Taxpayers pay quarter-million for primary
By Brian Kirwin | Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 | PoliticsThe Republican Party is the party of smaller government, right?
Thanks to the GOP, taxpayers in the 5th District must now find $250,000 to decide who’ll run for Congress (Tertium Quids).
The 2nd District is still committed to a firehouse primary/canvass, which at least isn’t paid for by taxpayers, but has resulted in long lines and logistical nightmares in big races, and Congressional races are pretty big.
They could still switch to a primary, and then taxpayers in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton and the Eastern Shore would have to pay for it all. Or they could have a convention paid for by the GOP. At least everyone will get to vote, likely many times.
TQ makes a great point though. How can the party of smaller government and fiscal responsibility simply hand the bill to the taxpayers in deciding nominations?
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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.
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29 Responses to "Taxpayers pay quarter-million for primary"
This is an outrageous misuse of tax payer money and the only GOP candidate that wanted this primary was Robert Hurt. Just what we need to do, send another representative to DC who is more concerned about political power than the people he represents. What is even more disturbing is that the majority of the district’s unit chairs voted for this abomination of wasteful spending at a time when the district could least afford it.
well, look at it this way: ALL voters in the 5th can decide who the Republican nominee is.
Verga’s press release on the issue: http://www.facebook.com/notes/laurence-verga/hurt-supports-burdening-localities/227816419491
Democracy has a price. It’s not a big deal. I suppose the conscience of those of those who have no shot at winning and should get out could be a help to dwindle the candidates down to one. But that would be too much to ask. Does Kenny Golden or Ben Loyola or Bert (sp?)really think they’re going to win this primary or will their ego make it too tough for them to rethink this like adults and realize what is going to happen come June…
When a candidate wants a primary as opposed to a convention, watch out! From his perspective, the point of a primary is to allow voters who are not rank and file party members to decide the outcome.
What is the point of a political party? With a political party, people form a voluntary association designed to get someone on the ballot who shares their views. When the government intrudes (and a primary election is clearly government intrusion), then the government interferes with the right of party members to freely associate and select their preferred candidate. The end result must be that the government either shows favoritism to a particular political party or favoritism to a particular candidate.
What are the implications? In the United States, we have two major political parties. Because of government interference in political parties: (1) we have a heck of a time ridding ourselves of incumbents and (2) winning third party candidates are almost unheard of.
What is the logical result of government interference? We end up with one political party. Consider that people in this country complained that there was no difference between a Republican and a Democrat. Because of primary elections, that should not be a surprise. To a large extent the cause of that problem also resided in the corporate news media. Government control of the airwaves meant television and radio stations had to be licensed.
For the time being, the Internet and cable TV have broken the government’s control on the news media. The news media has become almost wildly partisan. The next step is to wrest control of the nomination process from government.
Why? Political parties are private entities formed of the People, for the People and by the People. Political Parties exist specifically for the purpose of representing the interests of the People to the government. Because political parties represent the People to government, the heavy and clumsy hand of government should not be allowed anywhere near them.
Elections are a legitimate function of government. I don’t have a problem with tax dollars spent on a primary.
I still would have preferred a primary. When there are more than two candidates, in a primary someone who is deeply unpopular to most of the voters, but has a dedicated minority support, can win.
In a convention you can have more than one ballot, so the winner has to be acceptable to the majority of voters. Also, in a convention, candidates have a strong incentive to be nice to each other, since they will likely have to court other candidate’s supporters in order to get over 50% of the vote.
first: rank & file party members aren’t always the smartest (& I consider myself a rank & file party member).
i am willing to let the people of the 5th decide on our Republican nominee. maybe more people will decide to become Republicans if they can be involved in the process.
and then all Republicans will get together to defeat Perriello.
In the Second District a primary will favor the rich candidates and possibly those groups who want pack the primary to influence an outcome. A canvass will shift the burden of participating onto the voters as we saw in the last election, and a convention will put all of the candidates more or less on the same playing field. If Rigell, Golden, Loyola et.al can use their positions on issues and powers of persuasion to convince more delegates to vote for them, then let the best man win.
Brian and everyone has missed the main plus for a primary. It is the ONLY method of nomination that will allow our brave men and women in the military to be able to vote absentee who are serving overseas, on reserve duty or out of town for training.
Given that the 2nd District has the highest concentration of military personnel of any Congressional District in America, doesn’t it make sense to allow those willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation to be able to vote? Don’t we want our military servicemen to be able to get involved in the GOP?
I agree with previous postings; elections are one of the central core function of government and its not a “waste” of taxpayer money to allow our troops to vote. Why some people want to limit voting and make it impossible for those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to participate beyond me.
Democracy has a price? No big deal? Well shoot, why don’t we just have federally financed elections like what Ralph Nader wants.
vbfirstlanding76, you are worthless scum for using our men and women in uniform as an excuse for advocating for a primary. I am sick and tired of these Karl Rove tactics of using the military as a propaganda tool. Are you implying that the nomination of Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli is somehow tainted for being nominated by convention and not primary? Of course not. The Republican Party is fighting for our men and women in uniform regardless of the method of nomination.
A convention or a canvass would be a logistical nightmare. The purpose of a primary/convention/canvass is to find the best candidate for our party that allows as many party voices to be heard as possible. A primary is the only logical answer The local party does not have the shear number of volunteers to successfully pull off a major canvass or convention. The entirety of the City Committees of the affected localities don’t have enough unbiased personnel to manage a fair convention or canvass. If this battle gets bitter then the hardcore party activists will take their sides and choose to work for their chosen candidates therefore your most experienced members are working for Loyola, Golden, Maulbeck, Taylor and Rigell (and others-excuse me if I left you out). Let’s not forget all of these candidates will be bringing people out in record numbers in a highly charged election environment. It simply makes no sense to chose the two least fair-potentially chaotic processes. The manpower is not there to run a canvass or convention. It’s reality. I understand the concern for the cost to the taxpayer, but I prefer full voter participation and fully staffed voting opportunities over the possibilities of chaos and potential fraud. I value the integrity of the process too much to short change these fine candidates. Sorry VA taxpayers-perhaps if more of you were involved then we wouldn’t have to send you the bill for a primary. Finally, if any of these candidates can’t garner enough support (money and people) to run an effective primary campaign then they have no business running in the general election against an incumbent-Politics 101.
I always enjoy someone wanting to limit military men and women’s ability to participate in the democratic process referring to another individual as a “worthless scum”
You know you’ve won an argument whenever someone engages in ad hominem attacks.
Quite amusing.
vbfirstlanding76, you have used your response above previously in other posts, and although this is a point of view, it is pandering to a group of voters in order to incite chaos in how a candidate is selected. No one is trying to exclude anyone from participating in the process, and since I did serve in the military, I trusted the candidate selection process of my fellow citizens. We as citizens owe our folks serving in the military our due diligence in selecting the best candidate that will serve their interests as well as others in the district. A convention will minimize public skirmishes between candidates and factions in the party. A Primary or Canvass will provide issues in the candidate or party that the Democrats can easily exploit during the campaign. The dirty laundry should be kept in the laundry room, not aired out in the newspapers or media.
Tim J, I think public skirmishes originated at political conventions, although I could be wrong on my History. LOL
Conventions will not dampen mud slinging and/or public screaming matches. Anyone remeber Mike Farris supporters chanting “Bobby Kill-Baby” at the 1993 VA GOP Convention? (at the time the largest political convention in the history of the free world.) This argument doesn’t hold water, especially when coupled with the fact that a convention would most likely be grossly undermanned with inexperienced workers. It’s a PR nightmare for the Republican Party waiting to happen.
I find it funny that all of you Rigell supporters have all of a sudden started to care about the military vote. Before the initial vote on the canvass there was not a peep to be heard about the military or a primary, you influenced none of the 12 voting members of the committee to press for a primary. Now, perhaps because of Golden’s reported (on this blog) showing at the advance, you all of a sudden want to switch to a primary and have been pressuring people behind the scenes to adopt a motion to reconsider and change their vote. I am going to have to call total BS on all of you. What has you so scared that you do a total about face on this issue? Maybe it is because Scott has no resume to speak of and Golden’s is a mile long with more experience by far than anyone in the race, Nye included. Put Rigell next to Nye and put Golden next to Nye. The primary is about who can beat Nye and that is not Rigell.
Lilly K, if you and your candidate can rest assurred that the party can put on an effective, efficient, and fair convention/canvass then so be it, but the facts and recent history have proven it to be false. The McWaters/ Wilson race was run by very good expereinced people with 40+ volunteers at 5 separate canvass polling places. They were overwhelmed by the turnout produced by Jeff and Rosemary-to their credit. If you seriously believe the party can multiply that effort for a Congressional Primary-you’re fooling yourself. Protect the process then worry about the politics of getting your man elected.
Kenny isn’t my candidate, I haven’t ever even met the guy. He just seems like the only one with the experience to do it (judging by resumes on facebook) and I think it’s funny that on this blog when the post about the canvass was made, none of the Rigell supporters talked about the military vote. I have no idea whether a canvass will be sucessful or not. All I know is that this sudden concern for the military doesn’t seem genuine to me because it was never brought up when the first vote was taken.
I didn’t know allowing men and women who are serving in combat to vote is “pandering” to a group of voters. I just think the 2nd District has the highest concentration of military personnel of ANY Congressional District in the country.
As conservatives we should acknowledge that fact and acknowledge that by holding a Saturday Canvass / Convention not only are you denying those overseas the right to vote, but also the ability of anybody on Reserve Duty to vote as well.
Richard knows his candidate cannot win a convention and that is why he does not want one.
A primary or a canvas favors anybody with money–only Loyola and Rigell would stand a chance in either one due to the overwhelming monetary advantage.
If we truly want the grassroots of the Republican Party to have a voice in selecting our nominee, without all of the Jody Wagner and Barack Obama stickers I saw at the December 5th canvas, then a convention is the only way to go.
The Republican Party has been trying to quiet the voices of the conservative grassroots for the past several years now. It has been seen through the removal of the grassroots elected chairman Jeff Frederick by the party elite. This cannot be allowed to happen in the 2nd Congressional District.
The grassroots needs to make sure their voices are heard and fight for a convention.
for the one of you above that doesn’t know Kenny Golden personally, let me tell you my impressions of him. He has presence–God gave him that, but its a great political asset. He is a leader. Because of his years in the military, he is accustommed to dealing with personnel from all walks/stations of life. He is a straight shooter. Finally, he grew up in a small (very small) family business so he knows the burdens that businesses carry in our financial world.
so if I lived in the 2d, i’d vote for him.
I’ve said it before but can you imagine if the 2nd district committee decides for a convention … what the headline will be in the VA Pilot? “GOP Disenfranchises Military Voters in Favor of Party Member Conclave”
We will make a huge mistake if we don’t do a primary.
Kenny Golden is in full support of a canvass and not a primary…so LillyK your comment above makes no sense. Plus most of us were not aware that there was a 2nd District meeting, let alone one deciding between a primary/canvass/convention. The decision was made on December 3rd. The canvass for Rosemary/Jeff was on December 5th and was a FUBAR!!!I know I was a party official at the GOP HQ and it was a mess. At the very least a canvass over 5-6 jurisdictions is going to be a logistical nightmare.
I served in the military and did not vote in primaries (not aware of them happening). When I was in the command was only concerned with voting for general elections (federal). I assume it is up to the individual military member to get this going for them in a primary. All that aside…the 2nd district is home to the largest naval base in the world and numerous other military assets. The unemployment rate in HR is at least 3.5 – 4 points lower than the nation (due to military and related jobs). A primary is the only method of nomination that gives a military member an oppurtunity to vote absentee, since the GOP is the perceived party friendlier to military interests, then we should be going above and beyond in allowing them a voice in our nominee.
No I am not a Rigell supporter I am a Kenny Golden supporter and I was the first one to address a previous post about serving military not being able to have a voice in GOP nominations process if it is a convention/canvass.
Most personnel serving on active duty in our area are not going to vote in our local elections. They retain their home states as home of record for favorable tax treatment if for no other reason.
However, I am sure we have ample numbers of citizens who retain Virginia addresses as their home of record while serving elsewhere. Back when I was on active duty, it was nearly impossible to find out who was running in the primaries and almost as difficult to choose between the names that showed up on the General election ballot.
But now-a-days we have the internet. Active duty personnel can request absentee ballots online and research candidates’ positions on issues the same way, even if they serve half way around the world. It is not right to make statements of experience about how difficult it was years-ago to participate in the democratic electoral process while serving on active duty if you, like I, do not have any recent experience serving under present conditions.
I’d like to hear from those presently serving on active duty who maintain Virginia as their home of record. If even one expresses a desire to participate in the primary, the issue is settled as far as I am concerned. But of course, I am not a registered Republican so perhaps my opinion will not hold as much weight as others’.
I didn’t say it was difficult to vote in primaries, I just said I was unaware of primaries going on in my home state and that the command at the time only really got into absentee voting for federal elections (not state or local – add liasions in each department who requested absentee ballots from each members home locality). I also stated that now adays(and even back then) it would be up to the military person to get the absentee ballot process going on their own for nomination primaries/general elections other than federal (state reps/Governor etc.)
So, LD, you are for trying an “experiment” with absentee ballots for the 2nd district Primary? Are there any precedents in Va where this has worked successfully in a Primary election? Also, in addition to problems and funding in staffing the Primary, how do you suggest staffing the 2nd district absentee vote committee? Remember, if the absentee vote is opened up, all must be able to participate, not just the military. Things are always easier said than done, and as Mr. Ripley suggested, the last election canvass was not done well at all. The complications of the canvass relative to a Primary with absentee ballots will be multiplied by the total size of the 2nd district.
Ken D,
I am not aware of how allowing absentee ballots in a primary would be an “experiment”. Seems to me we do absentee ballots all the time. But perhaps you know something I do not. Please educate me where this primary would pose a new problem.
As for precedents, look at all the primaries we already conduct with absentee ballots. Do you have a problem with them?
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