[img_assist|nid=548|title=Still in charge|desc=Cumberland County GOP Chairman Vic Stabile has sparred with Commissioner Gary Eichelberger much of the past 18 months.|link=none|align=left|width=382|height=301]MECHANICSBURG -- The Cumberland County GOP shocked many observers 18 months ago when it did not not endorse incumbent Republican Commissioner Gary Eichelberger for re-election.

The decision did not work out well -- Eichelberger defeated endorsed challenger Karen Gunnison in the primary, winning re-election by a landslide, and claimed chairmanship of the board of commissioners, the symbolic head of county. And he bashed the county committee as corrupt and out-of-touch the entire time.

"The last two years ... I'll take the liberty of calling them 'challenging,'" county GOP Chairman Vic Stabile, a frequent opponent of Eichelberger, told the committee last week at its reorganization meeting.

Now Stabile and the area's state lawmakers say they are trying to bring Eichelberger back to the party to support U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this fall. The presumptive Republican nominee needs to crush U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in midstate counties like Cumberland to win Pennsylvania, and GOP officials don't want inter-party fighting to distract from a larger goal.

But it won't happen automatically. Eichelberger told PolitickerPa.com he is not going to return to the fold to simply make people happy. He said he needs to see the county committee make changes, particularly to its endorsement process, before he returns to the fold.

"These folks seem to forget I never lost the election," he said. "Their expectation for unity seems to be me shutting my mouth."

Namely, the committee needs to make sure a small clique of "entitled" party members can't hand-pick endorsements, he said.

The county GOP endorsed Eichelberger's Republican colleague, Commissioner Bruce Barclay, despite the fact he and Eichelberger ran on identical platforms. Eichelberger said he simply "wasn't part of the club."

Eichelberger said the committee also needs to accept changes he and the board of commissioners have made to county government, including ending what he described as GOP patronage.

"We're not playing favoritism," he said. "We haven't looked the other way."

Stabile, who was re-elected chairman of the county GOP Thursday night, reiterated several times in an interview with PolitickerPa.com he wants to the county GOP to move past the last 18 months of turmoil, but on this last point he can't let Eichelberger go.

"I have never, ever gone to the county commissioners and asked for a political hire," Stabile said. "You can quote me on that. I've always told them, 'Your first criteria always must be that whoever you hire be the best person for that job.'"

He also took issue with Eichelberger's description of the committee as controlled by a small group of members.

"I've said to him, 'What are you talking about?''" Stabile said. "If that's the case, where's my group?"

Cumberland County remains a Republican stronghold, although its voter registrations advantage has shrunk the last four years from about 40,000 to 25,000. President George W. Bush won 64 percent of the vote here in 2004.

Each Cumberland County state lawmaker contacted -- state Reps. Jerry Nailor, Will Gabig and Glen Grell and state Sen. Pat Vance -- said Eichelberger should return to help in the more important, and difficult, presidential campaign.

Nailor said the county committee clearly made a mistake when it did not endorse Eichelberger. He added he was surprised the committee hasn't felt more backlash for the decision.

"I don't think it has destroyed the party, and some thought it would," Nailor said. "I just don't see it."

Asked if Eichelberger would return, Nailor said, "I don't know, I'm never quite sure what Gary is going to do."

He added: "I would hope Gary would. His position as chairman has more responsibility. It's a golden opportunity to show leadership."

His return, and presumably the return of his aggressive backers, would be the county GOP's first boost in the last 18 months. The party suffered a blow in April when Barclay resigned after he was accused of raping a 20-year-old man. The accusation was later refuted when Barclay turned over video of the encounter, which led to the discovery of 100 to 500 sexual encounters between Barclay and others. No charges have been filed to date.

Stabile, even after told of Eichelberger's remarks, said he was hopeful the two can come together. He and Eichelberger have started a "dialogue," he said, and Eichelberger attended one the county GOP's meetings recently for the first time in a long time. They are scheduled to meet in the near future.

"We need him in our party," he said. "I have been encouraged and somewhat delighted that there's been this thawing and starting to work together again."