via The Hill.
All three of Virginia’s statewide elected leaders are fighting to save their political lives in the midst of a rapidly evolving series of crises that threatens both their own survival and their party’s electoral chances later this year.
In a state saddled by racial tensions after centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, both Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Attorney General Mark Herring (D) face calls for their resignations after admitting they donned blackface in the 1980s.
Separately, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is black, on Wednesday faced detailed allegations of sexual assault from 2004.
The tempest began with a racist photograph that appeared on Northam’s medical school yearbook page. Northam initially apologized, then denied he was in the photograph, while at the same time acknowledging that he wore blackface to a dance contest for which he dressed up as Michael Jackson.
By Monday, the storm swirled around Fairfax, who denied allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. A Stanford fellow on Wednesday offered a detailed account of an encounter she said was nonconsensual, deepening the controversy for Fairfax.
Also on Wednesday, Herring admitted that, like Northam, he too had worn blackface while in college, when he dressed up as a rapper for a party.
The three Democrats, elected together in 2017, showed little of the unity that marked their ascension to power. Fairfax insinuated that the allegations against him had been Northam’s effort to clear his own name, an accusation Northam’s team firmly denied. Herring found himself in the uncomfortable — and possibly untenable — position of admitting to the same behavior for which he had called on Northam to resign.
Now, as the legislature enters crucial budget negotiations and Democrats prepare for an attack on narrow Republican majorities in the House of Delegates and state Senate in November’s elections, the party appears fractured, leaderless and bereft.
I look at this and marvel. The Dems have really dug themselves a hole with their stances.
Don't get it twisted.
I think the idea of dressing up in blackface is not only stupid but also racist. Full stop.
But I also have to look at the time frame. 20 plus years ago? The guy has apparently lived a life of at least TRYING to be a decent human being? Same with the others in different ways. One other guy did the same, the black face thing and the other is accused of rape while claiming it was consensual?
How can a black man have even an ounce of pause on something like this?
Easy. Cause I know what I was doing in my early 20's and I wouldn't want any of it coming to public light! As far as the rape allegation. Things have whipsawed so far so fast that to be honest I have to wonder if any woman I've ever slept with could pop up and claim it was rape when I thought we were both having a good time.
Long short.
I won't cast stones. I will however sit back, pull out the popcorn and watch these people twist themselves up in knots over what happened long ago.
