…and with no clear winner today and perhaps the most active race in Virginia right now, it would seem as if this is probably the closest we’re going to get to a coin flip:
“This transportation plan was something that was desperately needed,” the Chesapeake Republican said of the first initiative to put significant new money into road needs in 27 years. “Anybody that sits in traffic in Hampton Roads or dodged potholes in Virginia Beach knows the kind of position we’re in.”
That vote on a bill that includes a provision to pursue online sales taxes is one of Stearns’ biggest complaints about Cosgrove.
“At the end of the day, we’re Republicans, and you can’t go around raising taxes like that,” said Stearns, a libertarian who serves on the state GOP’s governing committee alongside Cosgrove.
Now two weeks ago was when we started hearing about the “atheist” charges being thrown by Cosgrove surrogates at Stearns — and in the land of Thomas Jefferson, one might consider that foul play. Of course, when you throw in an equally-conservative-yet-Christian alternative to Stearns in the form of political neophyte Bill Haley… well, that just shows you how dirty this race has become:
“I’m a strong Christian conservative who wants to push back on the liberties that have been taken from us,” said Haley, who supports making welfare a charity-based program.
Riiiiiiiiiight…
Should Cosgrove win with a mere plurality, it would send shockwaves throughout the Republican Party. Should Cosgrove stomp the libertarian rising star, such an event will be merely expected — as both Forbes and Rigell have turned out their troops (unofficially, perhaps) to ensure a Cosgrove win. The added benefit of a “Christian” third-choice just goes to show the lengths… or depths… some folks are willing to go to win at all costs.
Pile this on with the announcement of Speaker Howell’s transportation PAC for tax-hiking delegates, and you can see that despite the strength conservatives and liberty-minded activists are showing at RPV’s State Central Committee, the powers-that-be are still firmly behind the wheel — and they have the muscle and the money to make examples of dissent.
Should today be a loss across the board for the challengers… conservatives and Tea Party activists deserve to junk the leadership we have today, and start looking for folks more interested in winning than sticking titles next to their name. Establishment candidates may take solace in the idea that McDonnell’s favorables are still in the mid-60s, but that belies a 6 point shift to the center — in effect a 12-point loss (six points shaved off on the right; six points of Democrats who won’t vote for you anyway).
There are smarter ways to build coalitions, folks.
