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By WYATT DURRETTE JR. ■ , • , Rappahannock News Special Writer Morton Blackwell is the Republican National Committeeman from Virginia. I gave his nominating speech last summer at the GOP convention in Roanoke. He is my friend and a leader both nationally and within Virginia. Thus my dismay, when I received recently a form letter from him that reflects so much of what is wrong with Virginia Republicans, i*. s tetter typifies the destructive•ftiess that has crippled Republican | j candidates in the past and threatens ' to do so again. It reflects the anti. thesis of sound leadership and constitutes a serious departure from the " standards of performance Republi_ cans should demand of party lead;: ers. *. ; The six page letter is written on ■ behalf of Marshall Coleman, but on •; page three, it degenerates into a ; * personal attack on Paul Trible, com; plete with exaggeration, half-truths ; - ^nd a variety of insults destined to * anger Trible supporters. Suggesting that Trible “would not be a strong " conservative leader,” Blackwell ‘punches Trible for an “ego,” “more \ jioticeable” than his “ID” and opines * that “a slice of humble pie . . . may i do ‘Trible’ some good in the long ‘^run.” ■ *;. He adds that Trible may think ' -‘lie’s Fortune’s Child and that we jare all here to serve him.” And there’s more. He catalogues a few positions and votes of Trible’s and blasts him for “deserting the President when liberals tried to stir up public sentiment against President Reagan and his policies.” Wow! Heavy stuff and serious charges for a Republican National Committeeman to lay on a for»'*mer United States Senator who currently seems likely to be his party’s nominee for Governor. He would not do that unless the foundation were solid, right? Wrong! And tragically so. J Space prohibits a complete point by point rebuttal, but enough can be set forth to illustrate the deceptiveness of the attack and the unfortunate lack of candor that now mars Blackw'ell’s record. Blackwell informs his reader that in 1982 Trible voted with the Presi
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