The Virginia governor’s race was pretty rough on the TV airwaves, but somehow the Washington Post editorial board wants to pretend that all the nasty commercials were aired by the Republicans. Their Hurray-for-Northam editorial on Tuesday night was headlined “A triumph of decency over dread.” That accurately summarized the first paragraph:
THE TRIUMPH of Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam in Virginia’s gubernatorial election Tuesday was a victory of decency, civility and moderation over fear, dread and barely veiled racist coding. The outcome reinforced what has become Virginia’s quintessential, if imperiled, idea — that of a determinedly centrist Southern state that has repeatedly rejected efforts to coax its electorate to the toxic margins of American politics.
Somehow the Post’s promoters of civility completely overlooked the scabrous Latino Victory Fund ad, suggesting that minority children needed to run away from a Gillespie supporter in a pickup truck. It’s not like they never saw it; they denounced it several days ago. But it’s been thrown into a memory hole.
It's pretty strange to pitch Northam as "determinedly centrist" and the avatar of "moderation" when he's been repeatedly endorsed by Planned Parenthood. That's right, the pediatrician supports abortion at any time for any reason. Of course, that's how the Post editors and reporters portray themselves, as objective journalists pushing moderation, not liberalism. The Post could also call this "a triumph for The Washington Post editorial board," since Northam featured their endorsement in his TV ads.
But let's continue:
Virginia voters suffered through a barrage of Gillespie campaign attack ads vilifying illegal immigrants by equating them with violent gangsters; celebrating the candidate’s support for Confederate monuments immediately after they were the rallying cause of racist and neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville; and attacking Mr. Northam, a pediatrician, for his ostensible support for restoring voting and other civil rights to child sex abusers.
It’s strange to see the Post protest “vilifying illegal immigrants” by denouncing the violent gang MS-13. It’s not like The Post doesn’t know they are a problem. They’ve reported their slaughters of teenagers on the front page. That’s not “equating” all illegal immigrants to gangsters. It’s arguing that weak enforcement of the immigration laws can end up being a weak policy toward fighting MS-13. Sometimes, when illegal aliens kill teenagers -- like the Muslim teen Nabra Hassanen -- the Post is so emotionally resistant to " vilifying illegal immigrants" that they couldn't identify Nabra's killer as an illegal immigrant. As for restoring voting rights to sex abusers, look no further than current Gov. Terry McAuliffe, as reported by the ….Washington Post:
Republicans also found that the McAuliffe administration had mistakenly restored rights to 132 sex offenders in custody and to several convicted killers on probation in other states. They sued and won, convincing the state Supreme Court that McAuliffe had overstepped his clemency powers."
In short, The Washington Post reads like a Democratic Party rag on its editorial page, and on its news pages as well, pretending that Democrats are the party of "moderation" and "decency over dread."
