I encourage my readers to visit http://www.ambivalentmumblings.blogspot.com. Bryan Scrafford has posted a very brave and important piece on Tom Davis's hypocrisy.
I warned Davis that he'd pay a price for siding with the devils. The attacks will not stop until Davis either drops out of public life or apologizes and renounces the dark side.
Two weeks from today, the voters of VA-11 will have a very distinct choice to make. Only ignorance and complacency borne of Davis's tainted money advantage could account for any voter not knowing the stark differences between Hurst and Davis.
Andy Hurst clearly is a competent and intelligent person. He has youth and energy on his side. He lives in the district and has children attending public school in the district. If elected, he will likely be a member of the majority party in the House of Representatives. He has none of the baggage that Davis brought with him to Congress and has acquired over six terms.
Davis, by his own rhetoric as he entered Congress as part of Newt Gingrich's class of '94, should not even be on the ballot. Newt Gingrich's self-proclaimed revolutionaries said they believed in term limits. Tom Davis was right there with them, promising he'd serve no more than six terms. But, as we all know, trying for a seventh term is just the latest of many promises Davis has broken.
Every Member of Congress is expected to serve both his or her constituents and the best interests of the country at the same time, all while following the dictates of the law and Constitution. It is insulting to the voters of VA-11 that Davis thinks reciting a laundry list of pork he's delivered to us would make us forget the high price he paid to get that pork.
He was OUR servant when he spat on the law and shredded the Constitution and told Gingrich and DeLay and Hastert that if only they'd give him a little pork, he'd do whatever they asked.
When they asked him as head of the campaign fundraising committee for House Republicans to see that Rep. Foley's seat remained in Republican hands, he did, even as others have said Foley's harrassment of boys was widely known.
When they asked him as Chairman of the Government Reform Committee to subpoena Terry Schiavo and slander Terry's husband, he did.
Gingrich resigned in disgrace. DeLay resigned in disgrace. Just today, Hastert presumably told the House Ethics Committee that he conveniently doesn't remember what two other Members of Congress said they told Hastert about Rep. Foley. The point is it doesn't matter who the next Republican Leader is. They are a completely morally bankrupt bunch and whomever they install would tell Davis to do all sorts of nefarious things and he would. No questions asked.
Davis wants to win a seventh term. Davis wants to do the bidding of his corrupt puppetmasters for another two years. Davis wants to succeed John Warner in the U.S. Senate and knows his only chance of winning a Republican primary in 2008 is to prove he's not an untrustworthy moderate maverick from Northern Virginia as his downstate archconservative rivals will charge.
Next year, Davis will do all he can, including again reaching out to his leaders to have his second wife and $78,000 a year part-time "employee" of Davis's former business partner be re-elected to the Virginia State Senate and maybe succeed him as Representative for VA-11.
Davis's primary allegiances are not to the voters of VA-11, if they ever were. Why in the world does he deserve our votes?
There's absolutely no reason to believe that Andy Hurst won't be able to deliver us the services we need without having to sacrifice his principles. Andy won't be beholden to anyone the way Davis is. Let's give Andy a chance. Let's deny Davis any more chances. If Andy doesn't deliver, you can bet with Davis out of the way, plenty of Democratic challengers will vie for our votes in 2008.
You may think you're playing it safe by voting for Davis. You're not. You've already lost a lot and stand to lose a whole lot more.
On the contrary, the possiblities of gain by voting for change, by voting for Andy Hurst, are tremendous.
Be positive. Be hopeful. Vote for change. Vote for the future. Vote for decency. Vote to send the bad guys a message.
Vote for Andy Hurst!
