If having Jeff Frederick, Bill Carrico, and Adam Ebbin in the Senate means that somehow the "staid" tradition of the chamber is compromised, I say so be it. While Jeff Schapiro's tone might be one of someone unhappy, not me. The Senate has been a broken chamber for a long time. Barons like John Chichester and Richard Saslaw have too long made themselves more important than the grassroots and principled activists around the state that elect politicians. I'm not saying we can never have compromise, what I'm saying is we need people with principle to compromise. For too long we have had senators who put themselves and their own sense of self-importance ahead of principles. And its both parties. Chichester, Potts, et al had as much to do with the terrible 00s that the GOP had just as Saslaw, Howell, and their gang have for the Dems this decade.
And while its no secret that I do like candidates like Carrico, Frederick, and others; Schapiro bringing up guys like Adam Ebbin is important to note too. I respect someone like Adam Ebbin far more than someone like Dick Saslaw, because Ebbin has a purpose to his politics far beyond the positioning for the next election. This is a big, diverse state and having an openly-gay member of the state senate would really show that we have entered the 21st century. And if you have any knowledge of Virginia history, it has always been the General Assembly last castle of change in the state, whether liberal or conservative.
So I am happy to see new faces, more principled, ascending to the Virginia Senate. Schapiro might mock it an atmosphere of professional wrestling, I see it as finally a chance for principles to be represented in the Senate.
Finally, the investigations of Obama's shady Chicago ties is beginning. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/activists-cry-foul-over-fbi-probe/2011/06/09/AGPRskTH_story.html
Posted by: Bill Dorne | June 29, 2011 at 01:02 AM