Republican Party Recruitment Disaster In Virginia

Glenn Nye, much safer with a fourth rate GOP opponent

The GOP had high hopes that state Senator Ken Stolle would challenge Blue Dog freshman Glenn Nye for his Norfolk, VA-based congressional seat. Nye beat freshman right-winger Thelma Drake soon after Drake took over for another Republican wingnut, Ed Schrock, a viciously anti-gay sociopath who was caught soliciting young men on a phone sex line in 2004. But Stolle analyzed the situation and told the NRCC "thanks but no thanks," sticking them with a wealthy 4th rate used car salesman, Scott Rigell, who is widely viewed as having no realistic chance to win the seat, even though he plans to waste a tremendous amount of money trying.

Although the local GOP establishment, led by Drake, to whom Rigell, has donated enormous sums of money, are behind him, he'll have to get by a motley array of 4th and 5th tier candidates for the Republican nomination before facing Nye. A bunch of retired military vets-- Chuck Smith, Bert Mizusawa, Ben Loyola and Ed Maulbeck-- are probable entrants and a Virginia Beach Republican Party operative, Kenny Golden, also wants to run.

Rigell had been a major financial supporter of Ed Schrock's but he's widely viewed as a sleazy opportunist who spread his money around to anyone he thought might help him. Last year he gave to Mitt Romney, John McCain and Barack Obama. The local party just wants the cash and they know there's no realistic shot at defeating Nye anyway. Candidate Chuck Smith, who is being opposed by most local Republican Party officials because of his race, has a good analysis of the likely outcome of a GOP bloodletting in VA-02:



Another Republican Party Recruitment Disaster In The Making-- Illinois

D-Day has the story about how the reactionaries in the Illinois congressional delegation denied mainstream conservative Mark Kirk their backing, throwing the nomination to unelectable wingnut Andy McKenna.