What Bob McDonnell can teach politicians
By Chris Cillizza, WashPost. January 21 at 4:47 pm
Four years and one week ago, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gave the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Today, he and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges in connection to their relationship with a donor named Jonnie Williams.
The news of McDonnell's indictment had been expected, and his political career had long since fallen by the wayside. (This "Simpsons" tidbit accurately sums up McDonnell's political career.) But, the arc of McDonnell's political life is an example of the new rules of politics and a reminder of some very old ones.
The "new" part of this story is the rapidness with which McDonnell went from superstar to pariah. McDonnell's selection as the Republican responder to Obama's State of the Union was a tangible sign of his quick ascendancy within the party and the belief that his 2009 gubernatorial campaign was a model for GOPers across the country to follow. McDonnell's vision for government -- "Government should have this clear goal: Where opportunity is absent, we must create it. Where opportunity is limited, we must expand it. Where opportunity is unequal, we must make it open to everyone." -- seemed like just the sort of thing that a party trounced in the 2008 election needed to hear. For the better part of his term, McDonnell rode an improving Virginia economy and high personal popularity ratings. When we released our first handicapping of the 2012 Republican veepstakes, McDonnell was ranked #2, behind only Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. (Paul Ryan was ranked #10.)
(More here.)
Four years and one week ago, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell gave the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address. Today, he and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges in connection to their relationship with a donor named Jonnie Williams.
The news of McDonnell's indictment had been expected, and his political career had long since fallen by the wayside. (This "Simpsons" tidbit accurately sums up McDonnell's political career.) But, the arc of McDonnell's political life is an example of the new rules of politics and a reminder of some very old ones.
The "new" part of this story is the rapidness with which McDonnell went from superstar to pariah. McDonnell's selection as the Republican responder to Obama's State of the Union was a tangible sign of his quick ascendancy within the party and the belief that his 2009 gubernatorial campaign was a model for GOPers across the country to follow. McDonnell's vision for government -- "Government should have this clear goal: Where opportunity is absent, we must create it. Where opportunity is limited, we must expand it. Where opportunity is unequal, we must make it open to everyone." -- seemed like just the sort of thing that a party trounced in the 2008 election needed to hear. For the better part of his term, McDonnell rode an improving Virginia economy and high personal popularity ratings. When we released our first handicapping of the 2012 Republican veepstakes, McDonnell was ranked #2, behind only Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. (Paul Ryan was ranked #10.)
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Bob McDonnell is only qualified to teach politicians how to behave, when behind bars.
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