Dear Commonwealth Times,
I was looking forward to seeing this past Thursday’s edition of the CT because as a strong supporter of Bob McDonnell and his candidacy for Governor, I thought it would be a nice surprise to see him getting coverage in a paper that is typically dominated by Democrats and every step that they take. For instance, Creigh Deeds visits a coffee shop near campus that, according to your own paper, had a marginal turnout and it graces the front page. On the other hand, Bob McDonnell wins the Governorship in the first election since Obama’s historic victory last year and a gas leak at the Landmark Theatre adorns the cover. Would it have been the same had Deeds won? I highly doubt it.
I also noticed that in your articles that did mention the election, it seemed that you were attempting to marginalize McDonnell’s victory and point to voter apathy as the reason for his success. One article even featured a quote from me. I find it funny that out of the 10 minute interview I did, the writer chose to use the one quote from me that mentioned something to the effect of lack of enthusiasm among VCU voters. It failed to show the rest of my statement that said that there was a large amount of excitement among McDonnell supporters, including college students, for his campaign.
Equally as interesting were the “talking head” quotes you used from students referring to the election. Once again, either you didn’t do a very good job in finding a wide range of students, or you carefully chose which quotes to use and not use. Ninety percent of the quotes featured support for Deeds, which is interesting considering he lost the election by nearly 20 percentage points. Is VCU that far out of touch with the rest of the state? Absolutely not. The one quote that didn’t support Deeds was one that featured a girl who didn’t want to say one way or the other because she seemed afraid to offend her professors or administrators at the university. I wonder why that is. Well I’ll be glad to say what some won’t: VCU is a university that is primarily run by those who support, or lean towards, the Democratic Party. Most people know this and accept it. I certainly have. What is troubling to me is the utter lack of an attempt to try and promote equality among viewpoints. For instance, despite my numerous attempts to inform the school and this paper about an event the VCU College Republicans were putting on that featured syndicated columnist and author S.E. Cupp along with Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell’s daughter, Cailin, there was absolutely no coverage or promotion outside of what we did whatsoever. However, if James Carville were to show up, I’m sure the red carpet would be rolled out.
I would like to close this out by stating a fact that I know will never see the light of day in this paper otherwise. More people voted for Bob McDonnell than any other gubernatorial candidate in the history of Virginia. His 1,160,356 votes topped the previous record set by George Allen, another Republican, in 1993. So while overall voter turnout was relatively low, the fact that McDonnell achieved this is an even greater testimony to the strength of his campaign. I am so proud to have been a part of this campaign.
Sincerely,
Lee Vogler