Information Alert: Wash Post says TFF "loser"

Victoria Cobb, President
Monday, November 12, 2007

The analysis of last week's elections is in full swing, and the Washington Post has listed The Family Foundation as one of the "losers" after the state Senate changed hands.

On its political blog, the Post said the following:

"With the retirement of Sen. H. Russell Potts (R-Winchester) and several other moderates, the Family Foundation's leaders were hopeful that more of the agenda of social conservatives would make it out of the Senate next year. But with an incoming Democratic majority, they will likely find it's going to be just as hard as ever to get legislation out of the Education and Health Committee."

Of course, the reality is that the Post is correct in saying that it is going to be very difficult for The Family Foundation to find success with our agenda with a very hostile Democratic Party in control. That said, over the past several years Republican leaders in the Senate made sure that our reasonable agenda died. So essentially, not much has changed.

The question is where do we go from here? As I contemplate the upcoming session, I can't help but think of the days when Family Foundation founder Walt Barbee and others were just starting out. In those days, they faced a General Assembly where there were only a handful of conservatives, and no hope existed that any bills would pass. They knew it would be years, if ever, before they saw success.

But I know this: they never gave up. Regardless of how bad it looked back then, they had hope that over time, the people of Virginia would begin to elect pro-family legislators, and success would follow. And it did. Their faithfulness serves as a model for all of us today.

Now we must display the same faithfulness that Walt and the others showed nearly two decades ago. But I don't think it will take very long at all before the people of Virginia realize how far outside the mainstream of Virginia the new leaders of the state Senate really are. They will quickly learn that Dick Saslaw and gang are farther to the left than our current Congress (and its single digit approval ratings).

In the meantime, we continue the battle. The Family Foundation will bring its agenda to the 2008 General Assembly, and we will put every legislator on record. Will we win? I don't know. Will the Post's label of "loser" be accurate? Maybe.

But two things I don't think the Post ever considers: the power of prayer, and the tenacity of pro-family voters. I suspect that it won't be to long before the Post eats its words.