A Few Choice Words

Apparently, Bill Bolling is a big fan of highway rest-stops. That is, of course, if they are open. When they are closed, like half of the rest-stops in Virginia currently are, Mr. Bolling is not happy. In fact, in an interview last week, Bill Bolling said he can think of “a few choice words” when he encounters a closed highway rest-stop in Virginia.

Transportation being the monolithic issue that it is in this state, the lack of open rest-stops is a legitimate concern. Tourism is down and, if it has any chance of bouncing back, traveling through Virginia must become a more pleasant experience than it currently is. However, given the plethora of hot-button issues surrounding this year’s election, one would think that Bolling’s time would be better spent addressing a more… important issue.

Virginia’s transportation problems are numerous, but, let’s be real. Reopening Virginia’s closed rest-stops is not going to substantially increase tourism, it is not going to solve any larger transportation issues, and it is not really going to help the economy. If he’s going to talk about transportation, why not talk about the 4 billion dollars in transportation bonds McDonnell and Bolling plan on issuing if elected, or the 1% of future state revenue growth (approximately 170 million dollars a year) they plan on devoting entirely to transportation investments?

To that end, why talk about his own stance on issues when he would be equally served by attacking the Democrats’ problems with passing health care legislation, running the economy or handling the war in Afghanistan? Why talk about rest-stops at all?

The reason Bolling is talking about rest-stops is because it’s a perfect opportunity to criticize Virginia’s last two governors, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. If Bolling or McDonnell hope to win this November, they have to reverse the transition in Virginia from red to blue, which has resulted in two, consecutive Democratic governors in the last eight years, not to mention Obama’s victory here in 2008. They must emphasize everything the Democrats have done wrong under the last two administrations, including closing rest-stops.

Kaine was responsible for closing nearly half of the rest-stops along Virginia’s highways. He claimed it was to cut costs, but Bolling sees otherwise. For Bolling, the decision to close rest-stops was a purely political move aimed at highlighting the GOP’s inability to raise funds to fix the transportation system. In fact, it had to have been at least a somewhat politically motivated decision on Kaine’s part. Closing rest-stops may have cut costs, but not substantially. It could not have freed up that much budget space.

By talking about reopening rest-stops, Bolling has managed to make the Democrats look bad while not looking bad himself. This is somewhat of a departure from his recent trend of attacking Jody Wagner’s political record. Why go negative if Bolling doesn’t have too? Of course, for this observer, sitting comfortably on his couch at home, keeping positive seems like an easy thing for Bolling to do.

However, if we put ourselves in his position, traversing the Old Dominion from campaign event to campaign event, pulling up to the only highway rest stop for miles in the middle of the night, looking for a map, perhaps a vending machine or a place to unleash that 64oz Double Gulp of Diet Coke from earlier, it’s easy to see how seeing those chains around the door handles and that big, orange “closed” sign would make anyone mutter a few “choice words” under their breath.

http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/news/politics/article/political_notes_bolling_blasts_rest_stop_closings/44640/