Michael McPadden’s campaign is once again facing major disruption with his second campaign manager leaving in as many months. Joshua Solovskoy the gentleman who took over after Ed Robb left the campaign in early December has just recently called it quits. Having this very dedicated supporter leave the campaign has got to be a tough break for Michael.
I shouldn’t bring it up because I know that I will get vilified for saying this but I have to wonder what is driving McPadden’s campaign managers away. Ed Robb was a very pro-McPadden person and he leaves abruptly and now Joshua who was one of Michael’s biggest supporters on this blog has now left the campaign. I can understand when consultants and professionals leave; they are always searching for the bigger and better job to advance their careers. However when local people work for a campaign and are doing it mainly because they support the candidate they are working for all of a sudden leave the campaign it causes one to wonder why.
Let’s be honest everyone knows I support Laurence Verga and if I was to withdraw my support from him it would cause a lot of speculation as to why. So I am just stating something about the McPadden Campaign that others might be thinking or should be thinking. Why does a candidate loose two dedicated supporters in a ten week period?
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It could be money, or maybe he didn’t like the job, or maybe he got a better one, or maybe… well… ANYTHING! We shouldn’t assume something is wrong when we just don’t know.
Two campaign managers in 10 weeks………….it is a definite problem originating from the principal candidate!
I certainly cannot speak on the first campaign manager, but I can tell u from personal experience that Joshua was, in my opinion, becoming a liability. He was very rude and accusatory in his emails and turned me off voting for McPadden. Not so sure the decision to leave was his decision.
“…turned me off voting for McPadden…” Kelly why don’t you drop the pretense that you were not already voting for Robert Hurt. Everywhere we see your name it’s either a subtle attack against a candidate or his supporters or a plug for Hurt. Give us a break!
Hank not that you don’t have a good point but I think you are referring to Kelly in Virgina this Kelly is different
i am a fervent Robert Hurt supporter.
making negative comments about others in the field is destructive to the ultimate goal of beating Perriello.
i think all my comments have been positives. if not…my apologies.
We shouldn’t be judgmental about it. McPadden is way too liberal for my tastes, but he seems to be a decent man who feels a real commitment to some important principles. That cannot be said for some of the others. I hope he gets his organization straight and sticks with it for awhile. He’s probably not the man to beat Perriello, but he brings some good things to the race.
Don’t forget, McPadden’s not the only one whose been through more than one campaign manager. If I remember correctly, Feda’s on number 4 and Verga’s on campaign manager number 3.
Sounds like this is par for the course.
Laurence Verga is still on his first campaign manager Alex Cortes. Keith Drake was not the campaign manager but a consultant. When Keith was working for Laurence they were keeping an eye out for someone to manage the day to day of the campaign.With Keith moving on I can understand you thinking that he might be on his second manager but how did you come up with three.
I was referring to Josh Lambert, who recently left the Verga campaign. My apologies, he must have had a different job title as well.
Maybe McPadden and Morton should stop hiring campaign managers and start hiring “consultants” so we won’t have to worry if they leave their campaigns.
Josh Lambert is a full time UVA student who was working on a part-time basis for the campaign roughly about 5 hours a week.
I heard scuttlebutt that Josh held an executive position with the UVA College Republicans, and that as part of that position helped to organize a candidate debate/forum by communicating with all of the campaigns regarding scheduling and details. Was it disclosed that he worked for a particular campaign as he organized the event, or was the relationship with Verga’s campaign severed prior to his involvement pertaining to organization of the event? I don’t know if this would technically be a conflict of interest, but it seems a bit disingenuous if true, particularly if the information was not disclosed. Anyone know the deal, or is this not accurate at all?
Josh was chairman of the college republicans and resigned after the forum. He stopped working for Verga just before the forum. I guess you could say there was a possibility of conflict of interest. However the same could be said of the possible debates sponsored by the GOP unit chairs that Tucker Watkins wants to have. 19 people voted for a primary that everyone new would favor Hurt, these same people would be putting on the debates. This is not to say that the debates would be unfair because it is easy enough to keep them unbiased. Because of my support of Verga I stayed completely out of the tea party candidate forum here in Charlottesville and handed over the organizing to someone else, that was easy enough to do and we had what I thought a successful forum. Although I have yet to see an event happen in which some group did not declare a debate or forum biased.
It is still up to the individual to decide which candidate he or she supports and that individual will need to look at all aspects of a candidate not just those put forth in a forum or debate.
was Edd Robb a hired gun? I thought he was someone of political stature that was “introducing” McPadden to the district?
and i am still curious about why he distanced himself so quickly.
Ed Robb was not a hired gun, he wanted to help the Mike McPadden Campaign. Mr. Robb resigned for his own personal reasons, I asked him to explain and he didn’t want to, thats his right. Campaigns are full of changes, people come and go within them all the time; lets move on!
There is more to the Ed Robb and Joshua Solovskoy stories than is being released to the general public. Care has been used with the release of info on both counts in order to preserve the integrity of both men. If you want to know the truth, call McPadden, or Josh, or Ed directly and ask, rather than speculate or churn the rumor mill on the internet.
I happen to know on good authority that they were both asked to leave for good reasons. Good help is hard to find.
I was not asked to leave.
JDS
Haha, great point Louisa! What’s in a name, anyway? Verga’s lost two campaign managers too. I wish he’d cut BRG from his staff. Then maybe we could have some less biased reporting.
I never claimed to be a reporter, this blog has some news and mostly commentary .
another blog reports that McKelvey hired Brian O’Connor.
Message, Principles, Money, and Support are all important in a campaign. As for a seasoned politician they already have a huge head-start. As for the Rookies, they need to show a building process. I know Mike McPadden has been working hard building grassroots support, driving all over the 5th District meeting with folks and sharing his message of conservative principles. Oh did I say conservative, yes I did, it is easy for someone to label another, for instance Flat Earth calling Mike McPadden a liberal; it shows how truly little he knows about Mike. Back to conservative principles, these principles were found by our collective Founding Fathers, Mikes principles leans towards the first Republican, Thomas Jefferson. It was during George Washington’s 2nd term as President that political parties began to form. The two party goals are still seen within both parties. One goal was to guide the people and help them, in other words control them. The other party formed believing that People can be free and live in harmony without a huge government controlling everything and everyone.
Rookies in Politics learn why politics is a tough row to hoe, lots of rocks, lots at stake, lots to learn, lots of issues. Think about it, today you are your own person then you throw your name into a hat; BANG a whole new world is opened to you, people come to you for a job, for a quote, for a deal! One day you are no one and the next, everyone is looking at you. Mike McPadden is staying focused IMHO.
Actually not just you but everyone you associate with; their contributions are yours, their sins are yours too. There is a very good reason that the Clinton and Obama Administrations are full of 20 & 30 somethings; little to no skeletons. I have seen campaigns run with a campaign manager in name only, the real managers were behind the scenes. These are the kitchen cabinets, some are for noble reasons, some not so. I used the term kitchen cabinet because Ronnie Reagan’s kitchen cabinet were mostly good men wanting to change Washington DC back to smaller government, less wasteful spending, and to rebuild our Military. Many folks walked into Ronnie’s kitchen few stayed long enough to see him become President. Those that stayed were people with principles, capabilities, and wisdom. They guided Ronald Reagan and helped him become one of the greatest Presidents of the 20th Century.
Mike McPadden is building his kitchen cabinet, he is learning fast! Some political insider folks are concerned IMHO. The so-called mainstream media doesn’t want a Mike McPadden in Congress either; both groups like the power and control the government has in our lives. If more folks like Mike McPadden became members of Congress the Country as we know it would change, yep change back to our founding principles. Mike McPadden has a desire to truly cut Government waste, he sites the Department of Education as a waste. Teachers have told him that they spend more time taking care of federal mandates than teaching our children. Mike wants to restore responsibilities to the several states and the People. He wants to change our overweight federal government and place it on a diet. A diet of States Rights and Liberty for All!
As Blueridgeguy says, “Let’s be honest.” Indeed, let’s do…
Mike is running for Congress because he knew that the same old political games, stunts and lack of integrity were killing everything we love about America. He is the kind of patriot who marches into hell because he believes “good men must do something.” Mike’s a good man and I can not remain silent in the face of this rumor mongering and sniping.
I have known Mike for 25 years. I do not work on his campaign but I offer him financial and moral support. I know Mike to be above reproach in his integrity and character. All of you who value honesty know that to be a rare trait in the political realm. I can tell you that there is a great deal more to why Robb and Solovsky were released from the campaign. As most of you know many campaigns go through this sort of perturbations. Mike’s release of these individuals was due in large part to character issues on their part and with undeserved consideration for them he desired to “let them down easy”. They, in return, did not honor that courtesy.
Fundamentally, Mike will never do anything because it is politically expedient. That too, as all you political veterans are aware, is also a rarity.
As bloggers, it is now time to elevate the standard. Rumor and innuendo is inappropriate and does a disservice to Virginia and America. The forum is too important to democracy to waste. You know what they say about assume…
Thank you so much for your thoughts and comments!
Marine Thing has made a false statement:
“Mike’s release of these individuals was due in large part to character issues on their part and with undeserved consideration for them he desired to “let them down easy”. They, in return, did not honor that courtesy.”
False accusations do not help Mike.
My resignation is clear and it is posted on my blog:
http://solovskoy.blogspot.com
JDS
Marine Thing
Your statement is not true.
My resignation is clear and it is posted on my blog:
http://solovskoy.blogspot.com
JDS
Solovskoy: “Within the liberty movement there is a wing that seeks personal liberties that are contrary to the scriptures. As a Pastor I cannot affiliate myself with any ideologies that are in opposition to scriptures.”
So either McPadden is pro-gay marriage (or maybe just NOT anti-gay), or pro-abortion rights. So which is it?