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“Reading
made Don Quixote a gentleman, but believing what
he read made him mad.” --George Bernard
Shaw
After
having spent $1.2 million in a Quixotic run at the
Governorship, Sen. Russ Potts, R-Winchester—or
is that IR-Winchester, for Independent
Republican—is back in the public eye. Potts
thrives on controversy and loves being the focus
of attention, no matter whether negative or
positive.
Last
month, Potts received an award from the Virginia
Coalition of Latino Organizations. He shared the
spotlight with left-wing liberal extremist, state
Sen. Richard Saslaw, R-Fairfax, for their work in
supporting the immigrant community.
After
basking in the glory of having been so honored
along with Saslaw—a political and philosophical
soul mate—Potts went underground for few weeks.
Rumors began flying unabated that he would resign
from the state Senate and accept an appointment
with the Kaine administration.
Three
conservative Republican candidates—the same
three who had challenged Potts in 2003, including
Mark Tate, the former vice-mayor of Middleburg,
who came within 106 votes of unseating
Potts—frantically began lining up their
political allies.
The
story went something like this: Tim Kaine felt
obligated to repay Potts for having run as an
independent. Those who believe in conspiracies
have long insisted that Potts launched his
independent bid for the Governorship only to
ensure that Jerry Kilgore (R) would be defeated.
They point to past accounts of Gov. Mark Warner
(D) having introduced Potts to Thomas J. D'Amore
Jr., who managed Pott’s campaign. Warner put
Potts in touch with Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who had
also bolted the Republican Party and got elected
governor of Connecticut as an independent.
D’Amore also ran Weicker’s campaign. (See: “The
Self-Anointed Candidate,” March 14, 2005.)
These
behind-the-scene machinations gave the conspiracy
theorists ample fodder to promote the idea that
Warner and Kaine were behind Potts’ candidacy
and that a deal had been struck. Supposedly, the repayment was
for Potts—who has reported debts exceeding
$330,000—to get an appointment in Kaine’s
administration.
As
the days went by, the rumors got juicier.
Reportedly, Warner had soured on the idea of an
appointment for Potts, while Kaine was said to
have felt strongly that he was bound to keep his
promise.
Another reason for getting
Potts to resign was the rationalization that the
gang of five RINOs (Republican in Name Only) who
control the state Senate, would not want to face
the spectacle of holding a public vote for Potts
to retain the chairmanship of the powerful Health
and Education Committee. Senate rules require
lawmakers to forfeit their rights to committee
chairmanships should they cease to be a member of
the political party of which they were a member at
the time of their election.
When
it comes to ousting a Senator, however, the senate
rules aren’t very clear and leave it to a full
senate vote. Therefore, the conspiracists were
betting that the senate RINOs would do anything to
avoid a confrontation over Potts.
On
January 11, 2006, the Republicans attempted to
punish Potts for running as an independent. In the
end, two RINOs and Potts were forced to vote with
17 Democrats in order for Potts to hold on to his
chairmanship. The two RINOs that voted with the
Democrats were Sen. John Chichester,
R-Fredericksburg, and Fred Quayle, R-Chesapeake.
In what may be a General Assembly first, Senator
Fred Quayle voted against himself as the proposed
new chairman of Senate Education and Health
committee!
But
the 20-19 vote was too close for comfort. If a
conservative Republican is elected to replace Sen.
Bill Mims, R-Leesburg, who recently resigned to
become the Deputy State Attorney General, the
conservatives could mount another effort to unseat
Potts.
The
RINOs were left with little choice but to take
another distasteful action. Sen. Tom Norment,
R-Williamsburg, introduced an amendment to the
Senate's operating resolution, requiring a
two-thirds majority of the 40 senators to strip a
senator of his party affiliation and the
appointments and privileges it affords, such as
committee chairmanships. The vote on this
resolution was 35-4—proving once again that
there are only four true Republicans in the state
Senate.
After
all these Byzantine maneuvers, there is little
hope left that Potts would resign and accept an
appointment with the Kaine administration. As far
as the RINOs and the Democrats are concerned,
Potts plays a useful and needed role.
As
the Chairman of the Health and Education
committee, Potts is responsible for ensuring that
pro-life legislation never sees the light of day
on the floor of the full state Senate. That way,
our state Senators do not have to face the
prospect of having their votes publicly recorded.
Republican
grassroots activists should be livid. By enacting
a two-thirds vote requirement to strip a senator
of his party affiliation, the senate RINOs have
now made it plain that they would rather line up
with the Democrats than be held accountable or
abide by GOP party rules.
The
2007 elections should prove most interesting. If
there were any lingering doubts of where the state
senate RINOs stood, it should now be plain for all
to see—they stand in unison with the Democrats.
--
January 16, 2006
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