Senator for Life?

Today’s editorial in the Free Lance-Star discusses the legitimacy of questioning Chichester’s conservative voting record, particularly on the pro-life issue:

In truth, Mr. Chichester doesn’t have a perfect pro-life voting record as gauged by the Virginia Society for Human Life, but it’s one that if adopted by all legislatures and courts would make abortion much less common. A VSHL report on key Senate votes between 1978 and 2003 reveals that Mr. Chichester voted for abortion restrictions 90 percent of the time, in 18 out of 20 cases.

However, the society’s report shows that never was Mr. Chichester’s vote, in the full Senate or committee, a lethal one for pro-life legislation. That is, even had he voted the “right” way in the aforementioned cases, the pro-life measures would have failed. Conversely, in four instances–the 1994 “basic” parental-notification vote and three committee votes (two on parental notification, one on informed consent)–Mr. Chichester’s vote was crucial in advancing abortion-trimming bills. In sum, when pro-life Virginia needed John Chichester, he was there.

Senator Chichester is not the antichrist, nor is he the sum of all conservative fears. He isn’t a bad politician, and he’s a genuinely nice guy.

The problem is that he is not consistent. In 2001 when he was duly informed of a 7-7 split in his committee regarding parental notification concerning abortion, Chichester was missing in action. He failed to show up. This year, Chichester voted to make RU-486 a legal contraceptive, which means that the pill could be covered by insurance agencies in the Commonwealth. Poor form when you are trying to convince the voters of your pro-life credentials.

And what of the tax issue? In the four hundred years of the history of the Commonwealth, we have never had a budget crisis. Except once, when in a Clintonesque maneuver John Chichester put our state government under the gun to prevent a rollback of the car tax. Despite the best efforts of the Governor and the House of Delegates, a Republican Senator prevented us from keeping our promise to Virginia taxpayers. This despite the fact that state expenditures have risen nearly 50% over the past five years. One more example of the people being asked to tighten their belts while government puts on suspenders.

These actions just can’t be explained away. Parental notification is a common-sense bill. RU-486, if indeed abortion is a private choice, should not be subsidized with public funds. The rollback of the car tax is a promise the the Republican Party of Virginia is committed towards fullfilling. These three instances of defiance by Senator Chichester may seem noble to the Democrats, but they are bewildering the the GOP rank and file.

Republicans elect officials because they believe in their principles. Not because they believe in them part of the time or even most of the time, but because they share our values and are willing to fight for them; convienent of otherwise.

The recent invitation for *all* voters in the 28th District to vote in the GOP primary only serves to prove the point. Chichester is extending a hand to exactly those who do not support our values, namely to the Democrats whom applauded his vote for RU-486 and his stand against the car tax rollback. How can you expect Republicans to rally behind a statesman who is promoting exactly the wrong values, much less tearing at the fabric that is binding the Republican Party?