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Doggone
it! The Blue Dog was so tired Election Day - with no
doggie nap.
After
working a 12-hour shift the previous night, I drove
to the local VFW building and proceeded to cast my
votes around 7:30 a.m. The Blue Dog was the 40th
voter at the rural precinct located in Eastern
Rockingham County. That's about the same average as
a presidential race, a heavy turnout for the Elkton
precinct.
A
few Tim Kaine signs were not so strategically placed
along the rural roadsides and polling station, while
signs for the Republican candidate, Jerry Kilgore,
dominated the precinct and countryside. Democratic
attorney-general candidate Creigh Deeds had a good
showing as well.
At
the polls, a local Republican working the precinct
chatted with the Dog about the weather and his
recent political loss, but that's another story.
As
far as our fair-weather Valley Democrats, they were
AWOL at the polls - again and again and again. But
what's new around here? The local Democrats are not
known for manning polls in the Valley, but much more
so for playing political possum with their neighbors
and hiding their politics in the conservative
Valley.
Cluck,
cluck chicken or duck, duck, cooked goose!
The
Blue Dog voted ... for two Republicans, one Democrat
and one write-in that could be described as an
independent-thinker and anti-tax conservative with
my electronic ballot. But not in that voting order,
err … maybe… perhaps...
The
Blue Dog did not vote for candidates from Northern
Virginia, liberal whiners, dysfunctional rhinos or
half-baked candidates who run bogus campaigns based
on religious demographics. Pray tell, because that's
the truth.
The
Blue Dog didn’t vote for the faith-based campaign.
Holy Moses! Part those political seas.
The
Blue Dog voted for the best candidate, and not the
party label. About 1 p.m. Tuesday, a county election
official told the Blue Dog that the voting was
extremely heavy in the 26th House of Delegates
district. Valley Liberals, conservatives and
evangelicals were voting early and often in the
district.
Was
the Matt Lohr versus Lowell Fulk election going to
be close? Not a chance, because Matt Lohr won
handily! My sincere congrats to my former planning
commission buddy, Lohr, who fought back an extremely
negative campaign by local Valley Democrats.
Not
to say, Mr. Fulk didn’t run a good and honest
campaign. He also raised a ton of money - wow! That
was impressive. Good press, great letters to the
editor, and the door-to-door campaign was awesome.
Lowell did an excellent job the second time around,
but it wasn't enough. In October, he slipped, fell
down and never recovered. More to the point, Fulk's
decision to not debate Matt Lohr at the Valley
Family Forum event had a chilling effect on
evangelical conservative voters in the district.
Democrat Fulk had two legitimate opportunities to
debate. 'Nuff said.
The
question of the day
Why
did the gubernatorial election go sour for the GOP?
Maybe the negative campaigning, you know.
Negative campaigning is often used to suppress the
vote, driving down numbers with independent and
swing voters. But negative campaigns don't usually
swing votes to the other side of the political
fence. But did the negative campaign
swing Republican votes to Kaine this time?
The
death-penalty ads were not received well by the
voting public, especially that Hitler fodder. That
apparently was the difference on paper, but I really
believe Warner's popularity was the key. Virginians
love Mollycoddle.
Virginians
love Gov. Mollycoddle for his tax hikes and citizen
misinformation meetings and campaigns and not to
forget his bleached blonde hairdo, which changes
colors like the political seasons. Is it Just For
Men?
The
state election victory of Tim Kaine probably
jumpstarted Mark Warner's 2008 presidential
campaign. The Choir Boy owes him big time.
Did
President George Bush's unpopularity hurt Republican
Kilgore? Perhaps. Bush probably hurt Kilgore in the
D.C. metro area, but our president is well respected
and has cult-hero status amongst many rural
Virginians, who support the war in Iraq and
conservative rhetoric.
With
two percent of the vote, the candidacy of
Republican-turned-independent Russ Potts was mute;
however, his candidacy has boosted his stature as a
state senator. Look for Potts to reestablish his
Republican base in the city of Winchester and
northern sections of the Shenandoah Valley.
It's
Russ or Bust!
However,
the Blue Dog's nose senses Kilgore might have lost the
campaign instead of winning due to the media's bias
and public perception.
The
negative articles on Kilgore in the liberal,
tax-crazed mainstream media along with their
multiple candidate endorsements for Democrat Kaine
really hurt.
The
fact that the Republican candidate had a squeaky
Southern drawl, which stereotypically implies he is
less educated and culturally deficient, played on
old fears about backwoods Southern farmers and the
cross-state rivalries between the haves and the
have-nots of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Rural
Virginians have never been treated with much respect
by our Northern Virginia neighbors and receive less
state funds. That's just an observation, if not a
stone cold fact.
Personally,
I thought Kilgore was a moderate GOP candidate
with common-sense ideas. The Kilgore campaign was
run professionally - with some great issues and good
ideas - but it wasn't enough to counter Warner's
popularity and coattails, which helped Tim
Kaine to victory.
However,
Kilgore is not a conservative anti-taxer, nor is he
an evangelical crusader for the political right
wing. That probably hurt him with his party base
as core-voters stayed home, not bothering to vote
and took a nap for the day.
zzz
...
Wake
up, Doggie! Back to the column.
Versus
Kaine, who hid his liberal political record and
agenda during the gubernatorial campaign, which I
have no doubt will "surface like a festering
pimple on the verge of popping" in the next
four years. It's going to be ugly and messy.
Remember, I told you so and take cover.
Kaine
has learned from one of the best political deceivers
in the game, His Excellency the Mollycoddle, along
with the liberal sycophants and Democratic handlers
and Deaniac stooges that ran both their winning
campaigns. Whatever! It's a victory for the Ds!
Congrats
to Tim "The Choir Boy" Kaine. You deserve
a Blue Dog dance!
Dog-Dance
(n.): The useless and exaggerated activity a dog
does when he sees the return of his human
companions.
All
hail The Choir Boy! His faith-based Excellency: Our
governor-elect of Virginia and torchbearer of the
Mollycoddle tax-and-spend legacy. All hail!Go forth,
o Choir Boy, and pillage the state treasury for
Democratic future votes!
Looks
like I'll need to wear that Kilgore
campaign-supplied secret decoder ring for the next
four years. Because this Valley farm boy will be
making conservative political hay with Gov.-elect
Kaine’s liberal appointments and his legislative
agenda and tax-and-spend schemes in the
Commonwealth. Cha-cha-cha. Just remember, the Blue
Dog columns are the spoils of political war.
So,
it's best wishes to Democrat Tim Kaine, our
governor-elect, for winning a hard-fought election
against Republican Jerry Kilgore. Bravo, kudos and
such.
The
same can be said for the other winning local GOP
candidates - Chris Saxman, Steve Landes, Todd
Gilbert, Matt Lohr and Ben Cline! Who didn't even
break a sweat during the election.
About
the AG race between Deeds and Republican Bob
McDonnell and Deeds: Don't read me wrong, because I
like McDonnell. He's a military veteran, a good
Christian and wonderful family man. He will be an
excellent attorney general. However, I voted for
Creigh Deeds for AG. He is the only
statewide-elected Democrat who bothered to assist,
contribute and mentor the Blue Dog during his
campaign for the Virginia Senate.
The
Blue Dog likes Deeds for his deeds. Creigh is one of
the good guys!
To
all the losing candidates, some advice a friend, a
former state Democratic official, who wrote after my
Senate loss in 2003:
"Whatever
happens, I don't want you to be hurt or think less
of the people ... believe me, you are the best guy
in this race ... But the best guy doesn't always
win...so I always tell candidates that at this stage
of an election ... you need to prepare yourself for
any outcome ... and whether joyful or painful, make
sure people see the quality guy they saw on the
campaign trail."
- excerpt from Adventures in Warnerland, by
Steven Sisson
--
November 14, 2005
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