End of the day NORTHAM. From a Virginian*

[underpants]

A. He should resign
B. He's telling the truth. I do not think there's a dishonest bone in his body. He is as advertised (by all accounts that I've heard) a product of Virginia and a representation of it. An old country doctor.
C. He should resign
D. That was the most elicite example of being a Virginian I've ever seen. Having observed these people (all 6 parts of the Commonwealth) there is this thing in their manner of speaking - it's a slight draw back of air into the back of the top of the throat ...and then they speak. An uneasy calm. Demure in a way. Never forceful no no no, there are rules. The media isn't used to this - the cynicism and snark (which I usually enjoy) thinks he's supposed to play on a grand stage....for them.
E. He should resign.
F. All of the above.

I'm going to work on Monday and if his picture is on the wall, he's my boss. If it's someone else, then they are my boss.

All 42 minutes are here

*not by birth. Son of Ohio.

[williesgirl]

1. This Virginian agrees he should resign.

[Lithos]

2. Not a Virginian

However...

He had a chance to become transparent and apologize. He should have preferably done this pro-actively, but at least honestly when it mattered most.

He failed both tests - he should resign.

[happybird]

3. Another Virginian agrees he should resign

40 years in NOVA, born and raised, but forced to flee to the hills of West by Gawd a couple years ago.

And yeah, this whole thing is one of the most Virginian things I have ever seen play out a national stage.

[The River]

4. Ex Pat Virginian

Lived in both NOVA and rural areas around Charlottesville for 50 years. I left the state in 2013 because of political /social issues.
Yes it was "Virginia normal" and it lasted beyond the 80's. It still exists in many rural areas. It's just gone underground in public.
I'm beyond tired of all the hateful condemnations and over the top indignation regarding a 35 year old "crime" of being a social idiot.

[padah513]

5. Didn't he have his Lt. Gov airbrushed out of some union photos?

That took thought and planning. The black-face incident, or rather both of them, were 35 year old crimes yes, but he remains a socially ignorant idiot to this day. He should resign.

[bitterross]

8. They were NOT running mates. It's not like the presidential campaign.

It isn't exactly surprising a politician's campaign would edit out the mention of any other person than the candidate in campaign materials.

The governor and Lt. Governor are elected separately in VA. NOT by running on the same ticket. They don't run together on the same ticket and on the same ballot voting space. It is two different votes.

So it is not racist that the candidate for governor focuses on himself to the exclusion of all others. It is normal campaigning.

[happybird]

12. No

The flyers were printed up for a group (a union group, iirc) that endorsed Northam but not Fairfax for Lt. Gov. Like said above, we vote for Gov. and Lt. Gov separately in VA.

I despise this term, but the flyer thing is a Nothing Burger being used by people trying to pile on Northam.

[bitterross]

7. Thank you.

I lived in TN during the time of this whole picture thing and I cannot convince people who didn't live in that space and time that this was quite normal and no one was objecting. Which is really annoying since I lived in that place and time and so many people who did not just won't believe me. Sure, it was wrong, racist and demeaning. I don't deny that. It's not like it's a big stretch of the imagination to believe that a region in the South was racist and demeaning. It's still the case in many places in the South. I know this because I visit my home town from time to time.

I'm not lying about how things were where I grew up and were probably the same where he grew up a few years earlier than me.

What I struggle with is people are judging a person by today's standards when that person was living in a completely different time and place.

When no one in that person's community was standing up and saying "this is wrong" then how, exactly was he supposed to rise above it? There was no internet. CNN was only 5 years old and was not ubiquitous. How was he supposed to know?

As I posted elsewhere, the wearing of blackface in the community I grew up in (a few years LATER than Northam) was not a big deal at all. By my community standards at the time, it was not offensive. YES, those community standards were wrong. I don't dispute that at all. But don't hold me individually responsible for that. That isn't fair.

[Lars39]

9. I've lived in TN most of my life,

and during the same time frame. Black face was not the norm at all. You must have lived where the Klan ruled.

[happybird]

13. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt

for the reasons you mentioned. I graduated hs nearly a decade after 1984 and saw young men in blackface at Halloween parties quite a few times over the years. Some were racist douchebags, but the rest were just dumbasses making a dumbass decision.

I'm thinking many of the knee-jerk reactions were coming from people under 40 and those over 40 who didn't live in the south in the 80's. It wasn't anywhere near as enlightened as non-southerners like to think. That's a hard, ugly truth.

Northam's backtracking on his story yesterday is what changed my mind.
He needs to resign.

[bitterross]

6. So, if the pic really isn't him? Then what?

Lots of typing has been done by others and by me. I've been against him resigning over what was a stupid college kid act 35 years ago. I've looked at his recent record to see how his actions live up to Democratic principles and found that he votes for them 99% of the time.

https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/90253/ralph-northam#.XFXQk817mUk

I feel that we are doing another hit job for the Republican party, in the same manner as the hit job that took down Franken.

So, if no one can prove these are pics of him - then what?

Frankly, I'm tired of us eating our own. Of us assuming that every accusation of a person is true. Of us throwing good people under the bus in order to be able to say "See, we are different from the GOP." Yeps, we're different alright. Not always in the best ways.

[whopis01]

10. Then he shouldn't have said he appeared in that picture.

Someone may dress in blackface or klan robes and then forget about it. I would believe that. It may have been a joke that meant nothing to them, or some other inconsequential thing in their mind.

If someone never dressed in blackface or klan robes, there is no way that they would look at a picture and think maybe they did that one time and forgot about it. There is no way that their first reaction would be to apologize for it if they had never done such a thing.

He claimed it was himself in the photo and apologized about it. Then changed his story. That makes zero sense.

[whopis01]

11. I am sick of Democrats eating their own as well.

I am sick of being told that I shouldn't be upset by having a Governor who dressed in blackface or klan robes during his final year in medical school immediately before going into the Army as an officer.

I am sick of being told that this man has voted to benefit me for a long time, so I should ignore his incredibly offensive past.

I am sick of white Democratic politicians assuming that they are going to have my vote no matter what.


And you want to know the worst part about it? Am I ever going to not vote for the Democratic candidate? No. I know that even a Democrat who dressed in blackface or klan robes 35 years ago is better than a Republican. And the candidates and politicians know this as well. They know that they can keep treating me as a second class citizen and still get my vote. And I am sick of that.