Team Frederick Accuses Team Hager of Denying Convo Delegates Access to Materials

Here’s the latest in the war for RPV Chairman…

Hager’s gag order: RPV refuses to let you see Frederick for chair video or include Frederick materials in your packets this weekend…  

  

Dear Fellow Republicans:

 

I’ve attended many Virginia Republican conventions beginning in the 1980s, when I spent my summer telemarketing Republicans throughout the state assuring them that if they gave the Party $25, $50 or $100, it would be used frugally to advance our conservative philosophy by beating Democrats. 

 

For me, each Republican convention is like a reunion.  Even if a friend is wearing a different candidate’s stickers at the convention, we both know that the day after the convention all our efforts and of the party’s resources will be focused on winning in November.

 

In all those years I have never seen the blatant diversion of dollars contributed to the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) from defeating Democrats to defeating another Republican that has occurred this year:

 

1. On April 16, the RPV staff members who are supposed to spend all of their efforts running a fair convention and then beating Democrats, spent the biggest political event of the year passing out “Hager for Chairman” stickers instead of stickers asking people not to vote for Hager’s former boss, Mark Warner.

 

1. RPV staff members were then disbursed throughout the Commonwealth to take Hager campaign materials to local Republican events in hopes of defeating Jeff Frederick in his attempt to become Party chair.

 

1. This month, thousands and thousands of dollars were spent to produce and mail a newsletter promoting Hager, rather than waiting a few more weeks so that the newsletter could promote our U.S. Senate nominee to be selected this weekend.

 

1. RPV has even made an issue of something as simple as playing the Frederick for Chair campaign video during our allotted time on Saturday.  Instead, our campaign was told the DVD had to either be given to Hager’s RPV days in advance (thus allowing them to review and respond to whatever we said) OR the campaign would have to pay RPV $1,500 to play the video.

 

1. Finally, this week, an RPV volunteer emailed with an even more shocking report: when he went to Party headquarters to stuff the packets that are supposed to provide information on every candidate to delegates as they arrive, he was told the “Frederick for Delegate” information would be left on the tables at RPV and not included (even though RPV had requested the info from our campaign weeks ago – and we complied).  Now RPV refuses to return the literature we provided them, which cost our campaign thousands of dollars to produce.
2. After two months of doing everything possible to hold onto power, we are now asked to trust Hager’s same employees to count the votes in our election on Saturday.  Hager’s RPV have refused to allow representatives of our campaign into the vote counting room to observe and ensure a fair process.  What does Hager have to hide in the count room?

 

Republicans can rally around whoever wins on Saturday, as long as there is a fair and open process.  Hager’s attacks of other Republicans during the 1997 and 2001 elections were called many things including “in the dirt,” but Hager justified his attacks on other Republicans then by saying he had “the responsibility to point out differences,” and adding, “A little competition is the healthiest thing in the world for a political party.”

 

I don’t question Hager’s continued attacks on Jeff, even when he makes them in the Washington Post (of all places).  The party can come together after disagreements.

 

The question is, “Will the thousands of delegates who come to Richmond Saturday leave fired up and ready to win the election for our Senate nominee (both of whom I’ve worked  for in the past), or will they leave embittered by a rigged process?”

 

If RPV sticks to its guns and there is no Frederick for Chair material in your packet at the convention, and the Frederick for Chair video is not played during the 15 minutes we were allotted to make our case, ask yourself, “is the kind of party operation you want moving forward?”

 

If not, I encourage you to vote for Jeff Frederick for Chair so we can focus your contributions on beating Democrats, not beating each other. 

 

Sincerely,

 

John Pudner

Campaign Manager, Frederick for Chairman

 

P.S. Jeff will never allow a dollar of your money to be used to beat his REPUBLICAN opponents, or to use your contributions to personally benefit himself or family.  And if someone challenges Jeff for the position of Party Chair in 2012, he will offer them a fair and open process so that you can either fire Jeff or rehire him based on how many Republican elections he wins in the next four years.