If this seasonGÇÖs electoral campaigning were part of a summer Olympics, the Republican Party team would win several gold medals.
Take the Triple Jump (formerly the GÇ£hop, skip and jumpGÇ¥), performed by GOP candidates nationwide to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the corporate- and upper income-friendly tax policies of the Bush Administration, which have done so little for the income and job security of middle and lower income Americans.
And then there are the candidates performing in the Gymnastics events, with twists, turns and tumbles in verbiage and logic to make the War in Iraq, which they and Mr. Bush have supported and sold, sound like something that is somehow a rational, reasonable response to the awful, tragic (and too often exploited) events of September 11, 2001.
Finally there are the GOP Pole Vaulters, aiming high to try to avoid having to square the PresidentGÇÖs GÇ£compassionate conservativeGÇ¥ self-label and his plan to ensure that GÇ£all children can grow up in a more peaceful worldGÇ¥, with the cold realities of his preemptive war, inadequate funding of public schools and saddling of future generations with mountains of debt.
In this competition, former college football athlete Senator George Allen is on the sidelines with his inspiration, the President. Senator Allen has voted to support George W. BushGÇÖs policies and programs more than 90 percent of the time. When it comes to the Olympics of running, jumping and vaulting away from President Bush, George Allen is so caught up in the Bush camp that he has no hope of competing independently.
Virginians need a profound change and an independent voice in Washington. They donGÇÖt need blind allegiance and slavish adherence in these troubled times. Jim Webb is far from a slick, smiley-faced career politician; heGÇÖs an independent thinker ready to challenge authority and conventional wisdom. Virginians need some unconventional good sense right now. Jim Webb has served this nation with distinction before, and is ready to step up again.
Sincerely,
John Romano
Arlington, VA