Allen, Webb and Warner

A Virginia reader dissents:

1)  The poll you reference is obviously an outlier. Its findings are neither close to nor compatible with the trend line established by other polls.  As a Virginian, I can tell that it’s pretty ridiculous to claim anything about this race at this point – the advertising has just ramped up and most people are just now paying attention.

2)  Pundits don’t choose Senators. Voters do. Before the last state election, polls placed Jerry Kilgore with leads through much of October. Kaine still won.  Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have built a powerful movement in Virginia – the Democrats have picked up seats in the last two statewide elections. Allen’s ground game and plan haven’t been successful since 2000. Jerry Kilgore played the Rove card and couldn’t beat Tim Kaine, a classical liberal. 

Virginia is NOT a "Red State" as many want to paint it – it’s a very divided state where the population centers all vote Democratic. In the past rural votes have been more important, but as Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads area get larger the importance of rural Virginia wanes.  Allen can’t win many votes in Northern Virginia because his entire image is tailored for the rural areas. 3)  I’ve lived all over this beautiful Commonwealth and I know people all over the state.  When Mark Warner starts campaigning for Jim (which should start real soon now that he’s out of the presidential picture) his 70 percent approval rating will change this race.

Gays, Republicans and Jon Stewart

The creepy predations of the closet-case Mark Foley may have some silver lining. They may force into the open a simple fact, reiterated by Tucker Carlson. Most Washington Republicans have no problems with openly gay people. Many of them have sons and daughters who are gay, including the epitome of conservative Republicanism, Dick Cheney. Dennis Hastert has gay staff. Rick Santorum had an openly gay staffer. They have no problems with gay people. And yet their party platform is vehemently opposed to treating gay people as equal citizens or as full members of their own families. This cognitive dissonance is only kept afloat by the closet, and the lies, eupemisms, and avoidance mechanisms that keep Republicans from facing this issue honestly. Maybe the revelation that Republican Capitol Hill is full of gay people may finally force them into a reckoning. The GOP has to respect gay people and grant us full equality, or they have to join the forces that regard us as anathema to stable society, a threat to the family and all potential child molesters. They cannot continue to have it both ways.

I know no better illustration of the contortions of the right than Jon Stewart’s recent interview with Bill Bennett (YouTubed below). I’ve always had civil relations with Bennett; and he has never shown any personal animus. But when I read his writing, it is filled with fear and loathing of gay people as an alleged threat to the very families we love and belong to. So which is it, Bill? The same goes with someone like Pat Buchanan, who has always treated me with great affection and respect. And yet, in print, he regards my commitment and love for my fiance as a danger to civilization. At some point, these people are going to have to decide. And now is as good a time as any.