For those of you who aren't aware, the Washington Examiner is a free daily that is handed out at Metro stops and the like in the DC metro area. It is also extremely conservative, having endorsed Jerry Kilgore for Governor, and just about every other Republican or conservative cause it has ever heard of. Frankly, this rag makes the Washington Times look moderate!So, it's no big surprise the Examiner didn't endorse Leslie Byrne for Lt. Governor this year. Frankly, if it had, I think a Metro train or two would have jumped the tracks as all the startled passengers ran to one side of the car, screaming in panic and confusion. But check out what the Examiner had to say about Bill "Gutter" Bolling (bolding added):
This is one of those pick-your-poison choices between ethically-challenged Republican Bill Bolling and personality challenged Democrat Leslie Byrne. Virginians will lose no matter which one wins.Wow, with conservative friends like that, who needs enemies, huh Bill?
Bolling, a state senator from Hanover who beat Prince William Board Chairman Sean Connaughton in a hard-fought primary, is a former second vice president of The Reciprocal Group, a Richmond-based insurance company that went bankrupt in an Enron-like scheme that sent two top executives to prison for fraud.
Although Bolling, who was not charged, has repeatedly denied any knowledge of what was going on at Reciprocal before the collapse - which left thousands of doctors, lawyers and hospitals in several states without malpractice coverage - several of his co-workers have since come forward and alleged that as head of the claims department, Bolling was well aware that the company's reserves were being seriously depleted long before Reciprocal's financial problems became public knowledge.
A conservative who voted against Gov. Mark Warner's huge and unnecessary tax hike, Bolling would otherwise have been a good choice as lieutenant governor. But too many lingering questions from his 20-plus years as a self-described "middle manager" at Reciprocal (at $250K per year), which he continues to dodge, make it impossible to trust him with any higher office.
As far as Leslie Byrne is concerned, the Examiner's brilliant critique seems to center around Leslie's supposedly "abrasive personality." Having met her, I honestly don't know what they're talking about. But, just for argument's sake, let's say that Leslie Byrne really DOES have an "abrasive personality." Big whoop. As if many politicians or successful business leaders aren't a bit difficult to get along with at times? That's a serious critique? What a joke.
The true root of the Examiner's unhappiness with Byrne, however, appears to be that she "opposes Virginia's right-to-work laws." Horror of horrors. And I bet you she favors feeding babies to tigers, too. Oh yeah, and she's "liberal," which to the Examiner is anyone to the left of Genghis Khan. What. Ever.
Anyway, given this rag's far-right-wing political leanings, its criticisms of Bill "Enron of the Insurance Industry" Bolling are harsh, to put it mildly. They also happen to be true. Which is why anyone who votes for Bill "Gutter" Bolling this coming Tuesday should know exactly what they'd be getting as Lt. Governor: a guy who's, er, just a wee bit ethically challenged. And a guy who, most likely, won't be Lt. Governor for long before the next scandal erupts. Give that, I'll take the honest one (Byrne) with the (supposedly) "abrasive" (others might say "passionate" or "intense") personality any day of the week.
