As I can, when I can, I’ll be offering comments during the three-day event. For a foretaste, Anita Kumar with the WaPo highlights the centerpiece of this weekends drama, with some none-too-interesting quotes from specific GOP leaders, most notably former Attorney General Kilgore:
State Central Committee members who were interviewed said it is unlikely that Frederick will be removed Friday when hundreds of activists gather at the posh mountain resort for the annual GOP Advance. The committee did not put a discussion of Frederick’s future on its agenda. If 75 percent of members agree to waive the rules, they say, they could add it.
“The Advance is his chance to explain to State Central Committee why he is the one to lead,” said Jerry Kilgore, former attorney general and the Republican nominee for governor in 2005.
Gubernatorial candidate and current Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s comments were even less direct:
McDonnell, the likely Republican nominee for governor, would not say this week whether Frederick should stay. He said the “party apparatus” would decide the future of the chairman’s job and that “effective candidates,” not a chairman, are the most important factor in next year’s elections.
Partially true, IMO. If the last three years have shown us anything, we need both strong candidates and strong, mobilized grassroots. McCain is an excellent case-in-point: the GOP ran their “best candidate” and got hammered.
So what should we expect this weekend? That depends on two factors: (1) How well is the RPV Advance actually run leading into a pretty dismal setup, and (2) what Frederick has to say to the Executive Committee behind closed doors. Rank-and-file Republicans will never know the answer to the latter, but on the former there will be many judges.
We shall see.