Sanity, it seems, has prevailed among the ranks of Virginia Republicans since the party has announced that it plans to drop it’s plan for a so-called loyalty oath:
Virginia Republican leaders decided yesterday to scrap plans to require voters to sign a loyalty pledge before they cast their ballots in the Feb. 12 presidential primary.
The decision by the 86-member Virginia Republican State Central Committee, meeting in Crystal City, came after a public outcry over the pledge and mounting concern among party leaders that it could drive independents and moderate Republicans away from GOP candidates.
“We have heard the voice of the people,” said John H. Hager, the state party chairman. “It’s a new day, and our job has to be to build the party. We welcome new people into the party. We want as many people as possible participating if they share our principles and values.”
The reversal occurred less than a week after the State Board of Elections approved a party request to require that voters sign a piece of paper that said, “I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for President.”
The pledge included instructions saying that anyone who refused to sign it “will not be permitted to vote” — a requirement that would have been difficult to enforce.
A smart move. And really the only one the Virginia GOP could take given the horribly bad press that it was getting last week over this issue. In the end, the “oath” was meaningless and unenforcible, but given how the proposal was annoying even people who are sympathetic to the party they’ve probably done more damage to themselves just be proposing it than they ever imagined.
