Time is definitely going by faster as I age. It seems like only a couple of months ago that we were electing a President and now it’s that time of year again. There are a number of interesting races worth following, starting the VA governor’s race between Terry McAuliffe and the Cooch. This should be a no brainer, Cooch is running against both all kinds of reproductive rights and oral sex just to name a couple of nutty and dangerous positions the man holds. But it’s closer than it should be:
WaPo — There are lots of reasons that Democrat Terry McAuliffe is poised to beat state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia governor’s race on Tuesday. But, none is more important — or, perhaps, undertold — than McAuliffe’s massive fundraising advantage over the Republican nominee.
As of Oct. 23, McAuliffe had raised north of $34 million while Cuccinelli had brought in just $19 million. By comparison, Republican Bob McDonnell had raised $21 million at this time in the 2009 race while Democrat Creigh Deeds had collected $16 million. (McDonnell won with 59 percent.) McAuliffe’s almost two-to-one fundraising lead translates into one very important thing: lots and lots more ads.
This race perfectly encapsulates why I vote for and support democrats almost exclusively these days. McAuliffe is a bit on the boring side, plus he’s somewhat spineless and opportunistic. The only reason he’s on the side of the issues I agree with is because that’s his party’s platform. He’d switch in a herat beat to pick up three points. I don’t trust guys like McAuliffe as far as I can throw them.
But Cooch is an anti-science, anti-women, class-war waging Bible-thumping over-pious know-nothing asshole who courageously defends the rich and powerful against the weak and powerless at every turn, the absolute worst in modern conservative politics. Not to mention, everything the establishment GOP represents, deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, privatizing schools, etc., every last damn thing they push has been demonstrated to back-fire with catastrophic consequences.
It’s an easy choice and I hope the polls are right. Throw in the fact that McAuliffe will expand Obamacare and bring tens of thousands of Americans life-saving healthcare they don’t have and which some have never had, and it becomes imperative. On a personal note, not only do I I hope Cooch loses, I hope his loss further collapses the entire mountain of social conservative rot he stands astride into an all out war civil war between the scheming greedy pigs on the business side who dragged us into the Great Recession with promises of prosperity and the know-nothing thugs who enabled them while waving rebel flags.
My view on McAuliffe is actually a good deal more harsh than your stance on him. I absolutely hate having to vote for such a double-dealing slime ball.
It is solely because Cuccinelli is such an extremist christian whose primary agenda is to pass medieval inspired legislation that McAuliffe received my vote this morning. Anyone who thinks Cuccinelli is going to spend significant time working on legislation outside of his anti-woman agenda and handing even more of Virginia to large corporations simply has their head buried in the sand.
Can we start getting better candidates instead of this massive downward spiral of candidates? And I’m talking about both parties at this point.
Repressing things isn’t good for you, you know. So don’t hold back, tell us how you really feel about Cooch and his party.
Unbound, that’s one of the most insidious problems with the Tea Party. They give the Democrats the ability to field, not good candidates, but simply shinier turds than the republicans.
McAuliffe served as chair of the Dem Party during the period when Bill Clinton finalized the sale of (what remained of) same to its previous lessees, the megacorporate sector. I.o.w., yet another sold-out hack with nicely styled hair.
But, if in Virginia today, I’d vote for the wretched son-of-a-motherfucker too. Just as I anticipate with fear & loathing having to fill in the little bubble next to “Clinton” three years from now.
You want better candidates? You want to end a downward spiral? You demand better and use the fact that these people fear loss of power as a tool. I don’t see how you can get them effectively outside of refusing to vote for what is offered and having clear behavior boundaries.
For example I do not vote for any D who is unwilling to totally reverse Obama’s actions concerning prosecution immunity for companies that share our information. I do not vote for any D who is unwilling to go back and prosecute torture up to the highest levels the law requires.
This position prevents me from voting at all most of the time but I’m tired of having shitty leaders and having to choose among the various flavors of shit. I simply will not choose shit and I will not be blackmailed with scary stories about the other guy. That is no excuse for giving approval through votes.
I’m willing to entertain other ideas but at this point I think the system is so corrupt from the position of holding leaders accountable for their actions that if we are heading to some big social upheaval that can provide the emotional force necessary to encode useful change into our laws I just want to get it over with. Voters don’t really rationally choose anyway. It’s only a matter of time before the will be unhappy with D and vote R back in for a bit.
Taking a stand against voting for any candidate that falls short of your standard simply means that the least principled slime will win, on the strength of the unopposed votes of his slimy constituency. Your ‘none of the above’ approach plays right into the hands of worst abusers of power.
And your approach does nothing to end the downward spiral of shit that elects like Obama who portray themselves as one thing, and end up supporting spying on the public, assassinations of citizens, and covering up of torture. I’m not your tool or the tool of any party. I’m not electing a “worst abuser of power”, I’m refusing to be used by demanding moral yardsticks.
I understand your concerns, but what you present of is utterly useless to my concerns.
Thing I always think about most with Cuccinelli is his Climate Denialist persecution of climate scientists such as Michael Mann :
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2010/10/07/the_global_warming_witch_hunt_continues.html
Not that the rest of what Kookinelli stands for and is isn’t utterly repugnant as well.