Virginia, Delaware GOP lost, wandering in desert

Coming on the heels of James Carville's idiotic call for Howard Dean to step down from his DNC Chairmanship and his oversight of the 50 State Strategy, we get articles about the self-destruction of the bankrupt (literally!) Delaware state party and the resignation of the chair and Exec Director of the Virginia GOP.

Via dailykos, Delaware's GOP chief and staff have all lost their jobs due to cashflow problems:

The Delaware Republican Party has fired its entire paid headquarters staff, effective at the end of the year, blaming a post-election cash shortage. . .

He said unpaid volunteers will perform the office manager and communication director jobs until the party is on a better financial footing, but that the GOP will look for a new executive director.

"It's a very, very difficult job and something I'd rather not do," Strines said. "But it's something we have to do to keep the doors open."

The dismissals follow disappointing Election Day results for the GOP, highlighted by the loss of three state House of Representatives seats and the defeat of Ferris Wharton, the Republican candidate for state Attorney General.

House Dems might have fought over their number 2 spot, but now we are going to move forward together (Rahm is kissing and making up with Dean.) Meanwhile, VA, a formerly red, trending blue state, can't figure out what direction the Republican party should move to - more taxes or less? More spending or less?

RICHMOND, Nov. 15 -- Last week's defeat of Sen. George Allen has widened the rift between moderates and conservatives in Virginia's Republican Party, a rift that is likely to deepen at the GOP's annual meeting early next month.

Party leaders, elected Republicans and activists in both philosophical camps have been eager to blame one another for gridlock in the General Assembly and bitter disputes in the past. Now they are also looking to explain why they keep losing elections.

The Washington Post has the whole juicy story. Delicious to read, delicious to watch. Watch conservatives run even farther right after reading about the failure of their party heads, and listening to GOP electeds say that Virginians need to pay taxes:

This week, the state party's top officials, Chairman Kate Obenshain Griffin and Executive Director Shawn Smith, resigned, taking responsibility for presiding over two devastating losses: Allen's and Jerry W. Kilgore's in the governor's race last year. . .
"There are a lot of other reasons for his defeat," said Del. Thomas Davis Rust (R-Fairfax), a leading moderate in the House. "But his message, obviously, didn't resonate. A continuing of the no-tax mantra is failing. Sooner or later, you have to face reality that you do have to pay for things."

The horror, the lovely horror. Republicans generally don't air their dirty laundry in public, preferring to snicker as Dems tear each other apart. Well, I'm enjoying watching the GOP intraparty battle tear apart their farm team candidates, and torpedo their agenda. Besides, it's not like the state Repub parties are going to find their Moses at the national level since Rove's Congressional projections of keeping both the House and Senate were overly optimistic and his disciple Ken Mehlman has left the building. Keep searching, lonely sheeple.