Over the last several days the Vince Haley for RPV Chairman campaign has been wrangling with the Republican Party of Virginia over denying them a walkthrough of the RPV Convention site in Harrisonburg and delegate lists.
In emails obtained by Bearing Drift, a clear and growing disagreement on protocol has been brewing on what is permissible to a candidate (if viewed as such) and what is not (if you do not feel the individual is a candidate). Click the emails to embiggen:
To quickly recap how we got here, Haley announced his candidacy in January, withdrew from – not suspended – his campaign in February, and then announced he was still in the race earlier this month. The RPV nominations committee met and stated with a 10-0 vote that Haley would not be considered a candidate.
Here’s where the fun starts
There is nothing in the official call nor the party plan that talks about how a candidate withdraws from a race. So, technically, one can argue Haley was always a duly-filed candidate, despite him even writing things in February such as:
“Now that the loyalty pledge has been rescinded, and after spending some time evaluating the race, I realize that the biggest rationale for my candidacy has, in a sense, been resolved….Nevertheless, there is still a critically important conversation to be had about how we can do better as a party to uphold and defend our principles. I am committed to being a constructive voice in that conversation, and I wish John Whitbeck the greatest measure of wisdom and success as he seeks to lead the RPV through a turbulent presidential election year.”
Over the course of the next several weeks, Haley reconsidered that Whitbeck was able to possess wisdom or success and threw back in.
It was at this point that the nominations committee met to consider whether Haley would be entitled all the privileges afforded to a duly filed candidate. They, as previously stated, considered not.
However, they – the committee – are not the final arbiter on this decision.
In a letter to RPV Executive Director John Findlay, Haley spokesperson Aaron Gulbransen wrote of the issue:
“You are aware that the nominations committee report must be approved by the convention delegates and until the convention floor approves or denies their report, there is absolutely no validity to that report.”
So – here’s the deal. Did Haley say he was out? Yes. Is it a little unfair for him to reenter the race at the last minute? I think a case can be made for that. But is it really against the rules – specifically the party plan? Not so much.
(And, for the love of God, please don’t mess with the party plan. Otherwise we need another one of these damn conventions! I digress…)
Here’s what should be happening
Earlier today, John Whitbeck released a powerful email. In it, he detailed the following achievements of the RPV since he took office:
* There were over 1 million voters in the 2016 GOP Super Tuesday Primary. This is the highest turnout in the history of the primary in Virginia, Republican or Democrat.
* RPV revamped the procedures for ballot access and we had 13 candidates on the March 1st presidential ballot
* RPV is raising money once again and we have paid off 100% of the over $240k in debt the RPV had when I took office.
* In the recent 2015 election, we as a Party had our first successful statewide election in 4 years by beating back Terry McAuliffe’s and Michael Bloomberg’s millions.
* Also in 2015, no Republican incumbent was defeated in the General Election. The last state midterm election where no incumbent members of the party opposing the Governor were defeated was 1975!
* Our State Central Committee abolished the destructive practice of slating, a long overdue measure.
* RPV spent more money on local elections in 2015 than any previous election cycle in addition to providing local campaigns free data and training.
* Most importantly, our Party has come together and we are united going into the 2016 elections.
So, here’s my concern: If RPV is so awesome and doing so well, what’s the problem?
If you win the argument, then you should already know what is “best in life” and welcome the challenge:
However, given the treatment of Haley, one has to wonder if there is a bit of “fear”:
No, there should be no fear.
If Whitbeck truly believes he has unified the party, then act like Conan now and sing Kumbaya later:
However, if RPV truly is trying to usurp the party plan, deny Haley his opportunity, and is using party resources and personnel to do so, they’ll probably regret it:
