The U.S. Senate race for Virginia is set after Corey Stewart beat out Nick Freitas for the Republican nomination. Jose Montoya reports.
Republicans Choose Corey Stewart in Virginia Primary
Virginia
Great Jobs Numbers, Virginia GOP Caves on Medicaid, Reid-ing Between the Lines
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America toast better-than-expected unemployment numbers, the best in 18 years. They also lambaste Virginia Republicans for rolling over and approving the Obamacare Medicaid expansion they claimed to oppose for years. And they dig through more eye-opening posts from Joy Reid’s supposedly hacked blog, including her likening of John McCain to the Virginia Tech shooter, endorsing the removal of the Israeli government to Europe, and likening illegal immigration to slave labor for multinationals.
Freitas Champions ‘Individual Liberty’ in Virginia Senate Race
Virginia Del. Nick Freitas is racing to the finish line ahead of the commonwealth’s June 12th U.S. Senate primary and says his message of individual liberty, smaller government, and thriving markets is resonating with voters.
Freitas got a major political boost in March when his passionate defense of the second amendment on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates went viral.
“When 40 million people see something, that helps with your name ID,” said Freitas.
While recent polling is scarce in the GOP primary, the viral video is helping Freitas raise his profile against primary rivals Corey Stewart and E.W. Jackson, both of whom have run statewide before. Freitas has dwarfed his rivals in fundraising in recent months and he recently secured the National Rifle Association endorsement.
Stewart, who currently serves as chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, is known for his aggressive, confrontational style of politics. He says that approach will be necessary to defeat incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine in November. He also claims that his ability to win in a blue part of Virginia makes him the natural choice for a nominee.
Freitas strongly disputes that.
“Donald Trump does not need a cheap imitation of himself in order to win in Virginia. There’s only one Donald Trump. Let Trump be Trump. What the Republican Party needs in Virginia is someone who can go around and explain and advocate for the positive, substantive policies that have made people’s lives better,” said Freitas.
“He thinks it’s a divide and conquer campaign. I think it’s more of a divide and lose campaign. It’s unfortunate because there are good things about Corey Stewart and there are good things he’s done in Prince William County.
“But there’s other things he’s done there that have really given people pause. He’s voted to raise taxes several times in Prince William County, and there’s other things that people are just skeptical of,” said Freitas.
Freitas believes he has the ability to bring people together to get things done.
“We need to be able to unify Virginians around a central message and that message is we’re going to empower you, not government programs,” said Freitas.
Freitas also believes he separates himself from Stewart and Jackson in three critical ways, starting with his service as a Green Beret in Iraq.
“I’m the only combat veteran in the race, which means I understand a key component of the federal government, which is providing for national defense. I fought counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency and unconventional warfare. President Trump needs more people in the Senate that share his view that we are not the police force in the world but we need a strong military and I can provide that kind of advice,” said Freitas, who believes the U.S. does need to be a leader on the world stage but does not need to deploy the military unless absolutely necessary.
He also says his time in the Virginia House of Delegates sets him apart from Stewart and Jackson.
“I’m also the only candidate that’s served in the legislature. So I understand what it’s like to take an idea from concept all the way through the legislative process. I know how to effectively engage constituents in the process when there’s that critical vote in the subcommittee or full committee,” said Freitas.
Third, Freitas says his message distinguishes him from the rest of the field. He says his goal is not to gain power to reward friends and punish political foes but to return power to where it belongs.
“My goal is to get in a position where we can disperse power back where it belongs and that’s to the people, that’s to states, and that’s to localities. And then if we keep the federal government within its proper boundaries so it can do its intended jobs well instead of doing a hundred other jobs poorly,” said Freitas.
But what does that look like for a candidate who embraces major strains of both conservative and libertarian thought? Where does he come down those beliefs conflict?
On the role of the military, Freitas believes in having a strong military and using overwhelming force whenever force is absolutely necessary. He also wants to see Congress return to its constitutional role of authorizing war.
On cultural issues, Freitas says his deeply-held Christian beliefs inform him on the definition of marriage but he believes much of the political debate over it misses a key point.
“You’ve got some people wanting the government to define marriage one way. You’ve got other people who want that government to define marriage another way. And I’m sitting here going, ‘Why is the government defining marriage?’
“I understand why government has to handle civil contracts, but I certainly don’t understand why the government needs to be in the process of coercing people to accept a particular definition that they may not want to,” said Freitas.
Freitas did introduce religious freedom legislation that would protect conscience rights for Virginians.
“(Former Virginia Gov.) Terry McAuliffe had signed an executive order which essentially prevented any religious organizations that happened to hold the viewpoint that marriage is between one man and one woman from being able to team with the government to help hungry, sick, and addicted people. I said that was ridiculous,” said Freitas.
On abortion, Freitas says science and the law make it clear that unborn life deserves protection.
“At the moment of conception, we’re talking about life. If we use science to determine between human life and other forms of life, we find at the moment of conception we’re talking about human life.
From a legal perspective, I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’re also talking about innocent human life. So the question for me is does the government have an obligation to protect innocent human life? I think it clearly does,” said Freitas, who was born out of a crisis pregnancy.
“I don’t know what it’s like to be that young woman who finds herself pregnant and completely unprepared for it, but I do know what it’s like to be her son,” he said.
On fiscal matters, Freitas is appalled by the $1.3 trillion omnibus shepherded through Congress and signed into law – all by Republicans. He says Congress desperately needs transparency and open debate on what is worthy of taxpayer money. He also says Congress, like the Virginia government, fails to use common sense on spending issues.
“On the things that we agree on – that are legitimate functions of government – the military, law enforcement, public safety, certain things with transportation and others – great, let’s fund them. But let’s not hold those things hostage because certain congresspeople have different goodies that they’ve got to hand out to various constituents to help their re-election chances,” said Freitas.
Freitas says he’s also ready to tackle health care policy, especially after fighting against Gov. Ralph Northam’s efforts to enact Obamacare Medicaid expansion in Virginia. In addition to stating that medical care for Medicaid patients is not much different than it is for the uninsured, he says government intervening in health care is a guaranteed failure.
“What’s so frustrating to me is that what wee clearly need in health care is more competition and more market forces, which always have a tendency to increase quality and drive down prices,”said Freitas, noting that the cost of vision correction surgery, such as Lasik, has dropped from $2,500 per eye to $500 per eye while the reliability of the procedure has improved drastically.
“Unfortunately, there are many, especially on the left, (for whom) the only solution they will accept is a government solution. The problem is government does the opposite of what we need. Government almost always causes prices to go up and quality to go down,” he said.
‘I Think the Republican Party Needs to be the Party of Individual Liberty’
Virginia Del. Nick Freitas says his U.S. Senate bid is not only about defeating Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine but about returning the Republicans back to a party that champions the ideals that make America strong.
Freitas, 38, is in his second term in the Virginia House of Delegates. He is also a U.S. Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq in a special forces unit. He is married with three children.
And while he wants to replace Kaine in the U.S. Senate, Freitas says steering the Republican Party back on course is just as big of a goal.
“There’s an impulse by some that they want big-government Republicanism, where they concede some of the arguments of the progressive left that we need to have this nanny state and it would just be better if Republicans ran it.
“I completely reject that. I think the Republican Party needs to be the party of individual liberty. It needs to be the party of free markets and opportunity, and it needs to be the party of equal justice before the law,” said Freitas.
He says Republicans need to do a much better job of explaining not only what they believe but why they believe it.
“It’s not just about why we want tax reform or regulatory reform or greater opportunity within education. It’s about explaining that the reason we believe all those things goes back to this core fundamental belief and love for the individual person,” said Freitas, who says that view stands in complete contrast with how liberals look at people.
“I really despise how the modern left has manages to categorize people based many times on superficial distinctions. The left right now has four questions they want to ask you. What’s your skin color? What’s your gender? What’s your sexual orientation? How much money do you make?
“If you answer those four questions, they put you into a victim group and there you stay. I don’t see people that way. I see people as unique individuals with something to offer themselves, their families and society. The key for them to be able to do that is a government that stays within it’s constitutional boundaries and protects their librety and freedom to do so,” said Freitas.
He says once that approach to government is explained, then you can get down to policy.
“Then we explain why tax reform, why regulatory reform, why a greater educational opportunity, why a free market for health care helps the individual achieve all those things they want to and allows them to pursue happiness, that’s a winning message for the Republican Party.
“I want to see more people advocating for it so I decided to step up and make the argument,” said Freitas.
And Freitas believes making a strong case for those principles and supporting the pro-liberty aspects of the Trump agenda does not require a confrontational tone.
“The solution to that is not to yell and scream at everybody in Virginia and treat them like idiots if they don’t agree with us. The solution is to explain the benefits of those policies in such a way that they can relate to and feel an urge to support,” said Freitas.
Five Republicans are in the field for the GOP nomination, including Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, who narrowly lost last year’s gubernatorial nomination, and Bishop E.W. Jackson, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2013.
While vowing to focus on his message, Freitas believes he is the strongest candidate to return power to the individual.
“That’s not an attempt to disparage any of the other candidates that are running. I think they’re going to take a different approach to the Republican message. In a lot of ways, I think it’s going to look like the approach that’s been used before and quite frankly hasn’t worked very well in Virginia,” said Freitas.
“Corey Stewart is obviously going to take a very different approach than I will with respect to addressing these issues and to building the sort of coalition we need in Virginia to win elections,” said Freitas.
Republicans control the U.S. Senate by a narrow 51-49 majority and had some hits and misses in the first year of the Trump administration. The Senate managed to pass tax reform but failed to repeal Obamacare or deal with huge deficits.
Freitas says tax reform was “definitely a step in the right direction” and roundly applauds Trump for rolling back burdensome regulations, but he is frustrated by the GOP approach to spending.
“Everybody loves to cut taxes. Nobody loves to cut spending except for very few people, and that’s because we’re not going out there and actually making the argument for why this sort of government spending is not appropriate and what it’s going to mean for our children and future generations,” said Freitas.
If elected, Freitas says he’d be looking for a new GOP leader in the Senate.
“I’m not going to commit to vote for Mitch McConnell,” said Freitas. “I want to see someone that is going to push a bold and unapologetic argument for conservative principles. If we’re running on it, we shouldn’t be afraid to legislate it.”
Sen. Kaine, who was also the 2016 vice presidential nominee for the Democrats, is considered a big favorite to win a second term. But Freitas says he is ready to take the fight to Kaine over where the power in the United States should reside.
“It’s not that Tim is a horrible guy or a mean guy. Tim believes that the solution to our problems is more government control. Tim fundamentally believes that if he has more control over our lives, he’ll make things better,” said Freitas.
He says the contrast is clear.
“I believe that the way to achieve not only greater economic opportunity but greater equality before the law is by dispersing power, by taking it out of the hands of politicians and putting more control of decisions back in the hands of individuals,” said Freitas.
“It’s the parent whose child has been consigned to a failing school, giving that parent more options over where that child can go to school in order to craft a unique education for their child. It’s that person that wants to engage in the marketplace but can’t because federal regulations are holding them back. It’s the additional tax burden that prevents families from doing the things they need to do in order to be successful,” said Freitas.
While Freitas and Kaine disagree on a vast array of policy areas, Freitas says a few in particular come to mind first, including Kaine backing the FISA court without any concern over the fourth amendment rights of Americans, supporting tax increases and additional regulations on businesses, and consistently voting to protect late-term abortions.
“From individual policy perspectives all the way down to the core, the fundamental difference between Tim Kaine and I is Tim believes in controlling people. I believe in freeing people to be able to live their own lives. That’s going to influence every decision and that’s going to be the starkest contrast between Tim Kaine and myself,” said Freitas.
In addition to Kaine’s widespread name recognition and full bank account of over $9.2 million as of the end of 2017, Freitas and the other Republicans are running statewide just a year after Democrats convincingly swept all statewide offices. In fact, the GOP has not won a statewide race since 2009.
Freitas is not concerned. He says Virginia almost always goes the opposite way the year after a presidential election and that his approach to liberals in his district has won quite a few converts.
“I have people that are definitely left of center in my district support me and not just come out and vote but actively go out and support my candidacy against a liberal progressive Democrat.
“The reason for that was not because I was a Squish on the issues. It wasn’t because I walked away from tough votes. It wasn’t any of that. It was bcause I found the issues where there was overlap. For instance, I think we need criminal justice reform and so I’m carrying the bill on civil asset forfeiture reform to make sure the government can’t take your property and sell it off without a criminal conviction.
“I’ve carried the legislation that removes onerous regulations on growing industrial hemp in Virginia because, quite frankly, our farmers need this and people want access to the products,” said Freitas.
“One does not have to compromise any of their conservative principles to get a wide base of support, but they do have to spend time learning how to talk to people in a way that’s relevant to them, identifying the issues that are important when there’s room for cooperation, and then spending the time and energy to actually get the legislation passed,” said Freitas.
The U.S. Senate primary in Virginia is scheduled for June 12.
Virginia Republicans Help Pass Medicaid Expansion
After four years of resisting Medicaid expansion in Virginia, 20 Republican lawmakers in the House of Delegates relented and helped to push a limited, bipartisan expansion across the finish line, a vote one conservative member believes the GOP will live to regret.
“I think this is going to prove to have been a very, very bad decision,” said Republican Del. Nick Freitas, who is also a candidate for U.S. Senate this year.
Former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe pressed for full Medicaid expansion for four years. He failed each year, given the GOP’s roughly 2-1 majority in the House of Delegates. However, in November, Democrats picked up 15 seats, leaving the Republicans with a slim 51-49 majority.
Earlier this week, Virginia House Speaker William Howell announced a bipartisan agreement to expand Medicaid in Virginia, but with certain conditions, including work requirements and the ability to reverse the expansion if the federal government fails to deliver the funding it has promised.
On Thursday, the plan cleared the House of Delegates, 69-31, with all Democrats and 20 Republicans voting for it. There is still an uncertain future, however, since the Virginia Senate did not include Medicaid expansion in it’s budget, meaning the issue will be resolved in a House-Senate conference.
Freitas says Howell and other Republicans have reasons for what they did but he says it was still a big mistake.
“It’s frustrating. I certainly understand where the speaker and other members are coming from with respect to being concerned that a full expansion is in the works. So their attitude is that we’ve got to do something first in order to make sure that we get certain provisions in there that Republicans have asked for in other states,” said Freitas.
“We just voted on it on the House floor today and unfortunately it did pass with 31 Republicans voting against it. So it was actually a minority of Republicans in the House of Delegates that voted for the Medicaid expansion within the budget,” said Freitas.
Freitas says this is a terrible idea both fiscally and in terms of health policy.
“This is bad not only from a fiscal standpoint, which we tend to focus on a great deal but I think it’s bad also when you look at the underlying problems with respect to Medicaid.
“This is a program that is failing people not only from a fiscal standpoint, but it’s actually failing people with respect to the quality of health care that it’s supposed to be able to provide. I don’t think any of us should be shocked by that. That’s what happens when a government tries to micromanage a program,” said Freitas.
But were Republicans wise to head off a much worse program that could have passed instead of this one or should the GOP have avoided this path altogether?
“You can make a reasoned argument that something worse could come. The question is how complicit do you want to be in the end product. I don’t think there’s a good way to expand Medicaid, period,” said Freitas.
He also says the provision to reverse the expansion in certain circumstances may sound reassuring but believes that would never happen.
“If we don’t have the will to prevent a bad program from expanding, I don’t see how we’re suddenly going to have the will to kick off hundreds of thousands of people that we’ve made dependent upon that program once it’s gone into play,” said Freitas.
The argument that the bipartisan bill had to be pursued to avoid a more liberal version begs the question, since Republicans still control both parts of the legislature. Were some Republicans prepared to vote for full expansion without the GOP conditions?
“I think that’s a fair assessment. I do believe that there were some Republicans that were willing to vote for a full expansion,” he said.
Trump Blasts Bannon, Dow Crosses 25,000, GOP Wins Virginia Tiebreaker
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America enjoy three good martinis today. First, they get a kick out of President Trump blasting former aide Steve Bannon over Bannon’s comments in a forthcoming book, with Trump saying Bannon has lost his mind. They also celebrate the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing the 25,000 barrier for the first time, and point out that businesses have some certainty that they’re not about to get blindsided buy tax hikes or burdensome regulations for at least another three years. And they enjoy the news that the Republican candidate won the tiebreaker in a Virginia legislative race, giving control of the chamber to the GOP for the next two years.
Northam’s Moderate Start, Dismal Midterm Polls, Damon’s Dubious Denials
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are pleasantly surprised to see incoming Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam back away from pushing Medicaid expansion, much to the consternation of liberals. They also shudder as a new generic poll of voters suggests Republicans are in for a very rough 2018, as Democrats lead big among women and young people and even hold slight edges among men and senior citizens. And Jim sounds off on actor Matt Damon’s insistence that he never knew about any of Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults and harassment.
Huge Dem Wins Due to GOP Inaction in D.C.
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says Democrats there turned out in droves to register their animosity towards President Trump and he says Republicans didn’t see the same passion from their voters because of failure after failure from the GOP in Washington.
On Tuesday, Democrat Ralph Northam coasted to an easy nine-point win over Republican Ed Gillespie. Democrats also won the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general and are on the brink of a stunning capture of the majority in the House of Delegates, where Republicans had enjoyed a 66-34 margin.
Pundits around the nation are offering endless analyses for the results, but Cuccinelli – the man who led the GOP ticket as the party’s nominee for governor four years ago – says the dominant performance from Democrats really boils down to one party’s base being fired up and the other one discouraged.
“On the Democrat side, it is correct to say that Trump motivated their most left-wing voters,” said Cuccinelli, who says exit polls show voters who backed Bernie Sanders in 2016 were far more energized than those who sided with Hillary Clinton.
“If you look at Hillary Clinton’s top 50 precincts in 2016, the voter turnout there only went up about one percent from the last election. If you look at Bernie Sanders’ top 50 precincts, the voter turnout exploded almost 20 percent,” said Cuccinelli.
He says that kind of enthusiasm was only evident on one side of the aisle on Tuesday.
“You’re never going to keep the left from being upset about Donald Trump and the Republicans. They’re going to come, right? So, the way to deal with it is to turn yours out. And unless you can deliver victories for them when you have both houses (of Congress) and the presidency, they will wonder what’s the point. That’s what happened yesterday,” said Cuccinelli.
Despite no members of Congress being on the ballot in Virginia on Tuesday, Cuccinelli firmly believes unfulfilled promises in Washington depressed the GOP turnout.
“Republicans are demoralized and dispirited at the complete failure of Republicans to keep their promises in Washington. As far as ordinary Republican voters can remember, they haven’t delivered on anything,” said Cuccinelli.
He says the most glaring example is the inability to repeal Obamacare, but he’s unimpressed with the rest of the track record as well.
“You’re hearing what amounts to a muddling debate over the tax bill. Yes, Neil Gorsuch is on the Supreme Court, and I hate to say this, but that was a long time ago,” said Cuccinelli.
Cuccinelli does not believe Tuesday’s results guarantee another political tsunami in the 2018 midterm elections, but he says it will happen if Republicans don’t put some legislative wins on the board.
“Are we going to be in a position, like we were in Virginia, of unilateral disarmament. And by that I mean where we have nothing to motivate our side
“They have something to motivate their side and it isn’t going away. Unfortunately for America, what this is going to lead Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to do is simply be more obstructionist because lack of accomplishment is the Republicans’ Achilles heel,” said Cuccinelli.
He says the solution for that is simple.
“Pass Obamacare repeal, not a watered-down version but the real deal. Pass a real tax cut bill, not some mealy-mouthed thing there’s no reason to get excited about. They can fix this and one result of this will be to put a lot more pressure on congressional Republicans to perform,” said Cuccinelli.
Many of the House of Delegates seats won by Democratic challengers came in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington. And Democrats did not win those races with moderates but with very liberal candidates.
“In Northern Virginia, there was a transgender, (and also) a self-declared socialist. These are wild-eyed radical lefties. Antifa is very happy with the outcome with some of these people,” said Cuccinelli.
Cuccinelli doesn’t think Virginia voters embraced liberal politics in voting our their delegates. He says the liberal candidates just rode the wave.
“People in those districts weren’t electing a socialist because somehow the city of Manassas in Prince William County suddenly turned socialist. Those were simply the down ballot candidates at a time that the anger wave on the left carried them over the finish line,” said Cuccinelli.
He says Republican incumbents were done in by an unenthusiastic base that once again points to a lack of accomplishments in Washington this year.
“Good candidates down ballot were not in a position to resist the environmental wave that they were in: the negative one from the Democrats and then the lack of a wave of momentum coming from Republican accomplishment.
“Imagine how this would be different if five weeks ago Obamacare had been repealed instead of having some watered-down, mealy-mouthed go down anyway. Would Ed Gillespie have made up a nine and a half point difference? No, but down ballot would your delegate have lost like that? Probably not. Would mine? Probably not,” said Cuccinelli.
However, Cuccinelli says Republicans do face a bigger and bigger problem that has nothing to do with this year’s political dynamics – the influx of big-government liberals into Northern Virginia.
“The astonishing growth of the federal government over the past two decades has led to a massive importation of pro-government voters into Northern Virginia. Somebody’s got to run that growing leviathan, right?
“They haven’t moved to Maryland for the past 35 years. They moved to Virginia because the taxes are lower and quality of life is higher. But they vote like where they come from: New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts,” said Cuccinelli.
Cuccinelli blames both parties for the explosive growth in the federal government and says that tells the story of Democrats winning elections in Virginia far more than demographic shifts.
“What it really is is the growth of the swamp. Northern Virginia is home of the swamp. It’s where government lives is in Virginia. That has been killing us for a long time,” said Cuccinelli.
GOP Thrashed in Virginia, Dems Romp in NJ & NYC, Flake’s Redundant Gun Bill
Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America break down how the Democrats easily swept the statewide races in Virginia and even reversed a huge GOP majority in the state assembly. They also discuss easy wins by Democrats in New Jersey and New York City, where the Republicans hardly appear to be a factor anymore. And they roll their eyes as Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake proposes a law to ban gun sales to people convicted of domestic violence – because that exact law already exists.
Huge Air Force Error, Media Yawn as Rand Paul Assaulted, McMullin’s Tired Act
It’s all crazy martinis today. Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are furious as the Air Force discovers it never forwarded the court martial information on the Texas church shooter that would have prevented him from legally purchasing guns and Jim also details how the federal government often seems disinterested in prosecuting gun crimes. They also discuss the bizarre assault on Sen. Rand Paul by his neighbor in Kentucky and how the media just don’t care when GOP lawmakers are targeted for violence. And they unload on 2016 independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who has spent the past year focused on criticizing President Trump at every turn while advancing nothing of value to conservatism – his latest move being to urge people not to vote for the GOP candidate for governor in Virginia.