I’ve disagreed with editorial writers before, but all partisan bickering aside, ya gotta admit when they call it right, and boy do they call it right with regards to Gov. Tim Kaine.
And they remind me why I think a two-term Governor would help.
“He was too combative with Republicans and too accommodating with recalcitrant Democrats. He favored surprise attacks over consensus building. He allowed himself to be sucked into Richmond’s tired old blame game, wasting energy on finger-pointing and pointless legislative maneuvers. (Pilot)”
It sure wasn’t how he campaigned, and that’s been the big problem with one-and-done Governors in Virginia. They can U-turn after election day and do whatever they want no matter how unpopular, and there’s no real reason for them to care what voters think. They won’t face them again.
Kaine on the campaign trail said no new taxes without a Constitutional Amendment to protect transportation funds from raids. He got elected, and pushed gas tax increases and ditched his promises. He went on a “listening tour” after his campaign was over and suddenly discovered transportation taxes were needed.
Problem was he needed the votes of legislators who DO have to face voters again, and they didn’t seem thrilled at the prospect of carrying Kaine’s tax water and facing the voters’ wrath alone. I wonder how Governors would act in office knowing that they’d face voters again.
The Virginian-Pilot frustratingly thinks legislators should raise taxes for voters’ own good despite their opinions to the contrary. Its blatant endorsements for legislators committed to doing so has led to some embarrassing results and has made a paper previously known for pragmatism now a grumpy signwaver for a left-wing agenda at precisely the time when the pendulum is swinging the other way.
Some of the failings they cite in Governor Kaine are true of the Pilot’s own board. No effort has been made to include any editorial writers even remotely called conservative or even center-right moderate. Individual columns of editorial writers reveal partisan leanings quite clearly.
If Kaine has been “too combative with Republicans” and failed at “consensus building,” the Pilot should opine if they’ve been guilty of the same thing.
