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Just to be clear: Conservatives, not moderates, crushed the Democrats in Virginia

Posted by Bill Dupray on Nov 4 2009 Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

There seems to be some misconception by some, especially those on the left, that the big winners in Tuesday’s elections in Virginia were moderate Republicans.

Let’s disabuse them of that notion.

The charge is usually stated as a premise in a comment along the lines of “the right wing should not celebrate too much over these results, because had the Virginia guys been conservatives, they never would have won.” Then, for the chaser, they throw out the Hoffman loss in NY-23 as the example of what happens to a conservative when he dares to run for office.

Make no mistake, the right-wingers have arrived in the Old Dominion.

The Washington Post ran at least a dozen hit pieces on the Governor-elect, Bob McDonnell, accusing him of being a bible-thumping, homophobic, misogynistic, anti-abortion zealot.

The Lt. Gov.-elect, Bill Bolling, was described (on his own site) in the context of the primary contest for the job, as follows.

Alternatively, Muldoon’s approach to the race for the nomination was to place himself to the right politically of Bolling-not an easy task given Bolling’s conservative credentials.

And another of his sites.

During his service in the Senate, Bill Bolling emerged as one of Virginia’s most effective conservative leaders. He worked to keep taxes low and create a pro-business environment in Virginia. . . .

As Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling has promoted a conservative legislative agenda that focuses on the things he believes in – keeping government small and focused on its core responsibilities, keeping taxes low for families and businesses, making certain that Virginia remains a great place to do business, and finding solutions to the challenges that face our state.

Then this, also from Bolling’s site, says of A.G.-elect, Ken Cuccinelli,

[He] is considered one of the most conservative members of the Virginia Senate, where he is a leading opponent of abortion and an advocate of gun and property rights.

.

Of course, the Washington Post went bat-sh*t crazy over the scary Cuccinelli.

[A]lthough Virginia has turned more moderate this decade, there’s a good chance it will put a militant conservative in a high-profile office in Richmond while many voters are looking the other way.

As noted by NewsBusters.

For the benefit of readers outside of Virginia, Cuccinelli is a pretty standard conservative. He’s pro-life, pro-Second Amendment. He’s taken positions in support of lower taxes and restraining spending. Certainly, he’s no moderate. Referring to him as “very conservative” would also be fair.

So to those who would argue that the 2009 elections somehow showed that Republicans need to moderate their positions to appeal to the “normal people,” just remind them that Virginia ran three proud, committed Conservatives . . . who crushed the Democrats by historic margins.

Related Posts

  1. Michael Smerconish is Wrong: Conservatives, Not Moderates, Win Elections!
  2. Dems get Virginia Senate, GOP Keeps House. Is Virginia Officially Purple?
  3. Republican McDonnell Up By 6 in Virginia Governor’s Race
  4. Red State: Will Moderates Take Over the GOP?
  5. Good catch-up piece: GOP Woos Health Bill Moderates

Short URL: http://libertypundits.net/?p=8360

  • Bill Dupray
    Well, I think the Post understood where McDonnell stood, they just didn't like it. I felt the need to clarify for non-Virginians exactly the kind of Republicans that won here because of comments like the following that I got from a reader over on True/Slant.

    Here’s how I see it; moderate Republicans won in both NJ and VA. But moderate Republicans aren’t really running the party right now. Had a more conservative candidate come along in either state, I have no doubt that the right-wing (if not the GOP itself) would have fallen all over itself to declare this person the “true” standard-bearer for Conservatives. And herein lies the catch, I think. Because of these wins (and the loss, too, actually), I suspect that the, ahem, less moderate wing of the Republican party may become more emboldened and continue the purge of moderate Republicans within the party.

    The absolute best thing that can happen to the Democrats is that the GOP decides they haven’t been aggressive ENOUGH and runs an entire army of Hoffmans throughout the upcoming elections (which, frankly, sounds pretty likely).


    He thinks moderates won and that this is somehow a repudiation of conservatives, when actually his worse nightmare of Conservatives winning came true (and obviously destroyed his silly misguided theory in the process).
  • kelley in virginia
    what does the WaPo know? the Republican ticket in the Commonwealth (which whalloped the Dems, by the way) is very, very conservative. Can't somebody at the WaPo make a phone call across the river to ask a Virginian what is going on before they print it?
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Related Posts

Related Posts

  1. Michael Smerconish is Wrong: Conservatives, Not Moderates, Win Elections!
  2. Dems get Virginia Senate, GOP Keeps House. Is Virginia Officially Purple?
  3. Republican McDonnell Up By 6 in Virginia Governor’s Race
  4. Red State: Will Moderates Take Over the GOP?
  5. Good catch-up piece: GOP Woos Health Bill Moderates
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