In a little town in the northern suburbs of Virginia, Manassas Park, the local elected Republicans are feeling the heat. The growing popularity of Barack Obama in Virginia, and the low opinions of the Republican party, are causing some to even rethink their status as party members! An article Manassas Park Republicans to Run as Independents says it all.
According to [Republican] Manassas Park Vice Mayor Bryan Polk, toeing the party line isn't necessary at the local level. This may partially explain why he and two other like-minded councilmen are running for re-election this fall as independents. Polk won as a Republican in 2004, yet he and former Republican Mayor Bill Treuting and fellow Councilman Keith Miller, a registered Republican, will be running as independents on Nov. 4.
More cowardly goodness below the fold.
There's toeing the line, and then there's running like hell. Local Goopers think that's exactly what's going on.
Former councilman and active local Republican Noreen Slater criticized the trio's decision. Slater said the widespread popularity of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama may have influenced the trio's decision to run as independents. "It's a bad time to be Republicans," Slater said. "They just took the easy way out."
This brings the number of Republicans on the council from 4 to a big fat gooseegg, assuming that these guys even get elected at all:
The exodus from the party, along with the fact that current councilman Cynde Gardner will not be running for a second term, leaves no Republican incumbent on council. Former Republican and current Mayor Frank Jones is running unopposed as an independent because of the Hatch Act—a law that prohibits federal employees from running as a partisan political candidate.
And yes, in case you were wondering, it is THAT Manassas, home of Bull Run, where the Civil War fighting truly began. Manassas Park is a newly incorporated suburb of Manassas itself.
The history, the significance, the hope for the future...it is truly mind boggling.
Update From Pollster, the Virginia trendlines. Let's keep up this momentum!