I’m glad to see Fairfax County Public TV step up to the plate with this joint forum/Q&A/debate (see video below), as there hasn’t been nearly enough coverage of the Virginia Democratic Lt. Governor candidates this cycle. I wish they hadn’t had a Republican (former Arlington County Board member Mike Lane) asking the Democratic candidates questions, but I could live with that as long as they didn’t give said Republican the opportunity to spew falsehoods and bull**** (e.g., that Obamacare is supposedly a “failure”), which is what he did throughout the program. Blech. Other than that, there are some interesting exchanges, including one between Susan Platt and Justin Fairfax on at 23 minutes about Dominion Power’s proposed natural gas pipelines (I describe that exchange below the video, and/or you can watch it for yourself).
In that exchange I just mentioned, Platt talked about her opposition (and Gene Rossi’s) to Dominion’s proposed pipelines (Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley), and Justin Fairfax said “I have as well.” Platt said, “Oh I’m sorry because at one point you said you didn’t know and then you said you were for it.” Fairfax responded, “I didn’t say that at all.” Platt followed up, “So you’re now opposed to the pipeline[s]?” Fairfax shot back, “Susan, please don’t misstate my position…I’m telling you my position which I’ve said before, which is that I don’t believe the case has been made for the pipeline[s], which is the same thing I’ve said from the outside.” Platt concluded, “Well Gene and I are opposed to the pipeline[s], because we believe it’s time to invest in renewable energy sources.”
In general, I agreed with the three candidates on almost everything and thought they all did well, although I was very disappointed not to hear any pushback against Mike Lane’s right-wing blather about “over-regulation” supposedly “stifling” business in Virginia (or anywhere). The fact is, this isn’t just untrue, its wildly false. Unfortunately, it’s also a potent Republican talking point, partly because Democrats refuse to push back hard and talk about what those “regulations” really are – ESSENTIAL PROTECTIONS (for workers, the environment, people’s health and safety, etc.). Ugh.
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