This one shouldn’t even be a tough choice.
Tina Freitas has no true reason to run for Virginia Senate. A mother of three, married to whom many consider to be a rising star in Virginia politics, and having held the most difficult of all careers — a military spouse — Freitas could easily have chosen to allow someone else to carry the battle standards of the conservative movement and galvanized voters in her own way.
Yet instead, the issues that Hanger raises that dares conservatives to challenge him are precisely the reasons that motivate Freitas to lead: smaller government and the right to life. Linking both is an emphasis on the role of families contrasted against the “daddy knows best” paternalism of Richmond. On these three issues alone, Freitas is not only an easy protest vote, she would become an important voice in the Virginia Senate for commonsense conservatives values.
It is no small secret that the Republican Party in Virginia is undergoing a catharsis of sorts. One of three scenarios will play out. Either we will become the more dynamic and liberty-leaning constitutional conservative party that many of us have been fighting to preserve and create over the last 20 years, or we will backslide into either a reactionary populism or an entrenched establishmentarian mindset.
Hanger embodies this calcification of leadership in the Virginia Senate, practically daring conservatives to challenge him openly. His weakness on the right to life in the post-Northam era should be an instant disqualificiation; Hanger’s eagerness to shovel money and resources into the maw of Planned Parenthood is atrocious and disgraceful. Hanger’s proclivity for never meeting a tax he didn’t hike isn’t a question of paying one’s bills but rather an indicator of a fundamental disagreement as to who should run this commonwealth: Richmond or working families?
Freitas is doing more than just reminding the establishment of their place. Rather, Freitas is reminding Hanger et al. that their titles do not confer some sort of mythical authority over the futures of Virginia families, but responsibilities owed to them to build a better, more free society.
Surely Hanger’s defenders will argue that education, transportation, and all of the realities of a functioning state matter intensely. Yet every time a politician prioritizes Virginia’s government over Virginia’s families, there are other budgets that get cut: food, clothing, the mortgage.
If Hanger’s fascination with tax hikes were matched with innovative new solutions that actually reinforced families, promoted workforce development, supported microfinance statewide, and revamped the Virginia education system (both secondary and post-secondary), perhaps the ROI on the taxpayers’ investment could be justified.
Instead, not only has Hanger merely bankrolled the old system, he has poured money into an organization whose sole purpose is to kill future taxpayers.
Politicians tend to be 5-10 years behind their electorates. Hanger and Norment continue to be the relics of this age, clinging to power for its own sake, but never with a desire to advance the conservative cause unless forced to do so. No small wonder why the cancer of leftism and the calcification of leadership continues to survive in certain quarters, never quite lifting a finger for the conservative movement unless to say “See, we told you so.”
Tina Freitas embodies the very best of what grassroots conservatives in Virginia look for in their leaders. Pro-life, pro-family, pro-limited government, and someone who believes our 2nd Amendment rights should be defended the same way we treat our 1st Amendment rights.
As a mother, a military spouse, and a community leader who views titles as responsibilities rather than stepping stones, conservatives can rest easy knowing that Freitas will defend all the values we hold dear — and do so with integrity, respect, and common cause.
The term of proudly supporting people in public life is a term that is at times much abused. Virginians in the 24th Senate District have every reason to be proud to support Tina Freitas, not just because she represents our values, but because she lives them as well.