DelawarePolitics.net

 William Voegelli’s “The Golden State isn’t worth it”shatters the illusion that high taxes and spending gives us a better government let alone a better lifestyle.  He compares the results of two states with similiar demographics, Texas and California. It is one of the best columns ever written making the case why lower taxes combined with a focused, limited, and efficient government gives the best outcome. Please read this one if you do not read anything else today.

In America’s federal system, some states, such as California, offer residents a “package deal” that bundles numerous and ambitious public benefits with the high taxes needed to pay for them. Other states, such as Texas, offer packages combining modest benefits and low taxes. These alternatives, of course, define the basic argument between liberals and conservatives over what it means to get the size and scope of government right.

It’s not surprising, then, that there’s an intense debate over which model is more admirable and sustainable. What is surprising is the growing evidence that the low-benefit/low-tax package not only succeeds on its own terms but also according to the criteria used to defend its opposite. In other words, the superior public goods that supposedly justify the high taxes just aren’t being delivered.

This is why independents are turning away from their brief flirtation with big government. You don’t get your money’s worth. U. S. News calls it Independents moving to the right.

McDonnell is the perfect model for forging a coalition with this message.  He is a full spectrum conservative. He never once backed down from attacks on his pro-life, pro-family positions except for a twenty year old paper’s contention on working women which is not part of anyone’s platform. I read the local papers and he is definitely not downplaying social issues as some people are now trying to contend for their own agenda. What is true is that he did not make them the center piece of his campaign. Why not? Former Kent County Chairman John Davis once said candidates need to remember it is not about them. You need to find the people’s concern and find solutions to those concerns. That is what McDonnell did. He stayed on a message that mattered to the majority of voters while not alienating the base. He did not let the Washington Post distract him like Allen did. He kept pounding on education, transportation, and the economy with detailed plans not just sound bites. Even people who did not like him admit that he made the case why he should be governor. The majority of voters including 36% of Deeds voters did not even think the opponent did.

McDonnell blasted tax hikes and runaway spending. He offered in its place a better vision of intelligently designed plans to address transportion concerns, tax cuts designed to grow the economy, and ways to improve the education infrastructure. You can’t spend your way to prosperity, but you can intelligently invest for it. That is the message to attract voters of all stripes.