Back in the day, we cats sure dragged former Virginia Governor "Transvaginal Bob" McDonnell around, didn't we? Like he was a dead, headless mouse. Today in the Commonwealth, it's several Governors later — but if you're a Republican, just because your name isn't McDonnell doesn't mean you know what you're doing.
We're talking about Glenn Youngkin, of course, who just met an implacable brick wall in the person of Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas. Youngkin had foolishly tried to bypass her in planning to build a hugely expensive sports arena for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Alexandria, just outside DC. The facility, natch, would have been paid for by taxpayers, not by Ted Leonsis, the teams' billionaire owner.
This was a fatal mistake, because Lucas is chair of the upper chamber's Finance and Appropriations Committee. But then, Youngkin is what he is: a mediocre white man who thought he could skate around Lucas and the rest of the Democratically controlled Virginia legislature.
A bitchy Youngkin made an angry appearance today to decry the sundering of his plans, whining that after Lucas stripped the arena language out of a finance bill that the legislature will vote on in a few days, members didn't step up at the last minute to rework the budget. What poppycock. "We can’t negotiate a multibillion dollar deal in eight hours between two chambers, the Governor’s mansion and multiple private parties. It’s nonsense and it’s a press stunt," Majority Leader Scott Surovell blasted back.
(In case you're wondering, that's Senator Lucas standing on the portico of the Virginia capitol, watching Youngkin's press-avail meltdown. She's the one in the black dress, with the dot of elegant gray hair.)
Grousing Glenn may try to revive the arena deal next month, but for now, Lucas has stopped it. Funnily enough, the only person who seemed to understand how formidable she is was Leonsis, who met with her for the first time in Richmond yesterday and called her a badass. "I loved it," she said. "I thanked him." We cats agree, and we PURR.
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