Althouse: "Gillespie is establishment. He hasn’t said one word about Trump. It’s a hold-your-nose vote, but I have to vote for him. We don’t want that goddamn Northam."

October 29, 2017

"Gillespie is establishment. He hasn’t said one word about Trump. It’s a hold-your-nose vote, but I have to vote for him. We don’t want that goddamn Northam."

Said Bobbe Scruggs, "an 88-year-old retired administrative assistant who was excited about Stewart in the primary and now dutifully attended a picnic for Gillespie in Beaverdam."

Quoted in "What Va. voters can agree on: These guys and Trump are from different planets" (WaPo). The headline on the front page is different: "In Virginia governor’s race, two low-octane candidates vie for votes beyond their bases."

30 comments:

Rob said...: Although Northam is currently Lieutenant Governor, his advertising incessantly describes him as a pediatrician. Since that appears to be the job he most wants, it seems like the greatest kindness is for the voters to allow him to return to that noble profession.; 10/29/17, 8:47 AM
Chuck said...: The "hold-your-nose" vote! I know it well.

It occurs to me, that there are likely to be a lot fewer Republicans who held their nose to vote for Trump in the 2016 general election, than who are willing to speak out on it. The Trumpists are all about fightin' the establishment. Proud of it and happy to say so. Republicans who believe in the party are a lot less comfortable saying what a jerk their president is.; 10/29/17, 8:54 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "...two low-octane candidates..."

Is Low-Octane the same as Low Energy?

Jeb wants clarification.

I am Laslo.; 10/29/17, 8:55 AM
Oso Negro said...: I have been considering lately, the contempt of younger generations for the Baby Boomers. We are alleged to "be responsible" for the current situation. But short of having failed to commit to violent revolution as a youth, I am pressed to feel responsible. Every damned election is a choice of distasteful candidates.; 10/29/17, 9:11 AM
Matt Sablan said...: I wonder if they deliberately chose the more obscure "low-octane" to avoid the Trumpian "low-energy?"

Honestly, I can think of very few votes in my entire life that *weren't* a hold your nose vote.; 10/29/17, 9:26 AM
Phil 314 said...: The Republican Party is in a state of flux right now. Setting aside Trump, I believe many traditional conservatives question whether the "base" is still reflexively conservative.

If we end up with "tax reform" that is not , at best, budget neutral, that will confirm that belief.

The Republicans have majorities in both houses AND the presidency, yet NO ONE talks of Medicare reform.

As one of those unworthy high tax rate taxpayers, you're running out of my money.; 10/29/17, 9:31 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "The Republicans have majorities in both houses AND the presidency, yet NO ONE talks of Medicare reform."

-- My understanding is that, strategically/tactically, no one wants to touch Medicare until the ACA is dealt with. Because we're stupid.; 10/29/17, 9:35 AM
Phil 314 said...: "My understanding is that, strategically/tactically, no one wants to touch Medicare until the ACA is dealt with. Because we're stupid."

Just sayin'; 10/29/17, 9:56 AM
Dude1394 said...: "It occurs to me, that there are likely to be a lot fewer Republicans who held their nose to vote for Trump in the 2016 general election, than who are willing to speak out on it. The Trumpists are all about fightin' the establishment. Proud of it and happy to say so. Republicans who believe in the party are a lot less comfortable saying what a jerk their president is."

Rubbish...trump supporters are smart enough to not want to get doxx'd and set upon by the antifa-democrats.

The polls are so bogus, it is ridiculous. As the last elections illustrated.; 10/29/17, 10:11 AM
Anonymous said...: Republicans who believe in the party...

...but for Wales, Richard?; 10/29/17, 10:22 AM
David said...: Virginia (where I lived when in law school) is bitterly clinging to its traditional notions of gentility.; 10/29/17, 10:28 AM
iowan2 said...: Some, desperately want President Trump to take orders from Republicans. As the leader, should they not take orders from President Trump? Why are all the never Trumpers fighting President Trump? Is there a single piece of Republican proposed legislation that the President has threatened to veto? I don't see a single item that a single Republican ran on during the election, that the President has opposed.

Now I have explained the facts on the ground, will the perpetual LLR's quit whining?; 10/29/17, 11:45 AM
Chuck said...: iowan2:

What does President Trump really stand for, on health care? What is his plan? What compromises and hard choices is he making? Has he ever made a health care policy speech? A detailed one?

The Trump Campaign was just incredible bluster about "covering everybody," and "lowering premiums," and "lowered deductibles" and "great care." What does any of it mean?; 10/29/17, 11:54 AM
Michael K said...: Gillespie, no matter his weak background, is probably going to wipe the floor with Northam because he has introduced the issue that may not be mentioned in polite company.

Immigration !

Lately, Gillespie has eased off talking about MS-13 and focused more on the economy, but by bringing illegal immigration into the race he’s managed to capitalize on what Trump exposed last year: Democrats, even centrist ones like Northam, don’t really believe in immigration enforcement anymore. To the extent that’s a message even a decidedly non-Trumpian Republican like Gillespie can leverage, it’s not just an immediate problem for Northam but a national problem for the Democratic Party.

Democrats might denounce it as racist, but the importance of the immigration question can’t be emphasized enough. Last week, Andrew Sullivan wrote, “The most powerful thing Trump said in the campaign, I’d argue, was: ‘If you don’t have borders, you don’t have a country.’ And the Democrats had no answer, something that millions of Americans immediately saw. They still formally favor enforcement of immigration laws, but rhetorically, they keep signaling the opposite.”

If it is a blowout, and I think it might be, the Democrats are in big trouble.; 10/29/17, 12:06 PM
rcocean said...: "They still formally favor enforcement of immigration laws, but rhetorically, they keep signaling the opposite."

Many of them have stopped doing it even formally. If the Republicans would nail them on their support for sanctuary cities, illegal aliens, and an un-secure border they would clean up.

The problem is the GOPe has sold out the country on this issue in exchange for Big Donor money. McConnell cares more about what Singer, Addelson, and Chamber of Commerce think, then what's good for the country.; 10/29/17, 12:43 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/29/17, 1:48 PM
Mark said...: One guess as to what Northam's very first ad was about, and what is the first, second and third issue he is running on?

You know what it is. It is a page from the Democrat playbook that is the number one issue in every campaign in every election against every Republican. From the first day, Northam has run that same fill-in-the-blank campaign attacking the Republican who -- like every Republican in every election has never come close to mentioning this issue.; 10/29/17, 1:49 PM
Mark said...: The thing about Northam is that the Democrats managed to find a guy who is an even dimmer bulb than Tim Kaine.; 10/29/17, 1:51 PM
Achilles said...: Chuck said...

What does President Trump really stand for, on health care? What is his plan? What compromises and hard choices is he making? Has he ever made a health care policy speech? A detailed one?

The Trump Campaign was just incredible bluster about "covering everybody," and "lowering premiums," and "lowered deductibles" and "great care." What does any of it mean?

Trump won despite your best efforts.

He would have signed anything remotely rolling back Obamacare. Your friends McCain, Murkowski and Collins killed that effort after explicitly running on repealing Obamacare for 6 years. The GOPe are betrayers.; 10/29/17, 2:14 PM
ddh said...: I am always amazed at the inability of fervent Trump supporters to understand that the President's appeal is not universal. Ed Gillespie doesn't talk about President Trump because the President is less popular in Virginia than he is elsewhere in the country (Hillary Clinton carried the state easily), so there is no need to to stir up tribal loyalty among the majority Democrats.

Nonetheless, illegal immigration is an issue in Virginia, and it hits harder in Northern Virginia, which has increasingly become a Democratic Party base. When you read about MS-13 machete fights next to gelato parlors in Fairfax County (yes, that actually happened), Democratic Party supporters get worried about their personal safety. With about 20 percent of MS-13 members living in otherwise upscale and peaceful Northern Virginia, a huge proportion of the area's violent crime is attributed to that gang; people just assume all crime involving machetes is related to MS-13.; 10/29/17, 2:29 PM
Unknown said...: Amazing how easily "what's good for country" rolls off the elite's tongues.. unaware how condescending that sounds, who'd like to see it phrased "what's good for the people" And they wonder why they are loosing election after election, and having so many early retirements so the retires can be remembered as winners and not losers.And cause an Andrew Jackson to appear in a cloud of smoke due tothe masses saying "we're not going to take it any more. A man who ran on a tagline of "the only representive of the people" because no one else was.Who then drained the swamp, by burning down the parties and their establishments.Who thought they were written into the Constitution, Saying "start over, try again in a decade."; 10/29/17, 2:53 PM
Michael K said...: With about 20 percent of MS-13 members living in otherwise upscale and peaceful Northern Virginia, a huge proportion of the area's violent crime is attributed to that gang; people just assume all crime involving machetes is related to MS-13.

So, maybe Trump is right?

God, you people are dense. Trump is hated by you but his issue sounds about right.; 10/29/17, 5:14 PM
Achilles said...: ddh said...
I am always amazed at the inability of fervent Trump supporters to understand that the President's appeal is not universal.

followed by:

Nonetheless, illegal immigration is an issue in Virginia, and it hits harder in Northern Virginia, which has increasingly become a Democratic Party base. When you read about MS-13 machete fights next to gelato parlors in Fairfax County (yes, that actually happened), Democratic Party supporters get worried about their personal safety.

I am always amazed at the fervent never-trumpers inability to understand what drives us to support Trump.

HINT: He is actually doing what he said he would unlike almost every other republican elected in DC.; 10/29/17, 5:34 PM
Enthusiasm Quotes said...: Very amazing posy
Famous Positive Quotes
make new friends; 10/29/17, 5:56 PM
Gospace said...: Chuck said...
The "hold-your-nose" vote! I know it well.

It occurs to me, that there are likely to be a lot fewer Republicans who held their nose to vote for Trump in the 2016 general election, than who are willing to speak out on it.

Most of us hold the nose voters outed ourselves before election day. The Gorsuch nomination by itself made the vote worthwhile. (Well, that and Hillary still isn't POTUS!!!!) The REPUBLICN senate getting off its' collective duff and confirming the rest of his judicial appointments would make the vote even more worthwhile.

And if he continues to roll back both regulation and executive overreach by his immediate predecessor, I'll be breathing freely when I cast my vote for his reelection in 2020.; 10/29/17, 8:17 PM
cubanbob said...: If the Republicans in Congress simply gave the same bills that they gave to Obama to Trump the healthcare issue would be resolved. But they didn't because they are full of shit. Say it ain't so Chuck.; 10/29/17, 8:33 PM
Chuck said...: cubanbob said...
If the Republicans in Congress simply gave the same bills that they gave to Obama to Trump the healthcare issue would be resolved. But they didn't because they are full of shit. Say it ain't so Chuck.

I would ask you to specify which "bills" passed both the House and the Senate, which "repealed and replaced" the ACA. But you can't do it and I know you can't do it because there was precisely one bill -- a reconciliation measure that would have undermined the operation of the ACA but which would never have "repealed and replaced" it -- that reached Obama's desk for a veto.

Not once, not ever, did a "repeal and replace" bill ever get through both houses of Congress and it couldn't because Senate Dems would have filibustered it. The Republican-majority House of Representatives took a lot of votes, and a lot of House-passed stuff died in the Senate.

But more than anything, I want to emphasize that most of the bills were just in the form of wrecking the ACA. Nothing that was passed ever came close to Trump's false and phony campaign rhetoric about "covering everybody," "lowering premiums," "lowering deductibles," and providing "great care."

Trump has yet to come up with anything that comes remotely close to his campaign rhetoric.; 10/29/17, 8:51 PM
SDN said...: Chuck the Dishonest wrote:
"I would ask you to specify which "bills" passed both the House and the Senate, which "repealed and replaced" the ACA. "

Here you go, chuckles. The House and Senate passed it.... in 2016, when the liars knew Obama would veto it. All they had to do was put it through again, and Trump would have signed it.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/politics/house-obamacare-repeal-planned-parenthood/index.html; 10/29/17, 10:07 PM
ddh said...: Achilles said

"I am always amazed at the fervent never-trumpers inability to understand what drives us to support Trump."

You don't have to be a Democrat to live in a bubble where you never meet somebody who disagrees with you. I am not at all a never-Trumper, and I would vote for his reelection as things now stand.

Nevertheless, I recognize that he is popular in the same way that President Obama was popular. The people who like him really, really like him, and they often have trouble recognizing that a majority of voters do not share their enthusiasm. What got the two of them elected were voters who thought the two of them were better than their opposition. I live in Virginia, and I assure you President Trump is not noticeably more popular now in this state than he was a year ago when Clinton won Virginia easily. If he runs for reelection in 2020, he will need to persuade some voters who did not vote for him in 2016 to change their minds if he wants to have a chance of carrying Virginia. It's doable, but far from a sure thing.; 10/29/17, 10:55 PM
ddh said...: I want to add one more thing. Some Trump supporters have developed a nasty habit of berating other Trump voters for a lack of enthusiasm. Bullying is never attractive, even when you share an opinion.; 10/29/17, 11:04 PM