by LowellThere are plenty of "winners and losers" lists for the Iowa caucuses last night (e.g., see here and here and whatever conventional wisdom "The Fix" is mindlessly regurgitating). For Blue Virginia, I wanted to briefly focus on which Virginia politicos might have "won" or "lost" based on last night's results. Here are just a few that popped into my head this morning (far from comprehensive, more meant to get a discussion started than anything); feel free to add your own in the comments section. Thanks.
WINNERS
Ken Cuccinelli and E.W. Jackson: These two members of the 2013 statewide "extreme team" reunited in Iowa to campaign for their hero, theocratic extremist Ted Cruz, who they have both endorsed. Cruz probably won't be the GOP nominee, and if he is for some crazy reason, he'll get crushed in November. But for today at least, Cooch and E.W. are "winners."
Rep. Barbara Comstock: Comstock's a big supporter of Marco Rubio, who finished a strong third last night in Iowa, just behind Donald Trump. Now let's see if Comstock can help Rubio finish strong, or even win, in Virginia on March 1.
Sen. Bryce Reeves, House Majority Leader Kirk Cox, Del. Kathy Byron, Del. Tim Hugo, Former Senator George Allen and other Virginia Rubio endorsers: By the way, is Reeves having a great few days or what, between last night in Iowa and the gun deal he helped negotiate with Brian Moran, the deal that only the NRA can love? Reeves is definitely setting himself up nicely for an LG run in 2017.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe: Hey, a win's a win, even if it's by 0.3 or 0.4 percentage points or whatever. And last night, Gov. McAuliffe's close political friend and ally Hillary Clinton moved a step closer to the Democratic 2016 presidential nomination.
Robby Mook: Again, a win's a win, and last night, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager - former campaign manager for Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Dave Marsden - managed to push his candidate over the finish line. Now, let's see how his "firewall" holds in South Carolina, Virginia, and other southern states.
Susan Swecker: The DPVA chair and huge Hillary Clinton supporter must be feeling relieved right about now.
LOSERS
Corey Stewart: Prince William County Board Chair - and xenophobe in chief - heads up Trump's campaign in Virginia. Last night, Trump's aura of "winning" was demolished, with the New York Daily News cover an image of Trump as a clown, with the headline "Dead clown walking." Ouch. The problem for Trump is that his whole brain-dead campaign, to the extent that there's any "idea" behind it, is based on the idea that everyone else is a "loser" except for Trump, that Trump knows how to be a "winner" (despite his many bankruptices, failed marriages, etc.) and will help America "win" again. Except that he couldn't even beat Ted Cruz last night in Iowa, and barely held off Marco Rubio for second place. Now that the bubble's been popped, what does Trump do next?
Jerry Falwell, Jr.: He totally sold out everything he purports to believe in his endorsement of Trump, who is certainly NOT a religious man, certainly NOT an evangelical or fundamentalist Christian, and certainly has NOT been a conservative for most of his life. Kind of makes you wonder what Trump might have offered Falwell...
Other Virginia Trump supporters: Virgil Goode, John Fredericks, and others who are huge Trump supporters here in Virginia, can't be happy about the results last night, that's for sure.
Jim Gilmore: His candidacy has gone beyond parody into utterly pathetic, comical territory. Last night in Iowa, Former Virginia Governor Gilmore got just 12 votes. That's right, 12 total votes -- not 12% or whatever. Why is he still in this race? Why was he EVER in this race? Bizarro.
Eric Cantor, Jerry Kilgore, Ken Stolle, Ben Chafin, and other "JEB" Endorsers: How pathetic is "JEB" Bush? Apparently, he spent $2,884 per Iowa vote, getting just 2.8% last night, finishing behind Rand Paul and way behind the utterly bonkers Ben Carson. Now, on to New Hampshire and...probably dropping out in a bit over a week. #FAIL
