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McPadden Calls for a Conservative Convention
Things are beginning to heat up in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District Republican nominating contest. After the 5th Congressional District committee decided to utilize a primary to decide who the nominee will be, there is still a push for a convention.
Mike McPadden, who is running for the nomination has urged the other conservative candidates in the race to join him in endorsing and supporting a “US House of Representatives VA-5 Conservative Convention” to nominate one conservative candidate to go against State Senator Robert Hurt in the June 8th Republican Primary.
Inside the Fifth District the idea of a Conservative Convention is gaining traction. Outside the Fifth District national grass roots organizers have offered to fund the Conservative Fifth District Convention in March or April.
According to Mike McPadden, what has precipitated this call is that in December, Tea Party Patriots, Grass Root Republicans, and other conservatives spoke loud and clear to have a nominating convention instead of a very costly primary. Unfortunately their hopes were dashed when the leadership of the Fifth District voted by secret ballot for a primary.
McPadden says, “We must do everything we can to ensure out in the open that our next Congressman is a strict Constitutionalist who upholds the conservative values of lower taxes and limited government.”
Convinced that uniting in a Conservative Convention will bring about a positive outcome, McPadden states, “The grass roots of the Republican Party will have their voices heard and their votes counted. Second, deliberately narrowing the Fifth District field to two candidates will increase the odds that a conservative will win the nomination. And third, it could turn the tide of moderate leanings from within the Republican Party and restore the ‘Big Tent’ party of Reagan to its conservative moorings.”
Scenes from the YRFV Convention
The Young Republican Federation of Virginia Convention on Saturday was no doubt exciting with the news of Sandy Liddy Bourne stepping aside to join Pat Mullins in his quest to become the next Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, but there were also other speakers who spoke.
Dan Mitchell of Cato Institute and author of Global Tax Revolution: The Rise of Tax Competition and the Battle to Defend It spoke about our current fiscal crisis with the bailouts and out-of-control spending by the Federal government. Mitchell emphasized that there is no way you can have a good tax system with massive government spending.
Speaker Bill Howell spoke to the YRs about the upcoming House races throughout the Commonwealth. He talked about the dynamic candidates who are running, along with several races to watch.
Budget was the topic of the Legislative Panel, which featured Del. Mark Cole and Sen. Ryan McDougle. Both Cole and McDougle discussed the smoking ban was also another issue that the media focused on this session, and mentioned that it was an intrusion on our liberties. Cole indicated that the strange thing about this year’s session was that there were very few, if any, proposals on transportation. When asked what were the strong points of the budget, the contentious points, and how the stimulus funds were used, both Cole and McDougle gave interesting perspectives.
Cole: The best thing about this budget is that it cuts spending. We cut $2 million dollars out of the budget. Last year, we had to create a two year budget, and this year, we edited the budget. Kaine is a political creature: politics first, work second. Cole voted for the budget, as it was a reduction in spending. Included limits on growth of support personnel within our schools, effort to do away with a reduction in the sales tax collections from businesses. Took the stimulus money. VA was given $4 billion in stimulus, and it was divided in two parts. It will be used in next year and the following year’s budgets. This would prevent cuts in first responders and teachers. We are in a depression, not a recession. Excessive spending and excessive debt.
McDougle: Budget was challenging. We went through this process. Revenue estimates. What we are projecting to collect, included increases in personal income growth (15% for the Commonwealth), we need to create new jobs or salaries have to go up. We can’t take more money than we take in. McDougle voted against the budget last year (July 1-June 30th Budget span).
After the legislative panel, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and former Attorney General Bob McDonnell gave insightful speeches about their campaigns. Bolling delivered his remarks first to get the crowd of YRs fired up. Bolling said we need to move forward, instead of looking back at past, unsuccessful elections. During his speech, Bolling mentioned that the united ticket with Bob McDonnell at the top of the ticket will provide the direction of how we can win again. Bolling also discussed how we need to focus on energy, protecting our status as a right to work state, and having fiscal integrity.
Bob McDonnell spoke next by touching upon his initiatives to bring more jobs to Virginia and working on a transportation proposal to help improve a problem that has plagued Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads for years. McDonnell also addressed how to improve education, and he mentioned that we need more charter schools and merit pay for teachers. While money is important, McDonnell said education needed to be about accountability and higher education standards.
Later in the afternoon, after the Attorney General’s Forum, the YRs heard from Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, who gave a great grassroots activism training.
Overall, the 63rd Annual Young Republican Federation of Virginia Convention was a success, and we look forward to playing a key role in the 2009 elections.
Rep. Rob Wittman at the YRFV Convention
Speaking to an audience of forty Young Republicans from all across the Commonwealth of Virginia yesterday, Congressman Rob Wittman spoke about the current session in Congress. Touching on the current economic woes facing America, Wittman spoke about the current deficits at the Federal level. Wittman said we have a deficit of $1 trillion dollars, and the government has continued to add to this deficits by approving $1 trillion dollars with the stimulus, $400 billion dollars in omnibus spending, and now, a $3.6 billion dollar budget. Wittman further emphasized that there has been an increase of spending for all government agencies and the recent defense spending cuts.
During his speech, he said that the tea parties have brought out great dissent for those who are against the massive government spending increases. “They are thirsting for someone to provide direction, and we [the federal government] need to be good stewards of tax dollars.” Wittman mentioned that we need to be focused on helping small businesses and standing up for lower taxes, individual freedoms and liberties.
Wittman also mentioned the recent push by the Obama administration and Congress to pass universal health care. Universal health care is not the way to go, and Wittman said the Republicans in Congress are committed to pushing for an alternative plan for individuals to access care at different points in the system and control the current costs. Right now, only 17% of the GDP is being spent in health care.
YRFV Convention: Attorney General Forum
The Young Republican Federation of Virginia was held yesterday in Fredericksburg, and one of the major events at the Convention was the Attorney General Forum, featuring all three candidates: Ken Cuccinelli, John Brownlee, and Dave Foster. Throughout the week, there will be several clips spread out featuring the forum.
