Your correspondent has just returned from Richmond, where the Republican Party of Virginia’s 2012 convention was lightly attended by roughly 1,200 delegates. Less than a quarter of my unit’s filed delegates attended, and similar percentages were reflected elsewhere.
The turnout was largely driven by the low key races to elect Virginia’s representation to the Republican National Committee. Morton Blackwell was easily re-elected as national committeeman over Shelby McCurnin, Jr., but Kathy Terry won her re-election by a razor-thin margin of about five weighted votes, an result that could have been altered if just one more individual from any number of jurisdictions had attended in support of Donna Holt. The balloting process for national committeeman and national committeewoman was well organized and, indeed, a good example of how redundant systems and good planning can make a party run process a pleasure to participate in and ensure the confidence of delegates in the outcome of even a close election.
Thirteen delegates and thirteen alternates were also elected as at-large delegates to the Republican National Convention. The nominations committee stated that it chose these individuals to represent a cross-section of our Virginia party and it appears that goal was achieved with Ron Paul supporters such as John Tate and Chris Stearns being sent to Tampa along with Governor McDonnell and Lori Ann Miller, among others.
The most significant drama of the convention came from a floor motion challenging the credentials committee report and asking that individuals present from Warren County be seated as delegates. Their unit had apparently failed to submit the names of individuals elected at the mass meeting to the district to be submitted to RPV, thus the individuals could not be properly credentialed under the rules. The failure to submit these names appears to have resulted from a conflict over control of the unit committee. The convention chair ruled that the challenge to the credentials report was not in order. A motion to appeal the ruling of the chair ensued and when the chair found that an unclear voice vote sustained her ruling, division was called for. A 2/3 majority being required to overrule the chair, sufficient numbers were not seen in the standing vote and the chair’s ruling stood. An estimated ten individuals from Warren county were not credentialed as delegates.
While votes were being counted and the convention was at ease, a group of Ron Paul delegates began chanting “Audit the Fed” to the amusement of the crowd. Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli both rallied delegates to the Romney campaign with their speeches. Bolling’s presence at the convention largely consisted of a couple of dozen volunteers in his 2013 t-shirts while Cuccinelli volunteers distributed “Cuccinelli Governor” stickers to hundreds of delegates.
On the Friday night before the convention, Commonwealth Republican leaders welcomed delegates to suites. Cannolis with the Cuccinelli’s was clearly the delegates favorite, featuring coffee and handmade cannolis. It was still busy with about two dozen people in line to greet the Attorney General a half hour after the suite had officially closed. Other suites included Rob Bell for AG, Mark Obenshain for AG, a reception hosted by Morton Blackwell and Kathy Terry.
Nikki Haley was well received as keynote speaker at the RPV’s fundraising gala on Friday evening. She shared her inspirational story as the daughter of first generation Indian-Americans and her fight to overcome an entrenched moderate Republican establishment in South Carolina and led the fight for increased transparency in the state legislature, much to the chagrin of many of her Republican colleagues. She shared how South Carolina’s right-to-work policies have helped grow their economy and bring in new businesses. As Governor, Haley brought experienced business people to cabinet level positions and replaced a bureaucratic model with a customer service model of interaction with constituents.
As reported previously in Bearing Drift, the RPV’s state central committee (SCC) voted 47-31 on Friday afternoon to change the method of nominating our 2013 candidates to a convention. While arguments were presented for and against the change, as a first time member of the SCC, I was encouraged that that the debate was respectful and not acrimonious. It was important to note that while arguments had been made that amending the primary decision to a convention was some how and illegal or out of order motion, when Chairman Mullins ruled that it was in order, no member of the SCC appealed the ruling of the Chairman. Following the vote, the entire SCC agreed that while the business of the party necessitates planning ahead, our united focus must be on winning back the White House and sending, as Morgan Griffith would say, Timmy ‘I lost 1.5 billion dollars while raising your taxes and closing rest stops” Kaine into political retirement.
