Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling was gracious enough to respond to my piece, Green Jobs or Drill Baby Drill? Virginia’s First Energy Debate, with a post explaining how the McDonnell/Bolling team will frame the energy issue during the campaign and why they believe the public will respond favorably.
I think that the most important feature of Bolling’s article is his insistence that the choice in the election is not between a commitment to renewables or support for offshore exploration (as the title of my post implied), but is really about the kind of overall energy policy that will give us a reliable supply at a reasonable cost while promoting the goal of energy independence.
The Lieutenant Governor argues that the McDonnell/Bolling team has a balanced and comprehensive approach that supports renewables, but also believes that a diversity of energy options needs to be pursued in order to provide Virginians with reliable, reasonably priced energy that moves toward energy independence.
Bolling contends that, by contrast, the Democrats’ heavy reliance on solar, biofuels , and conservation combined with opposition to coal, nuclear and offshore exploration leaves them with “no realistic energy plan at all.”
You can be sure that the Democrats are not going to concede the argument and will offer a powerful defense of their own.
But, politically speaking, I was impressed with Bolling’s skill in framing the GOP position.
He has taken a complex issue that has never really been the subject of a statewide campaign and distilled the choices in a clear, concise and thoughtful manner that explains to voters how it might impact them.
Agreee with him or not, isn’t this what campaigns are supposed to be about?
I think the McDonnell/Bolling team have it right. Kudos to Bolling for responding to the post.
I think the choice on energy is clear. On one hand, we have the Dems, who have a pie in the sky dream of 100% renewable energy.
On the other hand, Bolling and McDonnell support renewables, but also have a realistic short-term view of energy as well.
For an issue as important as energy, we need realistic short and long term solutions that will better our lives, not political posturing and pandering to the fringe environmentalists by the Dems.
I’m guessing the Democrats are going to concede most issues. After the last 8 years of constant victory, I’m beginning to think they don’t believe that they need to defend their views to win, and that this campaign won’t be any different once they manage to run up McDonnell’s unfavorables through McAuliffe’s money.
That said, LG Bolling has proven once again that he is an outside the box thinker. Just as with his crafting of his 100 Ideas for VA and his time in the VA Senate, Bolling has worked to restore Virginia’s Republican Party to the party of the idea and the solution.
Let’s just hope that Virginians aren’t too brainwashed by the Dems’ money to listen.