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By JOHN GOOLRICK
Rappahannock Ncwi Special Writer
There is an old and wise political axiom that goes, “Don’t say anything unless it improves the silence.”
But those who guide the fortunes of the Republican Party of Virginia have apparently forgotten that advice as they publicly flail each other and qontribute to the notion that the state party is in disarray.
There will always be power struggles within political parties, for it’s the nature of the beast. Politics , is, after all, a quest for power; and competition is healthy when it provides an opportunity for divergent points of view to be heard and to establish strong leadership.
But Republicans in Virginia have gone beyond the bounds of healthy competition as a result of the natural recriminations brought on by three consecutive losses in gubernatorial elections.
Whoever said victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan had it exactly right.
When Virginia’s Democrats were ripped apart with strife in the 1970’s each of its many factions blamed the party’s dwindling fortunes on the others. Attending Democratic meetings at local, regional and state levels in those days was like entering an arena where you could be sure considerable bloodletting would follow.
By the end of the 1970’s the party was beginning to resemble a punchdrunk fighter ready to be dealt the knockout blow. But two things con
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