That’ll teach you, Sheila!

First of all, stuttering is a medical condition that has absolutely no connection with intelligence. It is something hundreds of thousands of Americans have to struggle with on a daily basis and it should not be ridiculed.

So, this post will not defend long-time Democratic donor and Warner-Kaine supporter Sheila Johnson for her insensitive comments, which she has since apologized for.

However, what has really got under my skin is the abject hypocrisy by both the media and fellow bloggers on the left as this whole event has played itself out.

Point 1 – All weekend long we heard lamentations from the media about how the tone and rhetoric of the debate has devolved. So, what’s the first big story of the week in the Virginia campaign? This nonsense which was shopped to left-leaning blogs by the Deeds Campaign. And while Rachel Maddow was busy shedding crocodile tears on Meet the Press yesterday, her pals on MSNBC were cuing up the tape of Johnson.

Point 2 – Democrats – and their surrogates – make stupid comments all the time. “God Damn America”, “Dunkin Donuts”, “Diamond Merchants”, “Hymietown”…and there is very little accountability.

Point 3 – The blog that “broke” this story, after it was shopped to them by the Deeds campaign (yes, that’s the second time I’ve written it), once called Deeds supporters “Creightards” and said that Deeds’ swing through the southwest of the state at the expense of Northern Virginia was a “Deliverance Tour.”

Yep, that blog is really sensitive to others.

Point 4 – Here are some of the wonderful things that were said about Jerry Kilgore in 2005 by liberal bloggers and Tim Kaine:


Democratic Underground
:

Kilgore handlers are scared that for Repubs and “regular Joe”s the first time they hear Kilgore’s voice there is going to be lots of elbowing and laughing………nothing against those in the SW of the state but if you aren’t used to it it…well he sounds “gay” whatever that means.

Waldo Jaquith:

Few who recall hearing Kilgore speak (and not many people in the state have) will forget the single most notable aspect of his speaking style. He sounds…well…gay. Perhaps a less controversial word to use would be “effeminate.” His speech pattern is stereotypically that of an effeminate gay man, and there’s really no getting around it.

Here’s what Lowell Feld said back in 2005 on the blog formerly known as Raising Kaine:

Second, Jerry Kilgore may or may not be gay, but I have heard from numerous sources, including at least one gay male, that almost every homosexual’s “gaydar” goes off BIG TIME when they see and hear Jerry walk and talk. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the general consensus among the Virginia gay community about Jerry Kilgore is this: they have no proof he’s gay, but, as one said to me, “if he isn’t a closet case, there are no closet cases left.”

Finally, Kaine himself went after Kilgore’s voice:

The battle for the hearts and minds of Virginia’s rural voters took a nasty turn last month after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine blasted Republican rival Jerry Kilgore for “letting slick radio announcers to do his dirty work.”

“If I have something to say, I’m not afraid to say it myself,” Kaine said in a radio advertisement that aired on rural and small-market radio stations.

Then, later in an ad, Kaine did the following:

Last week, the Kaine campaign debuted a radio ad, “Weak.” As the title would suggest, the spot suggests that Kilgore is “too weak to lead Virginia.” Has Kilgore done anything, more than most other politicians, to define himself as “weak?” That’s not clear. What is clear is the throwaway line in the “Weak” spot: “Jerry Kilgore is not being straight.” The Kaine camp fails to add the obligatory “with voters;” the ad simply observes, “Jerry Kilgore is not being straight,” period.

Point Five – Sheila Johnson donated $600,000 to Tim Kaine…will he give it back?

Point Six – By shopping this around to blogs, Deeds boomeranged the question to his own physical capacity to be governor. His campaign advisor, Mo Elleithee was placed in the difficult position of having to answer that Deeds, indeed, does have a mental condition that causes him to stutter or that he has trouble communicating. Elleithee chose the latter. The National Journal called this “Making a Mockery out of a Molehill.”

Point Seven – Everyone now remembers that Sheila Johnson, a successful, African American, working woman has endorsed Bob McDonnell for governor…and only weeks from Election Day, vice the middle of the summer. And they’ll remember that Wilder didn’t endorse Deeds last week. Thanks, Deeds camp!

In the end, what we learn from this episode is really what we already knew: when Republicans make outlandish comments…and they do…they are held to a completely higher standard, and the comment is played over and over and over again by the media and bloggers who are outraged! OUTRAGED!

Welcome to the right, Sheila. All that you have done for the Democratic Party has been forgotten and you are now a target. I wonder how Tim Kaine and Mark Warner – whom you’ve donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to and still have future political aspirations – feel right about now?

The reality is that McDonnell did not make the statement. Johnson apologized for making it. And we spent another day not talking about transportation or taxes thanks to a campaign being run by people who would rather distract from the fact that Deeds has no plan for either.

I could care less how Deeds verbally communicates his policies. What worries me is that with four weeks left to go in the campaign he has nothing to say.

Other’s blogging: Virginia Virtucon calls this the “Dumbest Noncontroversy of Campaign 2009

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