Bolling and McDonnell Join Calls to Abandon Loyalty Oath

The Virginia GOP has become a national laughing stock as it was unable to put together a field operation that could get all the major presidential candidates on the ballot for the state’s primary (only Ron Paul and Mitt Romney actually qualified). As if that weren’t bad enough, the party’s state central committee is demanding that voters sign a loyalty oath before being allowed to vote in the primary. That oath is in direct opposition to the spirit behind Virginia not having party registration – a move that should mean more people can participate in the primary process.

That being said, this isn’t the first time that Virginia’s Republicans have sought to limit participation by demanding a loyalty oath. Voters had to sign an oath in 2000, for instance, when George Bush won the primary here and the Party originally planned to use one again in 2008. They ended up dropping the oath demand in 2008 because the Democratic primary was being held the same day – the implication being that they didn’t have to worry about those pesky Democrats and independents voting in their primary.

With all the heat the Republican leadership is currently taking over the oath and ballot failures, however, it looks like folks are beginning to realize they should abandon their history of trying to limit participation. Both Bill Bolling and Bob McDonnell, for instance, have joined the calls to do away with the oath.

Gov. Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling joined in a call to scrap the oath. The ACLU of Virginia called it constitutionally flawed and indicated the group was prepared to sue on behalf of affected voters if the requirement remains in place.

McDonnell argued that the oath is unenforceable and could work against the party's interests in a key election year.

In a sign of how the growing pressure appears to be getting to party leaders, even the state party’s chairman, Pat Mullins, has decided to call a meeting of the state central committee in order to reconsider the oath (the meeting’s actually scheduled for my birthday – January 21). While it isn’t a guarantee that the committee would actually vote to do away with the oath, you’d think Mullins wouldn’t be calling the meeting if he didn’t have the votes.

While removing the loyalty oath would be a victory for democracy (note the small “d”), it still wouldn’t make Virginia’s GOP primary any more relevant to the overall nomination process. That’s because Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are still the only two candidates on the ballot. Considering how nobody gives Ron Paul a realistic chance of winning the nomination, Virginians will still be denied an opportunity to weigh in on the contest -- unless you’d consider a vote for Ron Paul a vote for “anyone but Romney.”

What this all means is that no matter how you look at it, the Republican Party of Virginia failed miserably when it comes to the presidential primary.