Virginia's Message to the GOP

WashingtonPost.com ^ | November 19, 2005 | Leslie Sanchez

[GiovannaNicoletta]

Republicans nationally should draw a number of lessons from the party's unsuccessful effort to take back the Virginia governor's mansion this month. One of the more obvious ones is that the anti-tax party has to lead with an anti-tax candidate. Republican Jerry Kilgore, in his effort to win the backing of the Northern Virginia business community, played down his historical anti-tax leanings. He got the business support but lost the election.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

??????

[goldstategop]

STOP BEING A TAX RAISING, BIG SPENDING RINO!!! Sheesh, the message from Virginians isn't that hard to decipher.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Truth29]

Sitting in the middle of one of the few precincts of Fairfax County that voted for Kilgore (narrowly), I can tell you that Kilgore's attempt to muddle his image hurt him. He was anti illegal immigration, but he also wouldn't commit to not raising taxes. He lost the intensity of the anti tax activists and some of the vote. By contrast the Republican state delegate for this area who is strongly anti tax and anti illegal immigration - to the extent of denying illegals state benefits - won his election.

[Past Your Eyes]

We really need to take lessons from the Washlincoln Posthumous. Yep, we really do. Never lose another election if we did what they said. Nope, we never would.

[sirchtruth]

Who in their bleepity bleep mind WANTS more taxes?
What idiot thinks they don't pay enough in taxes?

It's insane to lose because you want to REDUCE the tax burden!

VT takes 25%. 25% in 1776 would have not only gotten tea thrown into a harbor by a bunch of rebels dressed up as indians, but total anarchy rebellion from everyone. What is wrong with a society that allows such legal theivery?

[Viet Vet in Augusta GA]

Post always likes to give (bad) advice to the Republicans and analyze the stress fractures in the party (religious vs. libertarian vs. country club). Never do comparable analyses of Dems (public school teachers vs. minorities vs. peaceniks vs. big labor). Advice from Post not worth pitcher of warm spit.

[REPANDPROUDOFIT]

Muslims -- many of them immigrants -- live in those counties, and, according to some post-election survey data, they supported Democrats by close to 30 to 1. Kilgore is the first Republican since 1989 to lose those two counties.

Gee! I wonder why they would support the DEMS so one-sidedly. Hmmmm. Let's see. Oh! Could it be the lax defense policy?

[Defiant]

The message to GOP from VA: We are going to elect a moderate Dem in an off-year election and next year, you are going to increase the GOP majorities in both houses, just like in 2002.

[Corin Stormhands]

We didn't elect a "moderate dem."

We elected one who plays one on TV.

[gieriscm]

The whole immigration issue was a nonstarter. Kilgore lost b/c his campaign manager believes that voters should be treated like cr*p, and his attitude permeated the campaign.

[Aetius]

This is mostly garbage advice, but one thing that stood out was the pathetic reference to the Founding Fathers. It is inconceivable that they would have supported unending mass immigration.