Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Bo Hines -- The Once (And Future?) Congressman

 

Bo Hines, who tried out the political "fit" for himself in several Congressional districts (including Virginia Foxx's 5th) before finally settling on the 13th in 2022, with Donald Trump's ineffable blessing, but ultimately lost that contest against Democrat Wiley Nickel by almost nine thousand votes. Berger-Moore will soon redesign the district to be more winnable for "the second-coming of Madison Cawthorn," if he decides to run again. Bo Hines's main claim to fame seems to be that he once threw a football several yards downfield.

That football -- or at least, a football -- figures prominently in a video that Hines posted on Twitter on March 2, announcing that his new role in public life will be CEO of something called awkwardly "Today Is America" (what?), which bills itself as a "Media and News Company." Today Is America first joined Twitter early in July 2020, posting boilerplate conservative memes and especially attacks on Roe v. Wade,  but so far its website is empty of content. It's so far very unclear what Today Is America is selling.

I mention the heavy attacks on Roe because Hines himself scrubbed his own campaign website free of all references to his previous anti-abortion stances even before the 2022 election. That scrubbing was well documented. And the speculation for it centered on the new high focus on abortion rights following the overturning of Roe by the Supreme Court before last fall's voting. It's as though Hines -- or someone close to him -- said "oops" and repainted his stripes. He can change his issues as easily as change the district he's planning to run in.

It's enough, apparently, that Bo Hines displays a football prominently in every appearance. It's his shibboleth, his touchstone, his substitute for a golden retriever.


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