Factions Becoming Clearer in 5th District

Several new pieces of information have come to light in recent weeks in Virginia’s 5th District fight for the Republican nomination. As I made abundantly clear in my statement on October 29th (withdrawing from said contest), the NRCC has made their wishes known. Whether the local GOP leadership chooses to lick their boots and acquiesce remains to be seen. Rob Hurt, quite simply, is NOT the conservative champion Andy Sere makes him out to be, and it takes the slightest glance at his voting record to confirm this fact. With his record of voting in favor of, not one, but TWO enormous tax increases, it will be damn near impossible for him to draw a contrast between himself and Tom Perriello next November. Unless, of course, Fair Tom abandons his well publicized (if not always ACTED UPON) streak of fiscal conservatism.

So, who does that leave us with? Fortunately, there is quite a crowded field to choose from. The information that follows is partly my opinions & observances from being IN the race for 10 months, and partly from newer public information. Since I’m no longer a Republican candidate, I do not feel that any trust is being betrayed here. So, to continue:

We have Ken Boyd. He currently sits on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Don’t know much about him, other than pieces sent out by his campaign (both electronic & via mail) talking up his fund-raising prowess, his conservatism, and, mostly, that he’s NOT Rob Hurt. Not enough to make me do cartwheels, but I guess I’m a different breed of cat. Oh, and he has a bit of a not-so-personal-liberty-oriented voting record of his own. Then again, how hard do you have to work to appear conservative in Albemarle? I mean, REALLY.

Now, to round out the “Career Politicians” category (for $500, Alex), we have Feda (Kidd) Morton, who just in the last week announced a new round of endorsements for her campaign. Combine that with the old news that the Boyers in Campbell County are firmly behind her, and it’s apparent which base she is playing to in this race: the social conservatives. All well and good, and I probably find myself in quite a bit of agreement with them, BUT: this is an election for a FEDERAL office.

Abortion? Gay marriage? Whether someone should be allowed to smoke in a restaurant? All issues that should be debated exhaustively in our society, to be sure. But NOT Federal issues. Period.

Also, just my humble opinion, we may just have a couple of issues to deal with before we start kicking those particular cans down the road again, okay? Let’s steer the damn luxury liner away from the icebergs, THEN worry about whether the deck chairs are facing East or West. And, before some abortocentrist gets their thongs in a twist, I am NOT saying these issues aren’t important. The analogy is meant to illustrate the incontrovertible fact that, like it or not, none of those social issues WILL be important when we’re all fighting over life preservers so we won’t drown as we watch the ship of state sink below the choppy waves of history. Let’s try to save the S.S. Republic first. Just sayin’.

Oh, we can go ahead and toss Ron Ferrin into the Feda Morton “social-issues-first” camp, too. Just explore his ties to LU. Pretty clear to me. Again, nothing wrong with that, just not exactly a winning issue with 17.2% unemployment (nationally) and even higher in Southside. Stopping EVERY abortion & gay marriage nationwide TONIGHT won’t employ 17.2 % of Danville, much less the whole freaking country. But, I digress.

This brings us into the realm of the one political faction I see that is actually on the rise, and will continue to be, well past November 2010. Outspoken social conservatives who base their campaigns on those issues? Nope. Career politicians who have a “proven track record” (like THAT is endearing)? Again, nope. Political outsiders who place principle over party and service over self-aggrandizing? Oh, yeah. The citizen legislator. THE future of American politics. People who run on term limits not to get votes, but because they believe it. People who speak of being a servant of the people, not because it sounds good on TV or looks good in print, but because they recognize that their salaries will be paid for by the very sweat & toil of their constituents. They further realize that every dime of their salary and every dime of Federal spending, earmarks, and “social justice” programs is a dime that is taken away from the purchase of food for the children of those constituents.

The people who fit this bill are, sadly, few and far between. But we are fortunate enough to have THREE, so far, right here in the Fighting Fifth, where once lived the very men who conceived the documents that secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Laurence Verga, Michael McPadden, and James McKelvey are the three to watch, at least for now. They have the opportunity, the message, and the timing to be the tip of the spear in forging ahead into a new area of accountability, trustworthiness, and, most of all, a return to liberty, that will stun the power-brokers on both sides of the aisle in DC and bring about REAL change.

Just my opinions, and thanks for reading.