Ed Gillespie, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, is in the dock. His crime, judging from outraged liberal commentary? He seems to have noticed that certain liberal positions aren’t popular.
His campaign is “vile and dishonest,” writes E. J. Dionne Jr. It represents “white identity politics,” tweets Chris Hayes. He’s following a “poisonous strategy for the nation and Virginia,” according to the editors of the Washington Post. Reporters as well as pundits have accepted this story line: Jonathan Martin informed New York Times readers that Gillespie is running “a racially tinged, divisive campaign.”
There are three main indictments against Gillespie. First, he supports keeping Confederate statues on public property and has run ads contrasting his stance with that of the Democratic candidate, Ralph Northam, who is currently the commonwealth’s lieutenant governor.
Until recently, Virginia’s sitting governor, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, took the same position as Gillespie. It’s still the position of 57 percent of Virginians, including 44 percent who hold it “strongly.” Agree or disagree, it’s not a racist view. And it’s no more “divisive” than seeking to bring down the statues.
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