Pat Robertson’s man in the Virginia State House, Governor Bob McDonnell, has been in office less than a month and is already delivering on the Religious Right’s agenda … at the expense of Virginians’ civil rights.
A February 5 executive order from the ‘Gov stripped gay and lesbian state workers of protections against job discrimination. It was that simple: signing an order that prohibits discrimination based on nearly every category except sexual orientation (which had been included under McDonnell’s predecessor, Gov. Tim Kaine). The move has already been praised by Radical Right groups like Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council.
This is a painful, cringe-inducing “I told you so” moment that brings no satisfaction to anyone and certainly no desire to gloat. It’s a sad reminder that when we snooze, we lose — in this case, progressive voters snoozing has led to LGBT Virginians losing, but rest assured, there will be more to come and enough misery to go around.
Bob McDonnell’s opponent in the gubernatorial race was Creigh Deeds, who failed to inspire his progressive base. Deeds campaign ran away from progressive values instead of embracing and fighting for them, and the Democratic ticket paid the price on Election Day. Deeds got the Democratic nomination in the first place because of dreadful turnout, particularly among progressives, in that party’s primary election.
The other lesson we must take away is that we must EXPOSE right-wing candidates for what they are. This need makes organizations like PFAW and blogs like RightWingWatch very important. McDonnell is an undoubtedly intelligent and charismatic politician. He seems like a very nice guy, a good family man and emanates a sincerity that might be genuine. But this persona belies his radical beliefs.
McDonnell could rightly be called a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” for running a campaign that avoided the polarizing issues on which his Religious Right agenda is focused. But the evidence was there all along. He was elected, in part, due to progressives’ and Democrats’ failure to expose his true radical right-wing inclinations despite a wealth of evidence.
His master’s thesis (at Pat Robertson’s Regent University, which itself should have been portrayed as a bigger red flag to VA voters) espoused extremely radical views. It became a major campaign issue for his opponent Deeds but somehow McDonnell was able to diffuse it by saying those were the views of a younger, less lived and learned version of himself. He was 34 YEARS OLD when he wrote the thesis, though, and hardly some naïve kid. McDonnell’s record as Attorney General and statements he had made in the past, as well as his close connection to Pat Robertson, should have been additional red flags.
But here we find ourselves, with LGBT Virginians taking the first of what will likely be many blows to their basic rights throughout Gov. McDonnell’s tenure. And it’s not only Virginians who are going to suffer.
McDonnell has been unleashed onto the national political scene too. Americans already have enough fear from hatemongers like Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and others who threaten America with their potential candidacy for president. Now, we have Bob McDonnell (Pat Robertson’s protégé!!!) who is clearly being groomed to be a national leader of the Republican Party after he gave the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address — a response that was very well executed and positioned the articulate family man McDonnell as what one would imagine to be a Tea Party activist’s ideal alternative to our current president. (The fact that McDonnell is white is sadly of central importance in the GOP’s ploy, but that’s a topic that deserves further dissection in another post).
It’s been said that we get the government we deserve, based on who we vote for or whether or not we choose to vote at all. But no one deserves a governor like Bob McDonnell. And the likes of Pat Robertson and Tony Perkins certainly do not deserve to have their errand boy serving them up one wish list item at a time wrapped all pretty with a bow on it.
Progressives stay at home on Election Day at all of our peril. And that goes for the primaries especially. The progressive “base” can’t just be the voters whose turnout makes the difference for Democrats in general elections (young voters, low-income voters, etc.). People who truly embrace what it means to be progressive need get out there and stand up for our values within the political party structure. If there’s one thing this current crop of Democratic members of Congress has made all too clear, it’s that no one else is going to assert those values (the same ones that made and continue to make America great, I might add) if we don’t do it in the voting booth.
We must do better.
In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on Governor Bob McDonnell, lest he follow the path of another perceived “every man” who was strong on “family values” and played the part of a “uniter, not a divider.” That “every man,” George W. Bush, served up the most radical right-wing policies of any modern president and was quick to empty the nation’s treasury into the pockets of war profiteers and his other corporate sponsors. Let’s learn from the past.