A legislative scorecard from a conservative outfit calling itself the Institute for Legislative Analysis paints a picture of Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as … a moderate?
“The analysis found Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s legislative record (bill signage and vetoes) fell almost directly down the political center with a moderate 48.98% rating,” the ILA, whose leaders served together for nearly a decade at CPAC and the American Conservative Union, reported in a press release issued on Thursday.
I can’t tell if these Institute folks are trying to whitewash Youngkin’s record ahead of the 2023 legislative elections to make him look more appealing to middle-of-the-road Virginia voters, or if they’re trying to sandbag him if he ends up deciding to run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Could be both.
The release notes that the ILA analysis found that Youngkin “generally took more conservative stances on issues relating to crime, healthcare, and protecting individual liberties, while leaning more to the left when it came to tax and fiscal, environmental, and regulatory policy.”
One of the “leaning more to the left” demerits from ILA came because Youngkin signed legislation that sets new minimum staffing levels for nursing homes.
This, per the ILA scorecard, hikes nursing home costs by imposing a new government mandate.
Hey, it’s their scorecard.
“Unfortunately, the rhetoric of politicians at election time often doesn’t match up with their real actions at voting time,” ILA CEO Ryan McGowan said in the release. “We are excited to provide this new resource to help voters – regardless of their political belief – cut through the rhetoric and make informed decisions at the ballot box.”
If I had to guess, these folks want Republicans to win majorities in the House and Senate in two weeks, but they don’t want Youngkin to challenge Donald Trump for the presidential nomination, or at the least, have any chance of success there.
It’s just a guess.
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Chris Graham
