Virginia GOP Eating Itself Alive; Internal Battle Looms For New Chairman (VIDEO)

The Republican Party of Virginia finds itself on the hunt, of late, for America's Next Top Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. Why is this? Well, the previous Chairman was a guy named Jeff Frederick, and he was ousted from the post, owing to what I'd generously term gross incompetence. Let's take a peek at some career highlights:

--Frederick threw himself some sort of epic temper tantrum when he was asked to remove his hat at Richbrau in Richmond, Virginia, to the embarrassment of his wife. The "Do you know who I am" card was played, always the hallmark of a scoundrel.

--At a time when the balance of electoral power between the Democrats and Republicans was teetering, and after Virginians had famously repudiated George Allen for his use of the racial slur "macaca," Frederick was caught encouraging Get Out The Vote volunteers to make character-based attacks on Barack Obama.

--A secret plan to wrest control of the Virginia State Senate for the GOP fell apart after Frederick heard about it, and, like an idiot, spilled the beans on Twitter before the plan was put in motion. The Democrats, tipped off to what was going on, put the kibosh on the move.

--His major contribution to public discourse appears to be this video, in which he yammers at the corpse of Charles Darwin, for some reason.

So, yeah, the guy is useless. Not that he knows it -- according to yesterday's Washington Post, he is reportedly still considering making a move to retake his position.

Ousted Virginia Republican leader Jeffrey M. Frederick said Monday he will probably run for party chairman again in May, setting up another clash with the GOP's gubernatorial nominee, Robert F. McDonnell, as Republicans struggle to unite for the November election.

Of course, between now and the Republican state convention, the Virginia Republican Party has some interesting ideas as to who should lead in the interim:

The State Central Committee is expected to select Pat Mullins, Louisa County's Republican chairman, or Alexandra Liddy Bourne of Fairfax, an unsuccessful House candidate, as the party leader May 2. But party rules require the election of a chairman four weeks later at the Republican state convention May 30. There, 8,000 to 10,000 activists are expected to gather in Richmond to unite behind McDonnell.

In case you were wondering, Alexandra Liddy Bourne is the daughter of G. Gordon Liddy. Considering the decline of the Virginia GOP began with a wiretapping scandal in 2002, there is a certain glorious serendipity to her being chosen that just cannot be denied.

RELATED:
Via Not Larry Sabato, here's a video of Rachel Maddow, bidding young master Frederick adieu:

[Would you like to follow me on Twitter? Because why not? Also, please send tips to [e-mail] -- learn more about our media monitoring project here.]

Comments

[iswideopen]

03:54 AM on 04/09/2009

I won't laugh at this. It seems the liberal democrats are doing the same thing to us democrats. We have it all; they wish to loose it all, once again.

[MajorKong]

09:31 PM on 04/08/2009

It's nice to see the GOP forming the circular firing squad for once.

[historymatters]

08:40 PM on 04/08/2009

McDonnell is running for governor of VA too, right? So I guess if he gets elected chairman of the state GOP, he'll have a fallback in case he loses in November. That's good strategery­! The GOP overall, fortunatel­y, doesn't appear to be quite so clever these days.

[newshawk14]

07:49 PM on 04/08/2009

As a democrat, I find the republican infighting over this twerp hilarious, but as a reasonably
compassion­ate human being, I hope they take him out for a drive in the woods, and strangle
him when no one is looking..

[stargazer13]

04:59 PM on 04/08/2009

they have always eaten there young so to speak

[Awakenedcitizen]

03:42 PM on 04/08/2009

aaaah, my letter to the editor in VA got read!

[Rog49Thomas]

03:16 PM on 04/08/2009

Not just cannibalis­m but in vivo cannibalis­m.

The A1 Sauce is on me.

[Indie2008]

03:04 PM on 04/08/2009

His eyes remind me of Michelle Bachmann's­. They must share the same irrational zeal.

[NTexasHillbilly]

03:15 PM on 04/08/2009

But he doesn't have TEETH! Should have visited the halloween store.

[marxmarv]

07:29 PM on 04/08/2009

He'll just buy Norm's at distressed prices.

[Greg Petty]

04:48 PM on 04/08/2009

poor character, poor attitude

[ByersL]

02:35 PM on 04/08/2009

Those of us who live here and have fought hard for a blue Virginia, this is just icing on the cake. However, there is talk, as some have mentioned here, that the GOP in VA is bringing back George Allen, and they aren't laughing when they say it!

[Big0725]

02:42 PM on 04/08/2009

They may not be laughing, but we are!

[Rog49Thomas]

03:14 PM on 04/08/2009

Looks like the RP is reaching out to the more racially tolerant wing of its party.

(All thinigs are of course relative).

[LogicNow]

02:33 PM on 04/08/2009

The entire GOP is eating itself alive. And it's beautiful. Now if we could just get DICK Cheney to go back to his undisclose­d location, all would be right with the world.

[lynettema]

02:30 PM on 04/08/2009

Republican­s wonder what their problem is. They keep finding these numbskulls to deliver the same message. But then only the numbskulls are left to deliver the failed GOPer message. Neverthele­ss, the rest of us who have since discovered what a losing message the Republican­s have must keep vigilant and organized and passionate or we will have another NEOCON government­.

[MarsAmbassador]

03:37 PM on 04/08/2009

But 'numbskull­' IS the message, so they really don't have a choice. 30 years of trying to destroy the education system will do that...

[roshni]

02:12 PM on 04/08/2009

They don't oust him for his blatant fear mongering. They oust him for stealing.
Nice!

[Rog49Thomas]

03:14 PM on 04/08/2009

The most heinous crime in a capitalist country is one against property.

[idisVA]

02:05 PM on 04/08/2009

When it rains, it pours.

[dimplesmile7]

02:00 PM on 04/08/2009

The Gee Oh Pee is the party that keeps giving. Thanks for making it so easy for the dems, we really appreciate it.

[Rmath]

01:54 PM on 04/08/2009

I'm not surprised to hear about Jeff asking a Maitre'd "do you know who I am?"

That is a question that an increasing number of republican leaders seem to be asking themselves­.

[dwillisno1]

02:01 PM on 04/08/2009

"do you know who I am?"
Could just be his way of telling the Maitre'd that he had a reservatio­n?

[SatinPanties]

02:10 PM on 04/08/2009

Of course it was, especially after he was asked to remove his hat.

[ICU1225]

03:12 PM on 04/08/2009

When you make a reservatio­n, you give your name. His mistake was making the reservatio­n via phone as "I am big time Republican­" and then showing up. The Maitre'd probably should have replied "Please wait, until all the big time Democrates are seated, and by the way, I voted for the other guy, who is BIGGER THAN YOU"