Anti-Gay GOP House Candidate Resorts to "Racist Dog Whistle"

Despite the Virginia Republican Party not having won a statewide election in over a decade and seeing Republican efforts of promoting homophobia and racism fail to put their candidates over the finish line, Virginia Republican Bob Good - a protege of Jerry Falwell, Jr. - who is running for the 5th congressional district is nonetheless pulling out the stops in resorting to the GOP's ugliest tactics.  Having already engaged in gay bashing, Good is now resorting to outright racism against his opponent Democrat Cameron Webb (pictured at right) , a practicing physician (who also holds a law degree) and a member of the University of Virginia School of Medicine faculty.  Good's credentials - or lack thereof: a degree from Liberty University and serving as former associate athletics director/"Flames Club" executive director at Liberty University.  With little to recommend him, Good's first ad superimposes a photo of Democrat Cameron Webb - who is black - over video of fires and looting, and tells voters to "look past [Webb's] smooth presentation." Yes, the ad is disgusting and racist, but then so is today's Republican Party both in Virginia and nationally. A piece in the Washington Post looks at Good's racist ad.  If you are disgusted and offended, donate to Webb's campaign here. Here are story highlights:

Virginia Republican Bob Good dropped his first congressional campaign ad Monday, showing Cameron Webb, his Democratic opponent, against images of rioting in an unidentified location and trying to paint Webb as a “radical” who supports forced government health care and defunding the police.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee condemned the ad as a “racist dog whistle.” Webb, who if elected would be the first Black doctor ever to serve in Congress, called it a “gross distortion” of his positions.

“The imagery certainly was meant to be provocative,” Webb said, adding that he hoped people would realize that the ad didn’t match his platform. "Even though [Good] attempted in this ad to avoid talking about himself at all, I think he’s just told everybody a lot about himself. ... He’s telling us about his approach to politics.”

Good, who describes himself as a biblical conservative, unexpectedly defeated Rep. Denver Riggleman at a bitter GOP nominating convention in June. Webb has since sought to siphon votes from moderate Republicans in the mostly rural central Virginia district by stressing his background as a physician, his criminal justice reform platform and, when it comes to health care, his support for a public option.

Chris Taylor, deputy national press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, accused Good of “using tired tricks and racist dog whistles to smear Dr. Webb."

[The Good] campaign “categorically denies” that there is anything racist about the ad and questioned how Democrats could arrive at that conclusion. Smith declined to answer questions about the ad’s production, including where the images of rioting were taken from.

Webb supports addressing racial disparities in criminal justice reform, specifically through sentencing reform and ensuring that formerly incarcerated people have opportunities for progress when reentering communities. He said he also supports law enforcement reform, including adequately funding community policing and better training for officers — a position he said was shaped by his father, who chaired the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation Board and worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration. But he said he does not support “defunding” police.

Rhetoric trying to paint Democrats as extremists in both health-care and police reform featured heavily at the Republican National Convention last week. And [Trump] president has waged similar attacks against Biden, repeatedly trying to link him to riots, looting and lawlessness in American cities and describing him as soft on crime.

Biden pushed back on that rhetoric in a speech Monday in Pittsburgh, saying Trump is the one who has been encouraging violence through inflammatory rhetoric. “Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?” Biden said.

Good has focused part of his campaign efforts on shoring up support from conservative pastors, whom he invited to August meetings that were billed in part as focusing on a new anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTQ people in Virginia; the law, Good said, could infringe on the First Amendment rights of religious individuals and groups.