Battle for the Soul (and Survival) of Virginia's GOP

Wall Street Journal
“Political Diary”
Feb 1, 2007
by Stephen Moore

There's a civil war going on within the Republican Party in Virginia and the outcome will likely determine whether Democrats can capitalize on the infighting and capture this important state for many years to come.

One faction of the GOP, made up of conservative Republicans in the House and state Attorney General Bob McDonnell, is drafting a transportation-financing plan to reduce congestion in gridlocked Northern Virginia while avoiding a major tax increase. In the other corner is Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Chichester and at least two more liberal Senate Republicans, who on Tuesday proposed a $600 million spending plan to be paid for with a 5% gas tax and a series of car fees.

Mr. Chichester, who is a bigger champion of spending than most of the Democrats in Richmond , opposes the House Republican plan because he says it would spend money out of the general fund on transportation. In turn, the Chichester plan "simply won't fly with conservatives," Attorney General McDonnell tells me.

The problem for Richmond Republicans is that just three years ago they got suckered into a $1 billion sales tax increase sponsored by then-governor Mark Warner. Ever since, Republicans have been on the losing end of most statewide races, including a governor's race and last November's senate race (won by the Democrats' new wonder-boy, Jim Webb). Another GOP tax increase would almost certainly lead to a Democratic takeover of the Senate in the next election. Ed Gillespie, the state Republican chairman, agrees that the party faces a quandary. "If we don't solve the transportation problem, we lose the Senate. But if we raise taxes, we lose the Senate." Last year, three Senate Republicans from the Fairfax County vicinity managed to win by very narrow majorities, and the county seems to grow more Democratic with each passing month.

Why liberal Republicans feel compelled to raise taxes yet again is a mystery in the Cavalier State . Democratic Governor Tim Kaine has proposed a $650 million tax increase to pay for roads, and Republicans could go to the polls running against this tax-and-spender. Instead, the Republican plan actually inoculates Gov. Kaine from charges of being a big-spending Democrat. Making matters worse, the state has had rapid economic growth, so the state coffers in Richmond are $1 billion in surplus. House Republicans say they won't countenance another statewide tax hike when the state's budget has grown by nearly 30% in the last ten years above the rate of inflation and population growth.

The only political solution is to allocate more money for roads -- and allow for smart roads through tolls and congestion pricing -- and to pay for these projects by cutting the growth in other state programs that have been growing like weeds in recent ears. That's the program that Mr. McDonnell, who wants to run for governor in two years, and other conservatives are seeking. Mr. Chichester and his liberal cronies who run the Senate won't go for that. The GOP would be a lot better off without them.

Stephen Moore is the founder and former president of the Club for Growth and a contributing editor of National Review. He also serves on the economic board of advisers for Time magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Human Events, and Reader's Digest.