“Ultimate Washington Insider” Ed Gillespie Rolls Out His 2017 Campaign Website. Here Are Some “Highlights.”

A few minutes ago, Donald Trump supporter (although not nearly as avidly as Corey Stewart), Ex-Bush Operative And Former Tobacco Lobbyist, and “ultimate Washington Insider” Ed Gillespie unveiled his 2017 campaign for Virginia governor website. I thought I’d provide a few “highlights” for everyone, just in case you don’t feel like looking at it yourself.

1. He brags about being “Counselor to President George W. Bush,” who most of us know as one of the worst Presidents in U.S. history (pending Donald Trump, of course, who will almost certainly be the worst).
2. He further brags about being “a lead author of the 1994 Contract with America.” For more on that debacle, see How Wily Newt Pulled the ‘Contract with America’ Scam (“The founding text of the Gingrich revolution wasn’t about conservatism at all. Quite the reverse.”).
3. He touts having been “a long-time policy and communications aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.” For more on Armey, see More Details Emerge About Dick Armey’s Failed FreedomWorks Coup, No. 2 House Leader Refers to Colleague With Anti-Gay Slur, Lobbyist Dick Armey’s Pollution Gospel: ‘As An Article Of Faith,’ It Is ‘Pretentious’ To Believe In Global Warming, Appeals Court Rejects Tea Party Leader Dick Armey’s Attempt To Reject Medicare, Dick Armey Wants To Completely Eliminate Any Federal Funding For Higher Education, Tea Party Leader Dick Armey: Social Security Is A Corrupt ‘Ponzi Scheme’, Armey tells tea party crowd: ‘I’ve never seen so many attractive domestic terrorists in all my life.’, etc, etc.
4. Gillespie’s “plan” on energy/environment is “development of oil and natural gas reserves off our deep sea coast and stopping the regulatory assault on our coal sector.” Gack.
5. Under “Government Reform and Efficiency,” he vows to “lead a transparent, accountable, and ethical government worthy of Virginia,” without of course providing any details about how to deal with anything laid out in this book on Virginia’s corrupt system.
6. Under his “Healthcare” section, he asserts, “We have a healthcare system that is too costly.” But of course, as with other Republicans, he offers no serious plan to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to more people.
7. Under “Jobs & Economic Growth,” it’s the usual right-wing pablum: ” I will lay out a broad, substantive plan to get our economy back on track, foster private-sector job creation, and create opportunities for all of us. These policies will be based on Constitutional principles of limited, effective government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and less government spending and interference in the private sector.” Whatever.
8. Under “Timeless Conservative Principles,” again it’s the usual right-wing pablum, almost totally detached from reality. Yeah, they are “timeless” principles, the problem is they are timelessly wrong and timelessly really bad.

So that’s the leading Republican candidate for Virginia governor in 2017. Feeling excited yet?  Yeah…no.