[corrected 1/13]
Rick Sincere's blog
draws attention to a new group in the old dominion called the
Virginia Family Values PAC. But hold on, it's actually a group
that's fighting against elected officials who support
anti-gay legislation, among other things. But this PAC is using the
language of small-government conservatism to do so. As Rick puts
it:
Dated January 9, the group's initial press release uses buzzwords that are sure to catch the attention of Goldwater Republicans like myself:
Virginians from across the commonwealth today announced the formation of a non-partisan political action committee to strengthen family values and families' political influence in Richmond and in the November elections....
Virginia Family Values has named four of the candidates that they'll be targeting for removal from office for their anti-family votes ... All four candidates have consistently voted against family and parental rights, and have introduced bills that would increase the size of government while decreasing family freedoms and privacy.
"The family is the foundation of our society," explained PAC founder Waldo Jaquith. "Every time that these legislators have been given the choice between family values and bigger government, they've chosen wrong. They're way out of touch with Virginia values, and we intend to show them the door."
Rick comments further:
It's rare to see a group made up of Democratic and liberal activists ... using terms like "RINO" to describe Republicans...for whom "RINO" is more accurate than they would be willing to admit. What a pleasure it would be if more Democrats wanted to rid our legislatures of RINOs and replace them with authentic, small-government, Goldwater conservatives.
Jon Henke, who describes himself as a "neo-libertarian," picked up on this too, noting that "some groups are taking what seems to me to be very effective grassroots action.... They've co-opted the language of the religious right and turned it on them. That's pretty clever."
This is an interesting strategy, and although the
Virginia Family Values PAC is not a gay group (I originally
misreported that, as Rick informs me), I hope local gay groups will
be inspired to likewise think outside the liberal-left box. But
don't expect the large inside-the-beltway crowd to follow along,
given the Human Rights Campaign's
smackdown for even considering support for personally owned
Social Security accounts that gay partners could bequeath to one
another.