There’s some wild stuff going down in Virginia among established Democrats this election season – stuff that seems only to be happening with Dems, stuff that is downright frightening and threatens the very essence of Democracy and will lead to the further erosion of freedom and rights.
What is that stuff, you ask?
Let’s call it the Great Forfeit of 2023 because I can’t come up with anything better.
Despite Virginia’s obvious political climate of fear and uncertainty, party leaders are choosing to not put forth candidates and allowing Republicans to run unopposed, not supporting Democratic candidates who have already received the nomination or even refusing to give the nomination to candidates who have already filed.
Take US Marine Veteran, black woman, and single mom Jasmine Lipscomb. Ms. Lipscomb is committed to running and qualified to run in her district (House District 49 — Danville. Yes, the same Danville mentioned in “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.) But the powers that be just ain’t gonna have it. She’s done the legwork and filed the papers, but her local party people are seemingly REFUSING to give her the nomination, choosing instead to allow the Republican incumbent to sail right through. And they are doing this despite public pressure from party members to support this candidate. Frankly, they have been pretty darn derisive in their dismissal of this BLACK, WOMAN, VETERAN.
When Republicans get an opportunity to work with a black, woman, US Marine, they get behind her. They pull out all the stops and launch her into office.
Take our own Lt. Governor Winsome Sears who following a Tuesday night shooting at a high school graduation in front of a historic Richmond Theater — blamed gangs (turned out it wasn’t) and offered an idea to perhaps just jail all those who might commit a gun crime before they commit the crime. Read that twice. She also blames the whole incident on city leadership, and quite fervently. This woman is dangerously wrong about guns, civil rights, women’s health… the Republican base LOVES her.
We need to love Ms. Libscomb who isn’t dangerous to Virginians and has been trained by The US Marine Corps to lead. But a bunch of power-hungry 5th Congressional District Democrats don't love her and seemingly won’t love her. But we don’t need them to love her. We just need them to run a Democrat in HD49. What's love got to do with it?
You can get a pretty good idea of what’s been going on here. But also take a look at what Herb Jones, a Full Bird US Army Colonel running for Virginia’s 1st Congressional District thinks about this mess.
Are you left scratching your head after all that?
But the will of the people, right? Isn’t that our guiding principle? Isn’t protecting that principle what keeps us from devolving into authoritarianism? Isn’t our right to speech, our bodies, and our vote at risk if we choose to forfeit elections? And in Swing districts no less!
Deliver us from this nonsense. If the party establishment refuses to fight FOR or WITH us, we will fight anyway. We know what’s at stake. Ms. Lipscomb has already served her country with a promise to fight and she WILL do it again. It would just sure be a lot less embarrassing for the Democratic Party if they gave her the “D” ballot line on HD49. It would make it a lot easier for her to give them the “W” if they did.
I managed to get the “D.” I gathered my signatures, filed my paperwork, and secured the nomination by the “primary” process. But my local party isn’t all that thrilled. Not the establishment anyway. They were prepared to let my Republican incumbent opponent go back to Richmond without a fight. Too bad — I’m gonna give her one. Do you know why? Because these dudes told me to...
John F. Kennedy – “Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”
Lyndon B. Johnson – “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
Jimmy Carter – “You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can.”
Bill Clinton– The main thing is never quit, never quit. Never quit.
Barack Obama – When times get tough, we don't give up. We get up.
Joe Biden – True bravery is when there is very little chance of winning, but you keep fighting.
Yoda — “There is no quit, there is only do,” (not a Democratic president, but still a genius.)
Help by donating to Ms. Lipscomb and me, and help us send a message to these quitters. We refuse to give Democracy away.