As Virginia’s odd-year statewide election approaches its climax, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds has unleashed a frenzy of promises to spend money on just about everything and everyone he can think of.  On Saturday Deeds campaigned in Southwest Virginia at an appropriately rain-drench rally sponsored by the United Mine Workers union, which last year supported the Obama-Biden ticket despite the national Democratic Party resolve to kill the coal industry.  Dumb, but — if possible — getting dumber.

UMWA support for Deeds is motivated by two issues: nationalized health care and redistribution of wealth.  According to UMWA President Cecil Roberts, “Everybody is entitled to health care because it is a necessity.”  Sure thing, Cecil, and it remember how it worked so well for the Federal government to compel lenders provide everyone with a mortgage because shelter is a necessity. The entitlement mentality couldn’t be stated more concisely.

But it gets worse.  UMWA Secretary-Treasurer Dan Kane condemned the unequal distribution of wealth in America, declaring that the path to a “true and just country” is to “take from the upper one per cent that portion of the wealth they’ve been stealing for the past 35 years and return it to the workers.” You read that right: stealing. “Stolen” wealth must be returned to the workers, the rightful owners of those ill-gotten gains.

This is a seriously dumb thing to say in a conservative part of the state, but what is even dumber is that Creigh Deeds didn’t flee the scene where these words were being spoken.  Nope, he hung in and kept promising to shower money on all and sundry.

Here’s some bad news for Creigh Deeds and his UMWA cohorts: I know citizens in this area who have resolved to vote in their first off-year election ever this time.  They are disgusted with the UMWA and Congressman Rick Boucher for supporting the regime which is pushing the ruinous cap-and-trade legislation and they are appalled at the drunken-sailor spending spree taking place in Washington, D.C. They include retired mine workers who have been reliable Democratic voters all their lives — and they will vote for Republican candidate Bob McDonnell.

Normally this area votes Democratic by a comfortable margin in off-year elections. Not this time; dumb and dumber will be handed their hats on November 3.