November 23, 2009 [LINK / comment]

GOP split in Virginia Beach

You would think that with the Republican Party currently engaged in a momentous historical struggle to resist a government takeover of our health care system, and thereby uphold liberty, there would be a consensus on what kind of candidate to nominate, especially in a (normally) red state like Virginia. But you would be wrong. A special election will soon be held for the 8th District state Senate seat that has been held by Ken Stolle, who was just elected to be sheriff of Virginia Beach and therefore had to resign from the state Senate. For some reason, the leading candidate to replace Stolle is Jeff McWaters, who works in the insurance industry and has made statements seeming to favor Obamacare. (??!!) According to the Virginian-Pilot, he said, "Health care is a right in America... We don't let sick people lie on the street and die." (Define "we," please.) The opposing Republican candidate, Rosemary Wilson, will need a strong show of support from conservatives in the upcoming party canvass by which the nominee will be chosen. For more discussion and analysis of this, see Brian Kirwin at Bearing Drift. It is uncertain whether the Democrats will even nominate a candidate for that seat, so the nomination will be tantamount to election. Hat tip to Ben Marchi.

This is not unlike the situation in New York's 23rd Congressional District, where local Republican leaders nominated Dede Scozzafava, who was so liberal that a third party Conservative candidate emerged, after which Scozzafava withdrew from the race and endorsed the Democratic candidate, who went on to win. See Nov. 2. When are Republicans going to stop shooting themselves in the foot, for crying out loud?!