Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 18, 1994 TAG: 9401180200
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Morton C. Blackwell, one of the state GOP's two representatives to the Republican National Committee, said in the letter that Allen's chief of staff and secretary of administration should be punished for giving their boss bad advice.
Shortly after the election, Allen demanded the resignation of Patrick McSweeney, saying that he lacked confidence in the party chairmen. Allen aides have said McSweeney did not do enough to support Allen's campaign.
Blackwell, a strong McSweeney supporter, told the newspaper that he wrote the letter to try to stop the infighting.
"I want this governor to succeed," he said.
"The wounds can be healed if those responsible for bungling this matter are disciplined and given other responsibilities more suited to them," he wrote in the letter mailed early this month.
He said Allen's aides "frittered away" one of Allen's biggest assets - his image as a "nice guy" - in the attempt to oust McSweeney.
"This party bloodletting was unnecessary, the result of awful advice," he wrote.
Allen asked for McSweeney's resignation Nov. 30; the chairman refused. Allen's aides were successful in persuading two-thirds of the party's state central committee to ask for McSweeney to resign at a Dec. 4 meeting. Party rules require a three-fourths vote of the central committee to force the chairman to step down.
Allen's chief of staff, Jay Timmons, and secretary of administration, Mike Thomas, helped lead the charge against McSweeney.
When asked about Blackwell's letter, Ken Stroupe, Allen's press secretary, said, "Governor Allen is not [Blackwell's] first priority in terms of loyalty."
In the letter, Blackwell said he met with Thomas and another staff member and was told that Allen was "ordained to be president."
Thomas denied saying that to Blackwell. "Blackwell has a vivid imagination," he said.
Later in the letter, Blackwell said that unidentified Allen aides are more interested in money and power than in the best interests of the Republican Party.
"If they could drive a wedge between George and Pat, then they might have a chance to overturn Pat as state chairman and themselves enjoy the resources and power of the state party," he wrote.
Dave Johnson, executive director of the state party, said McSweeney did not ask Blackwell to write the letter.
by CNB