From the LuAnn Bennett for Congress campaign:
VA-10 DEBATE PRIMER PART 1: Barbara Comstock’s Campaign Rhetoric vs. Her Actual Record
McLean –Tomorrow, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock will debate her Democratic challenger, small business owner LuAnn Bennett, for the first time. Expect Comstock to continue her pattern of attempting to paper over her record that is more in line with Donald Trump than with her Northern Virginia constituents.
Below are several claims that Comstock has continuously made on the campaign trail and is likely to repeat tomorrow – and the actual truth behind her claims:
Likely Comstock Claim: “I’m a bipartisan leader”
TRUTH: Comstock made her name as a partisan, Washington political operative and has legislated like the far-right ideologue she is.
- Comstock has voted 90 percent with the Republican party [CQ Vote Watch, Comstock Member Profile, accessed1/21/16]
- “Survey says: Comstock most conservative in N.Va. delegation” [Inside NOVA, 8/21/15]
- “Barbara Comstock is as conservative as any right-winger could desire – pro-free enterprise, pro-life and pro-Second Amendment.” [National Review, 11/8/13]
- “Ms. Comstock, a freshman member of the House from Virginia’s 10th District, did not simply switch sides; she eventually became one of the Republican Party’s fiercest partisans.” [New York Times,4/6/15]
Likely Comstock Claim: “I’m fighting for a better funded, safer Metro”
TRUTH: Comstock touts returning funding level already set in 2008; however, she was not a conferee nor did she negotiate the final bill. The 2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) designated $1.5 billion for Metro over 10 years. This year, House Republicans halved that allocation; only after the Senate reported their spending bill with $150 million for Metro was the transit system fully funded. Comstock was not a conferee and did not negotiate the final bill; however, it didn’t stop her campaign team from proclaiming, “Comstock secures full metro funding.”
Comstock has fought the Silver Line, which will stretch into Loudoun county, since her days in the Virginia House of Delegates. She was one of a handful of legislators that voted against a historic, bipartisan transportation funding bill championed her own party’s Republican governor:
- Comstock voted against state transportation funding compromise that contained crucial funding for the Silver Line [HB 2313, 2013 Session, 2/22/13; 4/03/13]
- Voted for state budget that failed to include funding for Silver Line [HB 1301, 4/17/12; Virginian-Pilot,4/19/12]
Likely Comstock Claim: “I’m leading the fight to address the opioid epidemic.”
TRUTH: Comstock voted twice to block adding $600 million in fully paid-for vital new resources to address the opioid epidemic. [Vote #190 5/13/16; Vote #182, 5/11/16]
Likely Comstock Claim: “I’m a small business owner.”
TRUTH: Comstock briefly owned a crisis communications firm that helped embattled Republicans, including Rep. Tom DeLay and former Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, whitewash their image. [Blue Virginia, 10/1/16]
Likely Comstock Claim: “I voted against the government shutdown.”
TRUTH: Comstock readily admits that her vote was driven by ideological reasons – to keep a partisan investigation running into covert videos of Planned Parenthood employees. No wrongdoing was uncovered. [Washington Post, 9/24/16]
VA-10 DEBATE PRIMER PART 2: Like Pence, Comstock Will Pretend Trump Doesn’t Exist
McLean – On Tuesday night, Gov. Mike Pence spent an hour and a half in his debate pretending that his running mate Donald Trump doesn’t exist, or at least that numerous outrageous and offensive statements Trump has made were never uttered by the GOP nominee.
Expect Congresswoman Barbara Comstock to adopt a similar tactic at tomorrow morning’s VA-10 Congressional Debate hosted by the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce. For months, the Congresswoman has attempted to confuse 10thDistrict voters by appearing to distance herself from Trump while simultaneously refusing to renounce him. Throughout the campaign, however, Comstock has made no attempt to distance herself from the extreme agenda she shares with Trump.
Both Donald Trump and Barbara Comstock:
– Support Roe v. Wade being overturned
– Support defunding Planned Parenthood
– Oppose Comprehensive Immigration Reform
– Oppose Equal Pay for women and families
– Deny that climate change exists
– Oppose common sense measures to prevent gun violence
Comstock has repeatedly refused to answer questions from the press regarding whether or not she will vote for Trump. Even after her mentor and predecessor, former Congressman Frank Wolf, endorsed Donald Trump, Comstock refused to comment. A recent Washington Post article noted that Comstock has been dubbed “No Comment Comstock” due to her evasiveness. In the same article, Comstock is quoted as saying, “I’m watching,” in response to a question as to whether she’ll vote for Donald Trump.
Here are just some of the things that Comstock has presumably been “watching” Trump do or say over the course of the campaign:
· Donald Trump said Senator McCain was not a war hero because he was captured and implied that military members suffering with mental health issues aren’t strong
· Donald Trump mocked a disabled reporter
· Donald Trump in a 3 A.M. tweetstorm attacked former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, whose weight he previously criticized, and falsely claimed she had a sex tape
· Donald Trump doubled down on his statements calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States”
· Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin
Unfortunately for the Congresswoman, her constituents are very smart, and they’re not buying it. Recent polling suggeststhat 10th District voters know that Comstock “will go along with Trump’s agenda.” And even one of Comstock’s top lieutenant’s, Loudoun County GOP Chairman Will Estrada, in a moment of candor, pulled back the curtain on Comstock’s façade when he stated, “Barbara is doing what a lot of voters are doing – they support the principles that Donald Trump stands for as a Republican…”
So while like Gov. Mike Pence, Comstock may wish to preserve her future political ambitions by ignoring Donald Trump, LuAnn Bennett and her campaign will be continuing to remind 10th District voters that on the issues that impact Northern Virginia, Barbara Comstock is closer to Donald Trump than she is to Northern Virginians.
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