Posted on 11/05/2001 10:16:14 PM PST by KQQL
Vote Earley
Bush, Giuliani, and Bishop Loverde pitch in.
By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
November 5, 2001 11:00 a.m.
Behind in the polls and badly outspent by his opponent, Virginia's GOP candidate for governor brought America's two most popular politicians and an important religious leader into his campaign over the weekend. Mark Earley's campaign mailed a brochure displaying a big picture of Earley walking half a step behind President Bush on what appears to be a tarmac. Inside, there's a quote from Bush: "I appreciate his strong stance on holding the line on taxes and cutting the car tax in Virginia." Bush recorded a phone message on behalf of Earley and two ticket mates, lieutenant governor candidate Jay Katzen and attorney general candidate Jerry Kilgore: "Mark Earley, Jay Katzen and Jerry Kilgore are the experienced leaders Virginia needs to keep the state moving forward--with a positive agenda for lower taxes, accountable schools, more jobs, and a safe and secure commonwealth." Earley's campaign also aired a new ad featuring New York mayor Rudy Giuliani: "If I were a Virginian, I would vote for Mark Earley." Voters who tuned in to the start of the World Series game last night would have seen it.
In northern Virginia, Earley may benefit as well from a letter by Catholic Bishop Paul Loverde that was either read at Masses or inserted into church bulletins over the weekend. In it, Loverde reminds parishioners of their "moral responsibility to vote" on Tuesday. "Respect for the dignity of the human person must be part of our consciousness as we enter the voting booth," continues the two-page letter. It also reminds voters of "the priority to protect the human life of all persons, pre-born and born."
The letter would have been stronger if Loverde had mentioned specifically that Earley is the pro-life candidate in the race and that his opponent, Democrat Mark Warner, supports abortion rights. In other words, there's more than just a moral responsibility to vote; there's a moral responsibility to vote for Mark Earley. Another possibility would have been to attach a scorecard showing how Earley and Warner (plus other candidates down the ticket) differ on abortion. Earley, for instance, supports legislation to require parental consent before a minor may obtain an abortion, while Warner won't commit past the parental-notification law that Earley helped enact.
As things stand, the bishop's letter leaves voters on their own to figure out the candidates' positions by tomorrow's election day. Perhaps they're sophisticated enough to know where Earley and Warner stand. Then again, perhaps not--and they won't receive much help from Earley's campaign website, which focuses on taxes, education, and safety issues.
But it's a good conclusion to what has been a lackluster campaign. In the end, though, the only thing that may salvage the hopes of those who intend to vote Earley is if they somehow manage to vote often.
As for the rest of Hampton Roads, I can't honestly tell you because I just got home not too long ago. However, I will keep everyone posted!! God Bless everyone and GET OUT THE VOTE!!
It ain't over 'till it's over.
The last thing people should do in any event is listen to any of the dim-witted nitwit-networks.
Just go do what ya gotta do, exercisize your franchise, & let the chips fall where they may.
In the end, we'll get the government we deserve; no-more, & no less.
Painters' union.
He is a state-level version of the Unmentionable One - the last occupant of the White House.
Yes - then I won't be able to get to the polls with my lovely bride and cast two votes for Earley!
The Pumpkin Stumps
When I lived in central Illinois from 1993 until 1995, whenever the late-autumn election season rolled around, a few of my high-school fairweather acquaintances kept talking shit around the lunchtable about how they enjoyed periodically going out and "showing their community support," which was their snickering euphemism for running around local suburban neighborhoods at night looking for residences with campaign signs posted on their front lawns, and then setting these signs on fire. Even though this sounds to me like a perfectly plausible pastime for your prototypical Peorian pyromaniacal punks-of-privilege, I have my doubts about whether these conflagrative accomplishments really happened. But I understand the impulse.
This morning I opened my door and a bright yellow piece of paper fluttered to the ground from where it'd been stuck between the outer doorknob and doorjamb. Annoyed, I picked it up and looked at it; it was a flier featuring a crude pixelated cartoon jack-o'-lantern along with the message: "Even the Great Pumpkin is supporting Mark Earley for Governor." Truly? I didn't realize that the Great Pumpkin had an interest in Virginia state politics, much less any loyalty to the Republican party; I must have missed that particular Peanuts special. I noticed with further irritation that another copy of the yellow flier had been stuck underneath my car's windshield wipers. I'm not sure when exactly it became considered an effective strategy to actually litter voters' doorsteps and cars with scraps of campaign literature on Halloween night, but if I'd had any doubts about casting my vote for Democratic candidate Mark Warner, they pretty much evaporated as I fished that flier off my windshield and crumpled it up with a bristly insouciance.
I'm told that the reason Warner has the lead so far in the state polls, given that he's a Democrat in historically-incredibly-conservative Virginia, is that he is "out-GOP'ing" Earley in his campaign promises, and now I believe it, starting with the whole conservative laissez-faire bit wherein the government stays the hell away from my doorknobs and windshields during the dead of night.
I get the impression that this Great Pumpkin endorsement probably bodes more ill than good for the Earley campaign — the press has made bale after bale of hay of the fact that Earley's people couldn't even get Dubya to come down to Virginia to stump on his behalf; and so it doesn't seem to help matters much that, in a perhaps unintentional allusion to this situation, Albemarle County's local Republican committee has resorted to boosting their man by invoking a hollow supernatural perpetually-grinning fruit whose claim to funnies-page fame is that it never actually shows up.
Couldn't agree more, my FRiend...I just spelled out the particulars fer Newbies and Lurkers!!
LOL and FReegards...MUD
FYI We have noticed those stupid signs Sportsmen for Warner. They had one there at the polling place so we got a close up look to see just who was endorsing him. They were paid for by Mark Warner and had the UAW Union logo in the lower corner. My, my,my Bogus Warner Sportsmen signs, just like the guy.
How so? I've heard several explanations of that particular line of balderdash and none of them held a dram of water. Let's hear yours.
Mud,
No need to be diplomatic here, its election day. Let loose and say what a real dirt ball Warner is.
I took the time this morning to attempt to sift my way through the bullhockey to get to some actual numbers in the school budget. I found some interesting items. The cost per pupil for regular school (k-12) is $7,366 this year and will increase to $7,645 next year (2002). The per pupil cost for Special Ed students is $12,216 and will rise to $13,555 or 11 percent versus 3.8 percent for regular students. The average cost per pupil for all students K-12 will be $8,393 in 2002.
A large portion of the special ed program is ESL. It costs an additional $2,522 per student if they have English as their second language. The percent of students in ESL has risen from 7.0 percent in 1998 to an expected 10.9 percent in 2002. They expect that enrollment will increase 8 percent from 2001-2006 for regular students but 39 percent for special ed students. I wonder how they figure that students needing special ed will have five times the growth rate of normal students. Are most of these ESL? Well, from 1997 to 2002 special ed students' numbers grew 59.9 percent while ESL grew by 93.6 percent. Based on this trend we can assume that ESL will grow somewhere near 60 percent from now to 2006.
They mention caps on class size. Are these determined by the school boards, the voters, or the union? If they are capped at 25 students and they anticipate a total increase of only seven percent up to 2006, that amounts to an average increase of less than two students per class, bringing the average to less than 27 per class. We had far more than that when I went to school and no one suffered from it. I would even venture to say that the schools were better then (less PC garbage).
Does anyone in the Republican party look into this stuff or is it just considered the third rail of Fairfax County Politics? How can anyone be against the children?
Yep...I only wish I'd had more time to spend trashing his Feebleness with all the krap I know about him!! So many DemonRATS to SLIME and not enuff hours in a day!!
LOL...MUD
BTW...did you see my post from Friday where I ran accross Schapiro on the street and introduced myself (sorta)?! LOL...he now knows whose BEECH he is and can put a face to the MUD comments he's been getting!!
I've got soooo much to teach you about The Force, my young apprentice.....
LOL...MUD
Good fer you and yer spouse, my FRiend...I ended up voting Party Line as well!!
FReegards...MUD
LOL...that was basically a quote from when I called the Alan Price show (WRVA-1140) yesterday afternoon...poor Alan couldn't get me off the line fast enuff, and he's an Earley Supporter!!
FReegards...MUD
Wonderful Montpelier, VA...you lucky dawg!! Thanks fer checking in and I look forward to chatting with you more in the not-too-distant future!! I've got UVA season tickets and pass your way often.
FReegards...MUD
Yep...MUD
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