I just got an email from the Republican Party of Virginia. It's filled with its usual misstatements, distortions, exaggerations and ideological idiocy. This time, what really jumped out at me was the idiocy part. Check this out (bolding added by me for emphasis).In what was billed as a major campaign address, Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds waxed nostalgic on his infamous vote for the largest tax increase in the history of Virginia, while promising more of the same if he were to become governor of Virginia. Inexplicably, Deeds addressed a Northern Virginia audience at George Mason University and still did not reveal a blueprint for transportation improvements, but managed to falsely represent Bob McDonnell's legislative record and reveal his own plans to raid the General Fund to pay for his pet projects.My god, teh stupid is so bad here, it hurts! Make it stop!!!
[...]
The tax increase of 2004 was the largest in Virginia history. It also resulted in massive surpluses, proving that it was unnecessary. Deeds was given large credit for its passage by his introduction speaker.
"I can't forget the budget session in 2004," said former Delegate Jim Dillard in introducing Deeds. "It was a long hard fight for Virginia's future, to keep Virginia moving forward and to pay our bills ... and Creigh Deeds was right there with us."
OK, let's try to sort through the idiocy.
1. The RPV's apparent "strategy" (using the word loosely) is to attack Creigh Deeds for supporting Mark Warner, by far and away the most popular politician in Virginia.
2. The RPV apparently wants to remind people how the last Republican governor of Virginia - Jim Gilmore - ran the state into the fiscal ditch, and how Mark Warner and the Republican-controlled state legislature (including moderate Republicans like Russ Potts, John Chichester, and Jim Dillard) had to dig us out of that ditch.
3. The RPV is arguing that budget surpluses are really, really bad things.
4. The RPV wants to emphasize and remind voters about the important role Creigh Deeds - working with Mark Warner and moderate Republicans (there were still some around at the time) - played in digging Virginia out of the fiscal ditch that Jim Gilmore drove us into.
5. The RPV wants to emphasizes how far right wing it's become by attacking a respected moderate Republican, Jim Dillard. As an added bonus, they're attacking a (former) delegate from Fairfax County, the most populous in Virginia. Brilliant!
Actually, the more I think about it, the RPV has a brilliant strategy here and I truly, sincerely hope they keep it up through the fall! :)
