore is not a moderate by any stretch of the imagination. I may not agree with everything he did as Governor, but he is far from a moderate or liberal.
Anyway Terri, when I said mentioned the busses, I was being figurative. I didn’t pay any attention as to whether they were real busses or not. I have been at many conventions over the past 15 years and the conservative wing of the party, of which I consider myself one, has always been able to mobilize and turn people out for conventions. Sometimes they use buses, car pools or just plan organizing to all leave from regional locations to insure they all make it. The bottom line is organization and it is impressive.
I haven’t seen an organizational turnout effort for a convention like that since Mike Farris won the LG nomination in 1993 and Oliver North won the U.S. Senate nomination in 1994. Both were considered the right wing candidates and I supported both.
Where Bob Marshall failed is he was not as well organized on the floor as Gilmore was. Marshall was organized in getting them there, but Gilmore was organized with District and Unit Leaders that enabled him to hold people in line and maybe even sway a few. If Marshall had been that organized on the floor, he may have pulled in 5 to 10 more delegates and that is all it would have taken with the weighted votes. 65 delegate votes is about 5 to 10 people depending on the locality.
Overall, I say good job Bob Marshall–I hope that Terri K and the other supporters that came out for him and Ron Paul stay with the Party and help to keep the Party following the conservative principles and not sway to the left.
Jane GREAT photos!
I don’t know a single person whom Marshall “organized” to get there. We heard what he was saying and liked it. I drove there myself and met up with people who were equally excited about getting an actual conservative in office. I was angry about Gilmore claiming to be pro-life and sitting on the board of a company that produces the day after pills. I don’t want another liar in office.