Republican lieutenant governor candidate Pete Snyder is out with a new web ad that touches on a theme I wrote about back in the old days: the struggle between “day” and “night” conservatism. First, the video:
Plenty of Reagan imagery. Lots of references to a future that will be reached through sunny optimism and sensible policies.
But the undercurrent of all this is the contest between day and night conservatives. Snyder is casting himself as the “day” conservative in the race. Perhaps. I tend to believe the other candidates see themselves the same way. But the relentlessly optimistic, forward-looking rhetoric has largely been absent on the campaign trail so far (save from E. W. Jackson). That’s what voters want. Ironically, it has been Democrats like Mark Warner and Tim Kaine who have tapped the optimism vein most successfully, even as their votes have made a hash of their rhetoric.
It will be interesting to see if Snyder’s optimism bug spreads through the ranks of Republican candidates. It should, because it works. Leave the slashing, burning, angry conservatism that is little more than a mirror of the cramped, angry Liberalism of the left on the sidelines.
