Bill Bolling stands his ground

Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling addressed the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, sharing the jobs record of Governor Bob McDonnell and, in the process, standing his ground about current Republican politics in the Old Dominion.

For some, political tolerance comes with experience, and the LG has plenty of both. Standing by his belief that extremes on both ends of the political spectrum are not good for Virginians, he commented to those attending the meeting, as reported by Virginia Watchdog:

“I learned a long time ago in government that governing has to be about more than breaking the dishes,” said the two-term lieutenant governor who has served under both a Democrat and a Republican governor. “It has to be about solving problems and getting things done. And to do that, sometimes you have to compromise.”
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“I think our party is a party in search of an identity,” Bolling told Watchdog.org. “It all starts with the kind of candidates we nominate and the kind of campaigns we run.

“Clearly the (Virginia GOP) is prettily solidly controlled by tea party groups and the Ron Paul folks. The result of that has been the party has been pulled further to the right and that makes it more difficult to connect with moderate and independent voters you need to win elections in Virginia and it makes it more difficult to govern once you get elected.”

Perhaps with a nod toward his recently organized Virginia Mainstream Project PAC, Bolling added:

“The solutions to the challenges facing our state will not be found in the extremes,” Bolling said. They won’t be found on the right extreme, and they won’t be found on the left extreme. The answers to the challenges facing Virginia will be found in the mainstream.”