There was a forum in Smithfield, VA between 64th Virginia House District candidates Rebecca Colaw, and Emily Brewer. Rebecca Colaw, the Democrat, kicked butt. Most people in the audience didn’t notice because they were mostly Republicans, and while they were mostly polite, some asshole booed when Colaw said there were no sanctuary cities and someone yelled “oh God” when she explained why it made sense to expand Medicaid. But Colaw kicked butt.
That’s why it was frustrating to read the slanted article about the forum in the October 18th edition of the Smithfield Times. The author, Ryan Kushner tried to make Colaw seem weaker than Brewer even though Colaw was by far the stronger and more competent candidate.
For example, Emily Brewer did not answer the question about background checks. But like Brewer, the article is unclear about her response, saying,
only Colaw suggested the need for an end to purchasing firearms at gun shows without a background check, Brewer stating that there was already a provision in place that allowed sellers to refuse a sale at the shows.
Mr. Kushner quoted part of her reply and left open the possibility that somewhere in the rest of her response was an answer to the question.
Ms. Brewer also avoided answering the question about women’s reproductive health.
The only editorializing in the article is where Mr. Kushner describes Ms. Colaw’s stance about Confederate monuments as “less firm” than Brewer’s. But Ms. Colaw’s response was amazing. She spoke to African American groups and The Sons of the Confederacy and found common ground. She said that neither side wants to pay for removing the monuments. She also said that each monument has its own circumstances that would have to be addressed because, for example, some are on public grounds and some on private. So indeed, Ms. Colaw’s response might be “less firm” than taking a side on an issue without doing any research, but her response was far more balanced and truthful, and shows the kind of effort Rebecca Colaw will put into addressing the issues that affect Virginians
Rebecca Colaw’s response to free community college was also intelligent and revealing of the amount of effort Ms. Colaw will put into addressing our issues. She said she was against public funding of community college until she looked at how Tennessee implemented it. She said it would add to the tax base by creating more and better paid taxpayers. She also said she would research the details before pushing for it. But her answer was glossed over, and she was made to seem as if she supported free college without any thought of the costs and benefits.
Rebecca Colaw is what Virginia needs. Emily Brewer stuck to Republican talking points and avoided controversy. Rebecca Colaw spoke truth to opposition and provided data to back it up. She proved her willingness to hear different sides of controversial issues and to dig in and find answers to complex problems.
Most Virginians vote for Democrats but Republicans keep winning seats in the General Assembly. The 64th District was represented by a Democratic from 1982 until 2011, when redistricting helped elect an incompetent Republican who accomplished nothing but embarrassing the district with his personal problems. I think we can win it back.
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