In Virginia's 2nd District, at last count at least half a dozen Republicans are vying for the right to face Blue Dog ConservaDem Glenn Nye in November.
The Republicans are trying their hardest to curry favor with the insano-wing of the Party, the Tea Party members of course.
Enter Scott Rigell, a local car dealer who has made the most noise and has the most apparent support among the inmates trying to gain entry to the asylum.
Scott Rigell is trying really hard to be a Teabagger. He completely fails to follow the advice of our fearless leader, and instead tries to make his election about who else but the ultra frightening super liberal hippie communist - Nancy Pelosi herself.
But Scott Rigell has some bigger issues that, frankly, if the DCCC and Nye's campaign are smart, will exploit the shit out of come General Season.
For starters, according to a Virginia Beach Democratic blog, the Hampton Roads Tea Party is not good enough for the Tea Party.
VB Dems quote from the HR Tea Party Facebook which does a bit of an expose on Rigell in which his conservative bonafides are repeatedly questioned:
Rigell, who promotes himself as a fiscally conservative Republican gave $1,000 o Barack Obama’s primary presidential campaign. (Source: Federal Elections Commission). Why did a "conservative" give money to such an extreme left wing candidate? In Rigell’s own words: "The thought of another Clinton in the White House was worse than Barack Obama". And later, "...I was moved by his rhetoric...."
As of Sunday May 16, 2010 (on his Facebook "Likes" page) – Rigell still stands by his "reasons".
Does that sound like a fiscal, or even a socially conservative Republican?
But wait! There’s more!
Before that, Rigell gave $1,000 to then-gubenatorial candidate Democrat Mark Warner, (source: VPAP.org) who went on to sign into law the largest tax increase in Virginia’s history!
Does that sound like a fiscally conservative Republican?
But it gets worse. In 2002, Rigell bankrolled ($10,000!) the YES Campaign- a failed referendum that would raise the sales tax of Hampton Roads residents (that’s the 2nd district!). If passed, sales taxes in Hampton Roads would have increased by 22%!!! Rigell’s explanation: "I thought it was the best way to fund transportation in our area". It was defeated by 62-38%. Hampton Roads residents said, "NO"!
Does that sound like a low tax, fiscally conservative Republican who says he’s against higher taxes?
Rigell is a successful car dealer. His dealership sold 107 cars and netted $444, 500 [stet] taxpayer dollars in the 3 Billion dollar Obama stimulus program "Cash for Clunkers". Rigell said he had to do it for his business, because his customers demanded it. How can he bash the stimulus and bailouts and then profit by them?
Does that sound like a limited government, principled conservative Republican?
Rigell (along with Bob McDonnell) supported the creation of unelected regional transportation authorities which were deemed unconstitutional by the Virginia Supreme Court.
Does that sound like a fiscally conservative constitutional Republican?
Yes, the Tea Party apparently doesn't seem to like a plethora of things that Scott Rigell has done lately.
A prominent Northern Virginia blog called Too Conservative even has a post up here, excoriating our Governor and Lt. Governor - "Taliban Bob" McDonnell and "Sidekick Bill" Bolling as being either stupid or having poor research staff if not both for their endorsements of Rigell.
Of course, the crazy isn't limited to Scott Rigell:
Ben Loyola thinks "socialism isn't cool" and that the entire federal tax code should be eradicated.
Scott Taylor asks voters to send a "Seal not a RINO" to Congress, is a Tenther, and will never, ever EVER vote to raise a tax. Ever. Seriously.
Bert Mizusawa believes that free markets fix everything, charter schools are awesome, and he supports an employment verification system to combat illegal immigration.
Ed Maulbeck thinks taxes are destructive, Democrats are wealth spreaders, and vows a full repeal of the health care bill.
It's a Teabagger bonanza! Yowza!
However, the only one of these upstanding gentlemen who has any real name recognition is Rigell. He's had signs up for a lot longer than anyone else, and he is the only person I have seen run any ads on television here.
So there's a pretty good chance that Rigell will pull it out.
Personally, I am actually thinking of going to go help him.
Virginia does not register its voters by party ID, so when Primary Day comes around, we are allowed to vote in either major primary we want; just not more than one.
Because there is no Democratic Primary - Nye was sadly not challenged by anyone, so he'll be going back to the campaign soon - there's no reason for me not to use my vote to help promote a man who ought to have a real tough time explaining away some of these positions.
Every single one of these guys is outside of the mainstream, period. Yeah there are plenty of typical bread-and-butter Republican viewpoints here, but there is also the outlandish Teatardism all over the place too.
I don't particularly like Glenn Nye. He voted against Health Care, and cap-and-trade among other things. Did support the Stimulus though, so that was good for him. I would love it if he were being challenged the way Blanche Lincoln or Arlen Specter got challenged, but he isn't.
That being said, if the general season here in Hampton Roads were to turn into a free-for-all against the flip-floppy, tax-raisin', hypocrisy-ridden Scott Rigell, well, I'll enjoy that quite a bit.