Following my Nov. 29, 2004, column in Bacon’s Rebellion on the “Warrenton Miracle” and the potential candidacy of Mayor George Fitch for the Republican nomination for Governor, I have been inundated with messages from a number of people.
Predictably, the Republican establishment is unhappy at the thought of an intra-Party challenge. Such contests are expensive and the conventional thinking is that they drain the campaign resources of the leading candidates. That sort of thinking only looks at one side of the equation, however.
In reality, intra-Party contests cause a healthy discussion of the issues and force the Party to reassess its priorities and direction. Just going through the motions of picking the candidate that’s been campaigning the longest is no different than holding a coronation.
Here’s is a quote from a message I recently received about the direction of the Kilgore campaign: “Jerry Kilgore’s campaign manager has him following the Mark Earley strategy and if changes are not made, Kilgore will suffer the same sort of defeat that Mark Earley did.” This sort of sentiment is pretty representative in the email messages I get and what I hear from the folks I talk to.
I’m given to understand that George Fitch plans to kick off his campaign on February 8, 2004. Given his economic track record on cutting spending—and taxes—in Warrenton, his candidacy should rejuvenate the dialog as to the direction our Government has taken given the recent double-digit spending increases in the State budget.
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