From NvDaily.com:

Most notably, in a slap at the party establishment they ousted former Lt. Gov. John H. Hager as state party chairman in favor of Jeffrey M. Frederick, a young, little-known delegate from Prince William County who had stressed his right-wing credentials.

While Hager was no apostate, he has a reputation as a bridge builder — he even served in the cabinet of Democratic Gov. Mark Warner — and had the support of House Speaker William J. Howell, former Sen. George F. Allen, Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the party’s presumptive 2009 gubernatorial nominee, and, presumably, President Bush, his new in-law.

Frederick, who has pledged to emphasize grass-roots party building, garnered strong support from the same anti-tax, anti-abortion delegates who backed Del. Robert G. Marshall, also of Prince William, in his challenge to Gilmore.

The rightward tilt reflected at the convention left more moderate Republicans despairing at the party’s electoral prospects. “We have jumped off the deep end, and we are just going to create a party of unelected candidates if Jim Gilmore isn’t conservative enough,” former state Sen. Martin E. Williams, a moderate Republican from Hampton Roads, told The Washington Post.

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