From the Virginia State Board of Elections just moments ago:
The Republican Party of Virginia has communicated to SBE its intentions regarding the Republican Party pledge/oath and Secretary Palmer has authorized that the pledge not be administered for absentee voting and on Election Day. Please do not include the pledge in your absentee ballot mailings.
While SBE is confident that Friday’s District Court ruling in the Perry case will stand, out of an abundance of caution we do ask that you hold off on mailing your absentee ballots until tomorrow at noon. We hope to update you before then with any news regarding the plaintiffs’ appeal to the Fourth Circuit.
Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions regarding these issues.
Most folks don’t realize that the “loyalty oath” (a brilliant aphorism coined by AP reporter Bob Lewis, no less) was in truth a conservative reaction to the 2003 open primaries in Virginia where Democrats and independents were encouraged to vote for Chichester and other moderate Republicans.
Since the courts would not close Virginia’s primaries because RPV did not utilize the tools it had at its disposal thru it’s own bylaws, the State Central Committee fought a three-year battle to try to get a Statement of Intent drafted and signed before anyone voted in a Republican nomination contest. In essence, the right of free association.
…until McCain ’08 rolled around.
During my last month serving as RPV’s communications director, this was the rearguard action I had to defend against. Conservatives, who just mere months ago enthusiastically supported the idea of a Statement of Intent, were now horrified that they would be forced to vote for that liberal, squishy, Feingold-collaborator, good-for-nothing John McCain.
State Central Committee dutifully gunned it down the Saturday of the 2007 RPV Advance — my last day before I left for greener pastures with a new employer.
Still, I dutifully explained the party’s reasoning in getting to that crossroads. I watched again as RPV tried to resurrect the “loyalty oath” time and time again, conservatives still upset that moderates and liberals and Democrats and independents were determining the nominee — or worse, that conservatives and Tea Partiers who did not win would not support the GOP nominee later in the general.
Once again, conservatives rallied around the Statement of Intent. Once again, conservatives gunned it down, forced between the choice of Mitt Romney and Ron Paul.
Don’t worry folks. I’m sure we’ll be talking about this again in three years.
