Week's End: Wrap-up

By: Times-Dispatch Staff | Times-Dispatch
Published: January 21, 2012

The GOP's state central committee has come to its senses — thanks to Gov. Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. The party had imposed a so-called loyalty oath on those wishing to vote in this year's presidential primary. The policy ignited embarrassing controversy. McDonnell and Bolling criticized the oath. On Saturday, GOP lofties were slated to lift it. Republicans now will be able to participate in the primary without checking their consciences at the voting booth door.
Robert Gates epitomizes public service. He has held office in Democratic administrations as well as in Republican ones. His tenure as secretary of defense linked the Bush era to the Obama. He proved a refreshing presence at the Pentagon. Gates spoke at the Richmond Forum on Jan. 14; he also met with Blue Star Families at the Virginia War Memorial.
His talk at the Landmark conveyed wisdom. He identified humility as a national virtue. Triumphalism ill suits a city on a hill. Gates also lamented divisive partisan rhetoric and said "we have lost the ability to execute even the basic functions of government." He endorsed redistricting reform, a pet cause of The Times-Dispatch. And he criticized a coarsening and dumbing down of political discourse.
Regarding redistricting: The General Assembly missed the opportunity to embrace reform in time for the process that drew state legislative maps for the 2011 elections. The Democratic Senate and the Republican House produced gerrymanders for the Assembly instead. The circumstances suggested the legislature cannot wait until the last minute before doing the right thing. Bills to promote fair redistricting have been introduced. The time to act is now.
Gates described President Obama's decision to authorize the raid against Osama bin Laden's compound as the most courageous act of any president he has served. The SEALs who carried out the mission deserve the credit for its success, but Obama acted decisively. A failure along the lines of Jimmy Carter's Desert One would have destroyed his presidency and would have seriously wounded America's international standing. Critics did not respond as graciously as they should have. If George Bush had ordered the assault, the neo-cons and others would have elevated him to the pantheon.
Former Gov. Doug Wilder has urged Obama to replace Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton as his 2012 running mate. In a Tuesday column for Politico.com, Wilder said Gov. Bob McDonnell would make a good vice presidential nominee on a GOP ticket headed by Mitt Romney but explained that Condoleezza Rice would be even better. The Editorial Board is not fond of instant memoirs written — or ghosted — by former officials, but it has heard that Rice's ranks among the most generous of those produced by Bush veterans. She would enhance the GOP slate, as would McDonnell.
An Obama-Clinton team might be impossible to beat.

Week's End: Wrap-up

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