Sometimes, Jerry Kilgores' evasions, dodges, and flip-flops become too much even for his conservative base. Yesterday, after months of Kilgore's waffling on numerous issues -- abortion (hypothetical), Confederate History and Heritage Month (neither support nor oppose), taxes (supposedly anti-tax but supports people raising taxes on themselves and also won't sign the "Taxpayer Bill of Rights") -- the Virginia Club for Growth essentially opened its windows and screamed, "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!"Specifically, the Club for Growth's President, Phil Rodokanakis, screamed in a headline for all the world to see,"Kilgore Must Spell Out His True Position on Taxes." The Club continued (emphasis added):
?For months now, Jerry Kilgore has tried to have his cake and eat it too? said Phil Rodokanakis, the President of the Virginia Club for Growth. ?By trying to play both sides of the issue, Kilgore has been telling fiscal conservatives that he?s against taxes, while winking at the tax-and-spend interests in our Commonwealth, implying that he?s also on their side.?Kilgore has refused to sign a taxpayer protection pledge and will not comment on whether he will support or oppose the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) legislation as proposed by the VA Club for Growth and a number of other organizations promoting the Freedom and Prosperity Agenda?which has already garnered the support of about 25% of the General Assembly.
?The recent revelation by the Washington Post that Kilgore bowed to pressure from the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and in order to gain their endorsement promised not to oppose efforts to raise regional taxes, is the last straw that broke the camel?s back? said Rodokanakis. ?Given the State?s $2 billion dollar budget surplus and the fact that all residents are paying unprecedented prices at the gas pumps, Jerry Kilgore needs to assure the voters that he will not raise taxes and that he will rebate part of the budget surplus back to the taxpayers--anything less at this time, is simply unacceptable!?
The Virginia Club for Growth called on its members and all concerned voters to contact the Kilgore campaign and demand that the candidate speak out unequivocally against new taxes. The campaign can be contacted at (804) 421-9966 or by email at Info@JerryKilgore.com.
This puts Jerry Kilgore in a difficult position. To date, "the Duck" has tried to, well, "duck" taking a strong stance on anything, while "weasseling" out every time he is asked a direct question on abortion, taxes, or whatever else. Now, he has a few choices: a) ignore the Club for Growth and piss them off further; b) respond to the Club with more weasel words on taxes, again pissing them off further; c) kowtow to the Club for Growth, thereby dissing the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and exposing the wide Republican rift between pro-business moderates and anti-tax absolutists; or d) take the anti-tax pledge and hamstring himself if -- God forbid, for all our sakes -- Mr. "All Negativity, All the Time" is elected governor.
Unfortunately for Jerry Kilgore, trying to win this election just got a lot more complicated with the Club for Growth's "straw that broke the camel's back" statement. The question now is, "how's Jerry going to weasel out of THIS one?" Maybe our "weasel meter" should be recalibrated so it goes up to 10 weasels? Are there enough weasels in the whole world to adequately represent Jerry Kilgore's snarling, negative, smarmy refusal to take stands on ANY ISSUES?
By the way, for those of you not familiar with the Club for Growth, it describes itself as "comprised of Virginia citizens and taxpayers dedicated to fighting for lower taxes, reduced regulatory burdens, controlled government spending, and other policies that will expand overall economic growth and prosperity for the working people of Virginia."
In other words, they're Republicans. And they're pissed at Jerry Kilgore. To use one last animal metaphor, it sure looks like the chickens have come home to roost for Jerry "the Duck" on all his weasel words during this campaign. Quack quack. Squawk squawk. And what sound does a weasel make?