Also, check this out.
A bit of background for those who haven't been following the 5th CD Republican race. Currently, there are 7 Republicans - State Sen. Robert Hurt, Ron Ferrin of Campbell County, Michael McPadden of Albemarle County, Feda Kidd Morton of Fluvanna County, Laurence Verga of Albemarle County, Kenneth C. Boyd, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, and real estate investor Jim McKelvey - competing for the party's nomination to run against Rep. Tom Perriello (D). The choice of the establishment is State Senator Robert Hurt (R-19th), who is considered a "moderate" Republican In Name Only (RINO) by the teabagger contingent, by the other Republicans seeking the nomination, and by conservative Republicans in general (Hurt's #1 sin: voting in favor of Mark Warner's 2004 tax increase - an unpardonable sin among the right wingnuts).
There's also Bradley Rees, who appears to be moving towards a third-party/tea-party candidacy, and as you can see from the above tweet, is not at all pleased with the decision to select the Republican nominee in a primary (which is what Hurt wanted, since it will probably work to his advantage) and not a party convention (which would tend to favor a more conservative candidate). Unfortunately for Hurt, the choice of a primary will most likely guarantee an angry Republican "base," as well as at least one third-party, ultra-conservative candidate(s). In other words, this should be a great deal of fun...especially if you're a Democrat and a Tom Perriello supporter, like me. :)
P.S. Verga later added, "Republican establishment threw conservative candidate's candidate campaign manager out of the District meeting. So much for party unity."
P.P.S. Rees has a bunch more tweets, including one that says, "Civil war is upon us: establishment elites vs concerned citizens sick to death of corruption. The 1st shot has been fired. Choose sides now!" Not exactly subtle, but you get the picture. :)
UPDATE: Verga issues a statement.
A primary will place an unnecessary burden upon localities, costing them thousands of dollars at a time when their budgets are already overly stretched.
Based upon the current shape of the field, the primary will likely be won by a candidate with less than 20% of the vote, with Democratic voters potentially deciding the race.
Today only strengthens my resolve to run a vigorous grassroots campaign against the establishment and their preferred candidate, so that I may be able to fight for the conservative principles and values of the citizens of the 5th District in Washington.
