With Virginia among the states having presidential primary elections on "Super Tuesday," state wide - but especially in the large market areas - we are being saturated with television ads being aired by either candidates and/or various PAC's. In addition, candidates are making appearances in the state - Marcobot will be in Republican leaning Virginia Beach this evening. The Republican ads are enough to make one vomit and/or scream at the television set. Among the worse and most disingenuous are those of Marc Rubio which strive to make Rubio the heir apparent to Ronald Reagan, ignoring the fact that Rubio has embraces bigotry Regan would have shunned and the reality that Reagan could not win the GOP presidential nomination nowadays. The Washington Post looks at Marcobot's efforts against Trump in Virginia and the splintered GOP in Virginia. Here are excerpts (note the references to generally insane Prince William County that continues to reelect nutcase Del. Bob Marshall):
As polls show Trump leading in nearly every state participating in the whirlwind of Super Tuesday Republican primaries and caucuses, Rubio is pouring resources into Virginia, a marquee battleground where he hopes to emerge as a measured alternative to the combative mogul.Besides airing more than $500,000 in television ads in Virginia this weekend, Rubio plans four stops in the state on Sunday, including Leesburg, the type of affluent Washington suburb he needs to dent Trump’s momentum.
Even as polls signal Trump’s strength in Virginia, recent interviews with more than two dozen voters in Prince William County suggest that some in the electorate are dissatisfied with their choices and that Rubio may have an opportunity to expand support.
Thirty miles southwest of Washington, Prince William is the state’s second-largest county, with an ever-burgeoning population of affluent professionals, government bureaucrats, military officers, evangelical conservatives, immigrants and blue-collar workers.
Once reliably conservative, the county has become a bellwether for a state that has turned more moderate, supporting President Obama twice after having backed President George W. Bush.
“If Trump carries Prince William, it shows he has appeal across a range of Republicans,” said Robert Holsworth, a retired Virginia Commonwealth University political science professor. “It’s up to the other candidates to show that they can appeal across the Republican electorate.”
Virginia is more important for Rubio and Cruz, said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University who said recent polling suggests that Rubio has the most potential. In one survey, more than 40 percent of voters said they approved of Rubio even though only 22 percent said he would get their vote, Kidd said.
“Ultimately, somebody has to take those voters away from Donald Trump or he’s not stoppable,” Kidd said. “If Rubio doesn’t do well in Virginia, I don’t know how he can make the case that he’s the moderate alternative.”
In the back of the Nokesville Market, Ed Chapman sipped coffee and longed for an earlier era. Spread out before him were drawing pencils, a sketch book and a photograph of Ronald Reagan that he was using as a portrait model.
Reagan was his kind of leader, he said. Strong. Articulate. Mature. The current crop of Republicans pales by comparison — especially Trump, whose plan to build a wall along the Mexican border “is incredibly stupid,”
In Manassas, as she ate lunch with friends at a mall, Betty Phillips, 75, said she finds herself enjoying Trump’s antics, even as she’s put off by his temperament. Rubio is preferable to Cruz, she said, if only because she doesn’t like the Texan’s appearance.“Isn’t it awful?” she asked, laughing. “I’ve had a hard time. We’ve not got very much to pick from.”
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