Chairman Ed Gillespie

Bearing Drift reports Ed Gillespie will be the next Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.  I contacted two members of the RPV Steering Committee this morning, one told me he was in fact the "favorite" and now another person has said they were counting votes and Ed has the most.

Very interesting choice.  This seems to be more about George Allen keeping a hand in the 2008 Presidential process in Virginia, especially the early primary here, and less about the 2007 General Assembly elections.  It will be interesting to see if Gillespie will show any interest in Richmond politics before the Governor's election in 2009.  Also it remains to be seen if he will take any more interest in the blogosphere than Kate did.

One thing Ed certainly brings to the table is a direct line to the White House, which will serve him well in calming down increasingly warring factions in the state GOP.  Nothing like a Chairman of a state party who can call up the President anytime.

Comments

[RichmondDem]

Im against gerrymandering by any party. I actually think divided control at re-districting time might be good for the democratic process.

[jason]

People are assuming Allen still has enough sway to make this happen. Gilmore may have a favorite and if Bolling and McDonnell don't exactly back Gillespie, this may not happen. Especially if he overlooks 2007, which I seriously doubt he would do as the state chair. But if that concern is there, it'll have an impact.

[LAS]

I have to agree that this move just doesn't make sense on Gillespie's part. A bit of a come-down, isn't it?

Gillespie found nothing racist about that Republican ad aired against Harold Ford. He didn't think the Republican Congressional Committee should discontinue airing it. It was fine with him.

Yeh. He's just one hell of a classy guy.

[JPTERP]

If I was a Bush conservative, I would be extremely happy with this move.

Gillespie will increase minority outreach by promoting a handful of minorities to high visibility positions (without actually altering the GOP's stance on economic and social justice issues).

He will also fight to repackage GOP candidates in the Northern Virginia market. At the core these candidates will still be far-right conservatives, but he will try to pass these ideologues off as socially moderate conservatives in NoVA in a manner similar to the way that G.W. Bush was packaged in 2000.

Long-term I think the VA GOP is going to have to move to the center in order to compete statewide, but Gillespie strikes me as the type of chair who may be able to keep the dam from breaking for another 5 to 10 years.

Then again, moderate independents may punish the GOP long-term for continuing to play them as if they were fools.

[Terry]

Can anyone actually confirm this 100 percent yet? The 6pm news tonight gave brief mention to it but said it wasn't finalized yet...

[SE VA MWC Alum]

If Allen is trying to maintain influence in 08 (which I believe he is) there is likely something more. Trying to get a VP slot maybe?

[SE VA MWC Alum]

If Allen is trying to maintain influence in 08 (which I believe he is) there is likely something more. Trying to get a VP slot maybe?

[George Templeton]

Just what the State GOP needs. Someone who isn't going to be focused on keeping both houses of the General Assembly in GOP hands. Terrific!

[Matthew]

Mason Conservative,

I am from Minnesota... I think that Tim Pawlenty, the Governor there, will be someone's vice-presidential running mate... he is moderate... and he is one of the few that survived on November 7... you have to be moderate to survive in Minnesota... he would be an interesting choice for Allen if he chooses to run for the Big House.-

[commonsense]

Gillespie will be a good face for RPV. Allen should get some kind of appointment from Bush, he was one of the few that stood with him through everyhting.

think its commonsense