This week we asked the two candidates for the 30th District state Senate seat to write a sub-750 word essay on why the district’s residents should vote for them on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Here is the unedited response from Timothy McGhee (R):
The People of Northern Virginia, and the 30th Senate District in particular, have a story yet to be told.
It’s a story of a People filled with history and of generations who follow those who founded a nation and those who have helped put it back together.
It’s a story of parents who love each other and simply hang out with, sing with, and love on their kids; and blessing a candidate for office with a reminder that such is common today.
It’s a story of a community that came together for the love of a game and still passes on stories of victory to a rising generation.
It’s a story of refugees who escaped their homeland running to the arms of people who represented little more than an end to oppression and a glimpse of freedom.
It’s a story of the family of former enemy combatants who went on to lead America to a pinnacle of world leadership.
It’s a story of families who love each other with little and who love each other with much.
Looking back on each of our stories so far, we can easily see that our stories are very different from one another. We all have our own needs and interests, and unless we look beyond those, we can end up pulling each other apart.
The essence of leadership is looking out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. When we talk to one another and view our lives as a People through the lens of fundamental principles, we find that we are not as divided as we may have heard. It really is possible to thread the needle on even the most difficult of differences.
The fundamentals are more important than ever during challenging times. In fact, it is by adhering to the fundamentals and correcting injustices we find that we can lay a healthy foundation for the next economy and for raising up the next generation.
As George Mason wrote in concluding the Virginia Declaration of Rights, “no free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people” without “frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
We were all uniquely created for a purpose and have value for one another. Life really is about more than just having a job; it’s about having a purpose. Freedom is about creating an environment in which people are free to find and live those purposes. Justice is about living up to our promises to those who have embraced our ideals of freedom. We are a People who seek justice and love mercy.
This campaign is based entirely on making one single solitary promise of standing on the foundation of freedom that gave this country the opportunity to rise to its position of leadership: upholding the Constitutions of the United States and of Virginia, now as revised in 1971.
It is only in making one promise that a senator is then answerable exclusively to the People. Answering only to the People requires a willingness to ask questions, even when you don’t know the answers. Sometimes there are no answers other than to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
We look to our leaders for a sense of purpose, compassion, encouragement, humor and humility. This is the kind of life I seek to live, and the kind of senator I hope to be. I humbly ask for the great honor it would be to have your support. Thank you.
Related Posts
- Candidate Essay: Mary Hynes November 1, 2011
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- Candidate Essay: Theo Stamos
- Candidate Essay: Rob Krupicka August 19, 2011
Sorry – I couldn’t get past the first couple of paragraphs – the ones that all began with ‘It’s a story’. After that, I kept trying to read and sing and force fit the words to the theme from the Brady Bunch. It didn’t flow nearly as well and was much less entertaining. He would at least have received points if he rhymed.
@madisonmanor,
I can’t get the theme song out of my head!!!!!!
It’s also a story of small-minded religious homophobes that will never get elected.
OMG he doesn’t think exactly lik eyou do! His opinions sh ouldn’t be allowed! HE BELONGS BEHIND BARS FOR NOT SHARING OUR VIEWS! WE ARE TOLERANT LIBERALS! EVERY OTHER VIEW SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!
I AM SO TOLERANT!
Tim is that you?
off your meds again?
Can’t you come up with anything better than this, guys?
Conservative says something stupid.
Liberal criticizes it.
Conservative comes along and throws out a goofy strawman about how liberals are supposed to be “tolerant” and therefore can’t criticize anyone about anything, ever. And that to criticize someone’s views is to want to silence them.
Idiocy.
“Sometimes there are no answers other than to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.”
senator doesnt sound like such a tough job
It’s a story of a sham candidate who seriously believes that half of his constituency is probably going to burn in hell. Unless he can save them! By telling them the Glorious Magical story of Jeebus!
I think I just threw up in my brain.
The People! The random and OverCapitalization of aMerica has BeGun!
It’s a story….it’s a story….it’s a story….it’s a story……
It’s a story of an independent voter alienated from both political parties looks to stay that way given what both parties seem to bring to the table.
You’ve got my vote, Bluemont!
Hey Raven,
Thanks! I have to vote for somebody. This guy will get his clocked cleaned by Ebbin without Ebbin breaking a sweat. Time to figure out who I can write in.
Tebow?
Garfield, Snoopy, my neighbor’s Golden Retriever, Calvin and Hobbs…. doesn’t matter, the Dem will win, they always do around here.
Bluemont’s not in the 30th.
Didja vote in the primary?
It’s a story of a candidate without a single solitary thing on his resume. Sorry, wee Timmy, winning the “Timothy Award” for memorizing the most bible verses probably isn’t gonna qualify you to be a member of the Virginia state legislature.
This is deeply weird.
Indeed. Really, really amazing that this made it out of his campaign offices.
“His campaign offices” … you mean his squalid little prayer closet?
It’s nearly a masterpiece. Maybe add a few more “It’s a stories” along the lines of “It’s a story of the family of former enemy combatants who went on to lead America to a pinnacle of world leadership” and it would be epic.
At some point in his life, I’m sure Tim was told to “be in the world, but not of the world.”
Based on this essay, he’s got the second half covered.
Did anyone else think he was about to “come out?”
I mean, he’s got a “story…”
ROFL, Kev! This is the best the local GOP can come up with to run against Ebbin?!?!?! The Dems will laugh so hard they’ll pop a blood vessel. He is easier meat for them than a D3A would be for an F6F!
Well, in fairness, the Japanese pilots weren’t exactly well-trained by that point. “You’ve got five hours experience? Heck, you’re leading the next attack!”
But yes, it was an awesome plane.
It sure was, speonjosh. A couple of other favorites of mine are the Spitfire and the P-38.
A picture is worth a thousand…stories?
That is too funny, Chad!
That’s defamatory.
I think it’s obviously in jest. If he had posted something asserting some factual knowledge, then that would be libelous. But making fun of public figures is fair game. (This guy is borderline but probably a public figure at this point.)
How?
Only if you think there’s something wrong with being gay. Personally, I think Tim looks FABULOUS. You go, Tim! Rawr.
Huh?
Wow. I almost feel sorry for McGhee and his deluded self. Almost.
Dude, stay away from my kids!
Hilarious!
He seems very earnest, but I have no idea where he stands on any issues relevant to me or the district he wants to represent.
He does seem to have definite views on one particular topic:
http://www.arlnow.com/2011/10/20/candidate-defends-remarks-about-gays-and-god/
Schrute, Schrute, Schrute!!!
He is not a Schrute. A Schrute knows better than to wear such a brighly colored shirt, which is useless as camouflage in any environment, whether woodland, desert, or arctic. Nor would a Schrute wear any tie but a breakaway tie (known to the weak masses as a “clip on”), the sole type of neckwear that in close-quarters combat cannot be used against oneself as a noose. A Schrute’s eyeglasses have lenses sufficiently large enough to ignite tinder via the rays of the sun. And finally, a Schrute does not smile at cameras, as a smile indicates either weakness or a desire to please.
Check and mate.
This is a story about a girl named Lucky…
She’s so lucky, she’s a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there’s nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night
If for nothing else, he is a uniter. This is the first time I’ve seen both the left and the right factions on the arlnow comments come together; everyone seems to agree on just how terrible a candidate he is.
Can we take bets on just how great the magnitude of Ebbin’s landslide victory will be?
Ebbin will clean McGhee’s by at least 85% of the vote.
Probably not 85% of the vote.
Most voters won’t know McGhee by election day, or whatever it is he stands for–he’d need to have some campaign cash to pay for some mailers. He’ll get whatever a generic Republican would get.
Ebbin is not as well known as Ticer and he’ll get less than she would.
Timothy McGhee: Never gonna give you up… Never gonna let you down…
Never gonna run around and desert you…
Your Rick rolled him!
Never trust a man…
Who is one letter away from Timothy McVeigh and might have the same sanity level.
It’s so creepy and weird… singing and loving on kids??
Enemy Combatants???
So who you voting for, Kev?
This might be even more awkward than the Herman Cain TV ad – it’s a close call.
I wonder what Gibbs, Ziva and DiNozzo think about this…
I get the reference…. but how does that apply here?
Tim McGee is the name of the other team member on the show.
Ahh, very good. Carry on then.
What a rambling, unfocused attempt at soaring rhetoric–which isn’t what was even called for. This tells us absolutely nothing about the candidate, his views on specific issues, or his plans once in office.
And yeah–”family of former enemy combatants who went on to lead America”? Who exactly does he mean?
Positively baffling.
For some reason it seems like ARLnow attracts bullies who like to go off on people under the protection of their usernames. Maybe it’s acceptable for a teenager to deface someone’s picture, but adults, really? Tim seems a very sincere man with a good heart who really wants to serve the District and the state, even if you disagree with his views.
a good heart, huh? http://www.arlnow.com/2011/10/20/candidate-defends-remarks-about-gays-and-god/
This isn’t bullying. Running for public office means subjecting yourself to public opinion, especially if you put something like this out on the interwebs. If he was just some moron the “bullying” would certainly be uncalled for. But he’s a moron who wants us to give him the power to represent us. That makes it an entirely different “story”.
Lampooning public officials, or candidates for public office, has been around for thousands of years. It’s a legitimate part of public discourse. These are not private citizens being mocked. Think Augustus wasn’t mocked openly in the Forum?
Lighten up.
Agreed. I find it curious that the people who have a problem with McGhee’s “narrow-minded” views have no problem celebrating their own myopia in an anonymous forum. Yes, this is a very strange and somewhat disconcerting candidate statement that reveals absolutely nothing about his experience or his specific views on issues that are important to constituents, but opponents can state their specific disagreements without hurling invectives. The hypocrisy here is thick.
WAAAAAM WAAAAAM (Police siren, w/e I don’t know how to type it)
LOL, Chad!
Clarendonneighbor: Just because “Tim seems a very sincere man with a good heart who really wants to serve the District and the state,” doesn’t mean he should get a pass for his lack of qualifications, lack of substance, and bigoted views.
…that’s JUST IT though. I do not think that he REALLY DOES want to serve the district and the state. He isn’t even qualified to do so.
He just saw a race that no sane Republican would enter because they won’t win, so he put on his best K-Mart suit and entered it himself. FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE of gaining a platform from which to preach the gospel of jesus christ. It’s a cheap ploy and no one is fooled.
tl;dr
Just curious, I am registered as a Republican in Arlington but I was told that I can’t vote for a Democract. Is this true? Or is that just for the primaries?
Just the primaries. If you’re registered with one party you can only vote in that party’s primary. As an “independent”, I usually enjoy voting for the most absurd candidate in one party’s primary before voting for my ideal candidate (i.e., whoever’s usually not from said party) in the election. You know, just for kicks.
There is no party registration in Virginia.
Correct – only time you have to show a preference is during a primary and have to ask for a particular party’s ballot.
Guys, there is no registration by party in Virginia. Everyone is an “independent.”
Sounds like a disenfranchisement tactic from the Republicans. It’s absolutely false, you can vote for whomever you wish.
shh don’t tell her!!!
Michelle, if you couldn’t vote for the candidate of your choice, it wouldn’t really be voting, would it?
Who told you that?
This has got to be a coded message to someone. Any cryptographers in the house? Does anyone else hear airplanes?
Well, that the BEST non-answer I ever heard..
So, lets see….I will feel in the blanks according to the
noise in my head…
WOW.
Vote with confidence…? yeah!
“I will feel in the blanks”. Please, please, please don’t vote – even if you are old enough, which leaves us with a HUGE leap of faith – more than Tim’s. You didn’t even get the lone vowel correct. ‘FILL’ IN THE BLANKS.
(FREDTERP RULES)
Sorry, I misspelled a word….thinking to fast about what I
wanted to say…..
Please, please kiss my a–
who are you, the spelling nanny?
Get a life, big jerk
Intoning the voice of Bud Collyer: “OK panelists, you’ve heard from our contestants. Now it’s time to tell the truth. Will the REAL gay candidate please stand up.”