On race issues, Kaine and Stewart chart different paths on campaign trail

On the anniversary of a counter-protester’s death at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and as Northern Virginia communities were under a state of emergency as the same white supremacist group held a follow-up rally in Washington on Aug. 12, Republican Corey Stewart told a national audience on MSNBC that Virginias are “sick and tired” of talking about race.

The GOP challenger in November’s U.S. Senate race, Stewart has a good reason to stop talking about race. National reporters have chased links between his campaign staff and the organizers of those same controversial rallies — a headline in the New York Times earlier this month noted “White nationalists love Corey Stewart. He keeps them close.”

Stewart, the at-large chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, has lashed out at Virginia communities looking to tear down Confederate monuments and rename public facilities honoring Confederate heroes.

But incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine, seeking his second term, spent this week talking on Stewart’s home turf in Prince William and he spoke directly to minority groups concerned about Stewart’s rhetoric.

“We say we’re for lovers, are we? Or now are we for haters?” Kaine said to a crowd of 60 people at Todos Supermarket, ironically on Jefferson Davis Highway. “We say we’re a commonwealth; that means community. Are we a community or aren't we? That's what's at stake this November.”

‘Sick and Tired’

Stewart made his claim that Virginians are “sick and tired” of talking about race on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation with host Al Sharpton.

Sharpton asked Stewart about his comments praising Robert E. Lee and other Confederate leaders during his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2017. Stewart called Sharpton a “race hustler.”  

Stewart said most of the problems in the country today are “not due to race and cannot be solved by focusing on race.”

“There are Americans of every single race, every single religion and every single ethnicity that are struggling with the same things,” Stewart said.

‘Against Hate’

In the days after the rally anniversary, Kaine hosted events such as the one at the Todos market and an African American Women’s Coffee at Jirani Coffeehouse in Manassas.

Kaine told InsideNoVa after the Todos event that since the rally, Virginians have stood up “against hate.”

“I think what Virginians want to hear is they want to hear messages of unity,” Kaine said. “They want leaders who are not name-callers. They want leaders who don’t hang around with the name callers. They want leaders who live, talk, breath and act to promote unity.”

Speaking at times in Spanish and English, Kaine said he is campaigning on a message of “a Virginia that works for all,” stressing inclusion and welcoming others and supporting workforce training.

The two candidates talk about the immigrant community differently. To Kaine, immigrants are “a source of strength,” while Stewart said in his interview with Sharpton that illegal border crossings are leading to human trafficking and criminals entering the country.

On Wednesday, Kaine said he would continue advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, which could be similar to the bill in 2013 that would allow a pathway for citizenship for undocumented immigrants and add billions for border security, among other things.

“I think our immigrant communities by connecting us to the global economy and by bringing new skills, ideas and relationships and connections, I think our immigrant communities have been a great source of strength for Virginia,” Kaine said.

Carla Bustillos, vice-chair of the Democratic Latino Organization of Virginia, said negative campaigns that make the Latino community fearful can be effective.

“We need to inform our community of the positive alternatives, oppose racists and [Kaine will] also fix a lot of the situation,” Bustillos said.