Bob McDonnell’s travails are prompting a re-evaluation of Virginia’s political culture, which has the potential to be useful if those steeped in the culture are willing to make a similar effort.
One view comes from Jeff Schaprio, who speaks in broad terms about the death of the “Virginia Way.” This vision of a mannered, ordered, and insular political life has been dead for some time, but fond memories of it persist. The examples Jeff uses — both past and present — illustrate how that old culture is largely gone for good.
But not all of it, as Bart Hinkle notes. The one part of the old Virginia Way that persists despite the best efforts of the modern political class to kill it is cronyism, which reached dizzying new heights in the McDonnell era:
Near the end of his term, McDonnell’s staff produced a glossy, 50-page brochure summarizing his accomplishments. It boasts of the increased funding for the Opportunity Fund; of how McDonnell “developed and passed [the state’s] first film industry tax credit;” of how he “led more foreign trade missions than any other governor;” of how he convened a Governor’s Conference on Energy, and “passed legislation to establish a Green Jobs Tax Credit,” and “established the Clean Energy Manufacturing Incentive Grant,” and on and on.
If you read the Constitution of Virginia, you won’t find anything remotely connected to any of that. The governor’s job, as defined in the constitution, is simple and straightforward: He is to execute the laws of the commonwealth, fill departmental vacancies, serve as commander-in-chief of the state’s armed forces and, if necessary, repel invasion or suppress insurrection. Maybe offer up a clemency now and then — but that’s about it.
There is nary a word about hawking products like a late-night infomercial.
I have worn the letters off my keyboard writing about such behavior, here and elsewhere. It made no difference, because the incentives to use the public purse for private ends are so damnably strong (and always have been). As Bart notes, the current occupant of the Executive Mansion is determined to use the same tools McDonnell and his predecessors employed, perhaps even more so.
Reasonable people would see this kind of favor factory as the corrosive monstrosity it is and stop it. But Virginia Way 2.0 refuses to see it as such, even if, from time to time, some members of the political class admit that it isn’t the best way to do business. Other states do it, so Virginia has to as well. This is a race to the bottom.
The McDonnell affair won’t change that. Despite cosmetic fixes to the state’s ethics rules during the last legislative session, pay to play remains alive and well. So long as it does, the Capitol Square favor factory will continue minting goodies and temptation.
In other words, Bob McDonnell will not be the last, or worst, example of bad behavior. The Virginia Way 2.0 all but guarantees it.
