It’s fun, and necessary, to beat up on the left when they run wild with a narrative that just doesn’t fit the facts. It’s less fun, but just as necessary, to point out when folks on the right are spinning tales that don’t match the facts on the ground.
Today’s example of the latter is a brief column from John Fund on Tuesday’s election results. Fund calls it a smashing victory for the tea party, and there’s little doubt various groups played key roles in ending the long careers of Joe May and Beverly Sherwood. This portion of Fund’s entry, though, is simply laughable:
Supporters of the tax increase are dismissing the defeats of key legislators as isolated incidents, but tea-party activists say they may provide the impetus for a challenge to GOP speaker Bill Howell in the next session. A longtime conservative, Howell shocked many of his allies by ramming the tax increase through over the objections of much of his caucus.
There’s so much dreck here to unpack it’s hard to know where to begin.
Let’s start with the potential challenge to Speaker Bill Howell. That won’t happen. It didn’t happen after the 2005 session, when Howell presided over the Mark Warner tax increases, why should it happen now? Back then, there was an effort to find someone — anyone — who would challenge Howell for the top job. No one did. Why? No one wanted it, or the headaches, or the responsibility. And no one wanted to make what would be seen as a personal attack on the Speaker.
Look at the members of the current GOP caucus. Any potential challengers there? No. The caucus backs the Speaker because he backs them. Some may chafe at that idea and some may even resent it. But Howell will remain Speaker for as long as he wishes. If a challenge materializes, from parts unknown, it will fail.
And the idea that there was shock, anger and so on over Howell’s role in getting the transportation bill rammed through the House? Yes, it seemed out of the blue, but the push to do something on transportation had been growing for nine years. The resident political class was well conditioned to bite on a tax package — just as they had with the infamous, and ultimately unconstitutional, HB 3202.
Who were among the key players on that measure? Bill Howell and then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell.
Yes, people were unhappy, even a few within the GOP caucus. I wondered at the time whether Howell had the votes to win, but with the Governor’s office working with him, those votes appeared, stuck firm and carried the day. He played his cards with great skill and a little brute force.
I can forgive Fund, slightly, for peddling a narrative that doesn’t quite match reality. He parachuted into the fray. And it shows. A couple of primary losses do not mean the current regime is in danger of falling. Far from it. Only a completely new GOP caucus will be able to do that. And such an animal does not exist.
