Today’s Washington Post editorial criticizing 33rd Senate District Republicans for supposedly forcing Joe May to run as an independent misses the mark entirely. The Post either failed to do its research or is intentionally trying to mislead its readers.
POST: The editorial claims local Republicans should have chosen an open primary to nominate their candidate.
FACT: This is nonsense. Virginia law mandates that special election nominees must be chosen in a process run and funded by the political parties; thus, an open primary (which is run and funded by the state) was not even a legal option.
POST: The editorial claims local Republicans’ motivation in conducting a mass meeting was to doom Joe May’s chances.
FACT: In an open primary – the very process for which the Post argues – Joe May lost his seat this year by a staggering 15 points in an election that drew over 5,000 votes. It’s clear Joe May would have been defeated no matter what selection method was chosen.
POST: The editorial claims the selection of a mass meeting prompted Joe May to run as an independent.
FACT: The Post itself reported three weeks ago that Joe May was likely to run as an independent, not a Republican. It’s pretty clear what May did here: he announced as a Republican hours before the nomination method was selected, then disingenuously used the party’s decision as his excuse for going independent, when in fact he lost an open primary in June by 15 points.
POST: The editorial praises local Democrats for choosing a firehouse primary, which netted 1,100 votes.
FACT: The GOP mass meeting will draw several hundred voters perhaps closer to 1,000. Is the difference between, say, 600 votes and 1,100 votes really a significant distinction that would have produced different results? Of course not.
Once again the Washington Post plays fast and loose with the truth to support their preferred liberal candidate, Joe May.
<<<Cross posted at VirginiaVirtucon.com>>>
