Today’s Washington Post had a good article about Bill Bolling and how he came to his decision to bow out of the race for Governor of Virginia. In many ways it was a sad story. Many normal Republicans feel a great sense of loss with Bolling’s decision. They should also feel a sense of betrayal and revulsion at what really happened to shut them out.
For starters, Bill Bolling was betrayed by Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli knew it was not his turn. He knew he needed to run for Attorney General again or at best, Lieutenant Governor, a part time position. The Cooch is not only an extremist, he is also greedy and he and his supporters strove to get what they wanted and now. They seized control of the party and turned a primary into a convention to limit who took place in the decision making process. That process perhaps is why the Republicans got to where they are now.
Had Mitt Romney won, much of this scenario would have been different. But he didn’t and we have to look at why. Virginia very well might have played a key roll.
For several years now, it was thought that Governor Bob McDonnell might be selected at the Vice Presidential running mate or at least be offered a cabinet post in the Romney administration. Things got very tepid between Romney and McDonnell last year, during the state legislative session as more and more stupid anti-woman legislation got passed through the General Assembly. Things came to a head after Virginia had a show down over ultra-sound requirements being a requirement before all abortions.
Gov. McDonnell realized the dangerous slippery slope this legislation was on and met with Republicans to redirect the ultra sound efforts. The uber-cons would have none of that and blasted their way through the mountain side, getting the legislation passed. Since the Republicans controlled both legislative houses and the governor’s mansion, they were going for broke.
Meanwhile, someone pointed out that for an ultra sound to even work on a first trimester abortion, that ultra-sound would have to be what is known as a trans-vaginal ultra sound. In other words, all women seeking an abortion would have to be subjected to a vaginal probe by a rather large medical instrument. Pro-choice groups started comparing the procedure to the legal definition of rape. The late night TV shows picked up on Virginia’s latest insult to women and the entire legislative debacle went viral. Rachel Maddow handled the medical end of the process and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert handled the jokes and the mockery of the politicians. Jay Leno and Dave Letterman got weeks of material out of the fracas.
It was the gift that kept giving to television. It was Bob McDonnell’s worst nightmare. Virginia became the laughing stock of the nation, punctuated by its governor being dubbed “Governor Ultra-Sound.” That moniker never really went away.
Ultra-sound in Virginia sounded the rallying call to pro choice America and landed right at the feet of both Bob McDonnell and Mitt Romney. All of a sudden, both men were in an uncomfortable spot–surrounded by party dictates and uncomfortable with forcing women to undergo a trans-vaginal probe. Gov. McDonnell supported his party and signed the legislation with a few . The ultra-sound legislation stayed but women didn’t have to have the vaginal probe if they objected. Thus the bill went on the books with many of its serious teeth filed down to nubs.
All of a sudden American women were on high alert and all of a sudden Bob McDonnell was horribly flawed–so flawed he wasn’t asked to be a running mate.
The rest is pure speculation. However, one has to wonder if this could have all gone down differently. If Virginia hadn’t gone for some of the most draconian anti abortion in America, would more people have supported Romney? If McDonnell had been on the ticket, would Romney have had a better chance of winning, especially since Virginia was a swing state? If Romney had won, would McDonnell have been selected for a cabinet post? Would Bill Bolling transcend to governor as McDonnell moved up? He would sure have had an easier shot at the Governorship as an incumbent.
But such is not the case. There was very much of a ripple effect here. Could the Virginia General Assembly cost Mitt Romney the presidency? Absolutely. Extremism never wins in the long run.
Read more: Bill Bolling explains decision
The Virginia republicans’ war on women cost them severely at the polls, from the president all the way down the ticket. No doubt about it.
Don’t forget, the state Repugs also only allowed Romney and Paul to appear on their primary ballot. Romney, consequently, never had to campaign here and I think that hurt him in the general election. Now the state party bosses want to limit participation even more, to only tea party activists, most of whom don’t have jobs. Republicans who have jobs can’t afford to take a week off to attend a party convention in Richmond. I would be peeved if I were a member of that GOP and cannot have a say in who the party nominee will be.