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By JOHN GOOLRICK
With Mary Sue Terry outdistancing potential rivals by 2-1 or better in the latest polls, Virginia Republicans need to focus immediately, if not sooner, on the uphill battle that faces them this fall.
Instead they are being asked to focus on something the general public doesn’t give a tinker’s dam about — namely the rules that will govern balloting at the state GOP convention in Richmond June 4-5.
The matter of what rules finally prevail is important to the three men who seek the party’s gubernatorial nomination; and changing the recommendations of the rules committee may be the only way there is any possibility of denying former Congressman George Allen the nomination.
There are two facets to the recommendations that are cruical.
First, that balloting for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general be conducted simultaneously instead of separately; second, that while the nominee must be elected by majority vote and not a plurality, any delegates who abstain from voting shall be excluded in calculating the total vote reported by each delegation.
The Earle Williams campaign vigorously disagrees with both of the proposed rules, basically because both would deprive them of a few “wild cards” that might work to their advantage.
They would prefer that balloting for lieutenant governor and attorney general take place separately before the gubernatorial balloting begins. If that were the case, then delegates for Mike Farris, who seeks nomination for lieutenant governor, might be open to some deal-making in the gubernatorial contest.
If abstentions counted as votes
95.5%