I can’t keep this one quiet anymore.
There’s a lot of chatter about the supposed false endorsements of Snyder by PWC Chairman Corey Stewart and AG nominee Mark Obenshain.
Truth is, Corey Stewart really did endorse Pete Snyder — that is confirmed by multiple sources in and around the campaign (including former Stewart staffers).
Folks have to ask themselves why a Snyder campaign that had been flawless up to that point would have made such a critical error. The answer is twofold:
(1) Stewart falsely announced the endorsement of Martha Boneta, hero of the Boneta Bill after Delegate Scott Lingamfelter announced his endorsement of Snyder. It was simply not true… and Martha was on the floor of the convention wearing a Pete ’13 shirt and having a great time.
Sore feelings, it would seem…
(2) After Stewart had given Snyder’s team the endorsement, a funny thing happened. Patrick Lee (check your cell phones) marched up to the Snyder press box and made an additional demand… of $85,000 cash to cover Corey Stewart’s campaign expenses.
Snyder staffers were baffled. Hadn’t Corey Stewart already given his word? Patrick Lee repeated the demand, saying that Stewart staff had not been paid up and so forth.
Snyder staffers did the right thing — they said the endorsement was already given and they expected Stewart to keep their word.
What happened next could only be described as the “Richmond Screwjob” as Patrick Lee ran from the Snyder box shouting “No deal! Stewart did *not* endorse Snyder!!”
…guess who was watching from the stage? Corey Stewart… who then began a vigorous argument with RPV chairman Pat Mullins demanding to be able to take the stage. Midway through that argument, Stewart eyeballed Jackson who was congratulating his delegates.
The fist went into the air. Jackson was endorsed by Stewart instead.
Of course, to the convention floor it looked a lot different. Snyder was falsely accused of a Stewart endorsement. Pre-printed flyers of an Obenshain endorsement leaked out as well… stolen or prematurely handed out, we’ll never know.
After all, what could Snyder do about it? He got screwed… and it is the reason why Stewart staffers even after endorsing Jackson were so vicious after the fact. Those in the know just lost out on a massive payday.
* * *
The next day, Snyder was pumping his fist in the air for E.W. Jackson and offering his help to the campaign.
Now that’s a class act folks — no matter how you cut it.
…and while Pete Snyder was out there being the happy warrior and playing team ball, what were the third-party shills for Stewart doing?
This.
Check out the time stamp too… on a Sunday evening, Stewart handlers are pushing stuff like that?
All because they couldn’t get their $85,000 payoff?
Disgusting, isn’t it?
Now there are few things in the world I hate more than campaigns or surrogates that bring in family. I will wage relentless war against people like that — burn your crops, salt the earth, you have no business in politics war against people who lower themselves to such disgusting tactics.
For one, I’m glad Snyder didn’t sell his reputation or his character to Corey Stewart’s goons. If he was going to lose, he was going to lose fair — and Jackson’s staffers privately know the deal and are grateful for it. Ironically enough, Snyder and Jackson were the two friendliest campaigns on the trail — their campaign styles matched, their social media strategies matched, their goals and ambitions matched.
Had Corey actually endorsed clean, or had Snyder coughed up the $85K, would it have changed the outcome? Probably not. But let’s face it — if Snyder really had paid for the endorsement, that’s probably a lot worse than passing out a flyer… in fact, that’s corrupt. Snyder had his test of character — and passed with flying colors.
Others? Not so much…
Guess Ken Cuccinelli and the pope have more friends than we thought, eh?
So you may hear smart folks talk about Corey Stewart and the Richmond Screwjob. This my friends is what they are talking about… and it ought to go down into legend as to how Pete Snyder is and remains a class act, how Corey Stewart tried to extort Snyder for $85,000, and how even in victory E.W. Jackson proved that he’s a lot more intelligent and nimble a politician than at least one (former) LG candidate thought he was.
…and now you know what happened. Dirty, dirty politics and a vicious play against a good man.
