Norm pushing education; Josh talks primary costs
By JR Hoeft | Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Catch-AllNorm Leahy is asking a lot of “ifs” of Bob McDonnell lately. First, when it comes to SOL reform…
“If, truly, Bob McDonnell wants to make education reform a signature issue of this campaign, he could do far worse than exposing the SOLs for what they really are: expensive charades that tell us only how well a child can successfully complete a bubble test within the allotted time.”
He then reprises this paragraph when discussing what NJ GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is proposing:
“If McDonnell truly wants to make education reform a signature issue, I’m all for that. But he would be well advised to see what Christie is proposing in New Jeresy. That’s what reform looks like.”
Norm is pushing for a “Big Idea” to rally around for McDonnell. Could education be it?
Unrelated, Josh at Virginia Conservative has an interesting post up on the difference between primaries and conventions…in terms of cost.
I believe that the high cost to turnout ratio, coupled with the relatively low voter interest (4.2% turnout in the city and 3% in the county) and potential crossover voting, make a strong argument in favor of nominating conventions (like the Republicans did) as opposed to primaries (like the Democrats did). After all, who should foot the bill for party nominations? Should it be the party faithful who willing give up both their time and money to participate in these functions? Or should it be the average Virginia taxpayer, most of who don’t give 2¢ about whom the parties nominate?
Of course, Josh, Democrats are all too happy for Republicans to bear some of the cost for their future voter ID lists.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
Comments
2 Responses to "Norm pushing education; Josh talks primary costs"
If McDonnell were to come out against the SOLs, as Norm proposes, he’d be running against the legacy of George Allen, whose administration pushed the tests through, in the face of significant Democratic opposition. How would that fly in the GOP? Isn’t accountability in education — the supposed rationale for the SOL tests — part of the legacy of the Allen/Gilmore years that Republicans want to run ON, not away from?
Norm, tellingly, isn’t running for anything.
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.