The Bourne Candidacy?

Dwayne Horner | April 07, 2009 12:47 PM

As you may have heard, in a 57-18 vote, Virginia GOP Chairman Jeff Frederick was recently ousted from his position.

Removing a chairman in Virginia is no easy task -- in fact, it required a 3/

4 vote of the State Central Committee to accomplish (the alternative method would have been a 2/3 vote at a state convention). Simply put, it's not easy to get yourself fired from this position, and yet Frederick somehow did.

But it's not over yet. Frederick is now vowing to run again at the upcoming Virginia state convention -- and is attempting to portray his removal as a liberal/insiders vs. conservative/outsider paradigm -- with Frederick cast the grassroots conservative outsider.

Regardless of where one stands on Frederick, it is clear to anyone paying attention that his larger problems are personal -- not ideological. I am told he has ticked off nearly everyone in the state -- which explains how 3/4 of the State Central Committee would vote to remove him from office.

Still, there is a danger that his continued fight could cause grassroots conservatives to be even more turned-off by the GOP than they already are. This is especially problematic considering Virginia will elect a Governor this year.

Virginia Republicans might be able to diminish this issue by nominating Sandy Liddy Bourne. Bourne, of course, is a Virginia conservative activist, and the daughter of G. Gordon Liddy. She has been mentioned as a possible candidate for this position, and I'm hearing good things about her from some Virginia conservatives on the ground...