This is great. Nice job by Danae Jones!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2007CONTACT: Danae Jones 804-433-0071
MEMORANDUM
TO: John Hager
FR: Virginia Democratic Party
RE: New Chair, Same Old Problems: A To-Do List for Day TwoRichmond, VA - As new RPV chair John Hager gets settled into his new job, the Democratic Party of Virginia offered a few words of encouragement from Spokesperson Danae Jones and a "To Do List" to get him off on the right foot.
"Congrats on your razor-thin victory, Chairman. It sounds like your party is still pretty bitterly divided against itself. Your party may have a new chair, but you face the same old problem. Virginians want more than the partisanship and gridlock your party leaders offer. We want leaders who will work together to make progress for hardworking families."
To Do List: Day Two
1. Unite the Party. It's a tough task for your second day on the job, but you'll never succeed as long as the members of your own party can't get along. Your second ballot victory is just the latest evidence of the identity crisis in the Republican Party of Virginia.If you need another example of inter-party fighting, look no further than HD-96, where various factions still haven't been able to come together more than a month after the primary. Things have gotten so ugly that Shelia Noll has taken Brenda Pogge to court in an effort to overturn the election. [Noll sues for win in York County GOP Primary, Daily Press, 7/22/07].
2. Send Around the Clips. You will want to make sure all your lawmakers see today's Richmond Times Dispatch, which reports that "51,000 of Virginia's hourly workers will get a raise" today thanks to an increase in the minimum wage. That's good news for Virginia's hardworking families, but it's no thanks to your party. So, along with sending around the clips, you might also want to explain to Virginians why you all fought so hard to kill minimum wage increases in last year's General Assembly session and why Tom Davis and Thelma Drake voted against the increase in Congress.
Leaders in your party should see what progress can be made when lawmakers put aside partisan politics and work together on behalf of their constituents. [Thousands in Va. get minimum-wage boost, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/24/07 & SB1327, 2/20/07]
3. Circulate Talking Points. It's time to get your candidates "on message." You might start in SD-01, where candidate Tricia stall is calling for the end of public education.
Stall most notably has commented that "Public education today is totally government controlled to socially engineer our society into dumbed down citizenry who will accept and tolerate whatever the government tells them to do" upon signing a petition from the Alliance for the Separation of School & State. Signers agreed to "proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education." [Defining the GOP, Daily Press, 6/8/07; Alliance for the Separation of School & State web site]
4. Rewrite Bio. As a member of the Bush team, you served a very unpopular president. We don't need Bush politics in Virginia. We've seen what gridlock, partisanship and obstruction can do, and we prefer the example set by our Democratic leaders in Virginia. If it's possible, you might want to gloss over your last employer and forget any political tricks, tips and advice you learned in Washington, DC. [Bio of new Va. GOP chairman John Hager, Associated Press, 7/21/07]
On second thought, please do not send that memorandum, they might take your advice. Let's hope the RPVA continues down their current course and that the national party does the same.
Maybe we can soon say bye bye to, Citizen Cantor, Citizen Drake, Citizen Stall, and many more.