As is almost always the case, yet again independent/non-corporate/non-“access-journalism” media – in this case, Judd Legum’s superb Popular Information – is busy kicking the asses of the Washington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginian Pilot, etc, etc. in accurately and honestly covering the Virginia governor’s race.
To be blunt, with regard to the vast majority of political media covering Winsome Earle-Sears (and John Reid too), what we’ve seen so far has been overwhelmingly a combination of whitewashing, “sanewashing,” normalization, horse-race coverage, identity politics, etc, etc. – and almost NOTHING on the fact that this Republican ticket is far-right extremist, bigoted, etc.
Fortunately, Judd Legum’s Popular Information isn’t playing that pathetic, cowardly game. Check out his latest article (“2025’s Willie Horton ad: Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate dishonestly links her opponent to a notorious sex offender”) and see for yourself. A few highlights include the following:
- Winsome Earle-Sears’ new ad attacks Abigail Spanberger, among other things, “for saying ‘our LGBTQ neighbors have the same legal rights as everyone else.'” Which, of course…NO SHIT that our LGBTQ neighbors should have the same rights as everyone else! This is not just the morally right position, by the way, it’s also popular – as Gallup finds, Americans overwhelmingly (68%-29%) believe that “marriages between same-sex couples should or should not be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.” And, as Judd Legum notes in his article, “A 2024 poll by PRRI found that 75% of Americans, including 62% of Republicans, ‘support policies that protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation.'” So Winsome Earle-Sears isn’t just MORALLY wrong, she’s also in the (pretty small) minority of Americans on this issue.
- On the specific charge in Earle-Sears’ vicious, dishonest ad, regarding convicted sex offender Richard Cox, namely the deranged charge that (supposedly) Spanberger supports his “right to undress next to young girls,” Legum point-blank calls this out as “false,” while also noting that Cox “is identified as a man,” but regardless, that “Entering school property as a sex offender and indecent exposure are illegal regardless of gender identity.”
- As for Earle-Sears’ insane charge that Spanberger’s vote for the Equality Act (which “passed the House in 2019 with support from all Democrats and eight Republicans”) somehow means Spanberger “supports criminals like Cox,” Judd Legum correctly explains that this charge ” would make the creators of the infamous Willie Horton ad blush” – it’s just so outrageous, insane, false, nasty, disgusting, etc.
- Meanwhile, again unlike the vast majority of “mainstream media,” Judd Legum point-blank calls out Earle-Sears for her “extremist views” on LGBTQ issues (and everything else, really), including stating that “our society has gone immeasurably beyond almost all standards in accommodating the homosexual community over the last couple of decades.'”
- Finally, VERY MUCH unlike corporate media, Judd Legum points out that “Earle-Sears’ campaign is bankrolled, directly and indirectly, by several major companies.” The corporate media won’t do that, of course, since they are corporate themselves, and also because they are, themselves, partly bankrolled by advertising by corporate America.
Anyway, check out Judd Legum’s superb article, and STRONGLY consider supporting independent journalism with integrity like his…while ditching your subscriptions to extremist-whitewashing corporate media.
