Tuesday’s Primaries and VA-10

Tonight, for the first time ever, two incumbent Democratic Senators failed to win primaries in a single day.  That has never happened before, and is greater than the number of incumbent Democratic Senators who lost primaries over the past decade combined.  Further, both challengers had little to no establishment support (especially Sestak), and one was in a red state (Halter).  Most importantly, both challengers took on the incumbents from the left. – Chris Bowers, OpenLeft

2010 has been billed as a bad year to be a Democrat, but yesterday’s results proved otherwise. In the only race actually deciding a Congressional seat yesterday the Democrat won (just as Democrats have won every special election this year). In the vast majority of races with Democrats in them, the more Democratic candidate either won or pushed the less Democratic candidate to a runoff.

You’d think the narrative would be “progressives triumphant” but for some reason the media is obsessed with a man named Rand.

That’s fine, it’s okay for them to be wrong for a while. It gives us a chance to build our fight for VA-10. Jeff Barnett is poised to ride a wave of anti-establishment opinion into the hallowed halls of Congress.

There are few Representatives in Congress who are more “establishment” than Frank Wolf. He came in with the Reagan revolution and has been a muddler in Congress ever since. While Chair of the Transportation committee he accomplished nothing as Loudoun county began to experience the growth that required action on roads, trains and buses long before today. He is the “dean” of the Virginia delegation, having served longer than any other member from our Commonwealth, and yet he is quite possibly the least-known Congressmember from Virginia.

Jeff Barnett and Democrats like him will have an opportunity in the Fall to run on Democratic accomplishments. Frank Wolf’s record in Congress is thin while he was in power, and retrograde while he is in opposition. As my colleague Daverunner has cataloged, Mr. Wolf has voted against the very legislation which is putting our country back on the right track. Just a few bills Mr. Wolf voted against, bills that will directly benefit his constituents, include:

• The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act – In a supreme act of hypocrisy, Frank Wolf voted against the bill, and then criticized the Governor for not spending its money fast enough.
• Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 – Energy conservation in our appliances is just good sense, of which Mr. Wolf apparently has little.
• The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – Which Frank Wolf opposed because apparently my wife and daughter shouldn’t be paid the same money for the same work as a man. Because that is staying in touch with the needs of his constituents in VA-10.
• Health Insurance Reform – Nevermind the number of families with children over 18 who need to stay on their parents’ insurance. Nevermind the number of people in our district who have run up against “lifetime caps” on benefits, or been dropped from coverage after getting sick, Frank Wolf voted against this bill, and his fellow Virginians.

Tuesday showed America, and Virginia, one thing. It showed that when given a choice, voters choose the candidate who is fighting the hardest for them.

(P.S. Go read KathyInBlacksburg today. This post could have been titled, “What Kathy Said.” Oh, and Crossposted from Loudoun Progress.)