First, President Bush gets booed and jeered when his face is shown on giant TV screens at the Pope's funeral. Then, Bush has to disavow anti-judge rhetoric by House Republican leader Tom "Multiple Ethics Violations" DeLay. Finally, a brand new public opinion poll comes out showing Bush's approval/disapproval ratings dropping to 44/54 just 2 1/2 months into his second term. Of course, these are not good numbers to put it mildly. But, at least they're better than the 37% approval rating for the Republican controlled Congress.
Apparently, the American people aren't happy with the leadership they're getting from their All-Republican, All-the-Time government. Perhaps it's little things like: the Terri Schiavo debacle, the wildly unpopular Social Security privatization proposal, rising gasoline prices, and the war in Iraq?
Oh yeah, then there's that small matter of the aforementioned Tom DeLay's numerous and ever-worsening scandals. Oh, and by the way, Tom DeLay is being fiercely defended by none other than Jerry Kilgore's friend and political ally, U.S. Representative Eric Cantor (R-7th Virginia), the fourth-ranking Republican in the House leadership.
Not that we believe in guilt by association or anything, but why on earth would Virginians support a candidate -- Jerry Kilgore -- who is a strong backer of people like Tom DeLay? And, even more to the point, why would we support a guy who wants to give Virginians the same disastrous economic and fiscal policies, the same meddling Big Government intrusion into our most personal life-and-death decisions, and the same reckless attitude towards Social Security and other critical programs for the middle class, as Tom DeLay and George W. Bush have bestowd upon the rest of the country?
Short answer? We wouldn't! Frankly, here in Virginia, we can do a lot better than the divisiveness, incompetence and corruption of the Jerry Kilgores and Tom DeLays of the world. Fortunately, come November, we will have the option of continuing with the unity, AAA bond rating, and "best-managed state in the nation" achievements of Warner and Kaine.
To put it mildly, this will not be a difficult choice.