Video: 8 Minutes That Clearly, Starkly Demonstrate Why Democrat Josh Cole Is a Far, Far Better Pick for HD28 Voters Than Right-Wing Republican Paul Milde

In a debate the other day, Democratic House of Delegates nominee Josh Cole in HD28 (Stafford County, Fredericksburg) clearly demonstrated, over an 8-minute span, why he is a far, far better pick for HD28 voters on November 5th than right-wing Republican Paul Milde. Check out the video, below, starting at 23:55 with a question about the climate crisis (although, bizarrely, the questioner doesn’t ever use the word “climate”), followed by questions on abortion (starting at 26:32) and gun violence prevention (starting at 28:45).

• On the climate crisis, Milde refused to say “global warming” or “climate,” and *completely* missed the point, prattling on about “clean coal” (which is an oxymoron if there ever was one) and “less dependence on foreign sources of energy” (which has absolutely nothing to do with the climate crisis), followed by a spewing of false, hyperbolic, right-wing, fossil-fuel-industry talking points about the supposed evils of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the “Green New Deal.” In absolutely stark contrast, Cole completely “gets it” on the urgency of dealing with the climate crisis and on switching to a clean energy (solar, wind, etc.) economy as rapidly as possible. On this *existential* issue alone, Milde should be disqualified in this election and Cole should be supported by everyone who cares about maintaining a habitable planet.
• On abortion, Josh Cole correctly pointed out that the so-called “Kathy Tran bill” actually “had been introduced for the at least past five or six sessions,” and was simply modifying the number of doctors involved (reducing from three to one) in a law that, as Cole explained, “was actually passed by a Republican back in the early 70s.” The bottom line: Cole trusts women, while Milde doesn’t. Instead, Milde continued to misstate the “Kathy Tran bill,” also bashing Cole for being supported by Planned Parenthood. Again, automatic disqualifier for Milde.
• Finally, on gun violence prevention, Milde basically opposes doing *anything*, falsely claiming that it’s all “mental health” and reciting the usual NRA talking points (e.g., that “red flag laws” supposedly don’t work). In contrast, as Cole pointed out, over 90% of Virginia support universal background checks, with over 80% supporting “red flag laws.” Cole stated, correctly, that people “do deserve to protect themselves,” but that “we also have to protect public safety as well.” For good reason, these are the views of an overwhelming percentage of Virginians and HD28 residents. Yet again, a clear reason to vote for Josh Cole over Paul Milde on 11/5!