Of course, the intent of the post is to sound out whether Marshall has sufficiently swayed Chris Beer’s vote, but there’s some interesting intel information that I can certainly confirm:
Hyland is right that Davis supporters are banging down the doors for Marshall, but there is quiet fist-pumping among many Davis supporters when you talk about Marshall’s candidacy. Marshall is also universally respected among those who know him. He’s doctrinaire, but he won’t stab you in the back. Let me tell you, among Davis supporters, there is real anger at the way Tom has been treated by the state party after all the work and all the money he spread around to help elect Republicans all across the commonwealth in the last few years. Whether its fair or not, Gilmore gets hit with that anger. There is also genuine resignation that Gilmore will get blown out by many up here and he has shown no reason yet how he won’t. For Marshall, many up here just throw their hands up and say “what the hell, why not?”
I don’t know. I’ll be a delegate in Richmond next month and I while I’m supporting Gilmore now, I was also ready to support anyone else. I was at the state central meeting where Tom got slapped in the face, and I haven’t forgotten about that either. It wasn’t just a slap in Tom’s face, for many of us from Northern Virginia it felt like a slap on all our faces. And the irony is that the convention was suppose to guarantee Gilmore the nomination, and now its being used to prevent it.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but it shouldn’t shock a soul that Marshall and Davis can work together. Differences aside, both are known as party-builders par excellence.
Has anyone figured out yet that it is an alliance of Northern Virginians plus social conservatives that have put us over the top time and time again in the past?