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McDonnell gets our vote
Republican Robert McDonnell is more prepared to be Virginia's next governor than Democrat R. Creigh Deeds.
McDonnell can draw from his experience, which ranges from the military to law to business. He is the state's former attorney general, having beaten Deeds in 2005. And he served as a delegate in the General Assembly for 13 years.
Transportation remains the top priority at a time when our quality of life is being threatened by traffic, traffic and more traffic.
McDonnell has offered specifics to help solve the transportation mess in Northern Virginia. Deeds, a state senator representing Bath County, prefers generalities and “trust me” rhetoric.
McDonnell has a plan that would draw monies from various sources, including revenue from off-shore drilling and privatizing the state-owned liquor stores. We like his idea to reroute nearly a third of the sales taxes collected in Northern Virginia, about $105 million per year, to go toward highway projects in this region. We also praise him for wanting to dedicate the first percentage of all state revenue growth over 3 percent toward transportation.
While we admire Deeds' call for a bipartisan commission to study road woes, his plan of action on this issue lacks specifics. We need more immediate action and selecting and convening a commission will waste too much time.
McDonnell plans to explore federal funding for rail expansion, expedite the issuance of $3 billion in bonds authorized two years ago by the General Assembly, implement tolls on I-95 at the North Carolina border and use surpluses in the state's general fund. All solid ideas, indeed.
The Republican vows no new taxes, whereas Deeds has said as governor he would sign a tax increase into law provided it's statewide and long term.
Without new statewide funds, Virginia could soon find itself out of the road-building business. We believe McDonnell has a better chance to get things accomplished.
McDonnell also has strong backing from the business community. He is committed to attracting major corporations, including Fortune 500 and tech firms, looking to locate close to the nation's capital. And he knows the state must grow more jobs to reduce unemployment.
Deeds has spent too much time and energy criticizing his opponent's record, and has seemed unprepared after rallying to win a hotly contested, three-way Democratic primary.
History is on McDonnell's side. Not since 1973 has a candidate in the party that controlled the White House won the Virginia governor's election.
In these dire financial times, Virginians need someone who possesses a Reaganesque optimism. McDonnell is well-versed in policy details across the broad scope of government, and offers a common-sense/pragmatic approach.
Upon learning that my letter in response to this endorsement would not be published this week, I have submitted it online. In short, the reasons given for the Times-Mirror's endorsement of McDonnell in this race make no sense. I say this as a staunch Independent who used to call myself a Republican, and an old-school fiscal conservative. McDonnell has proposed borrowing a lot of money and has no solid means for repaying that debt. If you don't like the national deficit, you won't like the results of McDonnell's plans. Please read my letter if you read this comment -- and then vote for Creigh Deeds for financial responsibility in the state of Virginia.
Posted by Terri
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