Imagine you are a hardcore liberal Democrat or independent in Virginia. Voting for the buoyant Glenn Youngkin is a non-starter. He’s a Republican, a conservative, and a multi-millionaire who made his fortune as a 25-year executive at the Carlyle Group, a private-equity house. Youngkin served as Carlyle’s co-CEO.
“Vote for a CEO in finance? Not bloody likely!” you might think.
And then there’s Terry McAuliffe. Yes, he’s a Democrat, but Smarmy is his middle name. He spent much of his career as the bag man for the Clinton crime family. He oozes shadiness. And then there’s his goofy dance, which has added a touch of the macabre to his rallies. Who the hell needs that?
“McAuliffe?” you wonder. “He just doesn’t feel right.”
Well, great news! Virginians like you have another option on the Left.
Meet Princess Blanding, the revolutionary choice for governor. Her campaign has raised a modest $34,771 and could use additional donations. Nonetheless, she is on the radar and could influence a tight race.
While an October 28 Fox News poll of 1,015 likely voters found Youngkin at 53 percent and McAuliffe at 45 percent, other research shows this race deadlocked. An October 22 to 23 Emerson College survey of 875 “very likely” voters saw the Democrat and Republican tied at 48 percent each with 1 percent favoring Princess Blanding, the Liberation Party’s far-Left alternative to McAuliffe. When the 3 percent of undecideds expressed their leanings, things tightened further: McAuliffe 49 percent, Youngkin 49 percent, and Blanding 2 percent.
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Princess has been a Virginian since 2004. She is a native of Newburgh, New York, where she was reared by her paternal aunt. She became a self-described “strong-willed piano player,” overcame reading difficulties, and graduated high school a year early. She earned a B.S. in biology at Morgan State University and was the first college graduate in her immediate family. She eventually served Virginians as a middle-school science teacher and a primary- and secondary school administrator.
Princess has been a community activist and a vocal advocate for mental health services and law-enforcement reform after a Richmond police officer killed Marcus-David Peters, her unarmed and undressed brother, during a May 2018 episode of psychological stress. Princess and Marcus worked together at Tappahannock’s Essex High School, she as assistant principal and he as a biology teacher. Princess now lives with her three daughters and describes herself as “a single LGBTQIA+ mother based in the Middle Peninsula with roots in the rural working class.”
Why does she hope to become the Old Dominion’s chief executive?
“As Virginia continues to move forward in building an inclusive Commonwealth, Princess is running for Governor to ensure that liberation is a human right, not a privilege,” her campaign website declares. “Virginians continue to face an array of uncertainties as we navigate through two public health crises: COVID-19 and systemic racism. Now, more than ever, Virginia is in need of progressive, courageous leadership that will put people over profit and politics.”
Princess Blanding is no Joe Manchin. Her surprisingly specific policy positions are Squad, not Sinema. Indeed, the Tidewater Democratic Socialists of America endorsed Princess. Selected recommendations follow, verbatim, from five categories among the nine that she presents online.
Criminal Justice
Community Care, Public Safety, and Protecting Black Lives must be prioritized.
Hold police accountable by immediately ending Qualified Immunity, require that law enforcement officers live in the communities they work in, and ban police unions as they perpetuate a culture of racism and violence.
End racist mass incarceration by identifying and eradicating the laws that create crime rates, such as ending cash bail and the immediate release of individuals with non-violent offenses, including those with drug charges.
Racial Justice
Combat the lasting impacts of segregation and racism by prioritizing equity, inclusion and opportunities for our Black and marginalized communities.
Examine, pursue, and implement Reparations to Black Virginians for the state’s history of violent enslavement in the form of direct payments to Black families in order to aid in economic mobility and further Black generational wealth
Defend our undocumented population by way of strengthening civil liberties and ending cooperation with ICE.
Remove and prohibit all taxpayer-funded statues, racist symbols, and memorials to Confederate leaders.
Environmental Justice
Transition to equitable, sustainable clean energy that slows global warming and protects Virginia’s future.
– Subsidize and transition to sustainable, renewable energy, ban harmful practices such as fracking statewide, dismantle existing fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines, and guarantee the restoration of environmental ecology moving forward
Guarantee that Virginia is a 100% clean energy state by 2050.
Housing
Treat safe, secure, and dignified affordable housing as a universal human right.
Nationalize vacant, corporate-owned, unaffordable units and place them under community control with rent-to-own programming, bolstering homeownership for marginalized communities.
Prevent unethical evictions by providing emergency funds to renters and enacting rent control.
Food Sovereignty
End food insecurities, while increasing community health and self-sufficiency.
Water must be recognized as a civil right, with access and protection to water ensured by the state.
Implement racial equity in agriculture commission.
For non-Virginians and those across the ideological spectrum, Princess’ platform previews what the far Left wants today and will demand tomorrow.
For Virginians who like their liberalism with a kick, McAuliffe might be more Miller Lite than Maker’s Mark. If so, Princess Blanding is the 100-proof, stiff drink that these tough times deserve.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 2. Irony of ironies, Virginia’s Leftists can vote for a Princess.
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