OPINION:
If their first joint appearance (debate is too generous a word) is any indication, Virginia’s gubernatorial Democratic primary candidates are caught in their own self-righteous echo chamber, assuming no one else will notice or care (“McAuliffe takes jabs from fellow Democrats in debate,” Web, April 6). Boasting of cosmetic diversity while enforcing lockstep uniformity on whatever left-wing fad emerges, they attempted to outdo each other. Death-penalty repeal, marijuana legalization, unlimited abortion and ex-felons voting are only the start. One candidate boasted of colluding with teachers’ unions to keep schools closed, but it could have been any one of them. The party’s pell-mell rush to undo the positive reforms of the past few decades, including a dramatic reduction in violent crime, is disheartening, to say the least.
One-party rule is not the sign of a healthy political system, particularly when candidates, such as the current president, are vying to be the next FDR. Virginia Democrats clearly believe they only have to appeal to roughly half the electorate, and the most “woke” component at that. The guard rails are off, as they evince no restraint to wreck a perfectly livable state. In such a bidding war, the taxpayer loses. Will the voters upend their schemes?
A generation ago, Democrats had all but declared their fourth straight win a fait accompli as their nominee led by as much as 29 points. In 1993 the then relatively unknown George Allen surged to a 17-point win. Among other things, Mr. Allen’s campaign decried the excesses of presidential overreach and the partisan arrogance of social planners.
The time has returned for a sustained scrutiny of the current insanity and an appreciation for ordered liberty. Unquestionably, the commonwealth has changed in the past 30 years. Has it lost its mind?
GREGORY J. MCCARTHY
Burke, Va.
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