Vote For A Republican-Lite Democratic Candidate And Don't Complain When You Get Republican-Lite Laws-- Conservative Democrats Defeat Assault Weapons Ban In Virginia

Last Thursday night-- in a post called Scrub From Your Mind: Any Blue Will Do"-- we looked at how the much ballyhooed new Democratic majority in the Virginia legislature failed to repeal the state's venal, anti-union right to work law. Yesterday the state Senate again sided with the GOP, failing to pass a ban on the sale of assault weapons. The House of Delegates had passed the bill 51-48 last week, even though 3 Democrats voted against it (Steve Heretick, Roslyn Tyler and Lee Carter) and one, Kelly Convirs-Fowler of Virginia Beach, abstained. Yesterday, conservative Senate Dem Creigh Deeds-- backed up by fellow Senate conservaDems John Edwards (Judiciary Committee Chair), Chap Petersen and Scott Surovell-- got it tabled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, while the NRA-packed crowd in the visitors bleachers cheered and applauded.

Creigh Deed's name might sound familiar, since he was the Democratic candidate for governor in 2009, when he lost to crooked conservative Republican Bob McDonnell, 58.6% to 41.2%. He is well known as one of Virginia's worst xenophobes in the Democratic Party, having voted to make English the official language of Virgina as well as for bills that would prevent undocumented immigrants from applying for state and local benefits and to prohibit them from paying in-state tuition rates. In 2005 Deeds he had run against McDonnell for Attorney General, losing narrowly, after being endorsed by his pals at the NRA.

He represents a solidly blue Senate district (the 25th) that includes the City of Charlottesville and much of surrounding Albemarle County, stretching to also include all of Alleghany County, Bath County, Highland County, Nelson County, Rockbridge County, and the cities of Buena Vista, Covington, and Lexington. The district gave Obama a 55.5% victory over Romney and gave Hillary a 54.7% win over Trump, who scored only 39.3% there. Kaine and Warner both took the 25th in their Senate runs and Ralph Northam won it in 2017 (59.7- 39.2%) when he was elected governor. The district is way more progressive than its state Senator.

State Senator Louise Lucas, a Judiciary Committee member, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the vote and said Deeds and the 3 other Democrats who voted with the GOP had "wimped out... I want you to count now, start now, and start counting the number of people who would’ve died based on us not passing this legislation. A lot of people are going to die because this body didn’t have the spine to do what two million voters wanted us to do."

The corporate Dem who serves as House Speaker, Eileen Filler-Corn, called the Senate vote "a disappointment... The Democratic platform last fall was very clear. Limiting access to weapons of war used in mass murder was a key part of that platform."

No one should really be surprised though. This is exactly what you can expect by electing Democrats from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. On the federal level, that would be Blue Dogs and New Dems. And that's why Blue America hosts this ActBlue page, supporting vetted progressives who are running in primaries against the worst Democrats in Congress. I asked some of them what they think about the Virginia Democrats decision to betray the people who voted for them. Michael Owens, the progressive Democrat taking on reactionary Blue Dog David Scott in the suburbs south and southwest of Atlanta, made the right connection: "Blue Dog Democrats and other conservative members of the Democratic Party do their constituents harm each and every time they bow down to a corporation or special interest lobbyist and put their profit-driven greed above the need of the people."

"Today," wrote Rachel Ventura last night, "I had a debate against Corporate Democrat Bill Foster. In it I pointed out that many Democrats are watching how the news media is casting the presidential race and defining it as a fight between progressives and moderates. It's not though. Instead, it is a struggle between the corporate wing filled with politicians who are bought and paid for, versus the people’s wing. Blue Dogs Democrats and Republicans are bought by the same industries. They both have taken money from Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Banks, and the list continues… my opponent is no different. These corporate politicians make us believe that our tax dollars must continue to go to endless wars and corporate bailouts. But they don’t. We can choose where are dollars are spent by sending a true representative to Congress. Incrementalism has only eroded the middle class and resulted in a president like Donald Trump. Since I first entered the political arena in 2016, my tagline has been 'no strings attached.' I have signed the 'no fossil fuel money' pledge and the 'patients over profit pledge.' My opponent cannot say the same. It is past time to send true representation to Washington D.C. as well as individual local and state reps like in Virginia!"