“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
This past Friday, the Giles County Republican Party hosted their 4th Annual Stafford Morris Dinner in Pearisburg, Virginia. This year’s keynote speaker for the event was former RNC Chairman and soon to be gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie.
This small committee puts in more work and effort than any other committee in the 9th District. Giles County funds their own events and even has their own campaign headquarters that they pay for themselves. For a majority of the year they fund their operations without the help of RPV. This kind of intense operation outside of Northern Virginia is unheard of. Giles County is the model unit committee of Southwest Virginia.
Attendees flocked from across the 9th District and beyond to attend the event. Along with Gillespie, 2017 candidates Delegate Rob Bell and Delegate Glenn Davis made appearances. That these men were willing to show up in a small locality over one year from the nomination shows not only their work ethic but their commitment to working for the nomination in every inch of the state.
By no means do I wish to discount Delegate Bell’s relentless work ethic, but I would be remiss if I did not give extra credit to Delegate Davis for coming to the 9th District on Friday. He definitely came the farthest, having driven over to Giles County early Friday morning to meet with local officials about economic development issues.
If I could give advice to the candidates for the 2017 offices, I would have to quote “The West Wing.” Fictional President Josiah Barlett said that “decisions are made by those who show up.” Sending a campaign representative or sponsoring an event is a nice touch, but campaigns are won and lost in Southwest Virginia based on the candidate’s ability to connect one on one. The more that someone is seen and interacted with, the more their name is remembered by Southwest Virginia activists.
Ed Gillespie was the keynote speaker of the event. When Ed gives a political speech, it almost reminds me of Primitive Baptists ministers. Many of our readers are not from Southwest Virginia, so I’ll explain – essentially, Primitive Baptist ministers tend to sing their sermons. In almost a lyrical and rhythmic form, they give a speech that sounds like a hymn.
Ed’s delivery is very similar. He gives a speech without pausing or fumbling to remember a line. At the end of the speech, he could have read the New York City phonebook and the crowd would have listened. He was quick to quip with a crack at Virginia Democrats and to go deep into policy. He did so effortlessly. It’s as if policy is a Chopin piano piece and Gillespie is a classically trained pianist.
His speech helped take my mind off the chaos in the party right now. It was if the infighting and turmoil of the GOP faded away as he spoke. Gillespie is a “transcendental” candidate, rising above the noise to give a message of conservative hope that has not been seen for a long time in our party. As he speaks, you can see a that rare twinkle in the eyes of even the most hardened political activist desperate to win a statewide race. They for once see the hope of winning and bringing our state back to the fiscal and moral sanity that is so desperately needed. That hope lies in Ed Gillespie.
At points in the event, I wondered if I had attended an Ed Gillespie for Governor rally instead of a campaign dinner for a local unit. Chairman Maybelle Midkiff, the matriarch of the unit committee, was quick to heap on praise of Gillespie. The executive board went out of their way to endorse his run for Governor. Delegate Joseph Yost in his remarks also spoke of his desire to see Gillespie move to the Governor’s mansion. It was easy to see they were very happy to have Gillespie in Giles County.
As a writer who spends way too much time online and not in the field, it’s nice for once to get back to my political roots in Southwest Virginia.
Congratulations to the Giles County GOP. You all held a fantastic event.
