Get on Board with Karen Kwaitkowski in the 6th District

Karen Kwaitkowski: Vote for her!

We've established pretty solidly over the years that I have almost nothing in common with Republicans and that me casting a vote for a Republican is about as likely as a cat asking, "How may I help you, sir?"

Then comes this 6th District Congressional challenger Karen Kwaitkowski and her "scorch the earth with the truth" campaign against incumbent Bob Goodlatte (a guy who originally ran on a platform of limited terms, but he hit the limit and kept going).

Goodlatte, like his colleague and political bunkmate Morgan Griffith, seems to believe that the less of his record and his core beliefs you know, the better for him. He won't even answer Karen (and forgive the familiarity of the first name, but I like her; hell, I like Bob, too, personally) when she asks if he'll debate her.

Griffith has spent an entire career--mostly in the Virginia General Assembly and now as the 9th District Congressional rep--for one term we'll pray to whomever we pray to--avoiding anything that has to do with telling you what he thinks and how he votes. If he could do it all in secret with no paper trail, my guess is he would. Bob seems to be going there, too.

Karen's a tough, smart, intellectually elegant former military officer and my guess is that she's going to give Bob a good campaign bruising before being defeated by a voting public that's not paying any attention at all. She makes a lot of good Libertarian points (and I share some issues with the Libs--like opposing wars, favoring medical [and personal] marijuana use, opposing absurdities like the Patriot Act and, in general, leaving people the hell alone unless they're doing something stupid or illegal).

I'm not sure where Karen stands on abortion, but regardless of which side, my guess is that it's honest, honorable, consistent and deeply felt--not a changing dynamic based on what the few people in the district who vote for wacked-out Republicans believe. My guess would also be that she would strongly support the rights of the people in Richmond this most recent general assembly session who did a whole lot of protesting about the war on women.

Regardless of where you're standing this political season--and the rest of the year--voting in the Republican primary for Karen against Bob Goodlatte is a good choice. Bob is part of the dysfunctional wing of the party, the one that is subverting the Constitution at every turn and rolling back gains we've made for nearly a century. His environmental record is one of the worst since those records have been kept. My guess is that I'll slip into the Repub primary, vote for Karen and feel good about it.

She's going to need money. Give her some, even if you're a liberal like me. She's honest, direct, a little goofy sometimes, but worth your time.  E-mail her campaign here or call Karen directly--at home--at 540-477-2821. She'll talk to you and, more important, she'll listen to you. She's a good one.