{"id":971,"date":"2004-12-21T10:04:13","date_gmt":"2004-12-21T15:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/000af36.netsolhost.com\/wordpress1\/2004\/12\/21\/virginia_news_t_3\/"},"modified":"2004-12-21T10:04:13","modified_gmt":"2004-12-21T15:04:13","slug":"virginia_news_t_3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/2004\/12\/21\/virginia_news_t_3\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia News: Two Views"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two editorials today contrast the newspapers\u2019 different views of the political landscape. The Richmond Times-Dispatch criticizes national Democrats<\/a> for seeking to re-label some of their views, calling same-sex marriages a \u201cright to marry issue, for example.<\/p>\n

In other words, Democrats should employ euphemistic rhetoric, find different words. But decking out gun control, homosexual marriage, racial preferences, high taxes, class warfare, and a fetish for the United Nations in fancy euphemisms will not make voters forget Michael Moore, wild-eyed protesters, and the blame-America-first, red-staters-are-morons mentality of the professional left. The party’s problem in wooing the electorate is not that it needs a new dress; the problem is that it is a nag and a scold and a snob. Voters don’t like that. Or, to borrow from the title of a popular self-help book: They’re just not that into you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, RTD makes no mention of the GOP\u2019s use of rhetorical flourishes to advance their causes, calling anti-abortion stances as \u201cpro-life\u201d or legislation to restrict political liberties the Patriot Act, for examples. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Virginian Pilot says name-calling<\/a> is about all the state GOP party apparatchik can do.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Old Dominion’s University’s winter graduation, [Gov. Mark] Warner called for both parties to lower the decibels on political rhetoric and strive for common ground while addressing critical needs. <\/p>\n

He urged graduates to “be respectful” of political opponents, taking time to listen to their concerns and create dialogue, not diatribes, around issues. <\/p>\n

And what was the response of Shawn Smith, executive director of the RPV, to that appeal for civility? <\/p>\n

“Mark Warner is just another high-tax, liberal Democrat hoping to mask his legacy by spouting perceived centrist rhetoric,” said Smith. <\/p>\n

\u2026Spitting at your opponent when he asks for a handshake may make sense in some national political play book. But Virginians are not well-served when narrow party interests and name-calling veto the search for real solutions to real problems. The Republican Party dominates political life in Virginia. Virginians will hold it accountable for its results, not its rhetoric. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two editorials today contrast the newspapers\u2019 different views of the political landscape. The Richmond Times-Dispatch criticizes national Democrats for seeking to re-label some of their views, calling same-sex marriages a \u201cright to marry issue, for example. In other words, Democrats should employ euphemistic rhetoric, find different words. But decking out gun control, homosexual marriage, racial… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/griendling.com\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}