Conservative Victory PAC suffers Mission Creep

Like a lot of you, I’m on the email list for the Conservative Victory PAC that is based out of Maryland and ostensibly exists to campaign for conservative causes and campaigns here in Maryland. However, I was quite stunned to read the last edition of their eVictory newsletter which had a message from CVPAC President Chuck Floyd that went like this:

We are pleased to announce CVPAC’s endorsement of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as the next Governor of Virginia. The CVPAC campaign for Ken Cuccinelli is now registered with the Virginia Board of Election and fully underway to make a big difference in the Virginia election on November 2013. To our members across Maryland, please consider attending our October 8, 2013 reception and fundraiser of AG Cuccinelli. Ticket sales are underway at: www.cvpac.us

Remember 2013 is not an election year in Maryland. But Marylanders have an unique opportunity to support a Constitutional Conservative – by word and deed – who will fight for all of the things that we hold dear: life, liberty, property. If Virginia elects the other guy – a well known FOB (Friend of Bill) – whose records are littered with crony capitalism as well as business activities and campaign finance abuses that are borderline illegal, then next door Maryland will indeed feel the ripple effect. Join us in this fight and let’s keep Virginia Conservative! 

Make no mistake, however, that we intend to fully implement our Maryland Battleground 2014 plan – a separate and parallel campaign – to fight the political machine in Annapolis. Fundraiser events in Maryland are in the planning stages and will be notified to our membership as they are scheduled.Contribute, Participate, Advocate. 

Trending: Thank You

Sincerely,Chuck Floyd

Now obviously the Cuccinelli campaign is important to all of us here in Maryland, and all of us as conservatives too, but there is one key sentence that really sticks in my craw from Floyd’s remarks.

“Remember 2013 is not an election year in Maryland.”

Excepted that it is an election year in Maryland, if you’ve been at all paying attention to Red Maryland and the coverage that we have had of elections in Annapolis and Frederick. It is certainly news to the Republican candidates running in Annapolis that this isn’t an election year. It’s certainly news to the guys out in Frederick, who as Dave Schmidt detailed with Greg Kline, have a detailed plan for approaching this year’s Frederick Municipal Elections. There are 15 Republican candidates running for eight offices across Maryland right now who would disagree with the assessment that “2013 is not an election year in Maryland.”

I have no idea what possessed Floyd to make such a statement. Surely he knows how hard it is to run uphill here in Maryland, having been the Republican candidate for Congress in 2004 against Chris Van Hollen, and the Republican nominee for County Executive in 2006. What separates 2013 from Floyd’s races in 2004 and 2006 is the fact that we have a genuine chance to defeat a Mayor in Annapolis who has proven that he’s in over his head, and we have a chance for Republicans to completely take over city government in Frederick.

Why then does Chuck Floyd want to worry only about Virginia?

Is Virginia an important election for the Republican Party and the conservative movement? Yes and yes.  It is understandable that a smaller local PAC can be seduced by the idea of growing membership, growing their fundraising list, and growing perceived influence by trying to play the game on another stage. However, it is also the election that is going to get the most attention, the most volunteers, and the most money of any race in the country in 2013. Virginia is going to be the battleground to end all battlegrounds for this election cycle, even more so with Chris Christie running away with his re-election bid in New Jersey. The Cuccinelli campaign is not going to be short of volunteers or fundraising from all sectors of the country. So why is the Conservative Victory PAC focusing on being a small part of a much larger effort instead of being a very substantial part of a much more localized effort?

What’s equally troubling is the fact that two members of the PAC’s Board of Directors, Charles Lollar and Jim Rutledge, are potential statewide candidates in the 2014 election. Knowing those guys, I find it hard to believe that they would rather support campaigns in Virginia than to support homegrown conservatives here in Maryland.

The races in Annapolis and Frederick are vitally important to our 2014 statewide efforts. These elections give us the opportunity to walk doors, make phone calls, and talk to votes in two critically important areas in which Republicans need to do well in order to have a chance to win statewide in 2014. These elections are going to give candidates, activists and party leadership the opportunity to prepare to do all of the things that will be necessary to repeat and replicate in 2014, and give us an opportunity to refine how we conduct election operations. To say nothing of the fact that it provides us with an avenue to expand our donor lists, recruit volunteers, and groom future candidates for office.

The elections this year will help us build for a future conservative victory. I only wish those in Conservative Victory can re-prioritize their focus where it belongs and help us build it here at home.



Send this to a friend