RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick is now saying that his comments tying together Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden were just a joke:
RICHMOND, Oct. 14 — While Virginia’s Republican leaders sought to distance themselves from him, the chairman of the state GOP said Tuesday that he was just making a joke when he compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden.
in an interview Tuesday, Frederick said he was only repeating something he heard conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh say on his radio show. Frederick said he never meant to imply that Obama was a terrorist, but he believes the Democrat is unfit for office because of his connection to Ayers.
“The bottom line is I think you and me and most people we know don’t hang out with people who have bombed the Pentagon,” said Frederick, who questioned whether Obama will be able to get a security clearance because of his interactions with Ayers. “What makes people more nervous? The fact that I am quoting Rush Limbaugh or the fact we could have a president who could have these associations?”
As I’ve already noted, the McCain campaign has already distanced itself from Frederick’s statement, and McCain himself has dismissed Frederick as “some guy” from the Virginia Republican Party, and he’s not alone:
“This Jeff Frederick stuff is a disgrace,” said former delegate Vincent F. Callahan, a Republican from Fairfax County. “I don’t know where he is coming from, but the party is going down the tubes with him at the helm.”
At a news conference Tuesday, Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell and former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore, the GOP nominee for governor in 2005, said they do not think Frederick should be ousted as chairman. But they called his remarks about Obama and bin Laden “inappropriate.”
“I think we need more civility in our political process,” said McDonnell, the likely GOP nominee for governor next year. “I think we need to elevate the level of discourse.”
I doubt Frederick will be removed, but this will be remembered and if the Virginia GOP has a bad year in 2009, people will remember what happened this year.
