Many people talk about growing the party, yesterday E.W. Jackson did it. The foundation for the eventual Jackon landslide were the incredible number of people who came to Richmond to support Jackson on the first ballot. It was clear to many that the convention was filled with Jackson supporters from the applause lines when the candidate names were stated by the Nominations Chair and Convention Chair. It was equally clear as people watched the convention from the very start. At the start of the convention, it was clear that more delegates were holding Jackson signs, than signs for any other LG nominee. What is also interesting is that while conservatives absolutely love Cuccinelli, it was Jackson who brought the energy to the convention. No candidate brought the energy or electricity to the coliseum like Jackson.
You want to know the dirty secret? Jackson brought more people into the process than anyone else. A large number of Jackson supporters were people who had never attended a convention before. While his speech did a lot to land him the 31% on the first ballot, and eventually propel him to victory, this organic effort brought out more people than the solid work done by the Stimpson, Stewart, Snyder, and Lingamfelter campaigns that won roughly the same number of weighted votes on the first ballot.
This was as grassroots an effort as there ever was. Jackson voters didn’t vote the way a leader or organization told them to. Instead with a tiny budget and almost no well known supporters, Jackson took an inspiring message to every corner of the commonwealth and rallied people to his cause. Jackson stayed above the fray, and kept reminding us that America’s best days are ahead.
What we have seen Jackson do over the years is the same reason why he will be an incredible asset to the ticket. Jackson impressed many last year with the way he was a team player. More importantly is what he has been doing for years before that. In the African-American community he has put his name on the line encouraging people to embrace politically their natural conservative values. While we talk about the need for outreach as a party, Jackson has been doing it. He’s been doing the hard work of reaching out to pastors and African-Americans of faith and encouraging them to understand and vote their conservative values.
Few things are harder than outreach via cold calling. Anyone involved in sales, ministry, and yes politics knows this. For a party that is largely white, it is a challenge to reach other communities. Nominating Jackson changes this. Placing someone who is part of a community we need to reach and who has been successfully doing the hard work of reaching out within his community will do more than any committee attempting to do the same thing.
We saw the beginning of that fact yesterday, as I watched some African-Americans in tears during his speech. While the convention certainly wasn’t flooded with African-Americans, there were definitely more than any other convention, and they were overwhelmingly supporting Jackson.
While I certainly believe Jackson can win, particularly if we all work hard to make that happen, I think it is worth considering what Mike Farris’s nomination as Lieutenant Governor did for the state. Homeschoolers were brought into the party as a result of his race, and are now a critical and vital part of the Republican coalition in Virginia. Even by losing, Farris built the party. While I certainly don’t expect 70% of African-Americans to vote for Jackson this fall, even if he loses, Jackson will have a similar party building effect.
When you combine Jackson’s party building abilities with the fact that he is one of the most inspiring communicators of the importance of liberty in the state, I am excited that Jackson is our nominee.
The nagging question in many people’s heads is, we know Jackson can give a great speech but can he win? Does Jackson need to make sure certain some people have nothing to do with his campaign in the general election? He better. Did his campaign do the party a disservice by not getting certain things in the open and dealt with four month ago? Sadly so. However, let’s think about what we need to do to beat Chopra. Chopra is a brilliant, charismatic candidate. He has an incredible grasp of state and federal policy, spits out private/public partnership ideas for almost every problem, and has creative ideas for moving state government into the 21st century technologically. If I were an independent who didn’t care about life or taxes, it would be hard not to vote for him. One thing we need to do is tie Chopra to Obama’s policies. Chopra is a candidate who promoted, defended, and helped implement many of Obama’s policies. Let’s explain why those policies are bad, and ask Chopra if he stands by them. This is a role than Jackson can fill perfectly. If Jackson continues to explain to all Virginians what liberty is and why they should embrace it, and holds Chopra accountable, he could very well continue to astonish people and win in November.
I’m excited by what we did yesterday in nominating Jackson and I’m even more excited about what the future could hold as a result.
P.S. Sweeping the statewide offices in VA is a rarity, and while I think we can get all three elected, if Jackson is attacked so viciously for being extreme that Cuccinelli is viewed as normal and Obenshain as mainstream, has he actually hurt the ticket? On the flip side in 2009, the left went after Bob McDonnell so viciously for being “extreme” that they barely went after Cuccinelli in the general, and the whole ticket did alright.
