The owner of BVBL, in his zeal to destroy the man representing his opponent in a lawsuit, has made the 51st seat harder for the Republicans to win in November. His misquided and quixotic attacks on one of the two Republican nominees obviously gave hope to the Democrats for the seat.
And his senseless attacks on the weaker opponent, Jeff Dion, has forced Jeff to drop out of the race in place of a candidate that is considered by BVBL to be the stronger candidate.
It is likely that some Gill opponents have actively pushed for this other Democrat to get into the race, in the hopes of scaring delegates to vote against Gill for his "baggage" which is mostly just their imagination.
Worse, the Julie Lucas may be ill-equipped to beat this other Democratic candidate. Jeff Dion would have been easier, but against a more serious candidate, it's questionable.
I think Gill can beat the new guy, but it won't be as easy as it would have been to beat Jeff Dion. Fortunately, Gill has appeal across a wide range of voters, and can bring new people to the polls. He is a strong candidate, an excellent speaker, and is up on the issues.
Still, it is dissappointing to say the least that a supposed conservative Republican has put what was already going to be a hard-fought seat at higher risk. If Julie wins the nomination, and loses the general election, BVBL will be remembered long after his unsubstantiated and baseless attacks as the man who lost this seat for the Republicans.
And while looking around, I also found a post at Too Conservative where a commenter actually tries to argue that Gill is the candidate the democrats want. My response was this:
"Faisal Gill…he’s the Republican the Democrats want to run against because it will be a cake walk for them".
I've not seen a single Democrat make a negative comment about Julie Lucas. Instead, they have been defending her, saying she's much better for the district. The democrats at BVBL, for example John Mark and probably some of the anonymous posters, are all attacking Gill before the nomination. They are all working hard to destroy him, so that the "good" republican wins the nomination.
It is clear which candidate the democrats want to have in the race. Want more evidence? When the democrats believed their smear campaign with Greg's help was succeeding, and Julie would win, they were content to let Jeff Dion run against her, because they figured he could beat herBut when the numbers came out for delegate, and it becamse clear that there was a serious chance for Gill to win, the democrats panicked and went looking for a better candidate.
The idea that the democrats are pining for Gill and his resume, background, and abilities, rather than Julie Lucas the School Board member, is silly. If the democrats didn't have some hope that republicans would actually attack their own candidate, they'd be shaking in their boots at what Faisal Gill represents -- a real threat to a new group of voters that the democrats previously took for granted given the republican tendency to call them all terrorists.
10 comments:
How can you call a seat that went for Leslie Byrne a safe Republican seat?
That's a good question, NLS. I generally don't handicap races.
For some stupid reason, I took Greg's word for it. I should know better.
I do believe that on the issues, and on the resume, experience, qualifications, and capabilities, Faisal Gill would be a stronger candidate than Lucas.
On the other hand, nobody has been lying about Lucas yet, while the democrats like JM have worked really hard to sink Gill.
Republicans should wonder why democrats speak so kindly of Julie and attack Faisal, BEFORE our nominee is picked. Do democrats really have the republican's best interests at heart?
Ben is right, Charles: I don't think this was ever "a safe seat for the Republicans," except in the context of a multi-term GOP incumbent like Michele. Otherwise, I agree entirely with your analysis. It is unfortunate that Greg has allowed his personal peccadiloes to color his judgment.
At the same time, I think it's a fair assumption that the Dem nominee would wipe the floor with Julie in a debate, whereas Faisal at least possesses the professional qualifications to make it a context.
hey idiot wake up
its you and the rightwing extremists who are out of step with the majority of Virginia
have you learned nothing from 2005 and 2006
In your quest for "republican purity" you will be left with no power at all.
Julie Lucas is the kind of person that appeals to more people than Faisal Gill. Virginia needs leadership not out-of-step idealogues
anonymous:
If you are correct, why did Gill get more delegate forms than Julie? And why are the Julie apologists at BVBL arguing that Gill appeals to a wider range of people than Julie does?
They actually complained that he might bring into the party too many people who aren't "real" republicans, unlike the (I'm told) solidly conservative Lucas.
The Lucas Lunatics over at BVBL have obviously long since given up on their candidate appealing to anybody. They NEVER post anything nice about her.
Their only hope, they seem to think, it to make Faisal SO unappealing that voters would pick a piece of chalk over him. Which makes one wonder how Julie feels about this.
Charles,
JM writes like a mental patient. He can't get at the terrorists abroad so he goes after any threat at home, real or imagined.
James is correct about Paul Nichols being pretty smooth. Word on the street is his whole firm has a bunch of hotshot lawyers. He would make a formidable opponent for anyone. He also has plenty of money. If Julie wins, let's hope the party can come up with some cash or she is going to be toast.
If you are correct, why did Gill get more delegate forms than Julie?
Because Gill went down to the local Mosque and signed up every muslim eligible to vote (and some who were not, apparently), that's why.....
PS. You should thank BVBL for banning you. At least you break two comments a post now, on your own pathetic blog.
People have long told me that I'd get more hits on my blog if I wrote my comments here as posts.
But I've always felt that, if you are taking part in a conversation, it's polite to do so where the conversation started, not try to drag it over to your own blog.
I've never cared to generate blog hits. Unlike sites like BVBL, I don't sell cookies or ad space, I don't ask for donations or run a legal defense fund, so it doesn't matter to me how many people show up.
I reject your implication that signing up new republican voters who are Muslim would be a bad thing. If they support the republican cause, they should be welcomed with open arms.
Charles,
Anon at 10:51 sounds like BVBL's other mental patient.. BDB.
Charles,
Maybe BVBL should hire Paul Nichols to defend him. He really can't be totally sure that his current counsel, whoever that maybe, isn't a crypto-Gill supporter.
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