Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square

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Thursday, June 12, 2003 Sibling Rivalry! Jason and I are disagreeing about the impact of Tuesday's primary elections. On his comments yesterday he decided to celebrate Chichester's primary victory as a rejection of conservative values. But was that what the election was about? Needless to say, Jay didn't appreciate my criticism of his "Go, Chichester" line: First problem is taking a line from someone who's opinion you questioned the very foundation of and using it as representative of an entire group. That's like Tate declaring his loss by only 100 votes was a referendum when he had less than half of a small portion of the district's population. But if you want to grasp for straws... The election wasn't just a rejection of negative campaigns but of the very people who run them. It was a rejection of bids by the far right faction to oust the more moderates within the Republican party. It was a reminder that the GOP is supposed to be a big tent. Is that so? Well, this morning's Free Lance-Star gave the run of the pundits this morning. Guess who they agreed with? "I don't see it as being a strong philosophical message," said Gary Thomson, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia. Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, himself a member of the party's conservative wing and a former client of Mike Rothfeld, Chichester's opponent, agreed. "I'm not sure that there's any message, other than the voters who showed up seemed to be satisfied with the status quo." "Voters were rejecting the negative campaigning. A lot of that backfired," said House Speaker Bill Howell, R-Stafford. And as for Democrats taking courage from Tuesday's elections. . . The primary results have another beneficiary beyond the senators, Farnsworth said. "Even though his name wasn't on the ballot, [Gov.] Mark Warner was one of the big winners on Tuesday night," he said. "The Republican Party in the Senate is going to keep a very moderate-Republican-dominated chamber. Warner would have had a much harder time with his agenda if the Republicans in the Senate looked like the Republicans in the House." It feels so good to be so right sometimes. But hey, sometimes all you can do is spell it out. posted by Shaun Kenney \| 6/12/2003 09:27:00 AM \| 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home
	RedStormPAC $ About ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Contact E-mail RSS/Atom Feed Links Bacon's Rebellion Deo Vindice First Things Google News Hiron's Blog Instapundit J's Notes Jaded JD Jefferson Mammoth Republitarian Save the GOP VCAP Virginia Centrist Virginia Club for Growth Virginia Progressive Virginia Virtucon Vivian J. Paige Waldo Jaquith The Jeffersoniad China Freedom Blog Alliance China e-Lobby Democratic China One Free Korea ShaunKenney.com Previous Posts Fallout? And so the battle for the hearts and m... The 28th District Race As I am writing this, it... The Blunt, the Dope, the Chronic, the Jaba, the Le... Mediation Between Normal People. . . and Geeks ... Putting the Smackdown on Heresy Since 1981! Jus... Pastor of the Church of the Nativity to Speak at S... Star Spangled Ice Cream The conservative altern... FLS Backs Chichester In an unprecedented half-p... You Decide. . . Folks, I don't know which is th... Why the Fixation on the James Monroe HS Tract? ... Search VA Blogs BlogNetNews.com	JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General? 1) John Brownlee 2) Ken Cuccinelli View Results Recent Music Archives March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008