The Choice this Fall - Not Really Yin and Yang

Stephen J. Farnsworth of Mary Washington, in the Feb 17 Times-Dispatch, has an article, “The Yin and Yang of Virginia Politics.” Farnsworth’s column makes some good points but is incomplete. Farnsworth points out a Washington Post poll from last fall saying that Virginians’ biggest concerns were Iraq and the economy, and, he says, neither one will help the GOP; but the electoral climate come November may be wildly different from last fall, or from now.

Even if what the poll says about the concerns of Virginians holds true this fall, that doesn’t consider this: on Iraq - Americans have been dissatisfied with how the war has been going, but the surge is working, which you can tell from the near-disappearance of Iraq from the evening news, and Americans, outside of hard-left Democratic circles, know that. On the economy: Democrats love to criticize business, (except when accepting their campaign donations), often trying to control business with more taxes and regulations. Does making business the enemy seem like a good way to spark up the economy?

Farnsworth discusses campaign funds. Having a lot of campaign money, as Millionaire Mark has, does make life easier. But it can’t buy happiness. Ask Mitt Romney, who spent a-plenty but found that voters preferred someone else, whose campaign was said to be running on fumes.

I don’t think voters will be voting this fall thinking that these two candidates are yin-yang tax opposites. I think voters are going to be thinking, “Do we want someone in Virginia who will vote right along with Harry Reid - on spending, on judges, on the war on terror? Or, do we want someone with actual homeland security credentials, someone who will try to control spending, because he remember where tax dollars come from?”