Politically, there is no state in the Union more interesting than Virginia. Since the founding of the Republic, Virginians have always thought of themselves as a cut above. After all, when you have given the country such national treasures as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry and Robert Edward Lee, (not to mention Sam Snead, Arthur Ashe and Fran Tarkenton) you have a right to feel superior. Politics in the state has always been a dignified affair. Although a late and reluctant addition to the Confederacy, Virginia contributed many of the South's generals and of course its capital city.
For most of the last hundred years Virginia has been a reliable member of the league of southern gentlemen. Virginia went Democratic when Democrats favored a separation of the races and turned Republican when state's rights became the vogue. Lately however, Virginia has seen a noticeable shift toward a more independent line of thought. The election of two Democratic Senators and two consecutive Democratic governors is considerably more significant in Virginia than in states with large urban centers.
In the election that put a black candidate in the White House, Virginia went 52% to 48% for Obama. The influx of dreaded liberals in the D.C. suburbs is unquestionably a factor but it doesn't tell the entire story. Pockets of Democrats inhabit several areas along the East Coast. Much of President Obama's support originated in the center of the state.
This bit of history is interesting for two reasons: 1) Virginia has had a non-succession law for its governors on the books since 1971. 2) America is watching the upcoming election in Virginia for signs of a chink in the Obama armour. Unfortunately, the election in Virginia will tell us almost nothing about the National mood. The guy who said "all politics is local" (I think it was Cain just before he negated his brother's vote) knew what he was talking about. The governor's race in Virginia will not be the first referendum on the Obama administration. It will be, as it ever was, a race about all the moronic social issues that Americans have been fretting over since Reagan.
The candidates, just in case you're not a political wonk, are: in the blue corner, Creigh (rhymes with flea) Deeds and, wearing the red trunks, Robert "Bob" McDonnell. Mr. Deeds won an impressive primary fight in June against the better known better funded Terry McAuliffe. McDonnell got the nomination because, well, nobody else wanted it.
Although Deeds impressed everyone with his come-from-nowhere victory in the primary, his return to nowhere has surprised and concerned Democrats throughout the state. As of last week Mr. McDonnell had a 15% lead in the polls and appeared to be pulling away. Ah, but not so fast Bob. Just like George Allen saw his senatorial (and presidential) hopes disappear in the blink of an eye, (please YouTube "George Allen, Macaca") Bob McDonnell is about to see his soaring lead over Mr. Deeds return to earth.
The Washington Post has had the poor manners to unearth Mr. McDonnell's graduate thesis, written in 1989 (not 1789) when Bob was a grad student at Regent University. Let's forget for the moment that Regent University was formerly known as Christian Broadcasting Network University and was founded by that progressive thinker Pat Robertson. Let's also forget that Regent U. ranks somewhere near Ted's On-line Divinity School and Used Car Sales as a seat of higher learning.
In his treatise, Mr. McDonnell expresses a vision of society (the paper is called The Republican Party's Vision for the family) that would have been a blueprint for a family home in Salem Mass. in 1700. He opposes women in the workplace as detrimental to family values. Daycare, because it encourages women to work, is also criticized. He opposes the Supreme Court decision (Griswold v. Connecticut) to invalidate the ban on contraception counselling for married couples because it "promotes a view of liberty based on radical individualism". (Those of you who didn't know that counselling on contraception was ever against the law, line up behind me.)
Mr. McDonnell's screed on modernism would have made a wonderful resume-stuffer had he been applying for headmaster of a Dickensian boarding school, but for a governor of a blueish state in 2009, not so much. His views oppose homosexuality, cohabitators and fornicators (Yes, Virginia, he actually used the word "fornicators").
These are not just personal opinions or religiously held beliefs. Old Bob advises that we incorporate his views into public policy. "Every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples..." "The cost of sin should fall on the sinner not on the taxpayer." Praise Jesus! This guy makes Ozzie and Harriet look positively ribald. (I never thought I'd ever get to use fornicator and ribald in the same piece.)
Naturally, McDonnell says that this is all just a big mistake. He has matured since 1989...when he was 34. In twenty years he has, he says, zoomed from the days of whale-bone corsets and floor-length skirts to a more enlightened world view. Having a daughter who served in Iraq will do that for you. Even an evangelical is slow to argue against equal pay for equal work with a lady packing an AK-47.
The beautiful irony in this story is the Republican claim that all this talk of antiquated social policy is distracting from the "real" issues of the campaign. Ha! The party that spent the last thirty years yelling about homos, free condoms in schools, family values and the godless scourge of liberalism now decries those issues as irrelevant. In 2000, Bob McDonnell would have been proud to describe feminism as "one of the real enemies of the traditional family". Now he's doing an Usain Bolt running away.
The election is still two months away and it will take more than an evangelical wet dream to sink Bob McDonnell. The Virginia economy is still sketchy and Democrats are still feared and hated in many parts of the state. Recent successful candidates have danced away from third-rail issues like gun control and the death penalty. Nevertheless, it's encouraging to see a Republican, running in a Southern State, disavowing right-wing social policy. If you're looking for a national trend, hopefully this is it. Glory Hallelujah and can I get an Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment