Bomb Throwing in the Virginia AG’s Race
July 30, 2008 by Cato
Filed under Conservatism, Republican Campaigns, Virginia, Virginia Politics
Chris Obenshain has a great post at Bearing Drift on the escalation of attacks on AG candidate John Brownlee by supporters Ken Cuccinelli. While Obenshain doesn’t state it, I believe that this is a great lesson in attempting to meld principle with electability.
No conservative attacks Cuccinelli for his principles. However, the question of whether he is electable with the same coalition that supported Kilgore and Earley is valid.
Does this mean that Virginia Republicans should all rally to Brownlee? No. What it does mean is that Cuccinelli’s supporters should be more concerned with building a broader coalition of support rather than basing their campaign on ideological attacks upon Brownlee.
Or… they can win a nomination only to be humiliated in the general. Attracting supporters who aren’t in 100% agreement with you is not the same thing as abandoning your principles.
I think Chris would agree. That is one of the reasons that I admired his father so much.
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With all due respect, when Brownlee makes the horrific gaffe he made, leaves his issue page blank, has no record of which to speak on state issues, and has a Kaine donor as his biggest financial backer, we have to wonder about him, and we have every right to do so.
What is more, Earley and Kilgore lost specifically because they ran as RINOs in 2001 and 2005. They played the “electability” game then, too – and look what happened to them.
DJ -
All of your points are well taken. I just think you missed mine.
Remember, I don’t have a dog in this hunt anymore. I live in the Unfree State. However, as someone who will always be proud to be a Virginian I am concerned that we spend too much time eating our own rather than winning.
I AM NOT advocating compromise of principle. What I do advocate is toning down the rhetoric a bit so that those that who don’t totally agree with us are not frightened into the other camp come November.
I would rather stand on principle and lose, than betray that principle. I just don’t think that we have to do that as often as we seem to lately.
BTW – thanks for weighing in.
I wonder why these guys don’t think about public? They are the one who is going to be affected. These kinds of abusers must be strictly prohibited…
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jackspar
I don’t think the tone has really been that bad. Then again, I grew up in New Jersey.
It is amusing that somehow there is an impression that people are ganging up on John Brownlee and unmercifully attacking him. Everyone should be reminded that the entire hullaballoo that is being referenced was initiated by John Brownlee who somehow felt the need to assert that he was more pro-life than Ken Cuccinelli. It has been pointed out that Mr. Brownlee used questionable information/logic to reach that conclusion. End of story. If Mr. Brownlee initiates a controversy then he and his supporters must expect a response or Mr. Brownlee is too naive to have never have entered the political arena in the first place. What happened is not attacking someone.