The Joe Morrissey soap opera took a weird turn over the weekend, with the embattled Delegate essentially saying he isn’t going anywhere, at least for now.
Morrissey could be waiting for Paul Goldman to give him an answer on what the legal niceties of the situation — and I don’t entirely begrudge him that.
But let’s be clear — whatever Paul may discover will not, at this stage, change the politics. The Democratic caucus has turned against Morrissey. The Governor has turned against him. Democrats cannot afford to have a Morrissey hangover going into the 2015 elections, and the primary challengers — including Henrico school board member Lamont Bagby and former Teamsters political director Kevin Sullivan — are emerging.
He has no friends in high places. That may be exactly where Joe wants to be — fighting everyone, all the way. And a cold-blooded analysis would say that he stands a fair chance of winning a primary if there are a lot of challengers dividing the “No Joe” vote among themselves. That’s doubly so when we think of the history Morrissey brought to the table when he first ran for, and won, that House seat. People knew what he was about. They voted for him and have kept voting for him ever since.
Assuming the House does not expel him, first. They certainly could, and Morrissey may force them to do so if he refuses to resign. My search of the record didn’t turn up anyone being expelled for a misdemeanor (if readers find something, please let me know in the comments).
This isn’t just a misdemeanor, though. As Jimmy Barret mentioned on WRVA this morning, there is also the “creep factor.” A 57 year-old man having sexual relations with a 17 year-old girl buries the needle for a lot of folks. Parse the law and constitution until they weep — the “creep factor” will decide this.
It’s only a matter of time.
