The 2013 state wide election will be a test as to whether or not the Virginia GOP learned any lesson from the GOP's 2012 debacle. The likely answer will be a resounding "No" as I expect that the party convention will nominate Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli for the gubernatorial slot over Bill Bolling, a bland, boring individual. Sadly, Kookinelli is basically little different from Todd Akin Richard Mourdock, losing GOP candidates for U. S. Senate when it comes to his views on women and his hysterical levels of homophobia. If the Democrats can turn out enough of their base, especially in Northern Virginia, Kookinelli will hopefully go down to defeat. The man belongs in a mental institution in mt opinion, not the Governor's mansion. Nonetheless, he will be the darling of the gay haters at The Family Foundation which still urns for a full fledged theocracy in Virginia. Here are highlights from a Washington Post column that look at what the Virginia GOP will be offering to voters next fall:
[The GOP's] two top candidates . . . . in some ways personify the trouble the GOP is facing. The establishment favorite is Lt. Gov. Bob Bolling. He’s served two terms in a job with no responsibilities. He looks older than his 55 years. He is staid and solid. He is boring. I’ve never hear him present an innovative policy idea. He gives an adequate stump speech. But he’s not exactly a charismatic or wonky leader for the future.
If you don’t like him, there is state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. He championed the anti-Obamacare litigation earning plaudits from conservatives. But he is also strident on social issues, immigration and most other matters to very little result. He went after state universities that wanted to adhere to policies prohibiting discrimination against gays. He has backed an Arizona-style immigration law for the state. He has also repeatedly tangled with the State Board of Health over regulations on abortion. If there is a symbolic victory on hard-right grounds (i.e., a loss that paints the GOP as extremist), Cuccinelli is close by. If there is a hard-liner who could lose big in Fairfax County and hand the election to the Democrats, he’s the guy.
Anyone else? It doesn’t appear so. The state party in its infinite wisdom decided on a convention instead of a primary, boxing out other contenders and probably giving an advantage to the base favorite Cuccinelli. So here you have it: An unaccomplished, dull party insider and a firebrand base-catering faux outsider (he’s actually been in government since 2002) who is easily portrayed as hostile to minorities, gays and single women.
Virginia’s GOP right now risks being part of the problem, not part of the reformation of the GOP.
With Kookinelli's extreme positions on women's rights and gays, it should not be difficult to correctly convince voters that he's a nutcase. Moreover, unlike Bob McDonnell who could say his CBN University was from years ago and no longer reflected his views and beliefs, Kookinelli has produced a constant stream of extremism as recently as just last month.
No comments:
Post a Comment