by Lowell
Not that I’m a big fan of Peggy Noonan (to put it mildly), but given that she was primary speech writer and Special Assistant to the Sainted (by Republicans) Great (Ditto) Exalted (Ditto) President Ronald Reagan, she does get a certain amount of respect from conservatives and right wingnuts of all stripes. That’s why I enjoyed reading Noonan’s excoriation of the Republican Party of Virginia in today’s Wall Street Journal. Here’s the part about the Virginia GOP, you know the guys led by anti-Semitic “jokester” dude John Whit(less?)beck. Enjoy! 🙂
And the GOP is struggling. In Virginia the state Republican Party wants a so-called loyalty oath in the March 1 presidential primary. Virginia is an open-primary state—any registered voter can vote in either primary—but the GOP apparently wants to discourage independents and Democrats from voting for Mr. Trump. So they’ve decided voters should sign a statement of affiliation with the GOP before they get to cast a ballot. This is so idiotic it’s almost unbelievable. When Democrats and independents want to vote in your primary you should be happy. Politics is a game of addition! You want headlines that say “Massive GOP Turnout.” You don’t greet first-time voters with an oath but with cookies, ginger ale and balloons. Ronald Reagan reached out to Democrats in 1984: “Come too, come walk with me.” We still speak of Reagan Democrats.
Of course, keep in mind that this is the same Virginia GOP that managed to throw away a perfectly winnable 2013 election by holding a convention o’crazies to nominate the infamous “extreme team” of Grand Ayotallah Ken Cuccinelli, raving Anti-LGBT bigot and all-around extremist E.W. Jackson and Mark “Criminalize Miscarriages” Obenshain. Even better, they’re going to hold another one of those convention o’crazies in 2017; can’t wait! 🙂 Meanwhile, they’re doing their best to turn the March 1 GOP presidential primary into a public relations disaster that has Democrats jumping up and down with glee. As a progressive who “bleeds Democratic blue,” all I can say is, “please, Virginia GOP, don’t ever change!” 🙂
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