CPAC to McDonnell: No Thanks
Possibly following in the wake of the largest tax increase in Virginia history, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell did not get an invite to CPAC this year. The Virginia Pilot has more:
McDonnell is at least the second prominent GOP governor — New Jersey’s Chris Christie is the other — snubbed by CPAC after angering conservatives over political and policy decisions.
Christie took heat after praising President Barack Obama for his response to the devastation Hurricane Sandy wreaked on coastal swaths of the Garden State just before last November’s presidential election.
McDonnell’s perceived sin is more recent — he compromised with legislative Democrats and Republicans on a state transportation funding package that includes new tax revenue to repair Virginia’s aging road network.
Ouch.
This would mean that McDonnell joins organizations and personalities such as the gay rights group GOProud and Pamela Gellar at Atlas Shrugs as persona non grata at CPAC this year.
His absence doesn’t mean Virginia won’t be represented at CPAC, though.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for governor this year, reportedly has been invited to speak at the conference.
Ouch x2.
Of course, the governor can still make amends by vetoing his own bill for any pretext he so desires… but whether McDonnell is too far invested in
“the dog no one will adopt” is probably unlikely at this time. Hope springs eternal, though.
Cross-posted from Bearing Drift.
Photo credit: Mark Taylor
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