Probable challenge to 7th District Republican Delegate

Will retired Radford University professor Barbara Chrisley challenge incumbent Dave Nutter (R) for his 7th District Delegate's seat? --- Do Carmen Diaz and Drew Barrymore poo in the woods?

Salt Lick has been so busy with taters and the pumphouse that he plumb missed former (?) Republican Barbara Chrisley's letter in the New River Valley Current announcing her new political "alignment." Shucks, and here I thought that was something you did with your car.

Ms. Chrisley's letter followed a recent Roanoke Times article noting, "Barbara Chrisley, who ran an unsuccessful Republican campaign against Keister in 1999, said Thursday that she is seriously considering switching parties and challenging Nutter this year."

A week later came Ms. Chrisley's letter, dated May 1, 2005, parts of which appear below.

I ran for the House of Delegates in 1999 because I hoped to make a difference in the lives of my friends and neighbors here in the New River Valley. Much has changed in six years, but many things have stayed the same...

I've always told Granny that this is the kind of wisdom we need in the House of Delegates.

I have since lost my parents...and I have seen firsthand the benefits of Medicare for average folks without considerable savings who struggle to pay their medical bills.

Hmm. Losing parents is sad. Salt Lick knows. But how long have retired university professors been just "average folks," like the "folks" that work at Walmart or Kroger's, or the Radford Army Arsenal, or Radio Shack. I mean, people who work on staff at a major university may be "just folks," but professors? Professors study folks. Maybe that's what she means. She better study hard. Most professors who've retired on a top-notch Virginia Retirement System pension do have "considerable savings."

But let's return to change.

I have seen things in the political arena change. The Republican Party continues to stake our future on lower taxes, resulting in decreased services. The promise is the economy will always be rosy in order to take care of expansion of the unfunded mandates from Washington. Legislative concerns seem to concentrate on social issues at the cost of education, economic development, safety and health care -- things that are important to me.

I haven't heard anyone promise the economy will always be rosy. What I have heard, and think American economic history in my lifetime has proven, and which it did indeed prove after the Virginia Legislature raised taxes, is that when possible the private sector is always to be preferred over the government sector for "growing" the economy.

"Decreased services?" Would someone tell me what services I'm not getting now because Republicans have "staked our future on lower taxes?" Personally, I'm happy to be allowed to keep as much of my own money as possible.

As for social issues, these were pretty important to Ms. Chrisley in 1999. Check the Roanoke Times' archives for her opinions. In fact, Ms. Chrisley's campaign foundered on a "social issue" -- the right of parents to be notified when their underage daughter sought an abortion. Chrisley steadfastly stood behind her campaign manager's assertion that her opponent Benny Keister opposed parental notification. This lost her the Roanoke Times' endorsement and subsequently the race when the assertion turned out to be untrue.

But that was then. This is now.

What has not changed is my passion for serving my community and my desire to make our area a better place to live and do business. [Governor] Warner has offered moderate solutions to the commonwealth's problems that I am comfortable with. I believe an alignment with the Democratic Party will help accomplish important issues with education, health care, safety and transportation. The fiscally conservative solutions offered by the Democratic Party and Warner fit me better than a party focused on invading our privacy and passing a car tax that has benefited mostly Northern Virginia.

God has blessed me with a wonderful life, family and a desire to help others, and I look forward to doing just that.

Fiscally conservative Democrats, greedy North Virginians, purient Republicans, and God.

It's going to be a doozy. Hang onto your wallets.