As I was busy with papers and classes for the past few days, I didn’t much time to look at (much less comment on) Tuesday’s election returns until today. While I am disappointed that the Governor’s reform agenda was defeated in California, my current “home state,” I am pleased that Republicans made gains in Virginia (my immediate past “home state”).
Four years ago, when President Bush was at his highest level in public opinion polls, Democrats won two of the three constitutional offices in the Old Dominion, losing only the Attorney General’s race. This year, Republicans held onto the Attorney General’s office and picked up the Lieutenant Governor’s seat as well, losing only the race for Governor. Not bad considering the Republican president is currently at his lowest level in opinion polls. Guess the president’s drop in popularity didn’t have much bearing on the Virginia elections.
And there’s some irony in the Virginia elections. Jerry Kilgore, the only Republican to win a statewide race in 2001, defeating Democrat A. D. McEachin for Attorney General, is the only Republican to fall short in statewide balloting this year, losing to Democrat Tim Kaine by just under 6 points, a margin nearly identical to Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Earley’s loss four years ago to Democrat Mark Warner.
With the election of Bill Bolling as Lieutenant Governor and Bob McDonnell at Attorney General, Republicans can be pleased that they did a bit better in the Old Dominion than four years ago. Still, it would have been nice to have won the Governor’s chair as well. Oh, well, you can’t have everything.
Gay organizations silent as Virginia Democrat panders to anti-gay sentiments
With the Stonewall Democrats attacking anything our president says or does (whether or not it is related to gay issues), with HRC and NGLTF obsessed with abortion and with Log Cabin issuing bromides or blathering on about the radical right hijacking the GOP, it’s left to bloggers to take on Democrats who pander to people’s prejudices. In an e-mail this morning, blogger Eva Young alerted me to this post which reports that Tim Kaine, the Democratic nominee for Governor in the Old Dominion has used a radio spot to accuse Jerry Kilgore, his Republican opponent, of “not being straight.”
As Mike Slaven notes in an editorial in the University of Virginia’s Cavalier Daily, “The Kaine camp fails to add the obligatory “with voters;” the ad simply observes, “Jerry Kilgore is not being straight,” period.” Kilgore, married with two daughters, has what some have called a “gay-sounding” voice (whatever that is) and has been described as effeminate.
If a Republican released an ad claiming that a Democrat with a similar voice and appearance was “not being straight,” you can be sure that all the leading gay organizations (including Log Cabin) would be taking him to task. Yet, today, all these groups are silent. If it weren’t for bloggers like Eva Young and Pam Spaulding, we would likely not hear of this anti-gay pandering.
Since LCR spends more time attacking the party to which it allegedly supports than it does to taking on the opposing political party, I expect them to maintain their silence on this. And I don’t think it will upset HRC or NGLTF too much either. They seem to see themselves as part of a broad “progressive” movement which defines Republicans as the enemy and excuses all kinds of behavior among Democrats, even actions and statements which play to anti-gay prejudices.
-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com
UPDATE: Reading this post on GayOrbit, I realized that I had previously read about Democratic attempts to insinuate that Kilgore is gay. Back in April, on his blog, my friend Rick Sincere wrote that Kaine supporters would use innuendo to raise doubts “in voters’ minds about . . . Kilgore’s sexual orientation.” Check it out here!
Virginia Gov. Candidate Shoots Self In Foot
Catchy headline, eh?? Patrick Ruffini is on top of the huge mis-step of Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Tim “I’m One of You” Kaine.
Tim Kaine’s $87 Billion Moment (With Poll) – PatrickRuffini.com
A single moment is sometime all it takes to ruin a campaign. Ted Kennedy’s Roger Mudd moment. Mike Dukakis in the tank. John Kerry voting for the $87 billion before he voted against it.
Candidate for Virginia governor and “sportsman” Tim Kaine roughing it at $400-a-night resorts and challenging his opponents to some competitive hiking and canoeing.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com