ANALYSIS: House 65 Debate Pits Ideas against Good Intentions
Josh Cole outdebated Sean Steinway Thursday night - it wasn't Cole's soaring oratory that made the difference.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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Before Donald Trump took over the Republican Party, the GOP had rightly earned the reputation as being the “party of ideas.” The list of leaders who came of age between Ronald Reagan and John McCain is lengthy, and includes intellectual acolytes such as Rick Hess at the American Enterprise Institute, Bill Kristol who started the Weekly Standard and later cofounded The Bulwark, New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Brian Fitzpatrick currently representing Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives to name just a few.
The party’s ability to develop and run on strong policy ideas largely explains their remarkable run of success since the 1980s at every level of government.
Since Trump’s ascendance, however, national Republicans have largely tossed ideas for ideology. Democrats, however, have failed to fill the void with leaders and thinkers who can construct the ideas and build the policies necessary to lead the party out of the proverbial Wilderness where they’ve been wandering for a decade now.
In Dodd Auditorium on the campus of the University of Mary Washington Thursday night, however, it was the Democrat on the debate stage — Joshua Cole — with the ideas, and his Republican opponent — Sean Steinway — struggling to respond with meaningful policy.
Ideas Bested Good Intentions
Steinway never really found his footing Thursday, stumbling early and often in the debate.
In the second question of the evening, the candidates were asked what bill they would introduce first in the General Assembly should they win.
Rather than providing a direct answer, Steinway leaned into promises and good intentions. “Like I said I’m not an expert on policy,” he began, “but what I do say … is that I will put Virginians first … and I will listen to every single one of them…. I do not have a first bill I will introduce, but I will listen to my constituents to see what is important to them.”
It’s a line of response that Steinway would lean into repeatedly throughout the evening — talking about service in general, while offering few policy specifics and occasionally attacking Cole’s record rather than articulating his own particular solutions.
Asked, for example, about what Virginia can do to support people and businesses affected by the federal shutdown, Steinway talked about the “need to create more jobs in Virginia to help out our people” and “work on making our Virginia more affordable.”
Asked what measures he’d support to improve academic performance following years of state decline in the wake of COVID, Steinway talked about parents who “have been pushed out of the conversation. Classrooms [that] have become more political than education.” He then accused Cole of opposing parental involvement and supporting taking School Resource Officers out of schools.
Asked about addressing affordable housing, Steinway said we “need to lower taxes,” then said “we need to create more programs that will benefit our families” before again stating that “taxes are way too high” and our property taxes are “out of control.”
Asked about addressing the difficulty people have finding a primary care doctor, Steinway said “all this health care is politicized…. We need to put our Virginia people first and seek the needs they have to achieve affordable healthcare.”
Cole, by contrast, stayed on task throughout the evening, regularly citing particular policies that he has passed or supported in the General Assembly.
On what bill he would pass first, Cole referenced one that was passed in the General Assembly last year that “would allow first-time homebuyers to access $10,000 toward their first home.” Noting that the governor vetoed that bill, he said “I’m looking forward to returning the next session to introduce that piece of legislation again under a new governor.”
On measures to reverse learning loss, Cole touched on moving away from teaching to tests before indirectly addressing Steinway’s argument that parents have been cut out of their children’s education. In what was perhaps his best line of the night, Cole said: “You cannot have education without educators, and you cannot have education without families and parents, and so there has to be a bridge that’s built back to pulling this situation back together.”
On affordable housing, Cole talked about legislation he introduced last year that would end the practice of rental companies demanding the equivalent of three times the first month’s rent to get into an apartment. Instead, renters would need only the security deposit and the first month’s rent and a good credit score.
That pattern held throughout the evening, whether the topic was same-sex marriage and voting rights restoration for people with felony convictions, gun laws, data centers, energy, or the government shutdown.
Becoming a Politician
Few would doubt that Josh Cole is one of the more skilled orators in the region, if not in the state. Even long-serving, highly skilled politicians recognize that on the debate stage Cole is a formidable foe.
But on this night, Sean Steinway struggled not because of Cole’s oratory abilities, but rather because of his own lack of policy positions.
As a relatively new figure to politics and the debate stage, one expects a novice to not have the well of policy knowledge to draw on that a more-experienced politician like Cole has at his disposal.
As Steinway said early on, I’m “not an expert in policy, but I am an expert in life.”
And at times, he allowed that expertise to show through. As when asked about his stance on abortion, he told about learning he would be a father at 19 just out of basic training and the decision he faced with his girlfriend of whether to have the child.
Their decision to have the child, and the pride with which he spoke of his son and the joy he brings him, was one of his better moments in the evening.
He could have built upon that, however, to discuss ways that government can assist families who find themselves in that position and be able to keep and raise their child.
It’s not a clear pro-life policy position, but it is a framework for thinking about a pro-life policy that both resonates with people and can lead into a deeper policy discussion.
At another point when discussing violent crime, he talked about early release criminals, their recidivism rate, and the number of murders they committed.
Again, not a bold policy statement, but it shows a grasp of the issue and provides a framework to build a policy around.
Should Steinway win this election, he should become more skilled at using his own life experience to begin to build on public policy. Much as House member Phil Scott (R) has done in using his family’s experience with Medicare to become an effective legislator on this issue in the House.
Should Cole win, Steinway should learn from this experience and be better prepared for his next run.
Becoming a politician — contrary to the popular stigma — is not a bad thing.
Good politicians stand out for their ideas and thoughtful policies, not ideology. And it’s ideas and policy that will eventually carry the day.
Last night in Dodd Auditorium, for one of the few times in a while, it was the Democrat displaying the ideas.
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