Bolling Suspends Campaign for Governor of Virginia

[Taggure]

Friends,

When I was growing up my dad was a coal miner and my mom waited tables. We didn't have much, but my parents instilled in me a love of Virginia. I never dreamed that I would one day have a chance to help lead this wonderful state, but thanks to you, that has been my privilege.

Throughout my 21 years in public service I have done my best to stand strong for our shared conservative values, while at the same time working with Republicans and Democrats to get things done in state government. I think that effort has been successful, and I hope you agree.

For the past seven years I have had the honor of serving as Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, and it had been my intention to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor in 2013. However, not everything we want in life is meant to be.

I am writing to advise you that after a great deal of consideration I have decided to suspend my campaign for the Republican Party's nomination for Governor of Virginia. Needless to say, this was a very difficult decision for me, and I know it will come as a surprise and disappointment to you, but I am confident it is the right decision.

Four years ago I decided to set my personal ambition to be Governor aside and join with Bob McDonnell to create a united Republican ticket. Time has proven the wisdom of that decision. Governor McDonnell and I were elected in 2009 by historic margins, and for the past three years we have successfully worked together to get Virginia back on the right track.

I had hoped that Attorney General Cuccinelli and I would be able to form that same kind of united Republican ticket in 2013. However, late last year Mr. Cuccinelli unexpectedly announced that he intended to challenge me for the Republican Party's nomination for Governor.

While I was surprised and disappointed by Mr. Cuccinelli's decision, I was confident in my ability to win our party's nomination for Governor in a statewide primary election, which was the method of nomination that had previously been adopted by the State Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia.

However, in June of this year the newly constituted State Central Committee voted to change the manner in which we will nominate our candidates in 2013 from a statewide primary to a closed party convention. While I did not support that decision, it had a dramatic impact on the 2013 campaign.

For the past several months my campaign team has worked hard to restructure our campaign to effectively compete in the convention process. While we have made a great deal of progress, I reluctantly concluded that the decision to change the method of nomination from a primary to a convention created too many obstacles for us to overcome.

In addition, I know how divisive conventions can be, and I was concerned that a prolonged campaign between Mr. Cuccinelli and me could create deep divisions within our party. The convention process would have forced Republican activists to take sides against their friends in local committees all across our state. The wounds that can develop from that type of process are often difficult to heal.

Conventions are by their very nature exclusive, and at a time when we need to be projecting a positive image and reaching out to involve more Virginians in the Republican Party, I am unwilling to be part of a process that could seriously damage our image and appeal.

While it may have been in my self-interest to have continued the campaign and done my best to win without regard to the consequences of those actions, I have never chosen to place my self-interest ahead of our Party's best interest, and I will not do so now.

I know that my decision will surprise most people and disappoint many people, but I'm confident it is the right decision. I hope that my friends and supporters, as well as those who have chosen to support Mr. Cuccinelli, will respect and appreciate the reasons for my decision.

It has been a great honor to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia for the past seven years, and I wouldn’t trade the experiences and opportunities we have had for anything in the world. You helped make that possible, and for that I will always be grateful.

I look forward to serving the remainder of my term as Lieutenant Governor and as Virginia's Chief Jobs Creation Officer, and working with Governor McDonnell and the rest of our great team to build a better Virginia.

I want to personally thank everyone who has done so much to support Jean Ann and me over the years, and I especially want to thank the thousands of people who had already pledged their support to my campaign for Governor. Your support means more to us than words can express. My greatest regret in suspending my campaign is the thought that I have let you down.

In the coming days Jean Ann and I will be evaluating our future political options. I love Virginia and I value public service a great deal. I assure you that I will continue to look for ways to make a contribution to the public life of our Commonwealth.

I can tell you this, I intend to remain actively involved in the 2013 campaigns – perhaps not as the Republican nominee for Governor, but as a more independent voice, making certain that the candidates keep their focus on the important issues facing our state and offer a positive and realistic vision for effectively and responsibly leading Virginia.

Thanks again for your friendship, confidence and support. It is a privilege to serve you, and I look forward to seeing you soon in our travels across Virginia.


Sincerely,

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling

[FiremanBob]

If Bolling is standing down because he is against the convention method of selecting the candidate - because he couldn't win that way, that's all well and good. But it is wrong for him to slime the party by saying that the convention process does not create a positive image and fails to reach out to Virginians, blah blah.

This statement marks Bolling as one of those "moderates" who may claim to be "conservative" but really are Democrat-lite supporters of the political class. He would rather see a primary election, one in which Democrats would sign up as Republicans to vote for the weakest candidate against the Clintonite hack, Terry McAuliffe. Additionally, if he thinks that "reaching out" means moving leftward and compromising conservative principles, that makes him automatically the wrong candidate. In fact Bolling's criticism of the convention process plays into Democrat hands. He himself has damaged the Republican brand with his sour grapes criticism. He will be portrayed as "the good Republican" who rebelled against "the party machine" that excluded him from the democratic process.

I came to Virginia from a state that has open primaries by statute. I saw personally on more than two occasions how the Democrat party in that state manipulated the Republican primary to ensure that the worst candidate was chosen.

His comment that he views himself as "Virginia's Chief Jobs Creation Officer" deepens that perception of him. What exactly has Bolling done to "create jobs" in our state? Government officials are not job creators. Only entrepreneurs in the private sector are job creators. The practice of politicians claiming titles for themselves that they have not earned, as a means of phony self-promotion, marks them as members of the political class, not of the people.

I'm sick of weak-kneed RINOs undermining the party's conservative base.

[ShotgunBlast]

Does the convention method give you more or less choice than a statewide primary?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[FiremanBob]

I say more. Because the convention method excludes troublemakers from outside the party from the selection of the party's candidate. Also in the convention process, one can participate in the discussions and debates within the party caucus, thereby being more able to influence others in the process than in the mass, anonymous mechanism of a public election that is more susceptible to influence and character assassination efforts from the left-wing biased, mass-market media.

What is your answer to your question, Shotgun?

[ShotgunBlast]

I don't know, that's why I asked the question. lol

Based on what I saw at the Republican convention in Tampa in silencing or outright ejecting Ron Paul supporters in the process, I'm not sure a convention style is the way to go. It's tough to compare a national convention with how a state convention would run, but from someone who was looking to run Bolling's statement reinforces my thought.

I guess in the end I would support a statewide primary of registered Republican voters to pick the candidate. To me that seems like the forum where the citizens will get the most choice. I see your point in why you don't like them. I need to do some more reading on how members of the opposite party directly affect the result of primaries like you stated.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Wingandaprayer]

In Virginia voters do not register by party (If they did I would have to choose “None of the Above”), so a statewide primary of registered Republicans would not work. I recall there was a movement several years ago to have the person voting in the Republican primary sign a pledge that they would support the ultimate Republican candidate, but there was such a public outcry that the idea was dropped.

I also recall back in 2008 there were many encouraging Republican leaning individuals to vote in the Democratic Primary to keep Hillary Clinton from getting the nomination. That did not work out so well, did it?

Fireman Bob – what is to keep someone that is not a Republican from attending the convention? I received an e-mail Ken Cuccinelli urging me to attend the convention with a link that promises to show me how I can vote at the convention. I have not followed the link, but I am curious how the convention keeps anyone from attending and voting.

I personally like the primary system. I believe it provides exposure of the candidates to a wider audience leading to a more electable candidate. I have never been in total agreement with a candidate, so I don’t expect them to mirror my beliefs. The best I can hope for is that there is at least one candidate that is a fiscal conservative (the most important thing to me) that I can support.

[dorminWS]

Bill probably figured he'd get shunted aside just like he did when McDonnell stepped in front of him. He's a good, solid guy that just doesn't have the power base in the heavily-populated areas and doesn't have any celebrity appeal either. He quit to keep from getting whooped; pure and simple.

[Kreutz]

Is there usually a third party candidate for guv'nor in Virginia?

[ShotgunBlast]

Is there usually a third party candidate for guv'nor in Virginia?

To my knowledge, generally no. Virginia is one of the toughest states to maintain ballot access without costly petition campaigns. While some other states have a requirement of getting only 1% of the vote to maintain your party's automatic ballot access in the next election, Virginia has a 10% requirement. Since 3rd parties don't get 10% of the vote, every election cycle they must organize costly petition signings in every county, then hope that the other parties don't blow any bit of campaign funds you have left by litigating the validity of those signatures.

[Kreutz]

Is there usually a third party candidate for guv'nor in Virginia?

To my knowledge, generally no. Virginia is one of the toughest states to maintain ballot access without costly petition campaigns. While some other states have a requirement of getting only 1% of the vote to maintain your party's automatic ballot access in the next election, Virginia has a 10% requirement. Since 3rd parties don't get 10% of the vote, every election cycle they must organize costly petition signings in every county, then hope that the other parties don't blow any bit of campaign funds you have left by litigating the validity of those signatures.

Coin flip it is again then.

[Reverenddel]

I know Ken, and Bill very well... It's a shame they came to this...

However, it was to be expected.

(shrugs) As I repeat myself, "BOTH PARTIES ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN! I WANT A NEW COIN!"