Bearing Drift's 2012 endorsements

It should come as no surprise that Bearing Drift endorses all the Republican candidates running for office in Virginia.

However, with just over a week to go, that's not good enough.  Especially if you come across an independent voter who has not yet decided and you'd like to make the case for the GOP.

Therefore, what we tried to do with our endorsements is offer reasons why you should vote for the Republicans and why the Democrats haven't made the case.

First, we endorsed Mitt Romney for President:

"Throughout this campaign, Gov. Romney has focused his attention on the economy. Pres. Obama has bounced from attack to attack, using gimmicks and tired old campaign tricks. Gov. Romney has been talking about creating jobs and increasing economic development; the President has been talking about Big Bird and binders. The difference in the tone of the two campaigns couldn’t be more striking.

"This election is as much a referendum on the President’s first term as it is a job interview for Gov. Romney.  Given the abject failure of the Obama Administration in far too many critical areas, it is hard to have any optimism that another four years of Pres. Obama would be any different than the last four.   Fortunately, a vote for Gov. Romney is not simply a vote for “anybody but Obama.”  He is a credible, thoughtful and experienced candidate who has proven that he understands what it takes to create jobs and get our economy moving again."

Second, we endorsed George Allen for U.S. Senate:

"Virginia needs George Allen’s common sense leadership. This self-described Jeffersonian conservative is fiscally responsible, strong on defense, understands the country’s energy needs, and opposes Obamacare. As a result, there are stark differences between Allen and his Democratic opponent Tim Kaine.
....
"As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tim Kaine rubber-stamped every government program proposed by the president. There is no reason to think he would break with fellow Democrats if in the senate. Kaine talks bipartisanship but walked in partisan lock-step with Obama. Though Kaine now says he can work in a bipartisan fashion, in the past he referred to Republicans as “corrosive”, the “Donner” party, and the “tea-bag” party. His rhetoric is not that of a statesman."

Finally, we also endorsed Robert Hurt and Scott Rigell.  And, we wrote a post that compiled our recommendations as to why all the other Republican incumbents (Wittman, Forbes, Goodlatte, Cantor, Griffith, and Wolf) should return to Washington, DC.

When it comes to the Virginia constitutional amendments on the ballots, there is no question that the personal property amendment should receive a "yes" vote.  State Sen. Mark Obenshain writes a guest post for us and answers the question of "Why?"

However, regarding question two, what is seemingly a benign privilege granted to the General Assembly to adjust its schedule to set the veto session, there is some disagreement.  While Obenshain supports it, Bearing Drift believes it might be a slippery slope.  We urge you to vote "no".

Listen also to J.R.'s short podcast which explains our endorsements and includes our thoughts on the presidential candidates for the Constitutional Party, Virgil Goode, and Libertarian Party, Gary Johnson.