To understand why we (as in the folks who are listed to the right) have come together to begin this (semi-draft) campaign, let us go back to Election Day 2007.
The Virginia Republican leadership, flush with a false sense of security known as HB3202, are shocked to learn that they have lost their majority in the State Senate, while their House of Delegates majority was almost halved. What lessons were learned from this debacle? Nothing. Led by House Speaker Bill Howell, the Richmond Republicans refused to lay blame where it belonged – with themselves.
Meanwhile, the sickness began to spread. Four days after the election, First District Republicans rewarded a 3202 supporter (Rob Wittman) with a seat in Congress. Once again, the real problem with the party was ignored.
Finally, this spring, after the Supreme Court wiped out the regional tax hikes in HB3202, Howell and his fellow House Republican leaders insisted on bringing them back. They do so to this day.
The demoralization of the party activists has continued to spread. It was evident at the Republican state convention a week ago. As we were choosing a Senate nominee and a party chairman, delegates discussed the state of the party – and all agreed that there was a serious problem. We changed the Party Chairman, but most would agree that more must be done. We need new leadership in the legislature – especially in the House, where we still have a majority and thus have the most visibility. Our biggest problem was that, for months, no alternative seemed available to Bill Howell.
For those of us on this blog, that alternative presented himself (however unwittingly) on that Saturday morning and afternoon.
No one who was at that convention would dispute that Bob Marshall was a force. His supporters shook the hall when they aired their lungs. They nearly toppled the presumptive favorite (Jim Gilmore) and they stayed long enough to topple the incumbent chairman (who was also the presumptive favorite) by a margin so wide we still don’t know what it was (because Hager conceded before the vote was released).
Bob Marshall is now a leading force in the Virginia Republican Party – and he got there by being true to himself and to the principles of the party when its leaders strayed. He (and practically he alone) took the fight against the regional taxes in HB3202 to the Supreme Court. He is one of only five legislators who has consistently opposed every tax increase – no matter from which party it originated (the others are Tom Gear, Mark Cole, Jeff Frederick, and Johnny Joannou).
If the caucus were to replace Bill Howell with Bob Marshall as Speaker, they would send the message that they have finally learned the lessons of the last seven years. They would finally show that they are serious about limited government and lower taxes. It would also send a message to all of the people Delegate Marshall brought into the party that they are a welcome and vital addition to the Virginia GOP.
Of course, it will take time to convince the Delegates (including, perhaps, Marshall himself) to do this; we don’t expect a change at the beginning, or even the end, of the special session this summer. However, we believe this is a change whose time has come, and the change itself must come soon, before the House majority is either lost, or becomes as useless and counterproductive as the Congressional majority in 2006.
We aer calling for change; we believe the most important place within the GOP for that change is the House leadership; and we believe the person best suited to engineer that change is Bob Marshall.
That is why we support Bob Marshall for Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
