The Washington Post is reporting this morning that Phil Cox, political advisor to Governor McDonnell and chairman of the Governor’s Political Action Committee, threatened active retaliation against Republicans who don’t toe the line on the ABC privatization plan next year. He also called the Republican caucus leaders “spineless,” and told Del. Tim Hugo, chairman of the House GOP caucus, that McDonnell was popular and could use that popularity to raise millions for candidates to run against Republicans who didn’t vote for the plan.
Politics is a contact sport. Everyone who is involved knows this, and there are plenty of things said behind closed doors that would shock people if they were put on the front page of the Washington Post. But there are some things you just don’t ever say, and threatening to run opposition candidates against members of your own party because they don’t like your legislative proposal is one of those things.
I’ve supported ABC privatization and have defended it against critics who called it a tax increase. But even I don’t believe that the plan is perfect, and I don’t have a problem with the House GOP caucus being realistic and recognizing that the plan needs to be as close to perfect as possible if we are going to peel away the necessary Democrats in the State Senate for the proposal to ever see the light of day. If we can’t do that, Dick Saslaw will just chuck the legislation out, and the Governor will have a major policy defeat on his hands. And while the Governor is popular, he also doesn’t have to run for re-election next year and Hugo and the rest of the GOP caucus does. It’s in their best interests to work on a plan that raises the funds for transportation that has always been at the heart of the proposal.
As Del. Dave Albo noted in the WaPo article, this is a policy fight, not a political fight. Cox has no business being involved in this side of things, and he certainly has no business threatening our House members for doing their jobs. I’m proud to see Tim Hugo fight this out and not bow to ham-handed arm twisting.
Phil Cox and the rest of the Governor’s staff needed to stop the myopic focus on the ABC plan, as if it’s going to be McDonnell’s legacy. It won’t. Even if it passes, no one is going to care in another few years. His legacy will be turning our economy around and creating jobs while ensuring taxes stayed low. And I hope his legacy will include doing something to fix the transportation problems we face across the Commonwealth. The ABC plan is part of that larger issue, not an issue itself. Privatizing ABC was never going to be a standalone proposal – it was always discussed as a way of raising revenue without raising taxes.
It’s time for everyone involved to take a step back, take a deep breath, and focus on the big picture. Economy. Jobs. Transportation.
And stop threatening your own team. That’s something Democrats do. Not us.
