The author referred to him as a "liberal Republican" which I interpreted as relative to the Republican platform.
Davis labels himself a "centrist," not a "centrist Republican," but falling in between the Republican and Democrat platform.
If the far left of the Republican Party (i.e. "centrist") is not "liberal," what would you call it?
Mr. Davis and I once chatted about this
His philosphy in winning in Northern VA, (which has gone from a Republican strong hold in the 80s, to a very centrist district in the 90s when Mr. Davis was winning 60%+, to now very liberal this decade) was to avoid “pissing people in my district off” Those were his words, which is why you’ll find it impossible to find him saying, well, anything, on guns, gays or abortion
This coming from a man who never drank a sip of alcohol.
What Mr. Davis was about was a smart, fiscally conservative government, that got its job done and saved tax payers money. But because he never focused on social issues, ever, (unless you consider steroids in baseball a social issue) he was put in that neat label of “centrist,” which is used by the masses on both sides unable to differentiate that some people need to reflect their district on certain issues.
The liberals in the district always tried to paint him as a far right wacko due to his positions on taxes and spending. And yet he kicked their asses in 6 straight elections