Virginia Pundit Watch

Will Vehrs



Top Pundits in Fine Form

 

A week after yielding the op-ed pages to legislators and other commentators, Virginia’s leading pundits took back the spotlight.

 

The best analysis came from the Washington Post’s R. H. Melton. He examined the state of play between Governor Mark Warner and the Republican General Assembly through the prism of the DMV flap:

By giving in to Democratic and Republican legislators concerned more about their coming reelection campaigns than fiscal coherence, Warner tarnished the integrity of his plan for state spending, a budget that for the most part had been scrupulously fair in spreading the pain.

 

Warner also confirmed for the whole world the open secret of divided government at the state Capitol in Richmond -- even the mere threat of retaliation by the General Assembly's Republican majority is enough to spook this Democratic chief executive into doing Republicans' bidding.

 

The Virginian-Pilot’s Margaret Edds also looked at the big picture:

 

It is easy to see why Gov. Mark Warner would want to punt on pressing for new directions in the current session. Every move he has made toward higher taxes has been rebuffed.

 

But Warner is going to have to separate the truth from the babble quickly in all the talk. From taxes to tax restructuring, if he does not come up with a clear, straightforward agenda for Virginia's future, there will be none. It is not the nature of a bicameral legislature to define broad statewide policy options on matters of this magnitude. That job belongs to the executive.

 

Bob Gibson of the Daily Progress reviewed the fate of numerous bills, including the 22-0 defeat of a measure to abolish tenure at universities. Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch provided a useful glimpse into the machinations surrounding renovating the Capitol and other downtown Richmond structures.

 

What Would Martin Luther King Do?

 

Two Richmond Times-Dispatch columnists, Michael Paul Williams and Mark Holmberg, thoughtfully pondered Dr. King’s legacy against the backdrop of local controversy. An African-American, Chesterfield County School Superintendent, Billy Cannaday Jr., has ordered the King Holiday to be a school make-up day, despite protests and boycott threats from civil rights groups.

 

 

Hunting, Fishing and Punditry

 

Virginia’s pundits are not just found on the op-ed pages. Outdoor columnists Bill Cochran of the Roanoke Times and Garvey Winegar of the Richmond Times-Dispatch have strong opinions on legislation before the General Assembly. “Legislators have submitted some really weird bills this session when it comes to the outdoors,” according to Winegar. Cochran reviews and rates most of them.  Both writers oppose a proposed merger of Game and Inland Fisheries with the Marine Resources Commission.

 

Metaphor Man

 

Last week, it was the General Assembly as a horse race. This week, Preston Bryant of the Roanoke Times compares the state budget to an onion.

 

Who is Gary Jacobsen?

 

Last week, Virginia Pundit Watch implicitly criticized regular Potomac News columnist Gary Jacobsen for not revealing anything about himself beyond “lives in Woodbridge.”  Jacobsen occasionally writes about military issues. When he does, he is identified as a military veteran with combat experience.  Why does the Potomac News seemingly have a higher standard for military opinions than for opinions on the performance of state delegates?

 

Flame-Thrower Award

 

This week’s award for overheated commentary goes to Jim Spencer of the Daily Press.  Proposals to abolish the estate tax are a “cheap trick” and reflect “elitism.”  Delegate Bob McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, is “Taliban Bob” for questioning the performance of Newport News Circuit Judge Verbena Askew.  Of course, Spencer’s commentary appears on an editorial page that describes McDonnell’s position as “idiotic.”

 

Without debating the merits of positions held by Spencer and the Daily Press, whatever happened to just calling something a “bad idea” supported by “Delegate X?” Gordon Morse, a member of the Daily Press editorial staff, managed a more measured piece on the estate tax and McDonnell for the Washington Post.

 

Suck-Up of the Week

 

Reginald Shareef of the Roanoke Times defended editorial page editor Tommy Denton from charges that he is “too high brow” and “too intellectual.”

 

Old Virginia Reference of the Week

 

Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist A. Barton Hinkle, railing against “Procrustean” discipline policies in the Old Dominion, wrote: 

 

Heaven knows Virginia is slow to change - yet after 227 years one would not expect that simple common sense would still seem revolutionary.

 

-- January 20, 2002

 

 

 

 

Will Vehrs grew up in Prince William County. He has a degree in American history from the College of William and Mary and an MBA from Chapman University. Will's experience includes a stint with a Fortune 500 company and economic development work in state government. His "Punditwatch" column appears on FoxNews.com and Jewish World Review, as well as on his own Punditwatch website. He also writes for the Quasipundit political site.