I had the privilege yesterday evening of speaking with Rex McCarty, the next House of Delegates member from the 1st District of Virginia. Currently, that part of the state is under hostile occupation by a certain Kilgore clan, a family that, according to McCarty, "slipped in quietly over the past 25 years and took over the place," like a quiet form of evil. The Kilgores, McCarty emphasizes, are simply ruthless for power and have created a "culture of fear" in Lee, Scott, Washington, and Wise counties. However, perception is not necessarily reality, and Rex McCarty stresses that the Kilgores are actually weak, think-skinned, class- and status-conscious failures. Refreshingly, Rex declares point blank, "I have no fear [of the Kilgores]." Ominously for the Kilgores, a lot more people than just Rex McCarty have no fear of them anymore. And, as Terry will soon find out, there is very little true support for him in the First District. In fact, based on his his experience campaigning throughout the District the past couple of months, Rex says that the Kilgores "are not getting the response they were expecting." In general, what Rex is hearing is that people are "fed up" with the Terry/Jerry/Willie Mae show and eager for a change.
Perhaps that's partly due to the fact that the Kilgores avoid interacting with common people, talking to them, shaking their hands, etc. In contrast, McCarty "has friends everywhere," and is getting an "enormous response" from people. In part, this stems from McCarty's natural enthusiam and gregariousness -- unlike Terry, who is morbidly shy and uncomfortable in his own skin. Instead of avoiding people like the plague, as Terry does, Rex utilizes a "full-contact-all-the-way" approach: diving headfirst into crowds, hugging and kissing people, having fun, going all out.
The more people see and hear the Rex McCarty style and substance, the more they realize that they don't have to beaten down by people like the Kilgores who care only about power for themselves and a few others. The more the First District start to realize what a "12-year lightweight" Terry Kilgore, the more they flock to Rex McCarty in droves.
I asked Rex McCarty how he manages to have no fear of the corrupt Kilgores, the same family that has intimidated people and beaten them down for so long in Southwest Virginia. The answer, in a nutshell, is that Rex McCarty is a man of faith who knows exactly what he believes and has absolutely nothing to hide. This is in stark contrast to the sneaky, phony, lying Kilgores -- a family with a great deal to hide and to be ashamed of.
In short, Rex McCarty is strong and real, not weak and fake like the Kilgores. In large part, that's because Rex was not born or raised in privilege, but had to work hard for everything he achieved in life. He also has had to overcome adversity and hardship, which has toughened him up and made him strong against bullies like the Kilgores.
Rex tells the story of the "terrible coal strike in the late 1970s," where it got so bad that his proud father had to actually go down to Gate City around Christmas time and sign up for relief for himself and his large (a wife and 12 children) family. Those days, the family used to go to bed hungry most nights, except for an occasaional blueberry muffin. Now that Rex McCarty has achieved something in life, he wants to give back to his community (again, unlike the Kilgores), to raise people up, to lead them to a brighter future. And he never wants to eat another blueberry muffin again!
In the First District this November, citizens will have a classic choice between fear and cynicism on the one hand, hope and optimism on the other. As McCarty puts it, when the people of the 1st District vote to send him to Richmond this November, they'll be sending "one of their own." Instead of returning Terry Kilgore, who "had the opportunity to do good [but] failed," Rex will fight hard to actually "help the folks right here at home." What a concept!
Rex will win this November, and will succeed in Richmond, because of who he is and because of what he stands for. He will win this November and succeed in Richmond because he is an extremely capable, smart, refreshingly honest, and hard-working man, someone who gets things done. He will win this November and succeed in Richmond because, unlike the Kilgores, he does not believe in warming a chair for the rest of his life as Jerry and Terry have done, but of rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. And, Rex will win this November and succeed in Richmond for the very reason that he is not afraid of ruffling a few feathers or getting under the skin of powerful special interests, if need be, in order to best serve his constituents. Again, that is a concept the Kilgores simply do not understand.
The bottom line is that, unlike the Kilgore clan, Rex McCarty is "the real deal here," as he puts it. McCarty adds that "we're not just saying it, we're actually going to do it." And you know what? Unlike 90% of politicians out there, I actually believe it when Rex McCarty says those words. In large part, that's because Rex McCarty is so refreshingly plain-spoken. Frankly, I dare ANYONE to speak with Rex McCarty for more than a minute or so and not want to support him wholeheartedly. Personally, I'm ready to do whatever I can to help, and I don't even live in the First District. Now, after talking to Rex, I know that thousands of people who live in Lee, Scott, Washington, and Wise counties feel even more strongly that way.
One great thing about Rex McCarty that comes out in speaking with him is that he has "absolute confidence that the people are going to make the right choice." That's incredibly refreshing, I've got to say, in an age of cynical politics, soundbites, polls, focus groups and consultants. In contrast, Rex mainly operates by his (good) instincts. And Rex's good instincts tell him that, deep down, people are "fed up" with the Kilgores and want to support someone who truly believes in them and will work for them. This, of course, is a concept the Kilgores will never understand.
Just to illustrate Rex McCarty's complete lack of fear and lack of respect for the Kilgores, he says that he has specifically made a point of wearing orange and blue - the Kilgore campaign colors rudely appropriated from the University of Virginia - at events where he has known Terry would be present. The message? "This is not your county, this is not your district, and these are not your colors!"
"The time has come," as Rex says, for a "builder in the community," someone with the guts to stand up for the people of the First District, to tear down the corrupt, fear-mongering Kilgore machine once and for all. And who better to do that job than Rex McCarty, a man with more real-life experience in his fingertip than Terry Kilgore has or will ever have in his entire body?
By the way, Rex would love to debate Terry Kilgore, but of course Terry won't do it because he knows, frankly, that he would get his scrawny little butt kicked. Does this sound familiar? A family trait, perhaps? The fact is, at some level Terry must know that he has accomplished absolutely nothing for his consitutuents, that he has no plan, that he is a stuttering buffoon, and that he would be torn to bits by Rex McCarty if he ever stepped on the same stage with him.
In contrast, Rex McCarty is eager to get up there and go mano a mano with Terry Kilgore in a "real, live, knockdown debate." That's because Rex knows exactly who he is, what he believes, what he wants to say and how to say it. Rex knows both who and what he's fighting for -- vocational education reform, election reform, and technology-based business development for a region that has been too long ignored, trampled upon, and "driven through."
And, again, Rex is not afraid. That's just one reason why Rex rocks, and why Terry Kilgore is cowering under a rock somewhere. That's why Rex is connecting with people, while Terry is hiding from them. And that's why Rex will be the next Delegate from the 1st District, while Terry Kilgore will be looking for a new job four months from now.
A new day is about to dawn for the First District of Virginia. Let freedom ring. Go Rex!