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The tragic death last week of Republican senatorial candidate Richard Obenshain shocked the Commonwealth.
Whether or not you agreed with his conservative philosophy, Obenshain was a man to admire. He spent his life building the state Republican Party, pulling it from the depths of obscurity and shaping it into a viable political force that eventually captured a majority of the state's congressional seats, a seat in the U.S. Senate and the Governor’s Mansion for three consecutive terms.
At the time of his death last week, many felt that Obenshain was on his way to a seat in the U.S. Senate. We will never know. What was obvious is that he had built and staffed a powerful party machine that was running smoothly and effectively.
Obenshain’s death has left the conservative branch of the state party leaderless. These people who had worked closely with the young party organizer over the years are understandably bitter about their loss. Unfortunately, their bitterness appears to be getting in the way of their political senses. Last week, soon after news of Obenshain’s death had spread, political observers around the state pointed to former Secretary of the Navy John Warner of Atoka in Fauquier County as the obvious person to continue the Republican campaign for the Senate seat.
Warner had given Obenshain a good, healthy fight for the party nomination at the June convention. He came in second, narrowly losing on the sixth convention ballot Many said last week that after Obenshain, Warner is the people's choice.
But there now seem to be powers at work within the state party to deny
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