I am a Virginian through and through, but…

It is hard to believe Virginia was the heart and soul of America when it was formed. Most of the first 10 Presidents hail from the Old Dominion. The US Bill of Rights was derived from the Virginia version, at times almost verbatim. Virginians helped explore this country, form this country, fight for this country. We stand for democracy.

But the Virginia GOP has turned its back on this great legacy, and turned its back on Virginians as a whole. The VA GOP no longer asks Virginians who they want representing them in government. Instead the party now tells us who they want, and we either accept or let Democrats run amok.

Sadly, some years the VA GOP makes the Democrats the lesser of 2 evils:

A minister who compared gays to pedophiles and Planned Parenthood to the Klu Klux Klan is not the No. 2 candidate Republican Party reformers had in mind for the marquee race of 2013.

…

Blame Virginia’s quirky political process, a raucous convention speech and a racial undercurrent for vaulting Jackson—an also-ran in the 2012 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate—onto a stepping stone to the top job in one of the closely watched swing states in the country. Blame Cuccinelli, who steered the party away from holding a potentially more competitive primary and toward a convention that ensured his nomination but left the lieutenant governor’s slot up to only a few thousand hard-core activists to fill.

Jackson’s unexpected entrance into the Virginia statewide elections this year is one of the starkest examples of the challenges facing the GOP as it tries to broaden its appeal on the way to 2016.

I support Cuccinelli for Governor, but he will probably loose now  because VA is so competitive the slightest drag can be devastating.. The selection of Jackson as the GOP standard bearer plays into the worst images of the GOP. How could we go from McDonnell to Jackson like this? While there are aspects of Jackson to admire (I have respect for former Marines), his rhetoric is too harsh for my taste.

If the VA GOP wants to broaden its appeal, it would run primaries and live with the broader conservative selection. Purity by some on the far right has the same results as purity by the far left – minority status through massive election losses. In a democracy you have to moderate and lead the mainstream, not fight it. You have to build consensus without losing those core values that most people share.

Democracy is not easy. It is not suppose to be. It is simply much more preferable over the other options – which are increasing gradients of tyranny. For a party that supposedly opposes big government – where just a few control the rest of us – the VA GOP sure stepped in it this year. The convention has always spelled disaster for the VA GOP. It leaves conservative independents like me cold and out of the process.

If I can tell the VA GOP anything it is this – trust Virginians to make the best choice. Stop trying forcing leaders on us. They will usually be rejected, based on principle alone if need be. Go back to democracy.