Early in the campaign season I sat down with Virginia’s former Governor and US Senator George Allen in a Richmond restaurant for a one on one discussion with him. We talked for a couple of hours about his past votes and his political philosophy currently and going forward.
Like many of the readers of Virginia Right! I was not sure I was interested in repeating the Bush era that led to the near destruction of the Republican Party. And one of the things I heard from my friends was that they loved Governor Allen but were less than thrilled with Senator Allen.
So, for nearly two hours I peppered Allen with questions. We discussed “No Child Left Behind” and the “Prescription Drug Benefit” as well as a host of other bills Allen voted for and some he did not that I thought he should.
What I didn’t hear were excuses, denials or justifications for passing bills that, in hindsight, were better left un-passed.
And in all honesty, I told Allen that I feel that I was partly to blame. I voted for George Bush and bought into the line that the Republicans needed to show more compassion, just like the Mainstream Media and the Democrats were telling us. The economy was doing pretty good, despite 9/11 and the waning economy that Bush managed to get back on track in his first term.
To be honest, I can’t name a single person on the right that was critical of the bills that the Republicans passed during Allen’s tenure in the Senate. I can name a lot of them now, but we were all silent at the time for the most part.
But I have changed my views quite a bit since then. I look back at the reckless spending (which was almost tame by today’s standards) and I now see that my silence was not only tacit approval of everything that was being done in Washington, but as the person being represented, it was my fault for allowing it. For condoning it.
But what I discovered was a George Allen who had also changed. I sure had, so how is it not reasonable to expect that the former Senator’s opinion on spending had evolved along with mine?
I consider myself a pretty good judge of character. I can tell when I am being lied to. And I can tell honesty when I see it. It has been a long run on the campaign trail since I first sat down with George Allen that day. And I have since sat with him in his office in Richmond and spoke with him all over the Commonwealth. And I have heard more “stump” speeches than most humans can reasonably be expected to endure. I feel like I know George Allen as a person as well as anyone outside of his family knows him. So my opinion of him is an informed one based on getting to know him since the 2009 election cycle where we began crossing paths on a regular basis.
And I write this with mind and heart in total agreement. George Allen is both an honest man and a man I can trust. And George Allen has earned my vote and my endorsement. And that is not something I take lightly nor give freely without deep consideration and contemplation.
As a business owner, I have been in a position to re-hire former employees. That is something that happens all the time, but the boss must consider the pros and cons carefully. In hiring a former employee, you get a worker you don’t have to train. You don’t have to show him around the place and the transition from new hire to productive worker is immediate. He can hit the ground running.
The only questions with re-hiring a former employer are their past job performance and, more importantly, their desire to jump back into their old job. Some want to come back because they realize that they didn’t give it their best shot. Others believe they need to come back to an old job because there are important things that need to get done and they have a unique ability to get them done. Allen falls into the latter category. His children are about the same age as my own and he, like any father, is worried for their future.
Tim Kaine has never been a Senator. When we are faced with the dire circumstances that face this country, we simply don’t have the luxury of hiring someone that requires on the job training. And under Harry Reid and Barack Obama, the US Senate hasn’t even passed a budget – one of the basic tasks we require of our Senators. It is doubtful that Obama could have spent so much money if we had a budget.
Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama have brought this country to it’s knees, raided the treasury and mortgaged our children’s future. We fired Nancy Pelosi as Speaker and with God’s Grace we will fire Barack Obama in two weeks.
The best we can do with Harry Reid this year is demote him to Minority Leader. We still have 4 more years before we can vote Reid out. But we can vote against Harry Reid by voting against Tim Kaine.
On November 6th I will proudly vote for George Allen. I trust him to represent me responsibly and to keep the promises he made. And I believe with all my heart he will do just that.
The dynamics of America has changed over the last 6 years. We no longer have a National Debt that “concerns” me. It now scares the hell out of me. And going forward, we now have the grass roots system in place to provide important feedback to our elected officials at every level. We have Virginia State races next year and Delegate races. We really don’t have the time to spend protesting Tim Kaine and Harry Reid for not doing their job. We need George Allen and Mitt Romney in Washington.
It’s really that simple.
Article written by: Tom White
About Tom White
Tom is a US Navy Veteran, owns an Insurance Agency and is currently an IT Manager for a Virginia Distributor. He has been published in American Thinker, currently writes for the Richmond Examiner as well as Virginia Right! Blog. Tom lives in Hanover County, Va and is involved in politics at every level and is a Recovering Republican who has finally had enough of the War on Conservatives in progress with the Leadership of the GOP on a National Level.
- Web |
- More Posts (3941)
