Nina May

Date Added: Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

            It is hard to believe that it has been almost 20 years since the country was forced to sit on the front row of marital and personal dysfunction, self-imposed on the highest elected official in the land by its occupant. We sat drop jaw at the raunchy revelations of bimbo eruptions, boxers vs. briefs, and intern-wielding knee pad audacities that made even the most worldly observer blush. There was a morbid fascination with the ongoing soap opera and voters were reluctant to change the channel thinking they were still waiting breathlessly to see if JR and Sue Ellen were going to survive another season of Dallas.
            That soap opera gave way to the drama of a nation at war with an unseen enemy and then to the fatigue that uncertainty can bring. Now, as though stumbling from a confused state of over indulgence and weariness, desperate for a change that only hope in the unknown can bring, the nation finds itself, once again on the threshold of uncertainty.
            I saw this veil lifted though, during the election and inauguration of Bob McDonnell as Governor of the state of Virginia. Barely beating the Democrat challenger for Attorney General, in a time when the word “Republican” hovered barely above traditional slanderous utterances, it was a miracle that one was able to even achieve victory while sharing the same ballot with the loyal opposition.
            But as the nation was basking in the glow of hope and change, reveling in the realization that racism and division would finally have a stake driven through its dark heart, the unthinkable occurred . . . a Republican dared to challenge this leviathan and run for governor against the seemingly unstoppable Democrat machine.
            In the early days of the McDonnell campaign for governor, we hosted a fundraiser in our home and were thrilled to have about 50 people, mostly who had worked with him professionally and believed he was the right person to lead the state of Virginia. The negative specter of anything Republican was evident as many we personally invited were doubtful that a Republican could possibly win in this atmosphere of Obama giddiness. But those who came were impressed by what they saw, committed to support his campaign and excited about spreading the word that Goliath could be brought down by this newly discovered David.
            Things were basically over shadowed in the campaign until McDonnell’s opponent; Creigh Deeds underestimated the intelligence and veracity of Virginia Women. He obviously depended upon the typical Democrat-Alinsky play book, which is to divide the opposition, destroy the support of the candidate with personal attacks, create a cloud of uncertainty and basically take the wind out of the opponents sails. They did not count on the fact that Virginia women think for themselves, are not easily intimidated and don’t allow themselves to be manipulated by lazy political operatives who are counting on the “yes we can band” following their piper off the socialist cliff.
            When Deeds showed his desperation and tried to rally women behind him as he distorted a paper that McDonnell had written in law school, the women of Virginia did something very historic and unusual by liberal standards . . . they actually read it. And in reading it they realized they were being lied to and used by a man who was relying on the tired old feminist lines that died a generation ago. The shock was that he was referring to a play book that was a hit 25 years ago but had since collected the dust of ignominy.
            After seeing the attacks, reading the “offending paper” and writing a column on Desperate Deeds, I, and a lot of Virginia women decided we were not going to be rolled by liberal men, hiding behind our skirts, assuming we were idiots.
            We hosted another reception at our home, this time for Maureen, two of her daughters, and other women who were tired of being marginalized based on our beliefs and strengths. We refused to be categorized as victims of male domination by the same people who wanted to dominate us with their philosophical indoctrination. They were trying to trade male dominance with liberal dominance, not stopping to consider that oppression, no matter what the source or cause, is still oppression and dominance.
            The women who came were loaded for bear and so confident in their convictions and the righteousness of their cause that they invited their liberal, independent, undecided and Democrat women friends to join them. They came and heard Maureen talk about her husband of 34 years and how he was not the person being portrayed and reviled in the media and by the Democrats and Deeds. They heard his daughter who served in the military as a battalion commander stationed in Iraq talk about how her father had encouraged and supported her all her life.
There was a stark difference between a woman “standing by her man” after being accused of cheating on her with battalions of women, and a wife supporting a man as a loving, faithful husband, and committed father who wrote a thesis giving a historical analysis  and legal definition of the importance of the family unit.
Then we heard from Sheila Johnson who left the liberal, Democrat plantation and announced her support for Bob as Governor, only to be hunted by the hounds of derision. She was vilified by the overseers of the Democrat plantation, who declare openly that all blacks MUST belong to their party, as though identifying their base like a plantation owner defines his property boundaries.
            When Sheila spoke from her heart about why she, as a life long Democrat was now supporting a Republican for governor, it resonated with all the women who were tired of being classified, marginalized, dismissed and categorized based on their gender. They realized that the motes operandi of the liberals today is to force everyone into a class or category and dismiss them if they dare to display individual characteristics, or suggest that the Constitution in any way guarantees personal liberties. These women knew better, they responded, and all I spoke with . . . voted for Bob.
            Two weeks later he was elected by a margin of almost 20% and a shot was fired across the vulcanized bow of the arrogant Democrat party. They were ignoring the passionate voice of middle America, awakened to the frightening speed that the “hope and change mobile” was driving us into a wall of economic disaster and government take over of everything from auto making to health care.
            And now, the inauguration of Bob McDonnell has just taken place with a seamless production that inspired and excited everyone involved. The professionalism and unity we encountered was a sharp contrast to every other political campaign or event I have been involved with. He chose not only competent and accomplished people to help him get elected, but to handle the inauguration and now serve in his administration.
            But the one reality that was more refreshing and encouraging than the typical ego driven campaign, filled with resume padding opportunists and cynical pundits, was the relationship between Bob and the members of his family, especially Maureen. They are a happy, functional, loving family, that provides a refreshing change from the usual political family that pretends to be unified for the public, but in reality are unraveling behind closed doors.
            At the First Ladies luncheon, after Maureen spoke about the joy of her life being her five children and being Bob’s first lady for 34 years in marriage, he walked in from the back of the room and surprised her with a bouquet of flowers. She was speechless as he swept her in his arms and kissed her a loving kiss that only a husband who adores his wife can give. It was not the choreographed mugging that Al Gore gave Tipper on the televised TV Democrat campaign of 2000. It was not the staged dance on the beach that the Clintons posed to dispel rumors that there was trouble in paradise. It was not the embarrassing and painfully tasteless attempt to use a wife’s illness to get a bump in the polls as John Edwards did, feigning concern for his suffering wife while bedding another on the side.
            This show of genuine love and affection was not for the cameras or the potential voters, it was for his wife, his family, his friends and those who knew them best and already knew this was who and what they are.
            His campaign, election, inauguration, and now administration has already been marked and distinguished by a touch of class not seen in politics for a long time . . . easily since Reagan. It is beyond refreshing to see a politician finally rise to the status of statesman. If the worse thing that the opposition could find to condemn McDonnell is that he supports the life of the unborn child while condemning the exploitation of women, then their argument fails by default, and should be transformed into accolades by those who share the same values and standards.
            His courage and class now serve as the new paradigm and standard that other politicians should strive for and that voters should demand. It is refreshing to see someone with the strength of his convictions talking on the challenge of running the gauntlet of liberal politics of personal destruction only to rise above it victorious, humble, and unchanged by the experience.
The country has longed for evidence of class and dignity in our elected officials and with the election of someone who files that bill there is finally real hope and change that we can believe in, and should all demand.