On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah

The RTD is reporting that Bob McDonnell, a graduate of Norte Dame himself, is opposed to the University awarding a degree to President Obama. He does not, however, believe ND should revoke its invitation for the President to speak.

McDonnell, an alumnus of the Catholic university in Indiana, said “a number of [Obama's] views, both private and public, appear to be in great conflict with the Catholic social teaching.”

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“Conferring a degree confers certainly an imprimatur, or an approval, of those views,” McDonnell said on the WTOP radio show. “So I don’t think so, if it’s a uniquely Catholic university like a Georgetown or a Boston College or a Notre Dame.”

I agree with Bob. Universities who choose to hand out honorary degrees should do so with an eye towards the values that those degrees represent. Indeed, such is the case with those universities who do not award them (such as my alma mater the University of Virginia), who believe that their degrees are only to be rewarded to those who show their academic worth. Indeed, this is echoed in the context the University provides for its mission statement:

This statement speaks of the University of Notre Dame as a place of teaching and research, of scholarship and publication, of service and community. These components flow from three characteristics of Roman Catholicism that image Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Spirit. A sacramental vision encounters God in the whole of creation. In and through the visible world in which we live, we come to know and experience the invisible God. In mediation the Catholic vision perceives God not only present in but working through persons, events, and material things. There is an intelligibility and a coherence to all reality, discoverable through spirit, mind, and imagination. God’s grace prompts human activity to assist the world in creating justice grounded in love. God’s way to us comes as communion, through the communities in which men and women live. This community includes the many theological traditions, liturgies, and spiritualities that fashion the life of the Church. The emphasis on community in Catholicism explains why Notre Dame historically has fostered familial bonds in its institutional life.

Certainly, I think it would be in bad taste for the University to retract its invitation for the President to speak–indeed, it would be against its other stated value of academic freedom. However, as a Catholic institution, respect for the church’s teachings is paramount, and to offer an honorary degree to an individual who has repeatedly and openly stated opposition to the church’s core teaching of the sanctity of life should not receieve such a degree.

I think some commentators (particularly ones on the other side of the aisle) will point to this as an a-ha moment, purporting that they’ve caught McDonnell in a lie about his “true nature.” However, I think all this moment shows is further proof of McDonnell’s leadership style: pragmatic solutions that never betray core values.

The always brilliant Shaun Kenney lays out some of the questions and concerns I’ve had about the “Tea Party” “movement” (yes, that second set of quotation marks is intentional):

I’m not entirely opposed to the idea of “tea parties” to protest what most would accurately view as the mortgaging of our future.  $50 billion dollars in stimulus for Illinois is little more than the federal government whipping out the credit card and cranking up the printers at the Federal Reserve.  

It’s money from thin air, collateral against our children’s future.  OK — be angry about that.

But the way it is taken out on this reporter… this doesn’t help the cause of limited government, does it?

If this represents the mood, approach, and tenor of the liberty movement, count me out.  Doug Mataconisover at Below the Beltway has splendidly criticized the movement to describe not only what precisely they are for, but the outright hypocrisy of not opposing the massive expansion of government under President George W. Bush over the last eight years.

Where were the tea parties for Medicare expansion?  The Ag Bill?  When federal spending on education increased by over 50%?  When property taxes in localities in Virginia skyrocketed year after year?  

Shaun continues by pointing out that activists need to be serious not just in their scope but their direction as well:

In the meantime, until activists get serious not just about reducing and limiting the power and size of their government, but find a manner in which to share their ideals and principles without swearing at reporters (no matter what their bias), the wilderness is precisely what they deserve.  I’m quite certain we’ll see some oscillation — a brief victory here and there from time to time — but the steady march of socialism will remain quite unimpeded until they discover the backbone to do more than protest.

Now, I’m not as down on the Tea Parties as Shaun was. I think that many of the participants and backers here in Virginia (notably Crystal Clear Conservative and Tertium Quids) have been standing on principle for a long time and have taken their fellow Republicans/self-proclaimed conservatives and libertarians to task when they veer from the path of fiscal conservatism. By that same token, though, I do think a fair number of participants were driven by blind anti-Obamaism. I’m not saying that it is necessarily sour grapes, but it is true that many of these people stood aside while Bush ramped up big government programs in a way not seen since the Johnson administration. However, it is very clear that a sizable percentage of the population was heard, and indeed respected (51% of Americans viewed the protests favorably). 

I also agree with Shaun that many of the Tea Party protestors took the same sort of tactics by the same “radical left” that we have derided for years. However, the frustration is palpable. It was going to boil over in some, yes, ugly ways. 

So what do we conservatives do with this? Well, there’s already talk of follow up protests. There’s certainly some good to come out of that. However, I think there is a more fundamental opportunity here: the one for education and activism beyond merely taking it to the streets. AfterTheTeaParty.com has been launched to encourage people to take the movement to the next level. Ned Ryun, the site’s founder, advocated that starting very local is the best way to go on The Next Right:

Think about the 800 or so cities that had tea parties on the 15th. What if those tea parties did the same and decided they were going to focus on taking over their local councils and school boards? Why not? You would have a ready made volunteer base for starters.

And think about the fact that usually half or more of our government spending every year is at the state and local level. I know in 2005 that 53% of government spending was at the state and local level (you can make the argument that federal mandates and some federal money are pushed into state and local to be spent there, but the point is, there is a great deal of government spending that takes place at the local levels). What I’m trying to do is tell people, “Channel the passion, move from protesting to implementing, and thru AftertheTeaParty, American Majority will help empower you to do that.” I think it would be great if all 800 cities focused on their local government, all ran on 3-5 of the same basic points: Transperancy, Fiscal Responsibility, and Accountability for starters.

I agree–if every single locality in Virginia that saw a tea party started a taxpayer’s association, we would see amazing results within just a few years. Once those we get elected to the Board of Supervisors and City Councils come of age as public servants, they will then run for the House and Senate. Think of the possibilities for a golden age of free markets and limited government in Virginia…..

Despite weathering disingenuous attacks from the Democrats and suffering from a stab in the back from former/soon-to-be-again “Republican” Mike Bloomberg (hey, when you’re Bloomberg rich, you can call yourself whatever you want), Bob McDonnell continues to maintain the momentum in this race. First off, there was last week’s Rasmussen poll, which shows Bob McDonnell leading all three candidates for Governor by double digit margins. What’s more, McDonnell has huge favorable numbers–58% of Virginians have a favorable view of Bob versus just 16% unfavorable. Meanwhile, all of his Democratic opponents have net unfavorables. Indeed, none of the candidates can even crack 40% (mostly due to overall low name ID). Clearly, Bob’s kickoff tour reached out to a wide swath of Virginians. 

Last week also saw the release the financial reports from all four campaigns for Governor. VPAP has posted (as always) some really great maps and charts for all the candidates. Bearing Drift has made some interesting notes abot just where the money is coming from: 

Looking at the top donors by zip code, Brian Moran’s top ten are all Virginia, while Creigh Deeds is all Virginia but Washington DC in 7th and Bob McDonnell has DC first but all Virginia for the rest of the top ten.

Terry McAuliffe, on the other hand, has only FOUR Virginia zip codes not just in his top ten (three of which are McLean) but these same four are the ONLY four in his top TWENTY FIVE localities.

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Long term, Bob McDonnell is not asleep at the wheel and certainly not content to just let the Democrats beat each other up while developing their own statewide operations.  His fundraising from throughout the state shows the statewide support and operations he’s pulling and should enable him to set up early and campaign well, even in Northern Virginia.

Something that Bearing Drift did not point is that while 14 of Bob McDonnell’s top 25 zip codes for donors are outside of northern Virginia, just 7 of Brian Moran’s are (no need to even discuss McAuliffe here–most of his aren’t even in Virginia–and Deeds was always going to be the candidate of rural Virginia). McDonnell is showing that he has a strong base all across Virginia, from Shenandoah to the Eastern Shore. It’s a long way to November–but right now, McDonnell has the momentum, and RPV would be foolish to squander it on internecine battles between now and then.

Despite a string of bad publicity, communications misfires, and poltical problems back home, Sarah Palin still proves she can put meat in the seats. From Politico:

Far from her home state and the controversy she left behind, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin traveled to Indiana on Thursday and reminded Republicans why she remains a party heavyweight and a top prospective presidential candidate in 2012.

Palin drew approximately 3,000 people to the Vanderburgh County Right to Life fundraising dinner in Evansville, an annual banquet that typically attracts some of the GOP’s top national talent. Her sold-out appearance in a local exhibition hall prompted organizers to set up a paid closed-circuit broadcast at a nearby auditorium for a large spillover crowd and led local authorities to close down nearby streets.

It’s clear that Palin continues to have a great amount of star appeal, at least amongst social conservatives. However, some signs point to waning influence for social conservatives within the party, meaning that her fiscal credentials will need to be just as strong in the coming years. The million dollar question: Can Palin turn this into real political capital ahead of 2012, or is she destined to become a darling of thc conservative rubber chicken circuit?

Crystal Clear Conservative will be featuring video from the YRFV forum of all three candidates for the GOP AG nomination (Dave Foster, John Brownlee, and Ken Cuccinelli) throughout this week. If you haven’t decided who to support and haven’t had a chance to make it to one of the great forums or debates they’ve held across the state, this is a great opportunity to view the candidates side by side. First up: the three candidate’s opening statements.

While Krystle gets the video up, please enjoy my live-blog (I know, I know, so 2006) of the forum.

I just wanted to toot my own horn for a second and note that 1) last week (Monday through today) was the busiest I’ve ever had here on the blog, with a daily average of 86 hits and 2) that I have passed 5,000 hits! I hope that those of you who are regular visitors will continue your patronage and tell your friends about the blog.

In this week’s RPV Chairman’s update (btw, I’m still undecided if I like the new format–it’s easier on the eyes yet a little too formal) Mike Thomas wrote that RPV is working on securing another “big” star for the RPV Breakfast on May 30th, the morning of the convention and the day on which actual voting will take place. Could this be another 2012 contender? Any guesses on who it might be?

Yep, it’s that time of year. I’m making a few changes here on the Western Banks. First, what I threw out: The Big O Show’s page is gone, as is Info Central. Frankly, Info Central never really panned out as a clearinghouse for information about Valley politics, so good riddance. 

Now, as to additions, I added something that I think will prove quite useful to my readers: A listing of upcoming area political events. Since this is a conservative site, they’ll tend to skew conservative–then again, most of the events in the area will skew conservative as well. At any rate, I’ll add events of interest to conservatives and Republicans as well as general community events, so be sure to watch that space for updates.

Hear ye, hear ye–after a very exciting weekend at the YRFV Convention getting to know some of the players in the organization, re-igniting old friendships from my CR days (and making new ones), and being inspired to lead by both current and past YRs, I have decided to get the ball rolling on a chapter of the YRs here in the Shenandoah Valley. Our geographical focus will be from Woodstock to Winchester over to Front Royal, although I’d be willing to talk to people in Page and Clarke who might be willing to join the effort as well. Right now, I just want to find some people interested in forming a club–we’ll work on the logistics of meeting locations once we know there’s interest. 

If you’re a Young Republican age 18 to 40 who is not a member of the Young Republicans and who is ready to fight for the resurgence of our conservative values, I want to talk! Give me a call at (540) 436-3530 or drop me an email at (540) 436-3530. Also, be sure to join our Facebook group.

No, I’m not talking about Bob McDonnell—he shared the same agenda with us that he has shared with like-minded voters across the state, one of positive, principled ideas designed to jump-start our economy. Rather, I’m talking about a shared vision of Pat Mullins and Sandy Liddy Bourne. 

The former competitors (now hopefully allies, if no one arises to challenge Pat) seem to share a vision of strengthening our local parties. A key part of their plan: a traveling “RPV Roadshow,” which would focus on the nitty gritty that chairs need to know not just in terms of party procedure but also about recruitment, fundraising, and indeed, candidate recruitment. Pat’s mantra seems to be that organization is not a matter of scope but of scale. I had heard talk of this in the previous administration, but Pat seems dedicated to making it happen. 

I think that we are missing a number of opportunities all across the state by not fighting elections at ALL levels. When I was doing some freelance work for RPV I discovered that throughout much of the 5th and 6th District many local elected officials do not run under the banner of either party. Certainly I’m sure there are reasons for this related to the history of those regions; however, it is absolutely essential that we test and fight for our values right down to the Board of Supervisors. The reason for this is three fold: not only do contesting such races build a brand of a vibrant and principled party (given that local electeds stick to their guns once in office, given the many pratfalls that exist in local government, but that’s another conversation), but they also build a base of candidates for higher offices, namely the House of Delegates, as well as a base of volunteers, as these races tend to attract the friends and families of candidates who can hopefully be “hooked” for future campaigning. Bill Bolling is a perfect example of this: Hanover County Board to State Senate to LG. Sandy Bourne even suggested that YR members get involved in their own HOAs, citing this a testing and breeding ground for values of personal liberty. 

Patt Mullins is a principled, idealistic conservative who has what it takes to lead the RPV to victory across the state. That’s why he has my full endorsement for the May 2nd vote. I strongly suggest that you attend the Harrisonburg Committee’s First Fridays event on May 1st at noon at the Wood Grill in Harrisonburg. 

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss another part of Mullin’s agenda that in my opinion will certainly draw some controversy but is long overdue.