I've argued for years that the Washington Post is a corporate, centrist newspaper that just loves "moderate" Republicans. In the past, this has led the Post to endorse people like Sen. John Warner. The Post also has had a major crush on Tom Davis for not being "doctrinaire," and also for being someone who "works well across the aisle and at times has bucked his party's leadership." In other words, if you don't vote 100% with the right-wing nutjobs, the Post loves ya!Following in this fine tradition, the Post now has enthusiastically endorsed Sean Connaughton in the Republican primary for Lt. Governor. In its endrosement, the Post calls Connaughton the "much superior Republican," "civil and decent," and "among the more promising and impressive young politicians in some time to seek statewide office in Virginia." Impressive.
Here at RaisingKaine, of course, we remain curious as to the virtues of Sean Connaughton, specifically his credentials as a "moderate." According to the Post "[Connaughton] favors the rights of gun owners, opposes abortion and favors the expansion of faith-based social programs." Hmmm... that part sounds pretty conservative to us.
However, Connaugton qualifies as a "moderate" in the Post's eyes because he says "I won't rule out anything" when it comes to "paying for new roads and public transit infrastructure." In other words, Connaughton is willing to raise revenues (e.g., taxes) if necessary to pay for important services, a position which just about any responsible politician or citizen would support. But not, of course, the Grover Norquist/flat earth wing of the Republican Party, which simply hates hates HATES taxes and doesn't care if our roads, schools, and hospitals crumble to dust as long as they don't have to pay anything to support them.
Speaking of folks who think lke that, we still need to mention Connaughton's uber-wingnut opponent, Bill Bolling. On we have to agree with the Post in its characterization of Bolling is a "hard line ideologue." Just the fact that he's been endorsed by Jim Gilmore, Ken Cucinelli, Dick Black, Kilgore buddy Eric Cantor, the Virginia Club for Growth, and the Virginia Conservative Action PAC should tell you everything you need to know right there.
Even worse than being a far-right-winger, though, Bolling -- as the
Of course, now that there's an election going on, Bolling conveniently can't recall those 21 years of his life. Perhaps it will jog his fuzzy memory to remind him that the collapse of the company ?financially devastated thousands of doctors and lawyers as well as many hospitals across the country that relied on it for their malpractice insurance.? Do you remember THAT, Bill? Or how about the ?lavish outings for company executive on the yacht Scottish Lass?? Hmmm....
Amazing that Bolling can't remember any of this, considering that it was the only real job in his life, unless you count "professional politician" and perpetual candidate for political office. Quite an impressive guy, that Bill "Gutter" Bolling character, huh? In that context, the Post endorsement of Sean Connaughton is not exactly stunning.
One other interesting subtext in the Washington Post endorsement of Connaugton is the tension and rivalry between populous, prosperous Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. Connaugton, of course, hails from Prince William County, while Bolling comes from more rural eastern Virginia (Caroline, Spotsylvania, Essex, King and Queen, King William, Hanover and Middlesex counties). In other words, there's something of a regional, city/rural, "metro DC"/"real" Virginia rivalry going on here. On this one, the Post has come down firmly -- as it usually does -- on the side of Northern Virginia and its favorite "moderate Republican," Tom Davis, a big Connaughton backer.
Anyway, given the fact that Sean Connaugton is clearly the far superior candidate in this Republican primary, we would like to take this opportunity to strongly reiterate our endorsement of Bill Bolling as the best candidate to face off against the Democratic Lt. Governor nominee in the general election. That is, if your goal is to maximize the Democrats' chances of winning in November. Which is why we encourage you, without any hesitation whatsoever, to "Go Bolling" this Tuesday!