A SUGGESTION FOR THE NEW CHAIR OF THE RPV
We now have a new candidate for Senate. Unfortunately, the convention that selected this candidate was hotly contested. Instead of the coronation he hoped for, Jim Gilmore encountered a nearly successful revolution. Now a few blogs are fuming with the possibility that Bob Marshall was robbed. When you are the underdog in the general election, it is not a good thing to have half the folks in your own party suspicious of your honesty.
Marshall may never feel the need to come to Gilmore’s defense. Without Marshall’s validation, few of Marshall’s supporters are going to regard Gilmore’s victory as entirely credible. I was at the convention. Prior to the balloting, Marshall looked like the winner. Did Gilmore steal the vote? I have no reason to believe he did, but some blogs are abuzz with rumors.
BVBL is doing its usual sore loser rumor mongering (here). However, even novatownhall blog (here) is speculating on the matter, and the SkepticalObserver is offering his comments to refute the silliness (here). The fact is that some of the arrangements, like two ballots, one for the Senate, and one for the RPV did seem like a stupid waste of time. So why do it that way?
Rumors, even dumb rumors, spread (here). This is Sunday afternoon, a slow time in the blogosphere, but newspaper reporters read blogs. Who knows what we will see in the paper on Monday and then on Tuesday?
Some answers are in order, and Jim Gilmore obviously has a bias in the matter. Fortunately, Jeff Frederick was not Gilmore’s pick, and the vast majority of the party will perceive him as a neutral party. As his first task Frederick should appoint a small group of people, half Gilmore and half Marshall supporters, to investigate how the voting totals were gathered and tabulated. Then this task force can issue a report. The chair does not even need to give a controversial reason. All Frederick has to do is point to the prospect of closely fought contests in the future and the opportunity this one provides to document some important lessons.
The records/evidence were destroyed right afterwards. There was no containment, no procedure to prevent tampering, so anything you could investigate now could have been altered. The process had some holes, so there could have been some manipulation, but there probably is no legitimate paper trail of the false calculations, if any exists.
I think the forward looking Jeff Frederick will, like the rest of us, recognize that the result that appeared at the Convention is what we are going with. No do-overs, no visits from the Jimmy Carter election observers.
I advocate that we use the open primary process from now on. I grew up here in Virginia and I like the open primary, since it forces sometimes overly stiff Republican candidates to have to get out of their comfort zones and actually deal with ALL of the People. There is no significant risk to us from manipulation by the other party. The concern about expense could be mitigated by having the campaign season shortened.
Bob Marshall’s campaign was superbly managed by Steve Waters. I am certain that the Bob Marshall team shall be back and will most likely be victorious next time.
J. Tyler Ballance — This comment coming from you? I guess no one is wholly consistent.
Have you been watching the presidential primaries? Do Michigan and Florida ring a bell? Election results are fought over all the time. Even close general elections can easily result in the intervention of lawyers. Remember Bush/Gore 2000.
The point is that primaries are just as easily manipulated as anything else. When political parties use conventions, the government (that is, the incumbents) has less control over the process. That is a marvelously good thing.
If political parties do not maintain an open process and use questionable procedures they can and will be punished at the polls. When incumbents rig primaries, how do you punish them at the polls?
Anyway, if Frederick decides to investigate, he will have to use whatever he has. If the records/evidence were destroyed right afterwards, that was inappropriate. Considering the significance of the event, some provision should have been made to store the ballots. Nonetheless, Marshall has not challenged the results. To some extent that fact speaks for itself.