I'm sure that most of us expected the Washington Post would endorse Creigh Deeds for Governor. The question has been, "how strongly?" Well, we now have the answer, and it's a good one if you're a Deeds supporter and/or McDonnell opponent. Here are a few highlights.*Creigh Deeds "has the good sense and political courage to maintain the forward-looking policies of the past while addressing the looming challenge of fixing the state's dangerously inadequate roads."
*Bob McDonnell "offers something different: a blizzard of bogus, unworkable, chimerical proposals, repackaged as new ideas, that crumble on contact with reality."
*McDonnell "has staked out the intolerant terrain on his party's right wing, fighting a culture war that seized his imagination as a law student in the Reagan era."
*McDonnell "proposes to pay for road improvements mainly by cannibalizing essential state services such as education, health and public safety -- a political non-starter" and "lacks the political spine to say what programs he would attempt to gut, or even reshape, in order to deal with transportation needs." Ouch.
*McDonnell's "transportation policy, a blueprint for stagnation and continuing deterioration, would subvert the state's prospects for economic recovery and long-term growth." It would also "deepen the misery of Northern Virginia commuters who already pay a terrible price -- economic, personal and psychological -- because of the state's long neglect of its roads."
*Deeds reflects "the prosperous, politically moderate face of modern-day Virginia...ideologically flexible enough to support abortion rights; press for background checks on firearms buyers at gun shows; oppose displaying the Confederate flag on state license plates; and warm to equal rights for homosexuals."
*In contrast, "McDonnell's Virginia would be one where abortion rights would be curtailed; where homosexuals would be treated as second-class citizens; where information about birth control would be hidden; and where the line between church and state could get awfully porous."
*McDonnell "has no significant record, either as a lawmaker or as attorney general, of promoting policies to encourage job growth."
*In sum, Bob McDonnell "would mire Virginia in a traffic-clogged, backward-looking past" while Creigh Deeds has the "ideas hold the promise of a prosperous future" for Virginia.
Look, Creigh Deeds isn't the perfect candidate or the perfect progressive, and he certainly hasn't run the perfect campaign. Having said that, the choice in this election is a total no brainer: Bob McDonnell would be a complete disaster as governor, while Creigh Deeds will keep Virginia moving forward, together. Go Creigh!
