Virginia's Experience with New Republican Governor Recognized by the Washington Post

As previously noted (and foretold) in posts on this blog, there is much that Washington can learn from the Republican Governor that Virginians voted into office last year. My previous comments on what Governor McDonnell has been accomplishing can found on the posts of April 8, 2010 at http://jaxonnews.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-washington-can-learn-from-richmond.html; July 24, 2010 at http://jaxonnews.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-lessons-for-washington-from.html and August 30, 2010 at http://jaxonnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/additional-lessons-from-richmond-for.html. Finally, it appears that some in the mainstream media are also noticing.

The Washington Post on Saturday, October 30, 2010, ran a front page story entitled: "Virginians share lesson learned: GOP in power not so bad". The Post story begins by noting that President Obama's theme in campaign appearances this year has been: don't vote for the Party that drove the car into the ditch. The Post then states:

"Virginians overwhelmingly ignored [Obama's] advice, and a year later many say they have few regrets and are generally pleased - if not ecstatic - about what Republicans have done.

Voters, including some who didn't back him, credited Gov.

Robert F. McDonnell with working hard and engineering deep budget cuts from a generally fractious General Assembly with relatively little heartache. The result of those efforts was a narrow surplus by the end of the fiscal year, achieved through bipartisan action and without the tax increase that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed before leaving office."

In addition, of course, New Jersey elected a Republican Governor last year who is receiving a lot of national attention. The Post noted that result as well:

"Only Virginia and New Jersey held elections in 2009, and both states elected Republican governors after being firmly behind Obama in 2008. The GOP has since pointed to McDonnell and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as examples of new kinds of Republicans and also of what voters could expect if they return the party to power in Washington.

'I hope that what I've been able to do, in some small measure . . . will at least create confidence that if people elect Republicans at the federal level, that they're going to get similar good results,' said McDonnell." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/29/AR2010102907043.html

President Obama's plea to voters not to vote for the same people that "drove the car into the ditch" also fails to be accurate because so many of the Republican nominees for office this year are newcomers inspired by the revolt against big government and deficit spending, most visibly demonstrated by the Tea Party protests held across the country over the past year.

This is not the same GOP you love to demonize anymore, Mr. President.

Sphere: Related Content