Gov. Bob McDonnell endorses George Allen for U.S. Senate
By Lynn R. Mitchell | Friday, November 11th, 2011 | Politics, VirginiaVirginia’s very popular Governor Bob McDonnell announced his endorsement this morning of George Allen for U.S. Senate. In an email from the Governor, he wrote:
I wanted you to be one of the first to know that today I’m announcing my support for George Allen to be Virginia’s next United States Senator.
Maureen and I have known George and Susan for years. Like us they wonder what the future will hold for our children and yours. It’s what motivates George to run today.
He’s focused his campaign on solving problems with big ideas that will help private sector businesses create jobs, unleash our abundant energy resources, and get America working again.
George will work to rein in Washington’s destructive spending and crushing regulations because too often they stand in the way of growth and progress. We need George Allen in the United States Senate fighting for us.
The eyes of the country will be on Virginia in 2012.
This year we made significant gains – strengthening our majority in the House of Delegates to historic levels and ending the Democrats control of the State Senate. Next year our sights are set on helping achieve a majority in the U.S. Senate. And Virginia once again will be at the forefront of that fight.
The road ahead won’t be easy, but things worth fighting for rarely are. George Allen will need all of our help. He has my support and I’m hoping he can count on yours as well.
McDonnell posted a video endorsement on Facebook.
Proud to be part of the A-Team for 2012….
Cross-posted at LynnRMitchell.com
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
As SWAC Girl (an acronym for Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County), Lynn has been writing in the Virginia political blogosphere since 2006. Active in area politics, she has coordinated campaigns and served in leadership for the past decade. The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia is one of the most beautiful places to call home ... the Republican Party carries her beliefs.
Comments
19 Responses to "Gov. Bob McDonnell endorses George Allen for U.S. Senate"
www dot notmittromney dot com
And let me add how surprised I am that hair boy would endorse Allen.
I am a big fan of Bob McDonnell. He is in a position where he is expected to root for the establishment favorite so this was expected as was his prior “join me for lunch” event to support Rick Perry. And of course it is a big boost for his old friend Allen. This has been the plan all along as I am sure many more endorsements will be timed to help steamroll Virginians who support other candidates or who wait for cues to help them decide. What is disappointing is that our fine governor is choosing someone seemingly unlike himself who has been such a tremendous participant of the debt and lending nighmare that should have been reigned in by Allen when he was our senator.
Congratulations Kaine.
This is national news, despite Turbo’s sour grapes because his bankrupt six-percenter didn’t get the nod. CNN has been running a banner headline about the endorsement and posted it on their Politics Ticker:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/11/allen-gets-big-endorsement-in-virginia-senate-battle/?iref=allsearch
Now, if the Republicans can keep the rest of the Tea Party neophytes off the US Senate ballots in other states than maybe we can retire Dirty Harry Reid as Majority Leader in 2012 like we should have in 2010. Actually, if it hadn’t been for the Tea Party, in 2010 we could have had a two-fer: the Democrats out of the majority and Reid out of the Senate.
Turbo,
Allen is a hypocrite (along with most other politicians) and you’re correct in your displeasure in him. But Radtke has absolutely no chance against Kaine.
ToR you are correct in the fact that Jamie Radtke has absolutely no chance against Kaine.If the people of Va want to help elect Kaine just let Radtke win the primary then it will be game over.
Rocky says “Actually, if it hadn’t been for the Tea Party, in 2010 we could have had a two-fer: the Democrats out of the majority and Reid out of the Senate.”
Like most things the Tea Party was a mixed bag in 2010. They elected all kinds of Repubs who otherwise never would have won and put two outstanding people into the Senate in Rand Paul and Marco Rubio against the wishes of the establishment. Yes they messed up in DE and NV but it is not that likely that even with Castle and Lowden the Repubs would have won there. Why do I say that? Here’s why: the Repubs had no ground game in NV to match Harry Reid and in 2010 the deep Blue States went all in for socialism. Why don’t you criticize Fiorina in CA? Why don’t you criticize Rossi in WA? What about the race in CT? Last time I checked the Repubs needed 4 four more Senators to get a majority. Please show me where those 4 seats were messed up by the Tea Party? Even in CO the Senate race was totally messed up by the Repub candidate for Gov. Even counting that you need 3 more.
Quite frankly having a tenuous hold on the Senate would probably have been worse for the Repubs since Obama would veto what the Dems didn’t filibuster. And he could really take off after the Repub Congress. Obama is not Clinton and the media is more rabidly partisan than it was even in the 90s. And what is the advantage for Reid to be out and Schumer to be in? Having Reid and Pelosi front and center is good for the Repubs don’t you think?
As for Allen I thought he was an excellent Gov and a mediocre Senator. I have no animus to him although I think its always better to move forward in politics rather than go back to someone who lost. It would have been best to find some other worthy candidate such as an Army General. But it is what it is and Kaine would be horrid.
valentinus,
Rand Paul is neither a Republican nor a Tea Partier. He is a Libertarian like his father. Marco Rubio is now in trouble for having fudged his Cuban-exile credentials and may or may not hang on to his seat on reelection. All the polls indicated that Mike Castle would have won in Delaware, taking away a long-Democratic seat held by Biden. But the Delaware Tea Party bamboozled the Republicans into nominating Christine The Witch because Mike Castle didn’t pass the conservative purity test, a colossal error that the Virginia Tea Party has been desperately trying to replicate with Radtke. I have limited knowledge of the Nevada race except for the fact that Reid was behind in the polls until Sharon Angle got the Republican nomination. I have a retired Army friend who lives in Reno and he told me he wouldn’t vote for either one of them. As for the rest of the races, well we will never really know, will we? I will say this, though–Obama most certainly would have tried to smear a Republican sub-majority (as opposed to super-majority) in the Senate. Do you really think that would have carried more water with the voters than the “obstructionists” DNC talking points they are using now? At least the Republicans would have the committee chairs. Finally, I know a few Army Generals and not one of them would ever want to be a US Senator.
Rocky- Must be a slow news day if that’s “national news.” Seems sort of dog bites man to me. Did anybody expect that McDonnell was not going to endorse a former governor and senator of his party? THAT would be news.
Someone said this is good for Allen. Not really. Endorsements really don’t matter much. If you’re on the ticket with a McDonnell or an Allen when they are winning by a landslide they can help you. But a politician can’t really transfer his popularity to another.
I hear Doug Wilder will be George Allen’s next endorsement.
JW-Bet you’re wrong.
its the timing of the endorsement that is news. Gov McD wasted no time after Tuesday’s elections to focus on next year. No one had to ask “who & when will Gov McD endorse?” Gov McD came out for Sen Allen as soon as he could–this is a very strong endorsement because he made it at what is essentially the beginning of the Senatorial race.
“But a politician can’t really transfer his popularity to another.”
Strangely enough its no problem for pols to transfer unpopularity.
Rocky,
I guess after all that ramble you do agree with me that the Tea Party did not cost the Repubs a Senate majority, at worst a seat or two. And repeating WaPo tripe about Rubio is truly sad.
“There’s a great need for fiscal responsibility in Washington,” Mr. Allen said yesterday. “It’s absurd that a full-time legislature at the Capitol can’t get their job done by October 1st. There is no excuse why this can’t get done on time.”
“Mr. Allen said that voting to raise the debt limit was difficult, but he defended it as “responsible” to avoid higher interest rates on government bonds.”
Can’t make this stuff up.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/mar/20/20060320-112430-9823r/
valentinus,
You are getting tiresome. On another thread, you accuse me of using a “leftie” tactic of only addressing one point in your comment and ignoring the other “90%.” Then, when I answer your comment point-by-point, you call it a “ramble.” I don’t know what your problem is; perhaps you are Tea Party sympathizer and don’t like my negative comments about that cranky bunch of fruitcakes.
No, I do not agree that the Tea Party didn’t cost the Republicans a Senate majority. They certainly cost the Republicans a certain pick-up of Democratic seats in Nevada and Delaware and would have cost the Republicans a seat in Alaska if not for Lisa Murkowski’s historic write-in campaign. As for the rest of the seats needed for a majority, there are too many variables for us to know for certain. As for the WaPo “tripe” on Rubio, please enlighten us on exactly what in their coverage was not factual. That “liberal media bias” garbage has a very short range and if you read the Post on a daily basis, you would know that it gets accused of a conservative bias just as often as having a liberal bias, which tells me that they are doing something right if they are pissing off both sides.
lol @ tea party as “cranky fruitcakes”. Those “fruitcakes” helped deliver the Stanley and Reeves victories. Quite possibly would have been losses without all the hard work that the Lynchburg area and Fredericksburg area TP/patriot folks contributed.
It wasn’t the TP that decided to run an independent for commonwealth’s attorney in Henrico…and split the vote and LOSE. That was the super-smart GOP leadership. Now THAT is “fruitcakey”.
Ok, Rocky, the Tea Party caucus that Jamie Radtke spoke at had Rand Paul. While I agree that Rand has a lot of libertarian values, he doesn’t let that keep him from associating with Republicans and Tea Partiers. I am a Libertarian and I am also a Tea Partier.
I say Jamie Radtke could beat Tim Kaine and George Allen would be ripped apart by his own baggage when Kaine hammers him with it.
Not surprised about Bob McDonnell. Glad he had a clue and waited until after the November elections.
Britt,
Most politicians self-identify with a primary political philosophy. The better ones also are able to sympathize with congruent and compatible philosophies without embracing them entirely. The Tea Party, in my very humble opinion, is trying to capitalize on that by embracing a variety of conservative groups. My personal belief is that is precisely why they have resisted being characterized as a third party movement–they don’t want to force fiscal conservative Republicans or Libertarians to choose a side. When I wrote that Rand Paul is a Libertarian, I meant that, like his father, his primary political philosophy is Libertarianism, but that he can play nice with conservative Republicans and the TP movement. It is not a mystery, but you can’t claim that Rand Paul is a Tea Partier with a straight face, anymore than anyone believes that Ron Paul is a Republican.
VA Patriot,
Stanley and Reeves probably got as many Independent swing votes as they did Tea Party votes, if not more. But you don’t hear us claiming credit for electing them. They got our support by putting forth campaign positions that we liked better than the Democrats. You guys have your hearts in the right place, but you really need to get over this inflamed sense of importance that seems to infect your movement.
Rocky, the Tea Party is a fiscally conservative coalition. Both Paul’s are fiscal conservatives. To a very large extent, the Tea Party is a coalition also of small government. The Pauls are definitely small government.
There are a few “small govt” issues not addressed because it would fracture the coalition. Trust me, if the Tea Party started getting to vocal on issues outside the coaliton, I AM GONE!
I am a Libertarian first. I am sure the Pauls have priorities above the Tea Party. I don’t consider Ron Paul a Tea Partier, but he is very Tea Party friendly. Ron Paul is his own movement. Rand is a tiny bit different, I do consider him a Tea Partier even with a straight face. That said, he just like I would drop out of the coalition if things went crazy.
Tea Partiers for the most part don’t want to be a 3rd party. Only as a last resort where Republicans fail to see the light. The whole purpose of the coalition is to push issues we strongly agree on. My goodness, Rocky, how is it that Libertarians are backing social conservatives like Cuccinelli and Radtke? How did we end up fighting side by side with people we would be at odds with in the 80′s & 90′s?
Yes, Rand Paul is Tea Party…..for now. He like I will work with the Tea Party as long as that agenda remains palatable. The Tea Party is issues driven not partisan driven. It is the answer to Big Government Republicans in colusion with Big Government Democrats.
I think you just have personal issues with some of the personalities in the group and just write them all off with the same Tea Party bashing brush.
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.