If there was any more substance-free posturing during the Virginia Senate debate on Meet the Press yesterday, it would be a yoga class. Webb (D) and Allen (R) saved the worst for last:
MR. RUSSERT: The one thing you both have in common is you both chew tobacco. Is that the right image for young people? It's a serious question.SEN. ALLEN: I don't--I, I don't advise young people. That's another one of the...
MR. RUSSERT: What about you? What about you?
SEN. ALLEN: By the way--by the way, I picked that up from the Chicago Bears training camp.
MR. WEBB: We all have--we all have our vices, Tim. And I've been chewing tobacco since I was 14 and it's...
MR. RUSSERT: But is it a good example for young people?
SEN. ALLEN: No.
MR. WEBB: Probably, probably not, but it's something that I've done for a long time outdoors. I don't chew indoors, I don't chew at ceremonies, I don't chew when I'm in any official function, but there are times when I chew tobacco.
Yes, we get it. Allen's dad was a football coach, and we all like football. Webb is a southerner who knows the "real" Virginia, i.e. the places where Indian videographers are singled out for ridicule and slurs. From the candidates' (and Tim Russert's) perspective, this fluff is worth wasting network TV time on, since an argument can be made that the last two presidential elections were won or lost by who a few hundred-thousand people would prefer to have a beer with. Time and again, popular positions on issues lose out in the popular debate to who is the "Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show" and who sponsors the fastest stock car. Norman from One Man's Trash (via Not Larry Sabato) gets to the nub of the matter:
...Virginia has a choice between a sexist and a racist who both love chewing tobacco. It makes Virginia look totally backwards. We don't even have a real choice.
If I ever move back to D.C., please stop me (by force if needed) if I ever consider saving $100 a month on rent by moving to that side of the river.
Like you would EVER even consider it.
You're right. Besides, it's not like DC local politics is free of cultural posturing...
After the ribbing I got for moving to VA, I would cackle and mock you mercilessly if you EVER moved to VA. Not that you would even entertain the idea.
Simple way to save $100/mo without the shame of living in VA - live in MD. Rent on a 2 br in Silver Spring, 1/4 mile from the Metro, was $1350 or so.