Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Virginia Governor Election

Today we Virginian’s vote for a governor.

The candidates are Democrat Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine and Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.

I have been watching some of the TV ads between work – school – homework – repeat, and I’m sick of the negative campaigning.

One thing I’ve noticed in general: the Republican ads constantly use the word ‘liberal’ as if it were a dirty word. The ads call the Democratic candidate ‘dishonest’, ‘liberal’ and ‘untrustworthy’. Kilgore’s campaign also accuses Kaine of ‘lying’ about his record, accuses Kaine of ‘flip-flopping’.
Kaine’s ad’s have him ‘approving this ad to set the record straight’, in which he counters the accusations with media proof that Kilgore is lying about the accusations. That means the ad shows the various leading newspapers in the state taking Kilgore’s accusations to task, and showing that Kilgore’s accusations are false.
A little digging on my own has proven that Kilgore is lying, plain and simple.

Kaine's Republican challenger, Jerry Kilgore, got a boost Monday from President Bush, who made a last-minute dash into Virginia to urge die-hard conservatives to help turn out voters for the former attorney general.
"The thing I like about this fellow is he grew up on a farm," Bush said in a brief stop on his return from a South American trade mission. "He doesn't have a lot of fancy airs."
Well hell, if that's not enough reason to vote for Kilgore then I don't know what is!! Bush never fails to entertain, I'll give him that.

One example of the Republican smear is the attempt to undermine Kaine’s aversion to the death penalty. He is a Catholic, and is opposed to the death penalty, but has said as governor, he’ll carry out the death sentences handed down by Virginia juries, because it’s the law.
Kilgore runs ads that show a tearful blue-eyed blond relating how her husband was killed by an illegal immigrant and sentenced to death for it, and now is afraid if Kaine is elected the killer will not die. Kilgore also has an ad with a gentleman in his late 60’s or 70’s appearing very doubtful and fearful about Kaine’s ability to carry out the death penalty if he is elected.

First off, what I find extraordinary about the death penalty ads is Kilgore is a Republican, he stated in the televised debate between himself and Kaine that he believes in a culture of life, yet he points to Kaine’s aversion to the death penalty as untrustworthy. Basically the ‘culture of life’ Kilgore is all about the death penalty, while claiming Kaine cannot be trusted to kill people.

Some may see as ‘slick’ how Kilgore gets a blue-eyed blonde tearfully lamenting the murder of her husband by an illegal immigrant.
Let’s tap into three of those Republican/conservative/culture of life fears: killers are running loose all over the place because if Tim Kaine is elected he cannot be trusted to carry out the law because he is opposed to the death penalty. (The death penalty is revenge, nothing more. Studies show that the death penalty is NOT a deterrent to crime.)
And, her husband was killed by an illegal immigrant. GADS! Those illegal immigrants are running amok all over Virginia! They’re everywhere! Save us!

The ‘culture of life’ crowd absolutely hates immigrants, especially those illegal immigrants because let’s face it, they’re illegal and if they’re illegal that means they’re up to no good and they’re criminals that kill and molest kids. I suppose the ‘culture of life’ people don’t think for one minute that the criminal is an anomaly, that the people who come to the United States do so because of the opportunity that exists here in comparison to where they might be coming from. In other words, immigrants exemplify how this country was founded regardless of whether they’re illegal or not. In still other words, the culture of life from whence they came sucks ass and they want a better culture of life, so in order to survive, they come here by any means necessary.

The process which an immigrant must follow to have legal status is fairly costly and complex, and extraordinarily time consuming, not to mention unsteady. I have experienced this process and it’s failure first hand, and that is why a very dear friend now resides in Canada, and has obtained Canadian citizenship. At any rate, the poorest and uneducated of immigrants are simply attempting to survive and I'm guessing don't have the ability to hop on the internets and figure out what to do. We can either help them find a better culture of life, or we can just kick them back to their own repressive country, to be victimized by Coyotes.

Lastly, the main player in the ad is a blue-eyed blond whimpering and crying. I think that needs no further analysis, but what the hell: It appears to me that the conservative crowd with all of their supposed morals (death penalty, war, anti-gay, abstinence) sure do use the female as a tool. That makes sense to some degree as conservatives tend to think that man must have domain over woman, and that her main duties are to raise children and please her man. I think there is also a bit of sexual repression in the conservative crowd that occasionally burst forth. A good example of someone that would not have one iota of attention save for the fact that she is a skinny blonde that wears a black mini-skirt a lot is this shrill harpy. To read the bile this woman spews there can be no other explanation for her popularity; cons love a filthy-mouthed blonde hussy screaming hate against anything liberal. Some sort of sexual fantasy perhaps, not sure. Just another one of those bizarro Republican world definitions.

During the televised debates between Kilgore and Kaine, Kilgore was asked how he could be such a proponent of the death penalty, yet claim to believe in ‘a culture of life’. He did not answer the question. He did the politician waltz, the dance around, the ‘if I blow enough smoke I won’t have to actually answer the question’ and the moderator called him on it.

The last question that was asked of the two was this: “Will you take a pledge that as the campaign enters it’s final two weeks, will you pledge to reduce your negative ads to below fifty percent?”

Kaine: Yes, I take the pledge.

Kilgore: Another extraordinarily long and winding answer, that did not say yes or no.

The moderator called him on that one too.

I just had a discussion with a guy here at the office that blasted Kilgore up one side and down the other, then told me the he voted for Kilgore. All of the reasons he gave were the typical conservative responses, and lo and behold he even mentioned the conservatives favorite reason for everything that’s wrong with our society.
He told me that he has a buddy that teaches at high school and that high school kids don’t think oral sex is really sex, and he placed that blame for this cultural trend squarely on Clinton. To sum it up: this guy admitted Kilgore is a crook, but that he’s going to vote for him because Clinton taught highschooler’s about blow jobs. (my high school girlfriend taught me about blow jobs, and that was a long time before Clinton was even known to me or her in any fashion)
The same guy voted for Bush both times as well, for similar reasons. I was told by somebody that they vote Republican because they feel that it’s the party that will uphold the traditions that are important to him, such as opposition to gay marriage. Forget a manufactured war, forget all the innocents dying in that manufactured war, forget all the future turmoil and conflict that will surface due to this illegal war, forget the fact that under Republican control our government failed to rescue and protect it’s own people in one of the most important, oldest, cities in the United States, and one that just happens to sit on a major shipping port, just as long as those damn gays can’t marry!

By the end of our ‘discussion’, his face was red, he was angry, and he stuck out his hand for a shake and said “I still respect you.” I’ve noticed this occurs whenever you debate a Republican/conservative with facts concerning government, that and the probability of them blaming Clinton for everything reaches 1. Clinton’s been gone for how many years now?
I’ve even been told by a conservative/libertarian/anarchist that Clinton supported the Iraq war, and that this person would provide the supporting evidence of such a claim.

No evidence yet, and here’s my suspicion why: a little digging will reveal that Clinton did not support a war with Iraq, and that what he actually said was “I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over." Clinton may have thought that the inspections might have provided the proof that Saddam was NOT in possession of WMD’s, thus forcing Bush to come up with another reason to go to war. Oh wait, Bush has come up with different reasons for the war, so I guess the U.N. inspections were a non-issue anyway. Clinton was/is all for democracy in Iraq, but not through violent means.

Ok, back to the governor’s race: I voted for Kaine, and the rest of the Democratic ticket, and I sure hope they win. Bush stopped by the Richmond Airport and stumped for Kilgore, and I can only hope that it hurt him more than helped BUT, as I have witnessed myself with conservative Republicans, they’ll stay the course no matter what.
They are conservative after all.

Take a good damn look at where our country was in 2000, and where it is now, and where it’s headed.
How could anybody in their right mind vote Republican?
They can’t, they vote Republican because the hate Clinton and blame him for everything that they can’t adjust to in our multicultural society that’s not EVER going to be what they think it should be, or they vote a single issue that resonates within their own little world, such as gay marriage.

If there are any Republican voters out there that stumbled across this site and want to add to the reasons why you vote Republican, please feel free to leave a comment. I am sorely curious as to what the GOP’s appeal to any sane and rational thinking human being would be.

That is all. ,

3 Opinions:

Anonymous Anonymous speaks!

As a VA republican I can say that I didn't vote for Kilgore for many of the reasons you mention. I found his overall campaign, in general, and his ads, in particular, disingenuous.

However, I am a Republican mainly because I value Fiscal Conservatism. Something, that the the current President does not live up to. Without that, I find little to vote for.

The more Republicans rely on the death penalty and anti-abortion messages the more they drive me away.

However, I find it is pretty weak to vote for a party rather than the particular people in the race. It is fine to have a party affiliation, but it shouldn't over-ride common sense.

10:11 PM  
Blogger Redjalapeno speaks!

Anon,

I appreciate your comments. Interestingly enough, I have heard the same sentiments from other VA Republicans today, almost verbatim.

Perhaps in the coming years, the moderates can come together for a common cause, as opposed to extremists ruling the show and dividing us all.

12:46 PM  
Blogger Gyrobo speaks!

Why must politics be so political?

It used to be about the fun.

12:55 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home