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By JOHN GOOLRICK
Rappahannock Newt Special Writer
Impressively triumphant in his campaign to become chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, Patrick McSweeney is, nevertheless, a man in a difficult position.
Given the deep internal problems of Virginia Democrats, if state Republicans don’t carry the state for President Bush this fall and gain a congressional majority, and if they don’t win statewide offices next year, the blame will almost certainly be laid at McSweeney’s doorstep.
Any GOP backsliding might not necessarily be McSweeney’s fault given the volatile mood of the time, but thousands of Republicans suspect he may adopt policies that narrow the party’s base and thousands of Democrats were happy that he was chosen over John Hager, whom they perceived as more pragmatic and more apt to unify the party.
We are talking about perceptions here, and McSweeney from the outset contended he would seek to include as many as possible under the GOP tent, though he added that the party should reflect the conservative ideology on which it rests.
Yet skeptics note that McSweeney largely fashioned his victory on support from funamendalists led by televanglist Pat Robertson and prolife forces who often apply only an issue or two as litmus tests of who are acceptable as Republicans and who aren’t.
At a time state Democrats seem to be slipping back toward the disarray that plagued them in the 1970s, for Republicans to falter because of internal divisions over abortion and other deeply emotional issues will quickly be blamed on the new chairman who has a heavy load facing him. /
Certainly, should Bush lose Virginia, a state that has been reliably
88.2%