Potomac Highlands Conservative Endorses Dr. Doug McKinney to Remain State Republican Chair

The Potomac Highlands Conservative is proud to endorse Dr. Doug McKinney to be re-elected as West Virginia Republican Party Chair.

At the end of July, the state Republican Party will have its annual summer meeting. At that time the state executive committee will vote to either retain Dr. McKinney as party chair or select Mike Stuart of Charleston.

The old adage says that you don't change horses in midstream. That in itself is true, unless the horse cannot get across the river. Lincoln had to change his horses several times in midstream before finding a winning general. However, Dr. McKinney has been able to put together a strong list of accomplishments since becoming chair. Under his leadership the state party retired its fairly considerable debt. He also worked to build upon the professional staff in place, trying to obtain for the party an experienced and professional executive director to build up the organization and other efforts. In the past few years, the evolution of the state party's internet presence has been very worthy of praise. Finally, Dr. McKinney led the effort to get the state Republican Party into its new headquarters on Kanawha Boulevard.

Dr. McKinney's opponent and his supporters have led an aggressive campaign that has tried to attack the incumbent chair's record. The attacks create some serious questions:

They have voiced their dislike of Executive Director Troy Berman. What would Stuart propose to do with Mr. Berman and the executive director position?

They have also attacked almost every aspect of the relocation of the party headquarters. Would they move the headquarters again?

And finally, what is Stuart's vision? In what way would he operate that would be substantially different?

The biggest problem created by a changeover in leadership at this time is the inevitable learning curve. Unless you have actually done the job before, there is a period of time where you have to get acclimated and learn the job. If you are cleaning house and bringing in your people, they also have their own learning curves. It is a short period of time from July to November. If elected, how long would it take for Stuart and his people to learn the job and then become effective?

Another obstacle in the path of a Stuart chairmanship is the byproduct of the negativity spawned by his campaign. On the blog that backs his candidacy, you get a daily dose of hatefulness, albeit generally from those leaving comments. They get their shots in at Dr. McKinney and his wife most often while also occasionally attacking House of Delegates candidate Gary Howell and Buddy Randolph. Some of Stuart's supporters have raised issues of method and leadership, but others more often stick barbs into other loyal Republicans. The cloud of negativity won't disperse quickly. A few words from Stuart would have shut down his supporters who simply seek to insult rather than raise legitimate questions.

Not only do we endorse Dr. McKinney, we also believe that the selection of a new chair should take place after the election. Changing the leadership on the eve of the contest makes little sense.