Cardinal News Opinion: Earle-Sears skips many of the things candidates for governor normally do

VIRGINIA – A new opinion column in the Cardinal News details how Winsome Earle-Sears has skipped out on multiple events and meetings that gubernatorial candidates often attend, consistently avoids interviews with local media, and maintains an apparently empty calendar. This comes as Sears refuses to comment on three rural health clinics in Virginia that are set to close because of Donald Trump’s tax law she backed. When Sears has done the rare interview, she’s lied about healthcare cuts, downplayed job cuts, and  mocked Virginians who have lost their jobs.  
 
Columnist Dwayne Yancey says Sears’ lack of campaign is “not normal” and writes: 
 
Forget whether Earle-Sears is talking with the news media; if she won’t talk to business groups during the campaign, what assurance do they have that she’ll be willing to take their calls if she’s governor?
 
Cardinal News Opinion: Earle-Sears skips many of the things candidates for governor normally do

• Last Tuesday, Abigail Spanberger was in Roanoke to speak to the state convention of the Virginia Trucking Association.
• What was notable was what the truckers didn’t hear: They didn’t hear from the Republican candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears. She was invited but declined; her campaign sent word that her schedule didn’t permit a visit.
• What was unusual was that Earle-Sears was in Roanoke; 
• Earle-Sears’ social media account documents no events on that Sunday. She did post a video outside a prison, apparently in Norfolk, where she once led a prison ministry, although it’s unclear when that video was recorded. Her social media account documents no campaign events on that Monday, either, although that night she did have a private fundraiser in Roanoke. 
• On that Tuesday, when Spanberger appeared before the truckers, Earle-Sears’ social media account shows no campaign events, either, although she had another fundraiser that night in Richmond.
• Since Earle-Sears was in Roanoke on the evening of Monday, Sept. 22, for the fundraiser, it sure looks as if she could have spared 15 minutes to talk to the truckers — which is about the amount of time Spanberger spent with them.
• This fits a pattern: Earle-Sears still has yet to meet with Virginia FREE, a pro-business group that typically meets with all the candidates. Spanberger has. So have all the other statewide candidates, with the exception of Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares — but scheduling with Miyares is underway for a meeting.
• The group started asking Earle-Sears back in the spring and was told her schedule didn’t allow it. At some point in the summer, after Earle-Sears changed campaign managers, her campaign gave Virginia FREE two weeks to set up a meeting, but by then, the group couldn’t arrange one — and some board members had already endorsed Spanberger.
• When I checked with Virginia FREE’s executive director, Chris Saxman (a former Republican state legislator from Staunton), to verify that no meeting has happened, he replied: “The problem isn’t my answer. The problem, for Winsome and the GOP, is the question.” In other words, this is not normal for a candidate for governor.
• Very little about the Earle-Sears campaign is normal, and this could come back to haunt the whole Republican ticket.
• Throughout the campaign, Earle-Sears has avoided many interactions that might lead to her being seriously questioned, be it by a business group or the news media. Earle-Sears has rarely done interviews outside what seem to be “safe” news outlets.
• After four months of asking, she granted an interview with me in late July to talk about energy and Southwest Virginia.
• More recently, though, her campaign has gone completely silent and stopped responding to messages.
• I’ve never seen a campaign just go radio silent like Earle-Sears’ has.
• Earle-Sears has taken this to an entirely new level, except it’s not just the news media she’s not talking to — it’s business groups as well.
• I repeat: This is not normal.
• However, by skipping the truckers and Virginia FREE and other groups, Earle-Sears is inadvertently sending a signal to the business community that she’s not really interested in them — and raising the question of whether she’s truly prepared to be governor.
• Forget whether Earle-Sears is talking with the news media; if she won’t talk to business groups during the campaign, what assurance do they have that she’ll be willing to take their calls if she’s governor?
• Here’s why Republicans ought to be concerned: Earle-Sears is not doing the things a normal candidate for governor would do. [...] I don’t know what she’s doing;
• Earle-Sears, though, is often simply missing from the types of things where you’d expect a candidate for governor to be, such as the trucking association, when she’s in the same town.
• [...] she’s been absent from enough events that it does raise questions about what she’s doing.
• Earle-Sears’ campaign has yet to respond — or even acknowledge receipt. Seven inquiries have gone unanswered.

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