The Virginia Gubernatorial Race Proves the GOP Is Suicidal

Yet another conservative columnist is slamming the Virginia GOP for its nomination of a trio of nutcases in a piece in The Daily Beast.  I for one hope all the predictions of a GOP disaster prove true.  In the final analysis, the problem with the Virginia GOP largely traces to the Richmond based hate group known as The Family Foundation ("TFF").  All TFF lacks is a formal designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Yet, it is the group that, together with its religious extremist allies, not only nominated the GOP's extreme team, but also backed much of the legislation that has come back to haunt Cuccinelli and Obenshain.  Here are highlights from the column:

If a national election were held in a test kitchen, it would resemble Tuesday’s Virginia gubernatorial election.

The race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli is a rich stew of national personalities and issues consumed by Virginia voters with “tastes” similar to voter groups nationwide. That’s why the media will see this off-year election as a bellwether for voting trends nationwide.

Speaking as a conservative Republican, I believe the McAuliffe-Cuccinelli campaign has been a recipe for disaster cooked up with the same ingredients that flavor the GOP’s toxic national brand. And that’s the reason why, at this writing, McAuliffe, with his well-earned reputation as a crony-capitalist, is leading Virginia’s attorney general by 6.7 percent and is likely to be the state’s next governor.

This Virginia “test-kitchen race” offers a taste of America’s political future that should be of concern to voters across the remaining 49 states for the following reasons.

Women are McAuliffe’s key to victory. According to a recent Washington Post poll, there is not just a gender gap but a gender canyon, with McAuliffe trumping Cuccinelli 58 to 34 percent with women voters.

Cuccinelli is opposed to abortion and holds traditional views on gay marriage and contraception. The McAuliffe campaign has successfully labeled him as an extremist.

National lesson: If the GOP keeps nominating socially conservative candidates who repel women, expect the Republican Party to lose in traditional blue and “purple” swing states. Furthermore, Cuccinelli won the nomination at the Virginia GOP convention controlled by the more conservative wing of the party. 

The Clintons were practically on the ballot. Politically speaking, McAuliffe’s last name might as well be Clinton, considering he’s been their close political operative and money-man for decades. From the beginning of McAuliffe’s gubernatorial campaign, Bill Clinton has been a cash vacuum for his old friend statewide and nationally.

National Lesson: The Clintons’ star power in Virginia has far outshined every Republican VIP brought in to stump for Cuccinelli. Early on, McAuliffe’s race for governor was billed—by him—as a Hillary 2016 staff and money incubator. Nationally, his victory will likely be viewed as a Hillary 2016 proxy election, with Virginia’s 13 electoral votes practically in the bag.

Hispanic growth is McAuliffe’s advantage. Virginia’s Hispanic population is 630,000, having increased by 92 percent since 2000. Of that number, 214,000 are registered to vote, and two-thirds identify as Democrats.

National lesson. In 2012, President Obama won 64 percent of Virginia’s Hispanic vote, compared with 71 percent nationally. Will McAuliffe top him? If so, it would be a clear signal that the growing Hispanic vote is becoming a lost GOP voter bloc similar to African-Americans. The GOP will cease to be a national party if Hispanics become loyal Democrats by margins as wide as 60 or 70 percent.

National Lesson: Remember what my friend wrote in her email: I voted McAuliffe because I think Cuccinelli is too extreme especially on women’s issues. I really think he is a nut! It looks like “nut” has grown into a larger issue than the Obamacare disaster.

The GOP will not learn anything from Cuccinelli’s defeat. Finally, even though Cuccinelli’s defeat by McAuliffe illustrates a “test kitchen” failure of a conservative candidate in a purple swing state, the Virginia results will be rationalized, marginalized, and ignored. Watch for conservative Republicans to point to Cuccinelli’s defeat as a messaging and communication problem rather than a candidate problem. That kind of denial, more than anything else, is the reason why the Republican Party could be in serious trouble for the elections of 2014 and 2016.

But what about Gov. Chris Christie’s victory in New Jersey, you ask? Good news he won. Bad news he won. That is because the same conservative forces that nominated Cuccinelli in a convention are the same forces that will work to deny Christie the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, no matter how popular he becomes. Caution: big trouble ahead for the GOP. 

The author is correct.   The far right of the GOP will learn nothing if Cuccinelli goes down in flames.  That's what happens when people deny science and every aspect of objective reality to chase after fairy tale stories written by ignorant herders 2500 years ago.