Virginia Democrats Continue to Back Jay Jones for Attorney General

Back in June the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman, and her husband were shot to death in their home. According to the media the shooter, Vance Boelter, was an active Republican who hated Democrats, and wanted to shoot Speaker Hortman because of her political views. This may be true, although Boelter was appointed by two Democratic governors to state positions. Was it a case of political violence or was there another reason for the murders. Perhaps the upcoming trial will uncover the motive.

In Virginia, we have a man, Jay Jones, who confessed to a Republican legislator (How indiscreet)/bizarre) that he fantasized about putting two bullets into the head of the Virginia Speaker of the House of Delegates, Todd Gilbert. Jay Jones is the Democratic nominee for Attorney General.

Jones also told his Republican colleague that he believed that only through political violence will politicians change their minds on issues and that hypothetically if Todd Gilbert’s family was hurt, maybe even his kids, who Jones claimed were “little fascists” were to die in their mother’s arms, that he (Gilbert) might change his mind on some issues, such as the right to keep and bear arms. In effect Jones was endorsing political violence. At least that was the perception of the legislator he confessed to.

These revelations have shaken the race for Attorney General. But so far not a single prominent Democrat has pulled their support for Jones. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am a little disappointed. I almost believed the “we need to tone down the rhetoric” mantra.

Senator Kaine was asked if he could continue to support/plan to vote for Jones for Attorney General. He said, “I do”. And for his part Jones apologized and is now campaigning like nothing ever happened. My guess is that the closer we get to election day the less the media will talk about Jones’ fitness to be Attorney General. All will be forgotten.

Why do Democratic leaders still support him when he is so clearly unfit to be Virginia’s chief law enforcement officer? Well, first, when discussing the actions of the Democratic Party we must first think about the identity politics involved. Jay Jones could be the first black Attorney General of Virginia. So, they aren’t going to ask him to drop out. This year every seat in the House of Delegates is up, so not one Democratic candidate will ask Jones to drop out because they need his supporters, and they can’t afford to offend them.

For the same reasons as a House of Delegates candidate, Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Governor, is not going to ask him to drop out or even rescind her endorsement of him, because she needs the black vote, especially in Norfolk, Richmond, and Hampton Roads. Her turning on him would cost her the election.

Now if Jones were a white male or cis gendered white woman, in the parlance of the politically correct, that means assigned at birth, then perhaps Democrats could ask that candidate to drop out, but they don’t have that luxury, the luxury of conscience, of asking Jones to step aside. For example, they were quick to ask Governor Ralph Northam, a fellow Democrat, and white male, to drop out after his blackface yearbook picture came out in 2019.

And then there is the internal rationalization of Democrats. They want power, and they believe that they are at war, a cold war for now, with Republicans. So, they will overlook all kinds of moral flaws in their own candidates. They rationalize that they know the real Jay Jones, and they tell us that those texts are not indicative of the man they know.

And who is the Jay Jones that they know? Well, he is a radical, woke, soft on crime, defunding the police supporter, an inexperienced prosecutor, and a long time Democrat, and to Democrats he is not a violent person.

So, they will back him. After all, they reason that Trump has said some bad things in the past as well. But they know that they will have to publicly chastise him for his “unfortunate” text messages. And they believe that Jones and his supporters will be ok with that. But they can only go so far in attacking him.

It is not just Party leaders that will stand by Jones, I think rank and file Democrats will overwhelmingly vote for him as well. They will rationalize voting for him for most of the same reasons as the Party leadership, such as Jones will stand up to Trump and fight for the left’s agenda. They don’t care about Jones’s temperament or violent view of politics. They don’t care about being hypocrites. They can tell us to tone down the rhetoric, and they can still vote for Jones and not lose a wink of sleep.

I am partial to Jason Miyares. He has been a great Attorney General and deserves reelection. So, I will vote for him, but I think that despite these revelations about Jones it will be a close race. But it shouldn’t be.

My guess is that 9 out of every 10 Democrats who votes for Spanberger for Governor will also cast a vote for Jones for Attorney General. In other words, he will lose very few Democratic voters.

However, I think that there will be enough independent minded, less partisan Democrats that can’t vote for Jones. That, and the Republican voters, and swing voters will reelect Miyares.

That is what I think, but I am an optimist. Who knows what will happen on election day.

David Shephard is the author of two books: Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice: An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books