Don’t be Fooled by Spanberger
Every election season, there’s always that one Democrat who insists they are a “moderate,” that they’ve built a “bipartisan record,” and that they represent the commonsense middle. This year in Virginia, that candidate is Abigail Spanberger. She wants Virginians to believe she’s cut from the cloth of Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy — pragmatic Democrats who respected American strength and understood that the role of government was to empower, not smother, the people.
But the façade of moderation begins to collapse the moment you look past Spanberger’s carefully crafted talking points. The clearest test of any so-called moderate is whether they can stand up to the radicals in their own party. And so far, Spanberger has failed that test.
The Mamdani Connection
In New York City, Democratic candidate for mayor Zohran Mamdani has proudly proclaimed himself a socialist — though “socialist” hardly captures the scope of his agenda. Mamdani wants government to run virtually everything. He pushes defunding the police, seizing wealth from citizens, and redistributing power to unelected bureaucrats who see capitalism itself as a crime.
If Spanberger were truly the bipartisan moderate she claims to be, she would have loudly denounced Mamdani’s dangerous, out-of-the-closet communist platform. Instead, she’s been silent. Not one word condemning a fellow Democrat who wants to dismantle the free-enterprise system, undermine public safety, and confiscate wealth.
Why the silence? Because in her heart, Spanberger knows she and Mamdani share more than she’d like voters to see. She may dress it up in Virginia-friendly rhetoric, but the ideological roots are the same.
Spanberger’s Record in Washington
Let’s look at the Congressional record. Spanberger often touts her independence and her willingness to “work across the aisle.” But the data tell a different story.
When President Trump was in office, bipartisan legislation was constantly moving through Congress — bills on veterans’ health, opioid treatment, military funding, small-business relief, and more. Real moderates — even Democrats from swing districts — often joined Republicans to pass measures that put country above party.
Spanberger, however, sided with the left far more often than she wants Virginians to remember. In 2017 and 2018, according to the Congressional record, she opposed Trump’s agenda at nearly every turn. The few times she did vote in alignment — largely on noncontroversial matters like naming post offices or issuing ceremonial resolutions — she was careful never to break with party leadership on the defining fights of the day. When it came to securing the border, cutting taxes to unleash the economy, or standing by our police officers, Spanberger was absent.
Her claim of being a bipartisan moderate crumbles when confronted with her actual voting record. The truth is that Spanberger rarely supported President Trump’s initiatives and consistently stood with the Democratic leadership, even as they pursued impeachment, stonewalled border security, and attacked American energy independence.
The Moderate Test
Here’s the test: Moderates condemn radicals, even in their own party. Moderates vote for bipartisan solutions that strengthen the country, even when it risks angering their leadership. Moderates put principle before political calculation.
Spanberger has failed on every count. She has yet to repudiate Mamdani’s radical socialism. She has yet to embrace Trump-era reforms that demonstrably worked, from lowering taxes to securing America’s borders. And she has yet to show that her bipartisan branding is anything more than a campaign costume.
Virginians deserve to know the truth. Abigail Spanberger wants to govern like a moderate in Richmond while quietly empowering the radicals in Washington and New York. And until she denounces Zohran Mamdani’s dangerous vision, she cannot honestly claim to be anything but his ideological ally.
Virginia has a choice this election: embrace the rhetoric of moderation while ushering in radicalism through the back door, or demand leaders who actually believe in freedom, safety, and prosperity. The choice is clear.
Alex Luther is a contributor for Direct Line News and can be reached at Alex.Luther@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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