Tag: donald trump

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Fighting the tide: Can Virginia’s Republicans overcome a Clinton victory?

And here in the 5th District, which many thought to be a lock for the elephants, there are increasingly strong signs that Jane Dittmar has a real shot at reclaiming the seat for the donkeys. Photo by Eze Amos

Here’s one case study showing just how difficult it’s becoming for Virginia Republicans running local races: A recent internal poll conducted for the campaign of Democrat LuAnn Bennett, who is running to unseat Republican Barbara Comstock in Virginia’s 10th congressional district, showed Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump in the race for president by a dizzying 14 percent.

Yes, this is an internal poll, and as such is inherently biased toward Bennett, but with Clinton’s substantial lead in Virginia (the two most recent polls, by CBS News and Christopher Newport University, have her up 8 and 10 points statewide, respectively), this sort of margin is not outside the realm of possibility. So, even though Comstock still has a narrow lead in the polls, she will almost certainly have to outperform Trump in the district by double digits in order to win.

And while Trump was surely hoping to make up ground with a knockout performance in the first presidential debate, the gale force winds created by his wild swings and missed punches only made things worse. While his pugilistic browbeating of Clinton on trade was effective (if migraine-inducing) early on, by night’s end it was Clinton who stood smiling, not a hair out of place, as Trump dug himself deeper and deeper on a raft of issues, including his unreleased taxes, his shady business practice, his promise that Iranian sailors who taunt U.S. warships “will be shot out of the water” and the blatant racism of his years-long claim that President Obama was not born in the U.S.

Of course, gerrymandering at the state level means that certain Republicans have absolutely nothing to worry about, no matter how ridiculous and extreme they may be. Take the case of Dave Brat, the bespectacled first-term congressman who unexpectedly knocked off House Minority Leader Eric Cantor in 2014. Although he boasts zero accomplishments as a U.S Representative, and has made a cottage industry of issuing crackpot statements (just last week, for instance, he told conservative talk radio host John Fredericks that the Black Lives Matter protesters in Charlotte were “radical groups that are funded out of George Soros’ pot of money,” while also insisting that the real “institutional racism” is perpetuated by Democrats who refuse to “get the Bible back in the classroom and religion back in the classroom”), Brat will almost certainly win his reelection race handily.

Still, there’s no telling what havoc the lead weight of Trump’s campaign might wreak across the commonwealth. Which is why endangered incumbents like Comstock (who supported Marco Rubio in the Republican primary) are running as far from him as they can. When asked by the Washington Post if she was planning on endorsing Trump, she replied, “If I change my mind, I’ll let you know,” and when pressed on whether she would even vote for him, she answered, cryptically, “I’m watching.”

And here in the 5th District, which many thought to be a lock for the elephants, there are increasingly strong signs that Jane Dittmar has a real shot at reclaiming the seat for the donkeys. Her fundraising has been unexpectedly robust (at last count, she had raised more than triple the amount of her opponent Tom Garrett), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee designated her race “Red-to-Blue” September 23 and, while UVA professor Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball website still rates the race “Likely Republican,” one of the site’s editors recently conceded to the Daily Progress that “problems at the top of the ticket could hurt down-ballot Republicans such as Tom Garrett.”

Ah, Donald Trump—you truly are the gift that keeps on giving.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

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Opinion

Trump is toast: Will the House and Senate follow?

And here in the 5th District, which many thought to be a lock for the elephants, there are increasingly strong signs that Jane Dittmar has a real shot at reclaiming the seat for the donkeys. Photo by Eze Amos

If there’s one thing we love about penning this column, it’s making ridiculously premature predictions. And though we’ve whiffed a few (like that time we opined that Bernie Sanders would “be out of the [primary] race by May at the very latest”), all in all our batting average is enviably high. And so, as we look down the final stretch of this year’s presidential and congressional elections, we have an overwhelming urge to predict exactly what will happen.

First, the easy stuff. Donald J. Trump, that pompous, orange-hued huckster, will be defeated in a landslide, and Hillary Clinton will become the 45th president of the United States. This, of course, means that Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will become vice president, and his vacant Senate seat will be filled by Governor Terry McAuliffe, who will almost certainly elevate U.S. Representative Bobby Scott to the chamber (Scott’s district, the 3rd, is the most reliably Democratic in the commonwealth, and so McAuliffe will be able to reward Scott for his years of public service while ensuring that his House seat doesn’t end up in Republican hands).

The donkeys will also flip the U.S. Senate, most likely by unseating one or all of the following elephants: Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Rob Portman in Ohio and Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.

And that, of course, brings us to the House of Representatives, which is still a very tough nut to crack for team blue. As of now, we just don’t see the GOP losing control, as the Dems would need to flip a nearly impossible 30 seats to retake control of the chamber. Still, with a racist demagogue at the top of the Republican ticket, anything can (and probably will) happen.

As it has been for many years, Virginia will be an excellent bellwether for how the Democrats do nationally. Both because the radical House-district gerrymander imposed following the 2010 census has been replaced by a court-ordered, less GOP-friendly map, and because a number of retirements has lessened the Republicans’ incumbent advantage.

There are basically four districts to watch on election night: If the Dems grab one it’s business as usual, two and it’s a decent night, three and it’s a high-fiving donkey celebration, all four and the Republicans may well have lost the House.

The first district to watch is the 4th, home of ex-U.S. Representative Randy Forbes (after his district’s Democratic makeup was increased during the latest redistricting, he ran and lost in the 2nd District Republican primary). Democrat Donald McEachin is expected to win this seat easily.

The second district to keep an eye on is the 10th, where Tea Party darling Barbara Comstock is up against LuAnn Bennett, a well-financed Dem. The 10th went for Mitt Romney in 2012 by a single point, and also voted for Marco Rubio over Trump in the recent Republican primary. Definitely a prime pickup opportunity.

The third key district is Charlottesville’s own, the 5th, where the unexpected retirement of Representative Robert Hurt created an open seat. It’s still favored to go to Republican Tom Garrett, but his far-right-of-center views, coupled with a strong win for the Clinton/Kaine ticket in the commonwealth, could put Democrat Jane Dittmar over the top.

Finally there’s the 2nd District, another open seat created by the retirement of a Republican—Scott Rigell. Nominally a “purple” district (Tim Kaine carried it with 52 percent of the vote in 2012), it will likely go to Republican Scott Taylor who is heavily favored to win over the underfunded Democratic nominee, economist (and Bernie Sanders delegate) Shaun Brown. But if Brown does pull this one off, she could very well be joining the House as a member of the majority.

Exciting times, people!

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

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Doom and gloom: Trump bets big on fear at the Republican Convention

Donald Trump has his moment in the sun in Cleveland last week. Wikimedia commons user MontanaIsForMe

First off, before we dive into the current parade of political lunacy, we would like to pause for one moment and express our gratitude to Donald J. Trump, who has made this the single most entertaining political season that most pundits can remember. Of course, we should also make it clear that we fully believe this pumpkin-haired clown will never assume the presidency of the United States, and that the alarming wave of extremism, racism and disturbing nationalism he has unleashed will fade (along with his egomaniacal buffoonery) in the months following the November election.

Is there a chance we are wrong? Of course. But if that’s the case, then we are living in a nation we no longer recognize, and so are determined to remain in a state of absolute denial until the words “President Trump” improbably shift from a ludicrous punchline to a horrifying reality.

In the meantime, we shall continue to treat The Donald’s presidential bid as a pathetic (if dangerous) joke, even as we acknowledge that the economic insecurity and societal discord that have fueled his rise are very real and important problems that will need to be addressed during the coming Clinton administration.

Luckily for us, Trump continues to flail about like a deranged prep-school monster who forgot to take his Ritalin, lashing out in all directions while simultaneously mismanaging every single facet of his campaign. And there is no better illustration of this than the recently concluded, Trump-branded Republican National Convention, which was without a doubt the most gaffe-ridden, hate-filled political event we’ve ever seen. (Then again, we’ve never attended an Ayn Rand Objectivist symposium or a Klan rally, so our experience in these things is limited.)

Veering between boring speeches by rich friends and employees of Trump (billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Trump Winery General Manager Kerry Woolard) and frothing-at-the-mouth indictments of Hillary Clinton (former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump lackey and current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie), the convention was notable mostly for how poorly it was managed, which is in and of itself a scathing indictment of Trump’s supposed competence.

The tone was set the very first night when, following a head-scratching warm-up performance by Scott Baio, Trump’s wife, Melania, delivered a poised and practiced speech that contained several sections blatantly lifted from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. But the pinnacle of this cavalcade of incompetence came on the convention’s third night, when Trump’s primary opponent Ted Cruz, who had been given a coveted prime-time speaking slot, refused to mention Trump’s name during his speech, and told the assembled throng to “vote their conscience” in the upcoming election. Parts of the crowd became so enraged by this apostasy that Cruz’s wife Heidi, who was seated near the Virginia delegation, had to be quickly hustled out of the hall by Ken Cuccinelli (a high-profile Cruz supporter who had previously maneuvered to get as many Cruz delegates seated as possible).

By the time Trump’s angry, despair-inducing address finally arrived, it was far too late to win over anyone but the true believers. And true to form, Trump didn’t even try, painting a picture of America so relentlessly bleak that we’re surprised convention-goers didn’t simply file out of the venue and immediately apply for asylum in the far-more-appealing republic of Syria.

And thus the stage was set for this week’s Democratic National Convention, where Hillary Clinton and her newly chosen running mate Tim Kaine (maybe you’ve heard of him?)—along with current cheerleader-in-chief Barack Obama—will undoubtedly conjure a much sunnier and more optimistic vision of this great country of ours.

So stay tuned, folks — this roller coaster ride is really just beginning.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

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Stewart’s folly: Virginia’s top Trump plumper steps in it again

Donald Trump’s campaign steps away from his state co-chair Corey Stewart’s comments that Hillary Clinton and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam were responsible for the Dallas police shootings. Photo Gage Skidmore/flic.kr/

They say you can tell a great deal about a man by the company he keeps. As with almost everything else about Donald Trump, this rule of thumb does not cast him in a very favorable light. From his long-acknowledged business dealings with mafia bosses like Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno (“These guys were excellent contractors,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal in 2015. “They were phenomenal. They could do three floors a week in concrete. Nobody else in the world could do three floors a week.”) to his ex-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly manhandled a female reporter, Trump’s universe seems to be filled with a misanthropic menagerie of criminals and cretins.

Which brings us, of course, to the other Corey in Trump’s orbit, Virginia’s very own Corey Stewart, who is the campaign’s state co-chair (as well as chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a long-shot candidate for governor). When Trump first picked Stewart to chair his Virginia campaign, the pairing made perfect sense. Although the two had reportedly never met, their worldviews seem remarkably similar, especially when it comes to the issue of immigration.

Despite being married to a Swedish native, Stewart has a long history of fighting against “illegal immigration,” and has made the issue central to his political persona. In 2007, for example, he was instrumental in pushing through a sweeping anti-immigrant policy in Prince William County that required county police officers to check the immigration status of every single arrestee. This record obviously dovetails nicely with Trump’s pledge to build a giant wall along America’s southern border and deport every undocumented immigrant in the nation. And thus a beautiful friendship was born.

But the one thing the Trump campaign didn’t count on is that Stewart, much like Trump himself, has little to no filter between his brain and his mouth, and a disastrous penchant for posting idiotic things online. This particular bad habit was on full display following the tragic killing of five police officers by an unhinged sniper in Dallas. Faced with this horrific event, a normal politician would simply decry the senseless tragedy, voice condolences and support for the fallen officers and their loved ones and then maintain a respectful silence. But Stewart isn’t a normal politician (or a particularly normal human being, apparently). And so instead he took to Facebook and posted a number of incendiary messages, including his opinion that “liberal politicians who label police as racists—specifically Hillary Clinton and Virginia Lt. Governor Ralph Northam—are to blame for essentially encouraging the murder of these police officers tonight.”

This was so egregious and wrongheaded that even the Trump campaign—not exactly known for subtlety when it comes to social media—felt the need to disavow him, immediately enlisting Stewart’s co-chair, conservative radio host Jeff Fredericks, to emphatically explain that “Corey Stewart’s comments are his own. They have nothing to do with the Trump campaign.”

Good going, brainiac. You are officially so ill-tempered and extreme that even Donald Trump, the most openly racist presidential contender since Strom Thurmond, wants nothing to do with you. Better start handing out those “Trump campaign co-chair” business cards to every stranger you meet, because something tells us they’re not going to be good for much longer.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

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Opinion

Trumped: Whoops! There goes the election

The man with a local winery bearing his name likely will be the Republican candidate for president. Photo by Amanda Maglione

Greetings, dear readers. Before we dive mirthfully into the fact that Donald John Trump is now the de facto Republican presidential nominee, we’d like to hop into the wayback machine and take a quick trip to the evening of Saturday, April 30, when Republican Party of Virginia state convention attendees gathered to approve a slate of delegates for the national GOP convention in July. Now remember: Trump won the Virginia primary, and thus whichever slate was chosen would be obligated to vote for him on the first ballot. But back then, in those halcyon days when the #NeverTrump movement had yet to realize it was a complete joke, the fight to elect anti-Trump delegates (who would theoretically abandon him on the second ballot) was fully engaged.

Leading this fight was former attorney general Ken Cuccinelli, who was there to make sure his preferred candidate, Ted Cruz, dominated the delegate race. Opposing him was Trump’s Virginia campaign chairman Corey Stewart, a Prince William county supervisor and candidate for governor who is, if possible, even more of a nut job than Cuccinelli (to be clear, this may not actually be possible).

As these two tactical geniuses girded themselves for battle, the assembled throng of pumped-up partisans engaged in an unofficial voice vote for the three remaining would-be GOP nominees, which went about as expected. Cruz! (Huge cheer.) Trump! (Less huge cheer.) John Kasich! (A sad smattering of applause that sounded like air leaking from the tail end of a balloon dog.)

But once the actual voting began, it became clear that Trump’s Virginia delegate operation was, like the man himself, a completely disorganized and ad hoc affair, with no actual plan other than to show up and make noise. And so the Cooch steamrolled them, getting a slate approved that was 10-3 in favor of Cruz. Even better, Cuccinelli trash-talked the Trump effort (“This is a competition. And they are incapable of competing effectively on the ground,” he sneered to the Richmond Times-Dispatch), and bragged that he could have easily nabbed all 13 slots, but gave three to Trump as an “olive branch.” (Stewart, charmer that he is, angrily retorted that it was actually a “screw-you branch.”)

And we all know what happened next. Trump romped to victory in the Indiana primary, and Cruz and Kasich immediately dropped out, essentially ceding the nomination to the orange-hued huckster.

The fallout from this insane turn of events is really just beginning, but one thing’s for certain: The electoral prospects of elephants across the commonwealth just took a huge hit. Cuccinelli has already announced that he will not be running for governor in 2017, and Republicans from U.S. Representative Dave Brat to once-and-future gubernatorial hopeful Ed Gillespie have been mouthing the sort of tepid, generic words of support you might use when discussing a future son-in-law whom you secretly despise. (“Republican voters have nominated Donald Trump for president, and I will vote for him against Hillary Clinton,” Gillespie said, issuing a written statement so you couldn’t see him gritting his teeth.)

And so, as we contemplate the upcoming presidential battle for the swing state of Virginia, for once we heartily agree with a Republican strategist, Tucker Martin, who told the Times-Dispatch: “I don’t expect Virginia to be a battleground state this time around. Hillary will win, and I believe she will win handily. And that makes any chance of the Republican Party winning the White House that much more unlikely.”

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

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Trump truth meter

Donald Trump seemed to forget that he bought his winery from old friend Patricia Kluge, not her ex, John Kluge. Trump Winery is owned by Eric Trump, left, according to its website. Photo Nick Strocchia

Following his March 8 wins in the Mississippi and Michigan Republican presidential primaries, Donald Trump held a press conference at the Trump National Golf Course in Jupiter, Florida, and talked about Trump Winery.

He invited the press to check facts about whether he owns the winery, which he bought at a foreclosure auction in 2011, free and clear. Actually, the winery’s website says, “Trump Winery is a registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which is not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates.”

C-VILLE checked a few other statements Trump made about his winery.

“It’s the largest winery on the East Coast.”

Trump Winery’s website says it’s the largest in Virginia, and with 200 acres under cultivation, it may have the most land under vine in the state, according to Carl Brandhorst, president of the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association. But wine production is the number often used to determine size, and Brandhorst says both Chateau Morrisette and Williamsburg Winery produce more wine than Trump Winery, and that there are vineyards in New York that are larger than any in Virginia.

“It was the Kluge estate. John Kluge, he was the richest man in the United States. He died and he built one of the great vineyards of all time. I mean, there is nothing like it.”

Ouch for Trump’s pal, Patricia Kluge, who built the Kluge Estate Winery in 1999 after her divorce from John Kluge. When the economy crashed and she needed help, she appealed to Trump, who bought the winery at a foreclosure auction for $6.2 million.

“It’s close to 2,000 acres.”

Trump Winery’s website says it’s 1,300 acres; Albemarle County property records show Trump entities own 1,206 acres.

“It’s in Charlottesville, Virginia, right next to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.”

Around here, we call it Monticello.

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Crunch time: Things just got real

Feb 25, 2016 - Houston, Texas, U.S. - MARCO RUBIO and DONALD TRUMP argue as they answer a question during the Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the University of Houston Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016. (Credit Image: © Gary Coronado/Houston Chronicle/Pool via ZUMA Wire)

Well, here we are again: facing a blank page, days away from hugely important elections, fully realizing that you, dear reader, know exactly what happened. But we do not! And yet file we must, and so we jump once more into the abyss, gleefully predicting things that will be proven or disproven in real time. Such is the life of a print journalist.

On the Democratic side, we’ve already made it abundantly clear that we think Hillary Clinton basically has the nomination wrapped up, even as Bernie Sanders continues to close the gap in national polls. The reasons are myriad, but it really comes down to a weird quirk in the donkeys’ primary process. Instead of letting all of the necessary delegates be apportioned through state primaries and caucuses (as the Republicans do), the Dems have created a block of “superdelegates”—a group of 712 party insiders who can back whomever they wish. Clinton has done a typically expert job of courting these folks, and at this writing has 449 pledged superdelegates (Sanders has 19). And so, even though they both had the same number of earned delegates going into the South Carolina primary, in reality Clinton had an effective lead of 430 delegates (the first candidate to amass 2,382 delegates will clinch the nomination).

Yes, these superdelegates can change their minds, and if Bernie managed to carry South Carolina, and also won the majority of available delegates on Super Tuesday, you would definitely see a sizable increase in his superdelegate count. But we are absolutely certain that did not happen. Hillary’s performance in the Nevada caucus showed that her popularity with black and Latino voters matched the pre-caucus polling, and we would bet real money that she easily carried South Carolina (editor’s note: She received 73.5 percent of the vote), as well as the majority of Super Tuesday states (including Virginia). And if that’s true, then it’s basically all over but the shouting.

On the Republican side, however, we are far less certain of the outcome. There’s no doubt that Donald Trump had a commanding position going in, having won three of the first four contests (New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada) by wide margins. But not since Barry Goldwater’s 1964 run has a frontrunner for the nomination of a major party been so hated by the power brokers within that party, and there’s no doubt that panicked GOP bigwigs are going to do everything in their power to, at the very least, try to deny him the 1,237 delegates he needs to win outright. This would result in a brokered convention, where the insiders would be able to push a more palatable alternative.

The problem is that Trump’s main competitor, Marco Rubio, had not won a single contest going into Super Tuesday, and only had a meager 16 delegates to Trump’s 82. Yes, he finally took the fight to Trump in last week’s feisty Republican debate, but was it enough to push the needle?

As for Virginia, we are cautiously predicting a Trump victory (a pre-election Monmouth University survey had him capturing 41 percent of likely Republican voters). But who knows? The combination of fallout from the Republican Party of Virginia’s now-abandoned “loyalty oath” and a late Rubio surge might have pushed him out of first place, but we doubt it.

And so, at this point, the smart money is on a Clinton-Trump presidential race, which is perhaps the single craziest thing we’ve ever written. Until we actually have to write the words “President Trump,” that is.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.

Updated March 3 at 9am with a reference to donkeys rather than elephants.

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Make UVA Law great again

People who say Erich Reimer is unqualified for student government? “Haters,” he says. “I’ll be saving a few tweets for them later.” Submitted photo

The presidential primaries aren’t the only races going on. At UVA School of Law, Erich Reimer found inspiration in The Donald for his run for Student Bar Association vice president and Student Council representative, and promises to build a wall between the law school and main Grounds—and make undergrad Student Council pay for it.

“We have undergrads studying in our library,” writes Reimer on his Facebook page. “Let’s be honest, when Main Grounds sends its people, they aren’t sending their best and brightest. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. They come here and take our free coffee at MyLab and hog group study tables. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Pledges Reimer on the Make UVA Law Great Again page, “I’ll create a library patrol force run by SBA to round up undergrads studying in our library and send them home. And then we’ll let the good ones back in to study and watch Netflix.”

Between classes, Reimer, 25, says, “So far everybody has found it quite entertaining. I think people see it as a parody. It doesn’t offend the people who like Trump, and it doesn’t offend those who don’t.”

Perhaps most importantly, “It adds some fun to what could be a boring election week at the law school,” he says. Oh, and needless to say, Reimer is self-funding his campaign.

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GOP loyalty: Primary pledge draws mixed reaction among local Republicans

Donald Trump has tweeted his objections about the affirmation that must be signed to vote in Virginia's March 1 Republican primary. Photo: Amanda Maglione

Virginia has a history of parties requiring primary voters to affirm they’re loyal Democrats or Republicans. However, three African-American pastors who are Donald Trump supporters filed a lawsuit claiming the pledge required by the state GOP—“My signature below indicates I am a Republican”—will discourage minorities and the poor from voting in the March 1 primary.

Just ahead of absentee ballots going out, federal Judge Heather Lauck refused to issue a preliminary injunction January 14 to halt the pledge, a requirement Trump has loudly lambasted.

On December 27, he tweeted, “It begins, Republican Party of Virginia, controlled by the RNC, is working hard to disallow independent, unaffiliated and new voters. BAD!”

“If someone refuses to sign the Republican affirmation, they can’t vote in the Republican primary,” says Charlottesville Electoral Board member Rick Sincere.

State code allows parties to use pledges, says Sincere, and both Democrats and Republicans have used them in the past.

At the polls on primary day, voters will be asked in which primary they want to vote, says Sincere. Once a voter has asked for a Republican ballot, “it’s a matter of public record,” he says.

Because Virginia has an open primary, there’s nothing to keep members of one party voting in another’s primary, says Geoffrey Skelley with UVA’s Center for Politics. In 2000, the state GOP “had a pledge for voters to sign promising to not participate in the nominating process of another party in the hopes of discouraging such behavior,” he says.

Reaction among city Republicans has been divided, according to Barbara Null, chair of the Republican Party of Charlottesville and co-chair for the Ted Cruz campaign in the 5th District. “This whole thing could be avoided if we registered by party in Virginia.”

“It’s not an oath,” says Albemarle County Republican Committee Chair Cindi Burket. “It’s an affirmation that people voting in the Republican primary are Republicans.” She says she’s telling party members it won’t inhibit their right to vote.

Bedford developer Jim McKelvey, who is the 5th District co-chair for the Trump campaign and a candidate for the congressional seat, is not a pledge supporter. “I simply think [the Republican Party of Virginia] is attempting to manipulate the system against a couple of candidates they don’t want,” he says. “I think we’ve got a couple of candidates that scare them to death.”

It’s tough to say whether the pledge will have any outcome on the primary in Virginia, says Skelley. “My understanding is that the pledge is not legally binding, so there’s little to stop someone who doesn’t consider herself a Republican from signing it and voting anyway,” he says. “However, it could dissuade some people from voting because they don’t want to sign something that might be viewed as a lie.”

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Family ties: Sales at Trump Winery skyrocket

Donald J. Trump and son Eric Trump at the Grand Opening Celebration of the Albemarle Estate at Trump Winery. Photo: Amanda Maglione

With Trump Winery and the Albemarle Estate situated on a massive 1,300-acre plot south of Charlottesville, some Central Virginians may have more ties to the Trump family than they’d like. Others take advantage of it.

Robert Harllee, owner of the Market Street Wineshops, tells the story of a liberal couple who visited his store in search of a bottle of Trump Winery’s award-winning sparkling wine. Their mission after checking out? To give it to their liberal South Carolinian friends as a joke.

“Yes, there are liberals in South Carolina,” Harllee says and laughs, adding that Trump is brilliant at making himself the topic of conversation and doesn’t mind bad publicity. As for stocking his shop, Harllee doesn’t let his personal feelings against a certain presidential hopeful get in the way of doing business.

“Personally, I might tell Mr. Trump he’s fired,” he says, but he knows the people who make Trump wine and says “they make a great product.”

Kerry Woolard, Trump Winery’s general manager, says in-house sales are up about 300 percent, with online sales even higher. She doesn’t necessarily attribute this to The Donald, but to how good the wines are.

“I look at this as a great opportunity for us and Virginia wine as a whole,” she says. “It’s clear that more people know about Virginia wine today than ever before.” As for the number of people staying at Albemarle Estate, she says its July ribbon-cutting coincided with the beginning of Trump’s campaign, and the estate has been featured with five-star reviews in national publications, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s driving the visitation.

When people step into the tasting room of Trump Winery, they speak kindly of Trump, if at all, she says. After all, they’re there to drink what Trump Winery President Eric Trump calls “the finest wines in the world,” not to talk politics.

Employees, Woolard says, are fans of the family that owns the winery, and she calls Eric an amazing boss, leader and mentor.

“All the staff appreciates what he has done saving the property from its state of total disrepair,” she says. “Prior to [Donald] Trump purchasing the property, many of the staff had been laid off and were looking for work.”

C-VILLE Weekly asked its Twitter followers about their opinions on Trump wine. We received two responses.

Benjamin Randolph says, “I refuse to drink Trump wine. I don’t want him to profit in any way from my actions,” and Johnny Frankenberger tweets he “would never consider” drinking it.

Trump Winery President Eric Trump calls his company’s wines “the finest in the world.”