Why Virginia's Republican Party is on the verge of a meltdown.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

March 15, 2006

Fight for the Right

Why Virginia’s Republican Party is on the verge of a meltdown.
by Jason Roop and Scott Bass

http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=11979

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In the tiny, picturesque town of Chatham, population 1,300, Sen. Charles R. Hawkins and Delegate Robert Hurt are GOP royalty. They are well-regarded as Republican statesmen and colleagues, senior and junior, their hometown offices literally across the hall from one another on Main Street. They are fixtures on the ribbon-cutting scene — there’s nary a grip-and-grin photo op that doesn’t feature the graying Hawkins and the tall, dark-haired Hurt. They’re such good friends it’s widely held that Hawkins, 62, who spent a decade in the House before forging a 14-year career in the Senate, has chosen Hurt as his successor upon his retirement. Hurt might not have had to wait long for the chance. It was rumored earlier this year that Hawkins was interested in a nice, career-ending job within Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration. Hurt, 36, with just four years under his belt in the House, had a clear path to jump chambers and continue Hawkins’ legacy in the Senate. Now, all bets are off.

Like many of their Republican colleagues, the two men find themselves in opposite camps of a bitter ideological split within the state’s ruling party. On one side are moderate Republicans who control the Senate, where the veteran Hawkins resides. Schooled in the Gov. John Dalton tradition of the Virginia GOP, they favor a pay-as-you-go fiscal philosophy and take what they call a more inclusionary view of Virginia voters’ needs.

On the other side are conservative Republicans, like Hurt — a minority in the Senate, but holding the reins of the House. Many are younger party faithful who quote Reagan. They’re more socially conservative and anti-tax, preaching the smaller government mantra epitomized by former Govs. George Allen and Jim Gilmore. This moderate-conservative divide has deepened since 2000, soon after Republicans triumphantly gained control of both chambers of the statehouse. It was the first time in a century Republicans had taken hold of the majority, compelling then-Gov. Gilmore to declare to jubilant supporters: “Free at last, free at last, free at long last! Democracy has finally come to the Commonwealth!”

But the afterglow of that historic election night soon diminished in the tug-of-war between the party’s factions. Now, four years since leaving office, an exasperated Gilmore is attempting a comeback and sounding an alarm to his former colleagues. “The Republican Party is losing its message and theme to the people of Virginia,” he says.

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[opihimoimoi]

1. Melted Pig Shit...with the same smell....The Pubs are tanking