McDonnell Marooned?
What happened to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell?
Last month, McDonnell’s vice presidential fortunes were soaring. He welcomed both Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann to Virginia for a campaign event. The media was atwitter with speculation over his chances. The Romney campaign started deploying him as a political surrogate. Everything that could have gone right went right for him. Lawrence O’Donnell even attacked him.
When stars fall in politics, they always do so abruptly, with a whimper. On May 29, McDonnell announced on WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” that he wasn’t even being vetted by Romney’s campaign. Today you’re more likely to hear about little-known Sen. Rob Portman as veep material than McDonnell.
The most likely culprit? Vaginal probes, of course. Meaning Virginia’s proposed law that would have required women to have a vaginal ultrasound examination before having an abortion. Democrats rallied against the law and barraged it with demagogic attacks. Virginia became Normandy Beach in their fraudulent “War on Women.” McDonnell initially supported the law, then withdrew his support at the last second. Regardless, the Romney campaign would have calculated that the law is a liability. Nobody likes hearing the words “vaginal probe” on the campaign trail.
Then there was McDonnell’s 2010 proclamation of “Confederate History Month” which made no mention of slavery. He later apologized for the omission, but the stigma stuck.
Missteps aside, if the Romney campaign really isn’t considering McDonnell for the veep slot, it’s a shame.
McDonnell, a devout Catholic, has a reputation as a rock-ribbed social conservative. He is vocally pro-life, and his college thesis criticized contraception and the disintegration of marriage.
Mitt Romney needs more luster with social conservatives, who hold him suspect over his flip-flops on abortion and “don’t ask, don’t tell.” The centerpiece of the 2012 election will be the president’s economic failures. But social issues have a habit of popping up when they’re least expected. During the primary, Romney kept getting shellacked in states with high populations of evangelicals. The 2004 election, dominated by questions over the war in Iraq and John Kerry’s Vietnam record, wound up hinging on moral issues.
Democrats are nailing down a key part of their base by shrieking about a War on Women. Republicans should respond in kind. Bringing Bob McDonnell to the ticket would show that Mitt Romney takes social concerns seriously and give evangelicals greater impetus to vote this November.
Economically, McDonnell also has plenty to offer. He cut billions from the state budget, helping to close both a $1.8 billion deficit in 2010 and further projected deficits of $4.2 billion. (Some of these savings came from President Obama’s stimulus package, as McDonnell himself admitted.) He worked to expand offshore drilling in Virginia. His policies wooed new businesses into the southern part of the state, including ICF International and EIT. The fiscal conservatism paid off. Virginia has the lowest unemployment rate in the Southeast and is ranked by CNBC as the best state in American to do business.
Mr. Purple has overlooked an important point about politics.
Both political parties have committed supporters who are strongly left or right depending on which party you’re speaking about. These voters have no second choice. If you’re very liberal you’ll never vote Republican just as committed conservatives will never vote Democrat.
What is the reward for this committed support? The party ignores you. After all, the party doesn’t need to work for your support so they won’t do it. Conservatives can point to countless examples of how they were betrayed by the Bush administration. I have friends who are left of Bernie Sanders and they tell me how betrayed they feel because Obama isn’t left enough (I know some of you have just sprayed coffee all over your screens, but that’s what they tell me while we’re arguing).
I agree with Matt Purple. Virginia is a lot more important than most people realize. It may not be as big as Florida, Pennsyvania or Ohio, but what happens in Virginia just might be indicative of how the rest of the country will go. Obama won Virginia in 2008 and I fear that if he wins it again in 2012 he’ll be re-elected.
Personally I worry about the national debt more than just about any other issue. Neither the GOP nor the Democrats seem to be the least bit concerned. I support the Republican Party because maybe, just maybe, they are more concerned about the debt (and the huge intrest payments we have to make on it) than the Democrats. However, if Romney is elected with a Republican House and Senate and they do nothing to shrink the debt I won’t be too surprised.
V-probe’s a dealbreaker. I bet it follows him for the rest of his political life.
Yep, keep your ***dammed filthy hands away from my wife’s cervix. Also my daughter’s. It is, indeed, a deal breaker!
“It forces Democrats to confront the success of spending cuts at the local level.”
Not. Gonna. Happen! Especially not when McConnell has teed up both the race card and the vagina wars — that’s a Democratic dream come true. Do you really think social conservatives are prepared to make their stand on the ultrasound hill, when they didn’t even have the guts to admit that provision was a pro-life initiative — on which McConnell himself caved (a.k.a. flip flopping)?
You’re right about Virginia being extremely important, which is precisely why Romney can’t afford a running mate who will be the subject of constant, high profile attacks in the national media on the Democrats’ signature issues. McConnell will be much more valuable, if he can concentrate on marshaling support in the state he knows best, not out campaigning across the rest of the country. Ohio and Florida are the real must-win states, where I don’t see McConnell being any particular help.
In the long run, it is, in fact, far more important for him to leave an outstanding legacy of “successful conservative governance.” Governors are as important as Presidents when it comes to mounting and sustaining the pushback against federal incursions. You can see the proof of that quintessentially conservative pudding in the state Attorneys General suit against Obamacare. No matter which way the ruling goes, it would never have even gotten that far till years of a irreparable damage had been done. Ditto for Walker’s success in Wisconsin. Ultimately, the best way to turn Virginia into a solidly Republican state is to do just that by electing Republican state legislatures and governors. That’s where we’ll turn the tide.
“Mitt Romney needs more luster with social conservatives….”
Does he really? Who are they going to vote for? Barack Obama? Or are they going to stay home out of spite when the economy is in free fall and America is in disastrous shape? That would make social cons some of the most selfish people around – and I don’t think they are.
Other points about McConnell well taken.
Obama’s October Surprises (& AUG & SEP) will Mitt-igate a lot of Mitt’s gains in image. He needs all the luster he can muster!
Roger Simon,
You do realize that you’re basically making Northern Light’s point, right? Screw the social cons! Who else are they going to vote for, anyway? They are just another interest group to be milked for their vote – you don’t actually have to do anything for them.
OmegaPaladin,with all due respected, we are all being milked in an election. I cannot think of a single time I voted for someone I agreed with one hundred percent. That’s the nature of democracy, an imperfect form of government as many have noted.
Regarding social conservatism, however, I don’t know about you but I regard HOW you live your life as far more important than THEORETICAL pronouncements. And Romney, from my vantage point anyway, has lived the life an impeccable family man, more so than just about any president or candidate of recent years.
OUCH!
Simon, we have a Constitutional Republic. That is our “form of government”. Although it is democratic, it is NOT a Democracy
[W]e have a Constitutional Republic. That is our “form of government”. Although it is democratic, it is NOT a DemocracyAlthough it is democratic, it is NOT a Democracy
If you’re determined to make such distinctions, it’s worth pointing out that there’s nothing inherently democratic about constitutional governance, and from the reign of terror in France to the USSR, republics have a decidedly checkered history. In describing our form of government, those who insist on using an adjective, instead of a noun, to describe one of its most salient features do little justice to the argument they are presumably trying to make.
The distinction of most import is the difference between the hazards of direct democracy and the benefits of representative democracy when combined with explicit protections for both the majority andminority. That, and the simplicity of its declarative principles, are what distinguish our Constitution from almost all others, and it’s why one of the most emblematically American expressions is, “I know my rights.”
The other most consequential feature of our form of government does not directly follow from being a “constitutional republic” either. We are, in practice, a federation of representative democracies, as seen in the powers vested in the Senate and in the unfortunately eroding power of the States, themselves, to save our Republic from the fate of so many others.
So you can snap your ruler down on the desks of those who call us a democracy, but I don’t think anybody will be issuing a clarion call to “Make the world safe for constitutional republics” any time soon. In and of itself, it doesn’t begin to describe what makes our “form of government” unique. In fact, it doesn’t get at our actual form of governance at all.
I am a Virginian. I voted for McDonnell, happily. Next year my sons and I will go to Richmond to be Cuccinelli delegates. No more Old Bull get along to go along insider trading candidates are going to be accepted.
1. The entire V-probe debate was a pro-abortion functional lie. It shows the general ignorance of the abortion procedure (Sounds so sterile and clinical doesn’t it?). It also demonstrates how the murderers get away with their slaughter by playing on the ignorance of people who should know better before issuing judgements.
A v-probe ultrasound is done to locate the fetus and often done several times to verify that all of the body parts have been suctioned away. All that the bill did was require that the woman demanding that her child be hacked to death and vacuumed into oblivion was shown the picture and given some time to think about what she was doing.
As it stands, the bill was signed after the procedure was changed to a standard external sonogram. Failure to stand up to such lies and call them out by name is what has allowed the Culture of Death to keep on murdering the Western Civilization into oblivion.
2. Bob McDonnell has surrendered on very little as a social conservative and is actually more under fire for his fiscal conservatism. His main weakness is that he is in thrall of the Old Bulls, and rapidly sucked up to Willard; even before the 2009 Gubernatorial election. I voted for McDonnell as a delegate at the nominating convention that year, and so did my elder son.
I have not regretted those votes (for the nomination and the governorship).
If someone ran the White House like Bob McDonnell ran the Virginia Governor’s Office, this nation would be in far better shape. He is a good man, an excellent governor, and a true champion of the old Reagan Revolution.
3. Willard Milton Romney is NOT, however. He is the exact opposite of Governor McDonnell. He is a moderate Yankee, from a state that barely qualifies as such. His instincts are Patrician Liberal. His mentality is socially liberal to ambivalent, and his fiscal instincts are to raise money, instead of cutting spending.
His only advantage is that he might have a bit better foreign policy, which will also be immediately assaulted by the Left’s MSM Propagandists. The Cindy Sheehan’s will have their microphones and cameras restored.
And Willard will cave.. he will raise taxes… He won’t cut enough of the budget to make a significant dent in the course that is now programmed in. Flapping harder will not make the hooptie fly. It plunged off the cliff in November of 2008, and is in free fall.
Willard Milton Romney is a Limousine Liberal Democrat masquerading as a Republican; therefore I WILL NOT vote for him, ever!
It is time to prepare for the impact that is to come. This nation is broken and cannot be fixed, because it will not allow anyone to fix it. The latest polls bear that out.
Hey, Obozo is going to lose, Romney doesn’t need my puny little vote. He is going to lose big time; and Romney will be the perfect last Republican president. His business at Bain (LBO) was bankruptcy.
r/John – TMF
I will vote for George Allen for Senate and Chris Perkins for House. George should win the Senate seat, but the badly gerrymandered 11th will probably not go to Col. Chris Perkins, USA Retired but he deserves every vote in my family…and maybe goodness and honor will prevail for a change.
“Hey, Obozo is going to lose, Romney doesn’t need my puny little vote”
Before I tell you why you’re wrong, I have to say you might have been speaking about Virginia. I haven’t seen a poll from Virginia so you might be right that Obama is going to lose there.
But if you’re talking about the country as a whole, or even just Ohio, Pennsylvania or Florida you are wrong.
Almost every poll I’ve seen has the two candidates within the margin of error. Obama seems to have a microscopic lead in Ohio and Pennsylvania while Romney leads Obama in Florida by just a couple of points. Things could change and by election day you might just want to serve me a heaping portion of my words with a side-order of crow, but right now the numbers suggest things are pretty tight and either one could win.
I don’t like Romnney. He’s been on both sides of a lot of issues so I have a lot of trouble trusting him. I’m a fiscal conservative who believes in balancing the budget before we cut taxes (oh boy am I going to get it for saying that) and I have no faith that a Romney adminstration will try to balance the books. Based on his business experience, he is more likely to sell Alaska back to the Russians than act within our means. I considered not voting for him, but in the end I decided that I would hold my nose and vote for the guy. I’ll probably have to go to the hospital right after I vote to have my broken nose re-set.
I don’t live in a battleground state. If you do I’d advise you to vote first and deal with the broken nose after.
Romney is right to avoid a VP candidate associated with the social conservative agenda. The group of issues that unites a winning coalition is the economy: the size and scope of government intervention in the economy and the tax’s negative a the economy. Karl Rove’s social conservative wedge issues should be left alone this time out for sure, and probably for good.
“McDonnell initially supported the law, then withdrew his support at the last second. ”
Isn’t this exactly the sort of thing Bush used against Kerry (he was for it before he was against it)? It suggests indecisiveness and lack of conviction. This is a very common form of bad political character, because it is a personal failing that grows so naturally out of a desire to please everyone. I would hope Romney could do better.
Mr. Purple,
You do realize then-Gov. Romney’s Massachusetts was ranked 47th employment-wise because his state at that time posted unemployment WELL below 5%, right?
As for praising Gov. McDonnell’s wanting to privatize the ABC liquor stores – go to nearby D.C., Baltimore etc., and see how ‘wonderful’ these blight-like private liquor stores truly are.
Privately owned liquor stores more times than not bring in/ attract shadier elements thus transforming said areas into seedy, filthy places.
Crime skyrockets. Liquor store holdups exponentially increase. Police response times are slow due to their trepidation or on other calls at/near liquor stores etc.,
I too like Gov. McDonnell and lived in Northern VA for sometime though disagreed on a few of his decisions, undertakings. Though Gov. McDonnell is infinitely-better than VA’s 8th District, ‘representation’ Jim Moran.
Moran’s a grade A, numero uno dips hit politician of VA. Jmo.
As a resident of VA I can say I certainly approve of his job so far!
Helping to get rid of archaic handgun laws shows that one can ‘evolve’ in the conservative direction, as well.
He has had to push back not just on Obamacare but the rescinding of permission to do exploratory off-shore drilling and EPA regs that are putting on hold uranium mining.
And I approve of him wanting the State to get rid of its ABC stores and turn that over to private enterprise as there are already a number of stores that offer huge selections of wine and beer and they could easily do the same for liquor which would lower the price, increase availability and selection all at one shot.
With all that said he isn’t ready for National prime-time nor the big stage: he needs a bit more seasoning and just a smidgen more of ‘this business as usual stuff just isn’t working out as promised’ as part of his repertoire. If you want a healthy Union then you need healthy States able to lead the way out of our Blue State System madness and even with all those federal jobs in NoVA, the State could easily make up for those in real, productive jobs in the energy sector and in general trade in farm commodities and light manufacturing.
We need a Governor that can handle that coming implosion from the federal sector as it is currently unsustainable at its current size. Gov. McDonnell is showing the way on how to do that so that other Governors can follow in that path first in push-back and then in expanding the economy. There need to be models for the way out at the State level and for that he is very, very well suited just where he is. Rolling back is hard at the top, heading down, but much easier at the bottom, heading up and on that path are the States and they are more important than the National government at this point to start changing the path of America.
Tollbooth Bob was never being vetted because of the nickname. The man is on a jihad to pick all our pockets here in Virginia, via highway robbery. The fool wants to put toll booths all over the state because like his predecessor, Tiny Tim Kaine, Tollbooth Bob is the money bag carrier for Big Education.
No, we don’t “hold him suspect”. We know exactly where he stands.
He’s militantly pro-abortion and pro-homosexual, and he’s pretending otherwise so he can win office.
It’s really not complicated if you just look at his record instead of his rhetoric.
But then, social conservatives are usually more impressed with deeds than with words.
That’s why social conservatives in elected office are more likely to hold the conservative line on NON moral issues like spending. Your “fiscal conservative” candidates are historical much more likely to cut and run in a fight about raising taxes or cutting spending than are the social conservatives so hated by the fiscon and libertarian crowd.
As much as I hate it, an Obamuslim win would expedite getting America back on track as a constitutional government. Romney is Obama light as has been pointed out by many others and he is also the man that lost to the man that lost to Obamuslim already, this time he will loose all by himself because he has no spine and refuses to (or can’t) play dirty politics e.g. loser! An Obamuslim win would force people off the fence as the NIC assault on White America begins without the consideration of being re-elected, the gloves will come off and anarchy will prevail ala Thomas W. Chittum’s book “Civil War II” with progressively worse guerilla warfare conducted against the black and muslim assault against White America which will be supported by our own damned government. Of course, I could be wrong and I really wish to be wrong but as is said, prayfor the best but plan for the worst.
816055 460377There is noticeably a whole lot to realize about this. I suppose you created certain good points in capabilities also. 969533