Last week was an interesting week in Virginia politics. Four Democratic African-American mayors held a conference call where they attacked Republican Lieutenant Governor Nominee E.W. Jackson for past statements concerning race relations not just in America but within the Democratic Party:
“E.W. Jackson’s repeated use of religion and the centuries-old struggle of African-American people to support an extreme agenda, that’s going to set Virginians of every color and creed back for many many years,” said Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, a Democrat and pastor of a South Richmond church.
Also on the call was Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille who also took issue with Jackson’s use of religion to make a point while Jackson was being, well, a pastor. Former Republican Delegate Winsome Sears put it well:
“Do we just leave our values behind after we get out of church or do we take them into the public arena,” she said in an interview. “At the end of the day, if the truth is the truth, you can’t get away from it.”
But what exactly is this “extreme agenda” of Jackson’s that Jones and Euille are upset with? They don’t say. Because they’re not focusing on his actual agenda. They’re focusing on his sermons and videos from his time as a Christian minister.
Heaven help them if they started talking about Jackson’s agenda. Because while Mayors Jones and Euille are sitting on a phone call attacking Jackson and stating he’ll do harm for Virginia for “many many years” they’re not telling you the story of the tragedies in their own back yards.
The City of Richmond has the highest drop-out rate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with nearly 1-in-5 high school students falling out of the system. Their on-time graduation rate is the worst in the Commonwealth at 73.6%.
Out of 121 localities, The City of Alexandria has the ninth worst drop-out rate at 11.9% and the 19th worst on-time graduation rate at only 81.8%.
Over 100 Virginia localities have a better on-time graduation rate and drop out rate than Alexandria. EVERY other locality in Virginia is better than Richmond in this regard.
Virginia’s class of 2012 cohort reports show Alexandria and Richmond school systems doing harm to Virginia for “many many years,” but Jones and Euille have plenty of time available to be on conference calls attacking E.W. Jackson.
Jackson has been a strong advocate of Parental Choice in Education. It’s something he’s been running on for the last six months. Yet Democratic Mayors aren’t holding conference calls on that agenda.
In fact, they’re ignoring his entire Agenda with points on ending unfunded state mandates out of Richmond, a Taxpayer Bill of Rights, ending corporate welfare to create a vibrant economic playing field for businesses of all sizes, and more. These are issues that matter. These are issues that scare Jones and Euille because they can’t speak to them. So they focus on social issues that Jackson has NOT been talking about for the last six months.
When one in five kids are simply leaving the system, THAT is serious harm to Virginia for many, many years to come. Democrats are afraid of someone shining a light on the issues within their own communities. The issues they have failed on. The issues Jackson has been speaking to his entire campaign.
