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In
her most
recent column, she was probably the lone
dissenting voice amidst all the huzzahs being heaped
on retiring VDOT Commissioner Phil Shucet. She
wrote, “Despite what we in Hampton Roads see every
day with our own horrified eyes, let’s believe
that everything’s just peachy with the
commonwealth’s Department of Transportation since
Shucet came to town. Never better.”
When
it came to light that Virginia prisoners were
receiving free Viagra via Medicaid, Dougherty went
ballistic:
Captain
Obvious, here. I’d like to remind our boneheaded
bureaucrats that the weapon of choice for a sex
offender resides in his trousers.
By
tossing impotency drugs at these freaks, the
government’s been arming them.
It’s
incomprehensible that this occurred in a state with
a computer database that contains the name and
address of every single registered sex offender. How
hard could it be to make sure Medicaid had a list of
these convicts?
Finally,
Dougherty reacted to an auditor’s report on the
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries:
The
52-page document, penned by Merritt L. Cogswell,
chronicles an orgy of waste in the department,
unbridled arrogance and an all-too-cozy relationship
between some board members and agency officials.
Over
the years a culture of entitlement apparently grew
at DGIF, which had its own private security force
and little accountability. Officials tooled around
the commonwealth – heck, the world – spending
money like Paris Hilton during fashion week.
Many
pundits express strong opinions on subjective
issues, e.g., a candidate’s proposal. Rarely do
they respond as forcefully as Dougherty did to plain
facts.
Making
Mischief?
Bacon’s
Rebellion’s own Barnie Day
openly called for Democrats to ignore their
Lieutenant Governor primary to vote in the
Republican primary, thus either harming frontrunners
or helping to choose weaker candidates.
By
contrast, Melanie
Scarborough of the Washington Post, not
known as a supporter of Democrats, praised
Democratic Lt. Governor candidate Viola Baskerville
as “by far the best candidate in the Democratic
field.”
She
called Baskerville a “principled liberal,”
“independent thinker,” and the “most
temperamentally fit.” Is Scarborough just subtler
in her mischief making than Day?
Ode
to Mudslinging
Jeff
Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
covered the well-worn political axiom that
mud-slinging charges made during primary campaigns
often find their way into the general election
campaign. Schapiro suggests Virginia voters may see
Viola Baskerville’s criticism of Tim Kaine’s
homeowner tax break plan as a “gimmick” that
finds its way into Jerry Kilgore ads. He also sees
the potential for Democrats to use some of the
bitter words now being tossed around in the
Republican Lt. Gov. and AG primaries.
More
of the Same
Just
when it appeared that both sides had mercifully
stopped talking about “Accent-gate,” former
Democratic Delegate Chip
Woodrum decided to revive the issue with an
op-ed in the Roanoke Times. Woodrum did his
part to contribute to elevating the debate by
calling Kilgore a “wimp.”
Campaign
Summary
Wil
LaViest of the Daily Press checked out
both Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore’s property tax
proposals and concluded, “They are telling voters
what they think we want to hear.” According to
LaViest, “Kilgore and Kaine should drop the hype
and just be honest like Republican Sen. Russ
Potts.”
News
from Charlottesville
Bob
Gibson had two Daily Progress columns on
Charlottesville goings-on that have wider
implications. Gibson covered the trespassing
arrest of a candidate for House of Delegates who
was campaigning at a local shopping center,
including the defense offered by Virginia ACLU
Director Kent Willis: “There ought to be room for
free speech in these default town centers.”
There
is a quiet
race on for Vice Rector at the University of
Virginia, pitting Democrat L. F. Payne against
Republican W. Heywood Fralin. Only the 16 Board of
Visitor members will vote, but the winner will help
shape the direction of growth for a powerful
Virginia institution.
Wilder
Watching
Margaret
Edds of the Virginian-Pilot covered Doug
Wilder’s gubernatorial race, so she is in a
perfect position to provide bemused perspective on
his performance as Mayor of Richmond: “Government
with Wilder at the helm is always a thrill ride.
Trouble is, while the trip’s in motion, it’s
hard to tell whether the car is on the track or
barreling into the abyss.”
--June
6, 2005
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