The 8th District Primary is complicated, and the match up between Don Beyer and Patrick Hope seems to be one of the most stark, with Hope supporters digging up lots of “conservative” tid bits from Beyer’s past to show who the REAL progressive in the race.
But despite my past leanings toward more progressive and grassroots-friendly candidates like Hope i have been reluctant to toss a man who has worked for Howard Dean and Barack Obama overboard too quickly as national and international experience with leaders i admire is a big thing. And Beyer is definitely promoting some very strong stances on issues ranging from choice to climate change to prove his progressive bonafides.
Beyer is more “establishment” and less engaged as a 21st Century campaigner though, which is important to me considering that we should be able to deliver a strong spokesman for our movement this close to the nation’s capitol. So, the question becomes whether the youthful energy of Patrick Hope is worth the risk.
I was hoping so but it appears his over-eager campaign apparatus just walked into an embarrassing mistake.
By signing on to a petition that compares Delegate Marcus Simon’s ANNUAL fundraiser that includes yet another 8th District straw poll to a “tax” equivalent to what African-Americans faced in the segregated South is truly outrageous and to call the the evet “self-serving” is totally over the line:
http://www.change.org/petition…
I have found the cavalcade of straw polls that started on Mardi Gras pretty distasteful as shameless ploys for local party committees and elected officials to pad their bank accounts but this indignation comes AFTER the Hope campaign fought hard to win almost all of them and often bragged at their results.
Now, two weeks before the election we are now shocked that gambling is going on in here!
What is the strategy? I guess Simon is an easier target than Gerry Connolly’s “self serving” St. Patrick’s Day Party or the Arlington Young Democrats who he considers part of his base and he can now pivot to being against straw polls after he used them to improve his credentials at higher profile events.
Well, the selective indignation is hypocritical at best and the sign of a careless bomb thrower at worst.
I know many people want the next 8th District Representative to be an “aggressive progressive” but I think that first and foremost the seat should be filled with a statesman/woman who has the respect of their peers.
Do we want the billions in federal government funding that goes to Northern Virginia compromised by the antics of a Member who thinks they can use the office to put on a series of publicity stunts?
Patrick seems like a thoughtful candidate but sometimes the insurgent crusaders aren’t ready yet. Often this is because of a lack of pragmatism but attacking a fellow Delegate for the playing the same game as the rest of Northern Virginia Democrats have been playing is simply inconsistent and undisciplined.
What kind of sound bites will that yield on the Congressional stage? And what will that mean for the constituents of the 8th and their House seat?
Democrats just lost in Arlington of all places so the wrong candidate could prove vulnerable in a general election before OR after a term in office.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
