The Virginia gubernatorial race next week will not simply "tell us a lot about where American politics stand," It will also tell us where WE stand and who we are, whether we are truly as ugly as our president and as gullible as Ed Gillespie thinks we are.
7
Gillespie will use “ Blood and Soil “ as his campaign slogan and waltz to victory . Glad I’m old with no grandchildren !
5
Never underestimate the redness just beyond city limits in Virginia.
10
Stellar reporting from Mr Edsall. There is now zero surprise that the Republican candidate is the personification of the lobbying industry AND yet endorsed by Trump. To combat the cry of hypocracy, Trump defenders have previously alluded to the 'swamp' as Washington bureaucracy.
Let's just admit it, Trump supporters and non-supporters alike, Trump's 'swamp' rhetoric is just a rallying cry against a bogeyman that needs to be despised. And despising those that don't support the Trump revolution is, in fact, the substance of the revolution.
Middle class Trump supporters are able to ignore Republican efforts to remove useful healthcare and to pass tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations BECAUSE they are caught up in the Trump revolution of despising.
So Trump revolution supporters, enjoy defending confederate statues, enjoy admonishing black football players to stand, enjoy removing access to contraceptives across the globe, and enjoy making people of color, non-Christians, non-heterosexuals, and those citizens of a dissimilar immigrant heritage feel like they are under attack in their own country. Enjoy your Trump revolution of despising while the Republican Party advances its favored legislation for the wealthy and corporations.
The middle class in Virginia who are not fooling themselves about Trump and the Republican Party should absolutely get to the polls to vote. Reject that revolution for the enjoyment of despising others.
6
Tell me about the analogues, if any, between how Northam has run his
campaign and how Ossoff ran his futile campaign in Georgia...lots of
media money designed around trump hostility as a basis for generating
turnout?? But anything more than that? If someone with Northam's
credentials, but Martin O'Malley's apparent style, can't convince minorities in November 2017 to turn out in giant waves, given Charlottesville in particular, what is the point for thinking that it's effective to run campaigns around an anti-trump theme to increase turnout?
It's too easy to run a push all available hot buttons campaign to instill loathing against candidates who can't generate enthusiasm or talk
to voters in their language about their concerns and how they can
be addressed. If that is what the Gillespie-Northam race boils
down to then it won't be surprising to see the same result
as in the 6th Georgia district.
It will be instructive to compare turnout numbers to see if
the motley assembly of democratic party voters just couldn't
be bothered to turnout, and more importantly and much more significantly,
whether non voters in recent elections who might sympathize somewhat
with democratic policies, or still sulking progressives, decide to vote for
Northam.
Somewhere Northam needs to neutralize the wave of Stewart
voters biting at the bit to vote against their interests yet again. It is a tribute to their lack of insight how easily Gillespie morphed into
one of their own.
4
I’m sure the fears of many mothers and fathers will be allayed by your sympathy for convicted sex offenders.
2
And I happen to know a lot of fathers and mothers here in Virginia who are voting for Northam - but then again they happen to be educated and intelligent enough to recognize exaggerations and truth-twisting when they hear it. Especially when the one slinging that particular clump of mud (Gillespie) voted the exact same way - to restore rights to felons who have completed their sentences. In the less-educated areas of Virginia they eat it up like Winchester hot apple pie and Smithfield bacon.
So do Virginians a favor - worry about what's happening in your own backyard and stay out of this.
4
Win or lose, the closeness of the Virginia election once again reinforces the undeniable fact that we live in deplorable times. Unbelievably, so many people unable or unwilling to see the right path forward.
5
to put it mildly: Clueless democrats are dead. They're going to lose every single election for the foreseeable future. End of story. Now, is anyone else interested in doing something about Trump's America?
6
Gillespie was and always will be a yes man. He rarely had an original idea and never acts in one if a party leader says no. He is just another conservative who will put political party over country.
1
Why is there no "truth in advertising" in politics as required in selling other products? And, politicians are nothing more than products. This is not free speech, these ads are lies and hate speech.
8
I am deluged daily by political ads. Careful (and repeated) viewing refutes Mr. Edsall's. Mr. Northam supported Gov McAuliffe's granting of 'bulk' restoration of voting privileges to felons. Previously that was accorded only after a case-by-case review. While there may be no 'sanctuary cities' Mr. Northam supports the right of localities to refuse to cooperate with INS to identify (and deport after a legal process) illegal aliens. Mr. Edsall may be clever with words but the gist of the anti-Northam ads were correct.
4
I miss the Fairness Doctrine. And I want my media markets balkanized into tidy little local stations that support local jobs and keep the Billionaire money out of the mix.
7
Tomorrow I am flying to from California VA to canvass for a Dem candidate who is running for a delegate seat in the state legislature on Nov 7. I am committed to doing everything I can to assist Dems in other states to vote more Dems into office so the census in 2020 will reflect the true colors of America and thus affect redistrcting. Virginia is a winnable state! There are lots more opportunities coming up (Midterms, anyone?) and I invite all concerned Americans to participate with me.
America- change it or lose it.
8
What has a republican actually done in the last 40 yrs. that has directly helped or in any way provided tangible benefits to the middle class? What do they offer now other than more of the same old nothing? As Gillespie's race shows, there's nothing but pandering to fear, racial prejudices, and spite - sticking to the other guy. There is absolutely nothing inspiring, hopeful or uplifting in his message if you could call simply slandering and lying about his opponent a message. He's just another slimy creature of the swamp, selling the same bait & switch to the gullible, who never seem to understand who stole their lunch money.
4
The good news is democratic turnout in the primary was over 60% higher than republican turnout. We've been doing all we can to ensure that carries over to the general election this Tuesday.
3
Enough of waiting in long lines, lets promote mail-in ballots, make it easier. change voting to Saturday.
Politics have become so complicated, we can fix what we can to preserve our basic rights. We can all do something to hold on to our dear America.
6
Vote by mail works fine in Oregon.
Several weeks to research & mark your ballot.
No lost days of work.
Clearly monitored paper trail & recountability.
Volunteers monitor collection & counting of ballots.
No wondering if those machines are losing or flipping votes.
Election day should be a holiday anyway, but without the hassles of waiting in line for a chance to do what should be encouraged & made easier: participate in fair elections.
5
Of course, what is shocking -- and depressing -- about this off-year election is that it seems to further demonstrate that hitching your wagon to an explicitly racist agenda is proving an effective (or at least viable) election strategy in 21st century America.
It's tough to see how any sort of all-inclusive democracy can survive in this sort of environment. But's let's face it. Neither Trump (nor would it appear his supporters) were ever all that wild about an inclusive democracy in the first place. I also heard it observed that in much of middle America -- that is "Trump country", no person of color can ever be considered a "real" American.
I'm beginning to fear that they were on to something.
8
Whether Democrat Ralph Northam wins or loses, the exit polling will be interesting - to see if some moderate former/estranged Republicans or Republican-leaning independents voted for Mr. Northam. That may indicate that some Republicans are now willing to vote for a Democrat over a Republican with extreme policy proposals - IF they don't have a moderate Republican choice. IMO that could bode well for similar suburban and rural elections in 2018 - but we'll see.
P.S. Interesting that Bernie Sanders isn't endorsing Lt. Gov. Northam:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanders-sits-out-a-tight-race-in-vi...
"Sanders has held off on endorsing the Democrat after Northam defeated his pick, former Rep. Tom Perriello, in the primary. Perriello, though, quickly backed Northam, as did DNC Chair Tom Perez, who told reporters at a breakfast Tuesday organized by the Christian Science Monitor that "our unity is our biggest strength."
"All of which makes Sanders’ behavior all the more puzzling. Some Democratic loyalists went so far as to call Sanders their Steve Bannon, meaning he will happily sink more mainstream and establishment Democrats to make a point..."Northam is the most progressive candidate for governor in Virginia, versus the epitome of what they (Bernie’s progressives) say they hate," says the Democratic strategist, pointing out that Gillespie’s career as a lobbyist makes him one of the "swamp creatures" that Trump likes to ridicule..."
6
I'm with Bernie on this one.
If Virginians can't decide to vote for the mainstream Democrat over this Gillespie character, then the state is lost to reason.
Presumably those who might vote for an even more liberal Dem will go for Northam & not sit out the election for lack of a perfect candidate. They don't need Bernie to tell them to do this. Idealism voiced during the campaign is different from actually voting for one of the choices on the ballot.
Bernie needs to keep his powder dry for the inevitable debate that will be necessary to pull the Northam-style Democrats along towards actual real progress in the near future.
3
Gillespie illuminates in high relief the central illusion of Trump suporters' belief in Trump's campaign promise to "drain the swamp."
They have been led to believe that if the establishment politcians, the "elites," are removed, government will return to representing them and making them winners, and that Trump will bring this about.
They have been led to believe a lie. A scam. A con by those intent on undermining democracy for their own greedy ends.
Yes, Trump and his cronies are busy forcing out establishment Republican politicians, (though he has done little to do so on the Democratic side, allowing them to so focus on how terrible he is that they don't have to address their own side of the swamp).
What those who voted for him failed to consider is that they voted for the very definition of an "elite" to repopulate the swamp in his own image. That image is not of Trump supporters, except superficially, to get votes. It is the image of a demagogue so certain of his own entitlement to wealth, power, attention, and personal loyalty that he dosn't just want to get his way, to be a winner at all times, he expects it.
While this attitude may have kept Trump from drowning in his own inadequacies, it is a disaster in our elected representatives, because their job is not to serve themselves, but the people, the Constitution, our democracy.
Trump supporters were sold a lie and he, Gillespie, Moore, and the rest, are what we get as a result.
2
oh, it's not Ed's fault. it's the whole Republican Party and their operatives for the last four decades. Everyone lurches to the right, and then to the far right, to improve poll numbers -- scaring people into voting for you, or else.
McCain did it. Poppy Bush did it. W did it. So did Reagan. Because it worked for Nixon, it became the playbook.
When Republicans discard fear-mongering and race-baiting, they may become a governing party. Until then, they're not qualified.
2
I vote primarily Democratic but the Dems need to toughen up and go on the attack which they do not do. All that I hear from them is oh those bad Republicans attacking poor people, Immigrants and others. While that is true instead of sounding so sensitive attack them back in the same way they attack the Democrats. Just remember that Trump plays to his base and they are people who vote. While it is only right to protect the underclass do they vote?
1
The Republican is a lobbyist and influence peddler who cozies up to Trump and uses nonsense to frighten voters by warning them that his opponent will "coddle immigrant gangs and restore voting and Second Amendment rights to sex offenders."
The Democrat is a physician and graduate of VMI, an Army veteran who served in Desert Storm, and volunteers his time as a medical director to care for terminally ill children.
That this race is even close is a testament to Republican mastery of manipulating voter fear and anger, and Democratic ineptness at countering it with a message that resonates to more voters.
9
Amazing that an attack ad that actually has truth to it and favors the Democratic candidate is pulled for being too inflammatory, while Gillespie’s team (and Trump himself) can say whatever they want- lying and completely distorting the facts day after day and get away with it. It behooves every Virginian with a conscience to get out and vote against the hatred and bigotry Gillespie will continue to proliferate as a Trump groupie in office. Stand up Virginia and show America you don’t support this 21st Century Civil War our so-called President has started.
True American values do not allow for blatant lies that divide our nation to rule the day. A win for Ralph Northam will show the world we have a collective conscience that transcends the bullying Trump’ and his supporters are using to dismantle the America we love.
5
Obviously if you cast a vote for Ed Gillespie for Governor next Tuesday you are casting a vote for Donald J. Trump. And if you have some excuse(e.g. "I'm just too tired") for not getting to the polls on November 7th, you are also casting a vote for Donald J. Trump.
6
Thank you Mr. Edsall. This is an incredibly important opinion piece -- that highlights not only the sick divisive pandering of the Republican Party, but also the depravity of too much of our voting electorate. In no civilized country should the Trump/Gillespie molotov cocktail of racism and contempt for our progressive ideals and democracy, have any salience with the voting electorate.
But here's the thing -- you have written that northern educated liberals (nastily referred to as "elitists" because we dared to get an education and better our lots in life) and the Democratic party generally practice "identity politics" and supposedly do not care about [white] "working class voters." Sorry, but what Ed Gillespie is doing is how you appeal to those voters. They don't care about what economic policies are going to work (Hilary Clinton's policies by the way, whatever corporatist flaws they had were still far better for the working class than the Republican/Trump toxic nonsense) -- they care about sticking it to the "other". This is what identity politics are. Republicans practice the worst brand of identity politics and gleefully laugh in their gerrymandered offices pinning that on the Democrats. Please stop supporting this perversion. The only way to prevent the country from sinking further into the morass is to expose the Republican fraud for what it is -- and stop blaming Democrats for flaws they don't have (and then we'll work constructively on the flaws they do have!)
3
It is astonishing that, even as Trump's ratings are hitting all-time lows due in large part to his bullying, endless blatant & compulsive lying, degrading of opponents, & total incompetency, any person with an IQ higher than a sack of hammer handles would actually "Trumpify" his campaign. All Trump has left in his cult of adoring supporters is his original base. Today, we know enough about the real Trump behind the "brand" that it's doubtful he could be elected county dog catcher outside of his alt-right districts. Ed Gillespie is (to mix a metaphor) hitching his horse to a sinking ship. In the district he is running, most Republicans are better educated & more worldly than the people you find in the rural southern red states. Gillespie may attract the white supremacists, neo-nazis, haters, fearful, & generally bigoted of the alt-right, but, as Adlai Stevenson once said, "Unfortunately...you need a majority."
2
We wonder why nothing is happening in DC despite the GOP's stranglehold on power. Yet look at who is sitting in the chairs and realize that few, if any, ran on a platform of doing positive things for the people, but rather they all ran campaigns trashing their opponents and bearing False Witness.
Is it any wonder that none of them have the skills to get anything done?
11
Funny thing. In the 2000s when Ed Gillespie was a Republican lobbyist, Trump was a Democrat.
But Trump and Gillespie have always shared their most common and important character trait. They are both frauds.
7
Anti-illegal immigration and anti-crime rhetoric are winning issues in Virginia. These two issues are brought together by criminal gangs like MS-13. All the crimes committed by illegal aliens (the term in the US Code), like the members of MS-13, would not have been committed if the illegal alien was not in the United States. I have no sympathy for the other "law abiding" illegal aliens who are victimized by other illegal alien criminals. All illegal aliens should return voluntarily or be forcefully returned to their countries of origin.
4
"The governor’s race in Virginia reveals the depth of the president’s power to shape the Republican Party of 2017.?
The NYTimes is as lost in the wilderness as ever. It's not that Trump is re-shaping Gillespie, it's that Gillespie is trying to represent voters ("deplorables") who have been abandoned by elitist Democrats. In that sense, he is doing just what he should - he's trying to give those voters a voice in the political process.
5
The GOP of decades ago is gone, replaced by Trump per your previous essay. Gillespie knows which side his bread is buttered. All GOP will follow der leader or perish politically. The fever gripping America won't break until catastrophe strikes. Now is the time for Democrats to demonstrate they can lead the country, and for Democrats to actually vote in elections.
2
Democrats in Virginia know that Ed Gillespie is lying through his teeth and that long ago he mastered the technique of smiling while he lies. If a few, just a few, angry Republicans looking for reforms in Washington realized what a phony Gillespie is, the election in Virginia would not be even be close.
Thomas Edsall does such great research and lays out an argument so well, there must be a way to purchase space or time in the neutral or Republican-owned media to broaden Edsall’s audience.
1
Truth is not truth; it's whatever you can make people believe.
Gillespie is well connected, as smooth and polished as hydraulic fracturing slickwater, and smart as a whip. He is a buddy of Trump, whether Trump and Gillespie know it or not.
Yesterday, there was a random killing of three innocent shoppers at a Walmart, and gunman hasn't been caught. No front page for this news....business as usual here in the U.S.
Of course, no word from Ed Gillespie on this gun violence. We know what Ed Gillespie feels about gun control. After the Charlottesville riot and Vegas machine gunning-down of hundreds of concert goers, Gillespie, with his “A” rating from the N.R.A. which has booked over $1 million in TV ads to run through Election Day, Nov. 7, noted a few hours after the Vegas shooting: 'it was too early to discuss policy responses to gun violence'. And as his spokesman said, “Ed will be a strong defender of Virginians’ Second Amendment rights.’’
Gillespie's staunch support of organizations that promote everyone in America owning a machine gun is a primary reason he will lose next week. Another reason, of course, is his position regarding health care, where Gillespie opposes Medicaid expansion for the poor to cover more low-income Virginians.
VA voters will decide in five days whether Slick Ed, Trump's henchman in VA, should lead them into the future with reduced health care benefits and machine guns for all.
1
When you see the word "freedom" in the title of an advocacy group, think right wing. When you fee the word "family," think right wing. Now, when people like Gillespie and Trump use the word "heritage," think white wing.
3
Well, we know that "Trumpification" is good for securing the GOP base. We shall soon find out if it works for the general population. Here's hoping that the US remains among the world's civilized nations.
1
If Trumpsky is so wildly unpopular in Virginia, with a disapproval rating of two to one, why is his "Trumpskified" candidate for governor trailing by only three to four points?
5
I would invite everyone to watch both the MS-13 and latino victory truck ads. The MS-13 ad is a typical mudslinging campaign ad. Not admirable, not inspiring. You've seen its like before on both sides. The Latino Victory Fund ad shows a Gillespie voter trying to run down children in his truck. I have never seen a more disgusting ad. After watching, I promise you will be disgusted as well. Perhaps, bias will turn your disgust against your fellow Americans, and convince you to view Gillespie voters as subhuman monsters (as is the purpose of the ad). Even the venomous Willie Horton ad only attacked Dukakis. This ad labels a broad swath of VOTERS as raging psychopaths that slaughter children. The Latino Victory Fund appears to be so proud of the ad, they pulled it. Ultimately the message was so nasty, it may backfire.
5
If you think about it, the sewage being spewed by Gillespie, Trump and the Republicans is hardly different from the ads posted by the Putin mob on social media.
2
The painting of Ed Gillespie as a dark, evil figure is odd since his background is strikingly similar to that of current democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe. The idea that the GOP campaign is somehow more edgy than Northam's is laughable - while Thomas notes the Latino Voter ad (perhaps the most extreme I've ever seen) he failed to note the racial activities of the Northam campaign. In particular, removing the picture of Northam's black Lt Governor candidate from mailers in certain areas. At the end of the day, Northam is so dull, bland and uninspiring that he makes Ed Gillespie look like he's on fire, and that's pretty hard to do.
1
I've always wondered how the Trumps and Gillespies manage to look themselves in the mirror after the campaigns they run. Maybe they simply don't.
2
Mr. Gillespie is no stranger to mud-slinging. As Chair of the RNC during the 2004 campaign was at best silent and at worst complicit about the Swift Boat attacks on Viet Nam veteran John Kerry and then served as "GWB's pit-bull" during his second term of office. In looking at his past history, it seems implausible that Ed Gillespie is a "traditional, Main Street, “big tent” Republican"... If anything, Ed Gillespie's tactics early in his career set the stage for President Trump's birther campaign, chants to lock up his opponent, misleading tweet storms, and willingness to do whatever is needed to get elected and activate his base. Here's hoping voters in VA see through Mr. Gillespie and help restore civility to our politics.
1
"Nationwide, an estimated 2.6 million African-Americans cannot vote because of criminal disenfranchisement laws."
That's way too many people not being allowed to vote to call ourselves a democracy.
1
I remember Gillespie pushing the fake Niger yellow cake claim that Iraq had WMDs prior to the invasion which cost trillions and created Isis. Virginia must defeat him!
2
No surprises here. The majority of Republicans wear the clothes of respectability, but they turn to the dark side without qualm when the need arises. The dog whistle thing is just cover for the real thing, which is a remorseless willingness to sink as low as is necessary. Papa Bush, that high-minded exemplar, had no compunction using Willie Horton ads. Many would kill their own mothers.
2
For a short while this year ,for the first time ,conservative comments were getting printed.Much to my surprise ,mine also ,for the first time in years of having an online ,and paid subscription.Then suddenly they stopped again ,completely,printing any conservative opinions. The comments were very graduated and mild as mine were ,as far as being not of the 100% liberal following of the times. However now I fear we've fallen back into the Russian journalism mode where actual opinions are taboo. Its sad,except that this mode is a winning model for the right lately in almost all elections. Long live Gillespie ,long may you run,Sir.
Nothing reveals the character of the people more than the vote they cast. What a nasty campaign built on a house of lies on the one hand, and a solid American, dedicated to making life better for people, on the other. I hope Virginia reveals its better nature.
1
"Pre-Trump, Gillespie would have rejected “the working-class, populist sensibility that is the beating heart of the Republican Party right now,”
Yes, gutting health care for working class Americans to pay for obscene tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% is what the beating heart of the working class of America pines for. Goebbels would surely be flattered by the imitation of his propaganda techniques by the conservative media.
As for Gillespie, all Trump did was to expose his true nature, that of a shallow, greedy, corrupt liar, for all to see. The fact that revealing that makes him more popular with todays Republican voters exposes something about them as well.
2
Corporations and Banks have succeeded to control the United States government.
Uniting the people of the country to VOTE for candidates who will STOP THIS K STREET CONTROL of our lives as Citizens of this country is our only solution!
3
In your effort to demonstrate that Gillespie had been Trumpified, let's not forget that traditional estanlishment Republicans have long been willing to to stoop low. Remember Willie Horton with Bush the First nod his henchman, Lee Atwater? Bush the Second had Karl Rove. Remember how they swiftboated john Kerry's military service? Remember how they vilified gay people in the 2004 election? Trump did not come out of nowhere. The establishment republicans laid the path first. Trump is merely their extremist logical conclusion.
2
Hey, don't pick on the guy. Yes, he is a spineless pol. but so are the great majority of other republicans and btw democrats too.
Republican pol. are sitting on the fence with him until around Aug-Sept to see how Trump is playing in their area and will support him if he is still popular and condemn him if he is not.
Dems do a similar thing. Instead of coming up with populist progressive candidates in the midterms they are salivating that Trump will come to their rescue by being even more stupid and fear him less than Pence and do nothing also. They could be starting censure motions against Trump re his speech and actions.
Give credit to the McCains, Flakes and Corkers. Yes they are either not running or quit but better late then never is better than nothing.
1
It makes me sick to read this. Will our country ever recover? Will those who are easily duped wake up.
1
More of the horror show we have come to know as Trumpism. This president simply does not care about what comes out of his mouth and will do anything to get what he considers a win. We can only hope that Mr. Mueller will be swift in his investigation so we can rid ourselves of this cancer.
If you're a progressive or moderate in Virginia, get out and vote for Ralph Northam. Ed Gillespie has no redeeming value. At first he was simply an old-school corporate Republican serving the interests of the wealthy. Now he's added Trumpian dishonesty and racism to his back of tricks. Don't sit at home. It's up to you!
2
just another example of how trump brings out the worst in people. disgusting, sad as trump says so often. how long will it take to return, or try to find, civility, and out better natures?
2
Are all the Democrats going to get out and vote? All the Trump fans will.
3
Instead of draining the swamp, Trump and allies are spreading the swamp to all 50 states
2
A few days ago Michelle Goldberg had a column dealing with the evolving story of Paul Manafort, titled "The Plot Against America." Mr. Edsall's column could be grouped under this heading, following a modern narrative that has eerie and disturbing threads that could be part of Philip Roth's 2004 novel with the same title: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-frightening-lesso... .
Here is a segment from Brody's "New Yorker" essay:
"...“The Plot Against America” dramatizes the American character as vast, manifold, and inchoate; it can use its prodigious and uninhibited energy for good or for evil, and it shifts under the sudden force of unforeseeable events. The shifts and pivots of the American nation at large are also those of each individual American. The grand political stage and the intimate life are inseparable; identity itself is inextricable from the currents of history. The novel’s mighty psychological weight rests upon a terrifyingly delicate balance of circumstances that depend on whims of chance. ..."
Gillespie's lack of concern for the truth would not have surprised Roth. I am reminded of another dark force during the Civil Rights era--George Wallace, initially more moderate, who was reported to say after he lost the 1958 governor's race: "...you know why I lost that governor's race? ... I was out[N word] by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be out[N word] again."
2
Laura Ingraham’s try that the beating heart of the GOP is middle-class populism is laughably off. The GOP wants to take your healthcare, your retirement vehicle and then and have you fork over your cash to people just like Trump and her.
Host-body for parasites is a more apt image.
3
Lobbying is a legal profession, although, of course, not an honorable one.
The caterpillars of the realm and Shakespeare was right about what to do with them.
Besides that, Gillespie’s self identifying with the worst segments of the Republican Party leaves little hope of his salvation and reemergence as a decent human being. I’m just surprised he wasn’t in Charlottesville marching with the Bannonites.
2
THe implications of the Virginia Republican's intended backlash messaging of the "Latino Victory" ad needs to be amplified. This yet to be organized rag tag Trump army of resentful pickup driving, young self-styled neo- Confederate flag waving thugs is eerily reminiscent of the Brown Shirts of 75 years ago.
2
"The ad was pulled late in the day on Oct. 31."
Democrats: always quick to surrender.
1
The term "race to the bottom" doesn't even do it justice. Every time I think there is a bottom to the lying, incivility and racist appeals, the GOP keeps digging that hole deeper.
2
"Gillespie's other face, however shows him as a hard-line campaigner in the Trump mold, warning that Democrats will ... restore voting and Second Amendment rights to sex offenders."
But Virginia Democrats DID restore these rights to sex offenders. The article even says so later "McAuliffe [Democrat governor] announced that he had restored voting and other rights to 156,221 Virginians who had been convicted of felonies and completed their sentences."
This article is a lot of fear mongering. Ed Gillespie is not a radical, neither is Northam. But thanks for trying to tie Ed to Trump ... the ultimate dog whistle for NYTimes readers.
2
Democrats throughout Virginia need to come and vote against Gillespie.
2
when we think of the "swamp" in DC, Gillespie is the epitome of the word. i cant think of a better example of whats wrong with this country and its "leadership". he is a complete hypocrite with zero ideals except for taking money from people. in other words , he's a perfect candidate for office...
1
No doubt Ed Gillespie once considered himself a “principled conservative”. He now represents an example of how low a Republican is willing to sink in order to win an election. Inflammatory rhetoric, blatant racism, shameless lying. The face of modern Republicanism. And if Gillespie wins, it’s the face of its future.
2
Maybe he should team up with the Podesta boys, make explicit that swamp dwellers span political opinion.
Classic Republican two-faced liar, hypocrite and thief, with no ethics, no morals, no values, no principles, no program and above all, like all Republicans: NO SHAME. Just greed, opportunism, expediency and the willingness to do anything to get elected to serve his owners, the Koch Brothers, and their agenda of reducing Americans to serfs.
1
We will see if at the end of the day, Virginia chooses to affirm the Liar-in-Chief in the Oval Office or vote for Mr. Northam against Donald!
I'm hopeful for Virginia to do the right thing, sending strong message to Republicans.....that NO we don't approve of the Liar-in-Chief or of the cowards in Congress!
Virginia got out and VOTE!
1
I've been appalled by Gillespie's anti-Christian ads that demonize people who already paid for their crimes and hispanics in sanctuary cities as if they're all gangbangers. Are all Trump voters Nazis by association, then? He also suggests he'll pay for better schools by cutting taxes, I'd love to know how that works.
1
He is not all that great without being "Trumpified"
I abhor Gillespie and agree that he is part of the problem, not part of the solution. That said, Democrats are going to lose if they continue to treat white working people as ignorant and entitled. The notion that anyone in a "protected group" should jump line in front of a white person has alienated voters nationwide. At the same time NAFTA sucked union jobs from the South and Appalachia, vocational education was cut in favor of "college for everyone," but scholarships based on financial need shriveled in the face of "merit based" aid which goes mainly to students in wealthy families. Americans grievances are real and not all of them are based on racism. Until we acknowledge that, Democrats are on a losing course.
7
I only partially agree with what you say. For any family in America that emphasizes education and teaches their kids to study hard, there is bountiful opportunity. My dad worked his way out of poverty through books and went to community college before going to a university.
As long as American families don't inculcate the importance of education in their kids, and instead spend their time watching TV and playing sports at the expense of spending time reading or otherwise learning whatever skills that would benefit them, they have nobody to blame for their lack of opportunity but themselves.
Whites tend to blame minorities and immigrants for having a victim mentality, but I see much of the same in the "neglected" whites you are describing.
3
As voters we have a much more difficult task in our ability to assess the qualifications of candidates and to assess what they will do I elected. That candidates would embellish, promise, and play to different groups differently in the past is nothing new. But it is a whole other dimension now. Out and out lying about one's self and his or her opponent is now the norm. This extends to the use of media to lie and distort. And we must now determine the veracity, source, legitimacy of anything we see on Facebook, in tweets, hear from radicalized pundits, or even read by authors and publications that we have trusted in the past to have valued fact and objectivity. We, as voters, have to be careful. What do we want our elected officials to DO, once they get in? And what criteria, evidence, history of actions - what will we use - to determine what elected leaders will do? It is the action, the doing, that is important. Integrity? Values? Vision? It's a whole new ballgame, these upcoming elections. We cannot be sheep. We must identify as societal member wanting what we feel is best for society BEFORE we identify by Party or by the labels of liberal or conservative. Are we up to this task?
2
The name for the newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia is The Virginian-Pilot. Newspapers may be dying but they at least deserve to have their names spelled correctly by other newspapers.
3
What Mr. Edsall is tactfully avoiding, is the take-over of local Virginia politics by WashDC Lobbyists.
Mr. Edsall knows which side his bread his buttered on. He's not about to bite the hand that feeds him.
As the last VA governors election pointed out......nobody running for the office was actually from Virginia!! McAuliffe, Cuchinelli, and even the Libertarian brat......all were from Northern Virginia, land of the Beltway Bandit.....more bureaucratic palace eunuch loyalty to the Federal Govt Largesse than to practical local matters out there where stupid "deplorable" people live "south of the Mason-Dixon Line".
Here we go again......both Gillespie and Northam have spent more time at the DC slop trough, Podesta/Manafort style, than they have participated in local Virginia Politics.
Demographics is the driving force. Fairfax, Arlington, Loudon, Prince William Counties(NoVa) by themselves almost outnumber the entire state of Virginia. And I anticipate the shrill self-righteous condemnation of the average NYT reader, but its true......Northern Virginia is indeed the province of immigration, legal and otherwise, and these poor souls are easily manipulated by Fear Mongering and Tammany Hall Style DNC Politics.....at odds with the concerns of the rest of the State.
1
Last I checked, PEOPLE vote in elections, not land. Regardless of your disagreements with the politics of Northern Virginia, they have just as much a right to have a voice in Virginia politics as people in the rest of the state.
3
With regard to Gillespie, the Swamp is trying to grow larger and slimier
2
Nation: heal thyself! The grotesque Trump gets his validation from us. He's nothing if we say no to his hate-filled, mendacious pablum.
3
Hello fellow liberals. If you might stop lecturing everyone on diversity, the perils of merit, and the futility of measurement, and stop chortling over polls of Trump's declining popularity, put down your po-po-mo texts and Chomsky's huzzas, and walk out of the insulated salon, you might want to pay attention to this great article. Yes, there will be a quiz.
This article makes clear that Trump is not riding any temporary wave of white nationalism and whitelash. Trump reflects a tectonic shift, and Gillespie is learning to personally benefit from said shift (Edsall provides solid evidence of Gillespie's chameleon like ability to profit personally in the shaky, ruthless Washington).
Tectonic shift? The white christian (male) has now acquired the status of a victim. This guy is ready to regain control of his destiny denied him by a black president for eight years and by brown immigrants (who are all murderers, terrorists, or at least rapists). Gillespie found that out rather quick, and is attacking his opponent as a stooge of Mexican murderers and Muslim terrorists - and he will win. The immediate traction he got indicates a tectonic shift, not a wave.
Fellow liberals; you have no constituency left; i.e., Trump might have zero approval - but no one is voting for you anyway. You championed self-satisfaction, equivocation, and disdain for rigor. This is what makes for perennial loser in American politics. Kindly get present to this reality.
Kalidan
4
Please. A lecture from a "fellow liberal"? In what alternative universe. You sound like all those Republicans who hated MLK Jr as much as they hate BLM now but pretend that they "admired" him then. And as for "disdain for tight" look to all those Republicans including so called doctors who know or care care nothing about science or facts
3
When they actually look like a common, sleazy televangelist, that's a huge clue. Just say " NO ". Bigly, NO.
3
All we can hope is the Trump tide will turn as fast as it has for sexual predators.
God forbid we have a recession or a real crisis to expose his complete inability to govern. With apologies to Potrero Rico.
Then the next insurmountable problem is the buffoon Pence. And Citizens United. And Gerrymandering. We don't fix those I don't see a path out of this mess,
1
Well said. There's a whole parade of obstacles between the current situation and an optimal situation where common sense, honesty, competence, experience, truth, fact-based decision-making, an rationality rule the day.
1
If Virginia has not learned from the few damaging months of Trump, then they deserve Gillespie. I would imagine the very ignorant rural voters in the south of the state will come out in droves to support tired old Ed and their perceived savior Trump. It is up to the northern part of the state who rejected Trump will do so to the republican nominee for guv. Bill Maher was right when he declared americans are 'stupid' but not all let's hope the smart ones prevail in this election.
2
I’ve been in Richmond lately, and the NRA is running wall to wall blatant lie ads against Northam. They also conveniently forget to mention Guilespie is the Republican Candidate. They are lying thieves , the only way that they can win. Virginians, get out and vote
3
If anybody in Virginia wants to know what the most polluted bottom of the swamp can produce meet Ed Gillespie. He's your man, a demagogue's demagogue.
6
Ed Gillespie is a political opportunist, a republican, that will say anything to get elected...and continue to rob us clean, a classic Machiavellian thug (the end justifying his unethical means). He must be defeated, if we still believe that politics is the art of the possible, and requiring players that are fair and square...instead of self-serving, 'a la Trump'.
4
The television ads are non-stop, unrelenting and totally dishonest. I mean it is downright depressing here in Virginia. Is it really worth lying about everything to get to the Governor's mansion? I guess so. It is not just the governor's race with the grotesque, inflammatory ads but also the Attorney General's race and many others. This is what our father's and grandfathers sacrificed so much in World War II to give us a free and just society?! Is this what you feel you have to do to get elected? How does one explain to the children what this all means?! The whole thing is despicable. Don't believe me...come to Virginia and turn on the TV set. You will get a taste of it within five minutes and you will feel the need to head to the shower to get the slime off of you.
3
Edsall would have some small amount of credibility if he but once criticized the Clinton Foundation, which dwarfs Gillespie's antics as an in-and-out kind of guy.
1
That RW projection is not your friend. Try to focus on the real swamp right in front of you that actually dwarfs any "antics" that are made u about Clinton. Trump certain tweets enough about it and doesnt hide his antics at all
The Clinton Foundation is only a scandal in the fevered imaginations of the extreme right. It has never had a charge filed against it and the international agencies that rate humanitarian foundations routinely give it an A rating.
The Trump Foundation, OTOH, has repeatedly been used by The Donald as his own slush fund. Trump hasn't put a penny in the foundation since 2008 - the major source of funding comes from foreign oligarchs currying favor. Whenever Trump is caught in the legal sausage grinder, he avoids trial & jail by making huge monetary settlements (like the $25 million settlement to avoid trial when his Trump University scam collapsed). And, surprise, surprise, his "settlements" are almost always written on checks to the Foundation. Trump cheats one and all, and, when caught, uses other people's (usually foreign billionaires) money to pay his fines to the courts or the SEC. With all of the faux scandal-mongering the Republicans have done about both Clintons, the only thing they have been able to actually charge and prove was that Bill lied about a stain on Monica's blue dress (as much to keep his dalliance from his wife as the country). Hillary has been cleared by at least 8 different Benghazi investigations - most of them GOP-led. Even Trey Gowdy, after admitting he couldn't find anything criminal in her actions admitted his 2-year investigation successfully did its real job by lowering Clinton's poll numbers & giving red meat to the extreme right.
2
It's all about money. The GOP is robbing from the poor -- you and your retirement plans -- with only one goal: give huge -- and these are heretofore unseen amounts -- tax deductions to the rich and Big Biz so that they can turn the entire nation into a swamp. Unless Americans wake up and stifle the urge to re-elect Trump (and what has he given you to date that makes losing your retirement worth voting for him again?) you and yours and your hard won wages are going to be penny-ante-ized. Forget any sympathy for the working man and woman in Trumpland. You're going to work for them because you have to. Why because all that money they're saving in taxes henceforth they're going to pay out to big stockholders. They'll but up the mansions and jet hither and yon at the drop of a hat.
That's because they can more than afford it.
And you can't even to afford to buy a new care.
All because of this sucker play of the GOP and Donald which egged you on to save all your catcalls fore Hillary instead of Goldie Locks et al.
Wake up! For God's sake, WAKE UP!
2
Virginians do NOT need a trump "mini-me" anywhere near our state.
Ed Gillespie has, in his own words (and through the deeds of the scurrilous individuals working to promote his White Pride agenda), shown that he is UNFIT to be in office.
4
A veteran lobbyist for Enron and other such corporate or political shell games, Gillespie freely uses 'alternate facts' in attacking his opponent, and spares no smarm in appealing to the debased base of Cracker Nation, those who have drunk Trump's kool-aid and worship beside him at the altar of the patron saint of the lost cause, Jim Crow. He is already worse than that malfeasant oaf Bob McDonnell and we can only hope he will not be elected.
3
He was a hack well before Trump, spewing divisive dog whistle garbage for many GOP candidates including Reagan and the Bush family. History matters.
2
An apt ad again`st Ed would have him dressed in a skirt and blouse. The skirt to represent Ed`s ability to skirt the law on lobbying and the blouse to hide the swamp monster tactics. Ed in reality has shown he has more masks to wear than a halloween costume store. It isn`t the swamp we should fear, it is the invasive outsider swamp monsters like Ed.
3
Republican candidates are immune to any such analysis because their voters would rather slit their wrists than vote for a Democrat. Get that "R" next to your name and all you have to do is appeal their lowest denominator, the rest will just go along with it.
3
CARTOON:
Puppet - Ed Gillespie
Puppeteer - trump
Caption: "He's Lost His Mind"
2
Disgusting politics. Just keeps getting lower and lower..
2
winners are coming, so much winning; hide your daughters, bury your cheer, did I mention Hillary today?
Virginia is a bellwether. Will the blatantly racist Trump/Gillespie message win or will Virginia elect a veteran and decent man like Northam? The fact Northam isn’t ahead in polls by double digits is a disgraceful indicator that many Virginians are deplorables.
3
Wow, the left must really be scared of Ed Gilespie to the NYTimes to publish this piece which seeks to put him in the worst possible light while describing his opponent only in kind terms.
For NYTimes readers - reread the first paragraph as "Ed Gillespie is the antithesis of a 'Trump Republican.'" That's basically what it says. Now ask yourself, does he sound like such a bad guy?
Before you slide to "but he's changing now" read the comment by Professor Sabato. It says he's walking a fine line, dong the bare minimum to get enough Trump voters to the polls.
It hardly sounds like Ed has been "Trumpified." The truth is that both Northom and Gillespie are fairly middle of the road poltiticians - something that should be celebrated. But this paper just can't help itself, can it?
6
Wasn’t Eddie a respected Republican, once upon a time?
Times do change.
A perfect example of what political prostitution really is.
2
For those who just skimmed this piece:
TLDR: Gillespie bad, Northam good
1
What Gillespie has in his favor is that Republicans just want to win at any cost and would cast their votes for Satan if he was on the Republican ticket. This was shown, already, with the election of Trump, a bombastic idiot who brags about being a sexual predator, who coddles the KKK and lies the way most people breathe. Knowing this, Republicans voted for him anyway. The key to saving this country, and it really is in danger of being lost to the ignorant haters, is for independents to voice their views at the polls and for democrats to show up in numbers. The future of our nation is at stake.
2
Trump supporters are killing this country.
2
The deplorables cannot “kill this country” if we don’t allow them to.
We are a distinct majority of the American citizenry, but that means little if all of “us” fail to exercise the most important aspect of our Nation.
There never was a good excuse for any US citizen not in a coma to skip voting.
Last years tragedy should energize our side of the electorate to stop the madness ruining our country.
If it fails to do that, then we must recognize that we, The People, have not lived up to Benjamin Franklin’s challenge when asked as he left Constitution Hall what type of government had been agreed to that day.
He stated, “A Republic, if you can keep it”.
1
I guess we will see just how dumb and gullible Virginians are next Tuesday.
I already did; I couldn't take it anymore. I moved away several years ago! Am not holding out much hope in this situation...
Trump-Gillespie sleaze tactics aside, what about the imbeciles who accept their poisonous, lying messaging at face value?
2
The same ad agencies with the approval of Gillespie...create the misinformation skewed with the same results as the pharma corp.
Shame on them...do u think those poor people in Southern Virginia will read this article in the NYT?.....no they just believe what their republican master in NY who never went to church a day in his life...says will save them..scary the blatant lying...use of Gods name.
1
Of course, it is not about the citizens of Virginia and their well being, it is about political power at ANY cost - Mr. Gillespie's morals (assuming he has some), and state and country well after party and power.
I sincerely hope the folks in the DC suburbs show up to vote en masse or else, Virginia will likely wade right into the toxic sludge that is the Republican Party of Trump, 2017. The rest of us be da**ned.
1
He seems better than Governor Ultrasound.
Well there isn’t a Republican that doesn’t have at least one screw loose..and that’s just for starters. Then they just move into meanness and greed.
1
Ed Gillespie is scum. He is a lobbyist by trade. Now he has assumed the role as a bigoted, backwards looking candidate for governor. Put the two vitaes up against each other without a name or party. Clearly Northam is the superior candidate. He is a man of the people, what I would describe as a real patriot. He didn't need to go into the military. Heck, he didn't need to go to VMI and endure 4 years of torture to serve in the military. He did because he walks the walk, not just talk the talk. Bookend that with his status as a doctor, a pediatrician no less, and you have a real winner. Ed Gillespie, he's a lobbyist, which is just pond scum any way you cut it. So I have to ask all the Donnie John supporters who are foaming at the mouth again, do you have a mirror in your house.
3
And the Willie Horton ad didn’t give you a clue 30-40 years ago?
28
Not so fast Eddie has always held dear the post Reagan republican attitude that winning a political office automatically entitles the winner to completely disregard all non-republicans.
Gilly personifies the smarmy, condescending mantra of contemporary GOP mindset, as he was RNC chair during that party’s transition away from their former standards.
I have hope that a majority of Virginians will reject that poseur, although racial animus is strong there, and that will energize those who identify with white supremacy.
8
Trump tries to makes it easy for the racists to choose sides but leaves some uncertainty. "he might even save our great statues". Then again, he might not. You can only count on Trump to figure out how to save statues.
2
“In fact,” the author writes about attack ads accusing the Democratic candidate of promoting sanctuary cities, “there were no such ads.” The phrase “in fact” strikes me as the ultimate in irony. We busy, mistrustful Americans simply can’t be bothered with facts, only gut feelings. I fear “in fact” will soon lose its meaning and fall into disuse, along with “the truth is”—apparently also optional these days.
10
This is nothing new. People want to be enraged or entertained not informed. They enjoyed Trump’s act not Hilary’s numerous position papers. It’s what the character Proximo in “Gladiator” told Maximus, “I was the best because the crowd loved me”.
6
What Mr. Gillespie’s changing strategy—going low—tells me is that he is a man that is low on principle and high on victory! I doubt that this is a recent development so I am reluctant to agree with the headline writer that Gillespie is being Trumpified—he was probably there all along!
6
The story of the Latino Victory Fund "American Nightmare" ad is quite a story. When the ad hit the air, Gillespie hit the air on Fox News and Fox & Friends. Soon the ad was pulled. There are two lessons taught by this story.
First, Fox News did not extend equal time to the Northam campaign. We need to restore the fairness doctrine.
Second, Fox News is a Republican resource. Democrats do not have an equivalent resource. That is one heck of an advantage. The concentration of radio and tv station ownership is a trend that needs to be reversed.
Donald Trump is not a populist. He is establishment Republican. He works hard to distinguish himself from other Republican opponents by campaigning with a faux populist spin. It works for other candidates too and it will work until it doesn't.
13
Some points of contention:
1) The article presents the fact that there are no sanctuary cities in VA to rebut the fact that Northam cast the deciding vote in favor of sanctuary cities. He did as Lt. Gov break a tie vote in favor of sanctuary cities. That there aren't any doesn't erase or mitigate this fact.
2) A group that put out a racist ad (all white people in the ad are portrayed as racist child murderers) in favor of Northam is described in the best possible light " an independent progressive political action committee with a mission of growing Latino political power." While ads put out in favor of Gillespie are only described in terms the opposition has framed them "what became known as his 'Rape, Kill, Oppress' television ads.: Became known as that by whom?
3) The article tries to link Gillespie to Trump without ever doing so. They don't appear together. Gillespie doesn't invoke Trump favorably. There aren't even any demonstrated links through people common to both campaign staffs - and VA borders DC.
3
>
Get use to it.
80% of GOP voters love and support DJT. With that kind of support the entire GOP will be Trumpified or out of office.
And for those calloused optimists that think this will bring the Dems into power you are playing with fire.
We have an abundance of right-wing cranks that can put these people into office, and the Dems are so scattered and going down so many rabbit-holes these new rightwing ideologues will sooner or later gain power. It may take a few election cycles but rest assured they'll get there.
That's how the dialectic of history works. Read the tea leafs. It's all playing out right in front of you. Positive thinking ain't going to get you by on this one.
"Things are in the saddle and are riding mankind."
Emerson
7
Yes, 80% of Republicans support Donald but they are the 38% of the entire nation who still support him! The GOP cannot win with 38% of the overall vote, they have lost Independents and certainly Democrats. The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows 67% disapproval for Donald!
2
We get the government we deserve.
If the good people of Virginia vote for Gillespie, they are saying that they approve of a campaign of lies and of race baiting.
People who do not approve of this MUST get out to vote and get people who agree with them out to vote. It is important to send a message to Trump and to the nation.
11
Gillespie is only following the Republican Candidate Playbook created many years ago by Lee Atwater, and refined over the years by cynical but very capable GOP campaign consultants: attack, attack, attack. Destroy your opponent with everything you can think of. Employ dog whistle tactics. Smear your opponent. Doesn't have to be true or factual or fair; the point is, WIN at all costs.
It has worked very well. Got Trump into the White House and it will get Roy Moore into the Senate. It has produced a GOP Congress of fringe politicians, right wing fanatics and cowardly dullards, all of whom employed the Atwater blitzkrieg to good effect.
The Democrats do not know how to do this. That's why Northam will probably lose.
15
Hoping that Virginia will go vote! The more Virginians origin the better for Mr. Northam!
1
This is exactly right. Democrats have been getting rolled by the same tactics for decades now, so don't expect anything to change.
1
It should be a felony to lie in election campaigns.
8
No GOP politician ever went broke overestimating the gullibility of their supporters.
17
I have always cringed when Ed Gillespie was/is an "expert" on political shows. He is such a smart alec - always seems to have that "I have a secret" smirk on his face.
Your secret is out, Mr. Gillespie. You want to help Steve Bannon and the Russians/other international Robber Barons take over The United States of America. Do you actually think you will remain one of their "chosen few"?
Sharks eat sharks and you are as disposable as every other one of their operatives.
Good People of Virginia, do NOT be fooled by this man. He is out to try to further destroy YOUR lives for his Robber Baron bosses. Do not let them.
19
I disagree: Trump did not invent fear-mongering, ridiculous exaggeration, and simply ignoring inconvenient truths and Gillespie's adoption of these approaches is not because of our President. Nor is anything of this a modern twist: nineteenth century elections and the surrounding hoopla matched or exceeded anything we are now seeing. What has changed is that our post-WWII history was trending upward in terms of the democratic cornerstones, a prosperous, educated, engaged middle class and now it is not.
Trump is a logical consequence of Fox News: in today's hyper-connected life experience, there's TOO MUCH information. Fox News is a solution to the confusion and contradiction: tell a whole story (in terms of emotional and intellectual LEVELS of content) that affirms the listener's sense of understanding and engagement, and you become the leadership. The fact that so much reality stands in the way is easily lost amidst the overwhelming array of alternative contentions; that is what Fox News, and now Trump, offer to the lion's share of that middle class that rose up as technology blossomed and the US was the ready provider to rebuild a post-war world who's factories and centers (outside the US) had been the main target. Of course, they wish for a better, simpler old days.
7
Melquiades:
I do not think Mr. Edsall was attempting to report on the history of fear's uses in politics. That written record goes back, at the very least, to Thucydides in ancient Greece. Nothing new there.
That does not mean we should ignore what is in ascendance in our country, most recently manifested by the guy in the White House, and facilitated by modern "social" media. Gillespie, in this regard, is just another minor demon.
Why tell the truth when it's so obvious that lies are a) believed by far more people if it fits their fears and preconceptions and b) shown to work magnificently as this administration-by-gaslight demonstrates on a daily basis. If lying works, then lying blatantly and disavowing the facts as "fake news" works even better. I do not see how we come out of this as an intact nation.
30
No surprise here. I can't think of a Republican in the last 30 years who did not campaign by lying or playing dirty in some way. The moderate Republican is dead. I mean even Flake who is essentially a Tea Partier can't make it. Trump did not create the hate and fear tactics, he brought them out into the open and made them legitimate.
I live in rural Virginia and my hope is that the Democrats keep up the momentum since Trump's "election". I have never seen such energy, and the amount of Northam yard signs around are unprecedented around here. I suspect that Republicans will start to see the result of Trumpism and make them very sorry.
32
I hope you're right, otherwise our goose is cooked and we'll have a fascist government.
2
What are the democrats doing to effectively beat the Republican juggernaut? The Republicans have a terrific strategy and they are using it to its full advantage. The Dems finally aired one ad with some teeth, and as soon as it was attacked, they pulled the ad, something the Republicans never do.
The Dems desperately need to develop an aggressive strategy they can live with. They keep on taking the high road and spouting facts, and look where that has landed us.
As much as I detest them, I have to admire the Republican Party’s immediate response to changing attitudes and their coherent strategy, two assets the Dems have yet to acquire.
16
The Democrats -- always bringing plastic spoons to a gunfight.
2
The fact the Dems “keep taking the high road and spouting facts” is a good thing. Do you teach your children to attack, cheat and lie just to win a race? And tell other children who want to compete honestly that their strategy is flawed? How can your country have come to this place?
2
@Maude -- I agree with you, but @susanb is correct to point out that the Republican tactics have been very successful while the Democrats lose again and again. All the great ideas and high-minded ideals in the world don't matter if you can't get elected.
3
Reading only as far as the sentence: "With that background in mind, let’s take a look at the current Virginia gubernatorial campaign" is enough to feel like we need a bath; finishing the piece makes the reader feel they've been dragged through the swamp.
Why is it that GOP'ers are so determined - as a core principle - to make this country into a copy of numerous tin horn dictatorships on display daily around the planet ?
GOPers' shape-shifting to hide their project goals is the ultimate (deepest sarcasm) in awesomeness.
35
Mourn Democracy,
Plutocracy has taken over
Paving the way for Theocracy
If impeachment occurs.
2
"If painting Northam as a friend to violent Salvadoran gangs and pedophiles seems like a stretch, that’s American politics in 2017. "
This is just sick. I'm not from Virginia but feel for the people there, having Donald Trump swoop down and hijack a campaign to reflect his brand of habitual lies, false accusations, and code words for racial and cultural bigotry.
Shame on Ed Gillespie.
Northam sounds like he's giving an awful lot back to the state that educated him: care for sick children, kindness, civility, and a spirit of optimism.
If Gillespie wins, look for further erosion of the political climate. A died in the wool swamp creature, this lobbyist stands for everything wrong with America today, a culture of mendacity, racism, and a willingness to paint an upstanding Virginian as something he's decidedly not.
62
Yes, and this erosion will result in a constitutional convention where the wealthy and demented will create a new "constitution" that will put them in power permanently.
1
He needs to play with his own deck. Rockefeller Republicanism has failed to offer America a distinct alternative to the adult counterculture. A philosophy that zenithed with Desert Storm, and was eulogized with Poppy receiving a Profile in Courage Award -- for reneging on a pledge. No eternal flame, no perpetual care for the deceased.
7
The Trumpification of the GOP has been going on for decades; Atwater, Rove, Bannon, all have led the party to this point, allowing for the rise of the antithetical modern day "Tea Party" and "Freedom Caucus" which has led to the demise of the central tenet of democracy, "compromise".
42
And the comments of Kelly about how the Civil War was unnecessary if only Lincoln and the abolitionist had agreed to compromise about slavery?
The republicans are okay with that statement. What does that say?
2
Our country as we have known it has come to an end. An Alabama, we're dealing with Roy Moore. Virginia has Ed Gillespie. I am afraid that this is just the beginning.
52
Vote!
2
I understand your concern, however I also know that Barack Obama was a great campaigner who appealed to many. We, Americans, the majority of us voted for Mrs. Clinton, and many sat at home or voted third party. Just you watch, 2018 will be the year that the Republicans LOSE the Senate and majority of the House! Their reign of lies, gear and division will soon be over. I have hope in the 67% of Americans that disapprove of Donald!
1
I am beginning to dread 2018 and 2020 because Republicans are increasingly unencumbered by the idea of avoiding sleaze. In 2018 and 2020 , sleaze will be all they have left because Trump has spent so much Republican credibility in a cascade of promises that can't possibly be all kept and in some of the most obvious dog whistling become dog megaphoning in modern history. Trump will have no choice but to sow fear, hate, severe polarization, blatant lies, and more that even the Russians find easy to play unless you believe that Trump will suddenly run a noble and inspiring campaign after bringing out some the worst impulses in society even months after his campaign. And all this looms as we wonder via Virginia, if we have hit bottom yet.
27
in some of the most obvious dog whistling become dog megaphoning in modern history.
=====================
Funny how Progressives are the only people who hear dog whistles.
I for one, will be moving out of the state if Ed Gillespie wins. We are already hobbled by an 18th century legislature that is ridiculously over-proportioned to the rural areas, and thus ruled - like the rest of the country - by a minority party. To those who cannot be "bothered" to vote: this is on you.
104
You can join all of those in Canada who left because Trump was elected. Oh wait, they never left.
2
I would think that a purple state needs your vote more than a blue state.
Please be sure you talk to everyone you know about voting! The more folks that vote the better chance has Northam has of winning.
Hoping for the best outcome for Virginia!
Trump is the Swamp Creature from the Heart of Total GOP Darkness who easily converts 'establishment' Republicons - and their fear-and-loathing, milky white voter base - into into Trump Swampers with a snap of his fascist, flag-waving fingers.
Gillespie, who has dedicated his entire working career to Republican millionaires, is pressing down hard on the fear-based amygdala of Republistan's rural, 'religious', retrograde voters who have been successfully sauteed in the fatal Grand Old Poison of right-wing hate radio, Fake News and Hillary Hatred that warms the cockles of their hating hearts.
They will happily respond to Gillespie's racist dog-whistle campaign so Republicans can shred the common good to give millionaires a brand new yacht.
In 2000, Gillespie founded the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates with Jack Quinn and within a year had an income of $8.5 million; it was one of the most powerful lobbying firms in the US.
One of the firm's clients was Enron, which paid it $1,225,000, including $700,000 to lobby the Department of Energy and the Executive Office of the President to resist efforts to re-regulate the western electricity market during the California Electricity Crisis.
Gillespie said that he was 'unaware' of Enron's deceptive accounting practices, although he was aware that Enron's checks had cleared his bank account before the most famous corporate fraud in American history.
Gillespie: White Spite and The Fleecing of America 2017
Nice GOPeople.
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After the tropical rain forests and coral reefs swamps are among the most biologically ecologically diverse environmentally critical fit habitats on Earth. Draining a swamp is the worst thing that can be done. Scientific illiteracy is rampant in America.
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were well too the partisan political right of FDR, LBJ, Ike and Nixon.
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@Socrates, Downtown Verona: "unaware" but "aware that Enron's checks had cleared his bank account..."
Priceless! Precious! When are the robber barons not "aware" when someone's check to them hasn't cleared?
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Gubernatorial elections in Virginia have been hair-whisker affairs for a while now, haven’t they? And now Tom Edsall is worried that the whiskers on the right side of the face will prove tougher than those on the left – Gillespie could win next week, couldn’t he? And that’s evil, because despite the fact that Gillespie, by all evidence of real convictions, would govern Virginia moderately, he wouldn’t govern like Terry McAuliffe. His win also would reduce the states governed by Democrats to fifteen (including one Independent), which would start to appear rather pathetic.
What we need from Tom are more graphs giving insight not on why Trump is icky but why he’s so captured the narrative, why despite Democratic claims that their numbers are so much greater than those of Republicans, they’re getting clobbered all over the country – and at state-wide levels that make the charge of “gerrymandering” irrelevant. It seems that Gillespie read the memo, despite the high likelihood that he’ll play the RINO once in office.
If yet another whisker-thin election in Virginia results in a Democratic win, Virginians will continue to be led by a liberal, and they will continue to be viscerally divided on ideological lines. But if the Republican wins, regardless of the coattails he chooses to exploit, ALL Virginians can breathe a welcome sigh of relief and just relax, for the first time in years.
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Comical self-serving on your part. A Republican victory would magically remove the danger of being "viscerally divided along ideological lines", "all Virginians can breathe a sigh of relief and just relax" but you forgot to mention that love will blossom, the weather will improve and people's bank accounts will swell while they sleep at night. Conservatives can be fluent liars in elections but also have the added power that comes with believing in their lies. Formidable adversaries in that way
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Buoy:
I disagree with your take on conservatives, but I'm not one and neither is Gillespie -- so your argument is irrelevant to the matter at issue.
What the success of Trumpian politics shows is that playing to the worst in people — fear and tribalism — works.
Congratulations Richard — your side is more successful than Democratics in playing to the lowest common denominator in people. And look how well it works in Trump’s Washington.
You must be so proud of yourself and your side.
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The Virginia gubernatorial race comes down to Trump/anti-Trump. If Gillespie is crushed, Trump and the entire Republican Party is in trouble for the mid-terms. Thus, the importance of this election cannot be over-emphasized. A large Democratic turnout will send the right message and we the people can get back to reclaiming democracy.
Vote as if your life depends on it - because it does.
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If Gillespie is crushed, Trump and the entire Republican Party is in trouble for the mid-terms. Thus, the importance of this election cannot be over-emphasized.
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Just as we were told about the Congressional special elections where Democrats went 0-4
Ed Gillespie is following the Trumpian salmon upstream.
He's following the president's playbook: divide by race, by ethnic origin, by religious preference, by culture (i.e., Virginia's history with symbols of the Old Confederacy). That Mr. Gillespie is within "striking distance" of Dr. Northam is a rather disturbing summation of where we are right now, and not only in Virginia. Given the state's urbane, forward-looking approach to demographic diversity (at least in the Washington suburbs and various outlying cities and college towns), Mr. Gillespie's threat to win the governor's election is the vestibule to the 2018 off-years. To quote Grant Park demonstrators from 1968, "the whole world's watching."
I recall a time, not too long ago, when Mr. Gillespie would appear on CNN. White-maned, professional, middle-of-the-road, as professional and politically savvy as a guest analyst could be, he came off as a respectable Republican, not a far-right firebrand with several hot and coded pokers in the fireplace. Now, with political power within his grasp and with it, his opportunity to clear the table for Republican politics on a nationwide level and in a state rich with the possibilities of turning a blue state to raging red, Mr. Gillespie is poised to become perhaps as important as "President" Trump himself.
The taste of power is intoxicating and irresistible. Mr. Gillespie is the model of Republican who was once moderate but who now has racists riding shotgun in his truck.
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Gillespie has sold his soul atop get elected. This is not unusual in a political campaign. If there was a strong grass roots campaign, an old fashioned for-to-door campaign by Dr. Northam, he could connect with rural voters to make sure they understand what he truly stands for, but th e Democrats have gotten away from real grass root campaigning. Democrats need to reach out more in a human way, not just emails, tweets and advertising. One on one helps a lot to be able to speak with voters and find out what is truly their hot buttons. Unfortunately Campaign consultants do not make as much money from this kind of campaigning, as they do negotiating ad buys.
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Ed Gillespie, GOP gubernatorial hopeful in Virginia is a clone of the president and knows a winning hand when he sees one. Why shouldn't he adopt the platform and coded racial messages that swept the president into office last year? Gillespie has stopped short of showcasing families at his rallies who were victimized by crimes committed by undocumented immigrants but his coded racial message is quite clear.
MS-13 has been a presence in Northern Virginia for years, especially in Alexandria and Fairfax County, and the gangs target Central American immigrants because of their unprotected status and vulnerability, knowing they are reluctant to request police protection because of their fear of ICE as well as the gangs themselves. Gillespie has narrowed Ralph Northam's once comfortable lead in the Virginia polls from 13 to 5, and as in last November's presidential election, Republican suburbanites and independents came home just in time for the GOP nominee to win the grand prize. Gillespie is showing that he'll do anything to win and wants to have it both ways. He's trying to waft away the stench of the president's hateful rhetoric, yet appeal to his base and play his trump card when the chips are down. America already has a nightmare and Virginians can show the country how to awaken from a deep sleep by rejecting Gillespie's and the president's message of division, intolerance and fear.
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Thank you for your comment! I'm hopeful that Virginia will reject the vile policies of Donald and vote for progress and justice!
Please make sure you speak to everyone who can vote and get them to the polls!
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@Mari -- Thank you for your comment. I think Virginians know what's really at stake in next Tuesday's election. The country will be watching. I hope Old Dominion will show America that yes, we can take America back again.
It's up to the voters. If the Democrats stay at home then we are doomed. In my mind one of the most important issues is being totally ignored: The trDump administration's dogged determination to remove the modest protections for the Chesapeake Bay and to reverse the progress that had been made in restoring it. I believe that the fate of our planet is in the balance and that unless we dig in and get busy mankind will have no chance of survival.
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An excellent summary of the slipperiness of Ed Gillespie! The picture in the horrid TV ad wasn't anyone from Virginia, but why let reality get in the way of a story with emotional appeal. Now I got an MS-13 warning from my delegate race too, courtesy of VA Republicans. I will certainly not vote for Gillespie and urge all other Virginians to reject this kind of politics.
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Bernie would have won based on data and statistics, but then all of the corruption in this "America" would not have been brought into the light. If we are lucky, I'm using that term lightly, we can emerge from this fiasco a much stronger country. If each of us just stop and look around, we will realize how personally precious
Democracy really is to our well being. We must not confuse capitalism with Democracy. Corporations are not people, no matter what the SCOTUS rules.
No religion has the right to rule our Democracy.
No corporation has the power to rule our America or SCOTUS under this Democracy.
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So the United States can be brought to it's knees by voters willful reliance on misinformation while obstinately ignoring mainstream sources of fact based media.
We are currently holding hearings with Google, Facebook and Twitter to attempt to convince them to clean up their acts and stop the flow of misleading posts and attempts to sway public opinion. Not optimistic about that.
Political campaigns continue to make vile and misleading attacks in the media on their opponents. Media gets paid no matter who wins.
Big money, dark influences and corporate interests continue to keep the the whole contraption running while the republicans continue to subvert our government and consolidate power.
Four, maybe eight years from now the republicans will have sanitized their image through expensive media engineering and we will elect a Sarah Palin or a Devin Nunes, or... Martin Shkreli.
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With a Governor Gillespie, we might not have marauding pickup trucks chasing down Hispanic children, but we would have explicit endorsement of damaging policies on women's rights, health care and the environment among other things. I know not what others might do, but as for me and my house, we will serve civility.
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Can anyone in this country cite a politician who does not talk out of both sides of his mouth? Can anyone cite any politician over the last 40 years who has not talked out of both sides of his mouth? Before one even thinks of running for office they will stand in front of a mirror and practice the best way to talk out of both sides of their mouths. Sure, you will say, "all politicians are alike in that way except the one I voted for." Really!
For as long as I can remember I became aware that the people of Virginia were highly educated and certainly able to discern politicians who will promise and say anything to get elected. I would certainly suspect they will decide (before they enter the voting booth) who is the best candidate to lead them in the near term.
In the meantime the other 49 states have bigger concerns, namely, our country. How are we ever going to get back to the country that another president once referred to it as "that shining city on the hill?' Wasn't he a
Republican? Surely there are more Republicans who believe in their country over believing in their party first or going back to the original question: Are they talking out of both sides of their mouths.
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Mr. Osterman, politics by it's very nature is corrupt. Any time there is a BIG pot of money there is corruption.
My question has always been who will do the most for average and poor people while they are playing the game. It sure as hell isn't The Con Don or his Robber Baron brethren.
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Your view is too simplistic. There is a grey-scale for larceny. One side really is worse than the other. It's a lot of work to parse though it sometimes. Affiliations are tribal. A lot of people are just not that bright or that committed to dealing with it all; they face fatigue and succumb to sloganeering. Gillespie types are banking on that combination of factors- a little voter suppression, a lack of critical thinking, tribalism, ancient animus and so on... to win.
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I wished that lying was bad for your health, but it seems that incredulously coming away with the worst and most toxic and brazen serial lying not only boosts self-enrichment but also one's vitality and zest for indignantly triumphant life, shamelessly harming vast swaths of fellow humanity.
If I were these oligarchs and lobbyists, I'd be buying and undermining the firms doing the exit polls right now, to finalize making the great betrayal and election fraud invisible.
If I had the spare cash I'd put up a non-profit now with the specific purpose of carrying out excellent, impeccable exit polls of all relevant future American elections, including of the late stage Democratic primaries in New York and California, so I'd at least have a clear indication of what the non-suppressed vote was doing.
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