Having been a Republican my entire life, it’s a minor annoyance to be consistently branded a “RINO” for having some political views that aren’t accepted as party orthodoxy. Other than my union ties and my libertarian leanings when it comes to social issues, I’ve always been a solid Republican. I’ve also tried to be fair to both sides, based on my belief that politics doesn’t have to be the apocolyptic struggle between good and evil some folks try to make it. Unfortunately, that right there is enough to make me suspect in some eyes, especially amongst some of my Tea Party friends.
Which is why I am finding all of the hullabaloo around former Congressman Artur Davis’ party switch and relocation to Northern Virginia to be, well, odd. After news broke that Davis had decided to support Mitt Romney and considered himself a Republican now, he began to make the rounds in Northern Virginia. His appearance at the last Fairfax County Republican Committee meeting earned him three standing ovations, and he headlined an appearance with senior Republicans in Fairfax a week prior. This week, he’ll be headlining a Northern Virginia Tea Party event with RPV Chairman Pat Mullins. Next week, he’s headlining a Northern Virginia Republican Business Forum event. He’s everywhere in Northern Virginia right now.
Both establishment Republicans and the Tea Party in Northern Virginia seem to be embracing Davis with open arms, fueling speculation that he may decide to run again for Congress, this time as a Republican from Northern Virginia.
No so fast, Mr. Davis.
I have no problems with him becoming a Republican activist, endorsing Mitt Romney and helping Chris Perkins and Patrick Murray in their races against Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran this year. But there is no way I would support him for any elected office, period. His voting record was atrocious in Congress and I don’t entirely trust his road to Damascus style conversion. It smacks of political opportunism to me. The man was a liberal. He was in the Democratic leadership. He seconded Obama’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. How is anybody seriously talking about him as a Republican candidate for any public office?
Other than voting against Obamacare, and a handful of other non-party votes, his voting record was nearly down- the-line liberal. He was the most liberal in the Alabama delegation every year he served in Congress. He earned a lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union of 23.43. In 2004, he voted against a House bill that would have criminalized injuring or killing a fetus during a violent crime. He voted against opening ANWR for domestic oil production. He voted against a bill that would have set caps on discretionary spending and required offsetting cuts in any spending increases. He voted against a bill to bar courts from reviewing the Defense of
Marriage Act. While his rating from NARAL has bounced up and down, in two years, 2004 and 2007, it was 100%. His National Right to Life Committee ranking was 20%. The National Taxpayer Union ranked him at 23%, calling him a “big spender” in 2003. He claims he was a moderate Democrat, but his record was solid-Democrat enough for him to be groomed for the Democratic leadership in the House. He was a member of the Senior Whip Team under Jim Clyburn when the Democrats took back the House of Representatives, was the Southern Regional Co-Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and earned a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee. He was considered a rising star in the Democratic party until he decided to run for Governor without clearing his run with the Democratic powers that be in Alabama and got routed in the primary, losing 63-37.
I’m not going to speculate as to what spawned Davis’ change of heart. I’m glad he’s seen the light and decided to join our party. And his conversion makes for good press and a good tool to use to attack the President. But beyond that, Davis has demonstrated he’s not a conservative and there’s very little he can do to rehabilitate himself in that regard. He’s got 8 years of a solid Democratic voting record to explain away. And considering we’ve buried good Republican candidates for far less, that should be a complete bar to his running as a Republican at all. But, for some reason, the talk about him hasn’t gone away.
I sincerely hope that my friends in the Tea Party and the establishment Republicans up here take a moment and think about what they are doing. We have major races in Northern Virginia this cycle and we’re giving speaking time to a former Democratic Congressman? We’re letting him headline events? Why? Unless he’s raising money for Mitt Romney, George Allen, Chris Perkins or Patrick Murray, there’s no reason for him to be on the circuit. While his value as a former Obama supporter turned Romney supporter may be helpful nationally, why he is hitting the Northern Virginia circuit so hard raises suspicions about his future plans. Given how conservative the base is here in Northern Virginia, I will be extremely disappointed if the same people attacking Bill Bolling for being a “moderate,” who called George Allen a moderate during the Senate primary, and who attacked Pat Herrity for being a “career politician” in his primary are now willing to fete a former Democrat and suggest he run for office up here.
We’ve got races to win right now, so looking beyond 2012 is a waste of time. And I’m pretty sure we can find a better candidate to run against Connolly or Moran than a washed up Democrat who switched parties after burning all his bridges back home.
We’ve got two of them, actually, running right now. How about we focus on their races, instead?
