More on the 1st District Chichester Resolution

Read this line from the FLS article this Saturday:

“The 1st District committee is made up of a small minority of Republicans and does not represent the views of all Republicans,” Chichester wrote. “I was elected by the voters of the 28th senatorial district, not by a small group in the 1st District committee. I will not be deterred by a small, vocal minority of my party, whose apparent goal is to impair Virginia’s traditions of excellence and example-setting capabilities.”

Now I want you to know something. The 1st District is not made up of a “small minority”. 1st District Congressional Committee consists of the unit chairs of each of the counties in the 1st Congressional District. It is not a small minority by any stretch – to the contrary it is the representative majority of the GOP.

The debate that occured before the resolution was not short – it was lengthy, but not hotly contested. The debate was angry, upset, incredulous. Republican chairmen are angry that Senator Chichester is proposing $2.6 billion dollars in tax hikes shortly after he campaigned as a tax cutting fiscal conservative. The natives are angry – angrier than I thought they would be.

When it came to a vote, only three nays were heard out of the thirty votes on the committee. One from Bob Fountain (Westmoreland) who spoke to the article, another from the YR chairman who wanted more time to come to a conclusion, and another from a chairman that I did not recognize immediately.

Here’s the kicker. Many of those seeking to censure Russ Moulton for endorsing Mike Rothfeld in the June 2003 primary were quiet. Apologists for Chichester were mute, and not a one spoke in favor of the Chichester tax hikes. Many voted for the resolution – a pleasant change for vindicated conservatives.

To put it mildly, the natives are angry and restless. And they are going to remember 2004 without question. I haven’t seen resentment like this since Clinton was elected in ’92.