I received a most interesting press release from the Leslie Byrne campaign today. It seems that, "taking a page from Jerry Kilgore?s playbook, Republican Lt. Governor Candidate Bill Bolling" is now ducking debates too. Specifically:
Organizers cancelled the first Lt. Governor debate, scheduled for August 30 at PBS station WBRA-TV in Roanoke, after Bolling ignored their invitation and repeated requests to participate. The debate was scheduled to be aired statewide. As of mid-July, he has refused to commit to a single debate before Election Day.
In other words, what we have here is yet ANOTHER member of the Virginia Republican ticket who claims to trust the voters but manifestly does not. Obviously, if Bill "Gutter" Bolling truly DID trust the voters, he wouldn't be afraid to debate his opponent in front of them. However, Bolling obviously does not have enough confidence in his appeal to Virginia voters to go mano a mano with Leslie Byrne. Either that, or he is ridiculously overconfident for someone with such a pitiful record of corruption (years at the Reciprocal Group, the"Enron of the insurance industry"), lack of achievement (unless you count the "lavish outings for company executives on the yacht Scottish Lass"), and extreme views on the issues (guns, abortion, taxes, you name it).
Sadly, it seems that Bill Bolling would rather run a stealth campaign, have his henchmen smear Leslie Byrne from whatever dark basement or cave they live in, and refuse to appear in the light of day in front of Virginia voters alongside his Democratic opponent. What's most sad about all this is how utterly predictable and unsurprising it is. In fact, the more I watch this Kilgore/Bolling/McDonnell ticket in action, the more I think I'm living in a corrupt Third World hellhole, not the greatest Democracy in the world.
Of course, with people like Jerry Kilgore, Bill Bolling, Bob McDonnell, Tom DeLay, and Bill Frist running our state and our country, we may actually end up living in a Third World hellhole - our jobs exported overseas, our standard of living plummeting, our social safety net in tatters, our environment trashed, our rights taken away from us. If this is an attractive vision for the future, then by all means vote for people like Bill Bolling. If it's not an attractive vision, then vote for Leslie Byrne. Or, if you'd simply like to hear more from Bill Bolling, then contact him and let him know. Here's where to reach him:
Bolling for Lieutenant Governor
7308 Hanover Green Dr.
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
804-746-9830
804-746-9879 (fax)
bbolling@billbolling.com
If that doesn't work, you might try:
Randy Marcus
Campaign Manager
(804) 746-9830 (Office)
randy@billbolling.comKristi Way
Deputy Campaign Manager
(804) 746-9830 (Office)
kway@billbolling.comSeth Thatcher
Northern Virginia Field Director
seth@billbolling.comDrew Biemer
Eastern Virginia Field Director
(757) 618-1375 (Office)
drew@billbolling.com
Good luck!