The RTD’s Jeff Schapiro has a write-up on 68th HOD district candidates and the television ads they are now running. There’s nothing too flashy here, as well-funded candidates in tight races are bound to pour some of that cash into TV.

What’s somewhat striking about this piece is its last two paragraphs:

Meantime, Equality Virginia, a gay-rights organization, is running telephone banks in the 68th House District on Waddell’s behalf, hoping to identify and mobilize her supporters.

Homosexual rights emerged as a central issue in the Waddell-Marrs race after Marrs, in a fund-raising letter, told donors that one of Waddell’s biggest backers — a Republican car dealer — is gay.

Aside from reliving the last race, where Jeff’s coverage managed to become an issue, I’m struck by the fact that while he mentions Equality Virginia’s activism in the current contest, he fails to mention that Mrs. Waddell also voted for the 2006 marriage amendment. In spite of her rather pious denunciation of the amendment before election day, the fact remains that she cast a vote that allowed a mean-spirited and unnecessary amendment to go before the voters. One might think that contradiction would lead a reporter to consider why Equality Virginia has decided to ignore that and still support Mrs. Waddell.

Perhaps that will appear in a follow-up piece. But most likely it won’t.


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Comments

4 responses to “A Footnote”

  1. Accurate Avatar

    Everyone is entitled to their own opinions Norm. Personally, I favor the ‘marriage amendments’ that have passed in so many states. We obviously have a disagreement on this item.

  2. Anonymous Avatar

    It’s nice of Accurate to let us know it’s OK for everyone to have their own opinion. Really? How comforting to know…

    Thanks for this post, Norm. I too find it odd that Ms. Waddell voted for the marriage amendment despite her support and her campaign rhetoric. This flip-flop is one of the reasons why I plan on not voting for her.

    But that leaves me in a fix since I would rather vote for a mudpie than Loupassi. Question: Are county voters ready to have their taxes raised, and wasted, like right here in Richmond? Then go ahead and elect Manoli “Right on the Issues” Loupassi – who is always ready to raise taxes to push his handlers’ pet projects (hello wasteful arts center) and then paint himself as an anti-tax candidate.

    It’s a good trick. And if there is a gullible electorate of “conservative” dittoheads not paying attention, it will work.

    Guess that leaves Grogan, who doesn’t seem to want to run the kind of aggressive campaign it would take to win. His two opponents have plenty of flaws to expose too. A real shame.

  3. Anonymous Avatar

    Hopefully, I can shed some light on the EV decision. Even though Waddell’s vote for the amendment was a colossally boneheaded move (which led some to view her as the village idiot of West Richmond), she displayed appropriate contrition. I imagine that EV conducted interviews for all 3 candidates and found Waddell to be the candidate most supportive of their legislative agenda. Only time will tell if she is truly supportive or just paying lip service for the sake of campaign contributions (cash and in-kind).

  4. Dyana Mason at EV Avatar
    Dyana Mason at EV

    EV PAC is a bi-partisan PAC that supports candidates without a single-issue focus. While Del. Waddell voted for the marriage amendment in 2006, she was one of only a handful of Delegates and Senators who publicly urged people to vote against the amendment on election day after voting for it… Del. McEachin, Sen. Creigh Deeds, Del. Dwight Jones, Del. Kenny Alexander, Del. Steve Shannon were other incumbents who voted for the amendment but then came out publicly against it. We supported all of these candidates in their campaigns this year. In addition, Del. Waddell was the lead patron on a bill that would have allowed Richmond to add sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policy, and voted against a measure that would have allowed discrimination against Gay/Straight Alliances. In other words, in 2007, she cast a pro-equality vote 100% of the time.

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