Trump Takes Center Stage In Buena Vista

President’s Policies Criticized, Praised By Congressional Candidates

There were fewer speeches this year at the Buena Vista Labor Day festival Monday, but they were a bit longer than usual and as heated as ever.

The war in Iran, health care, inflation and tariffs were among the topics on which the candidates clashed. There were only four candidates to take the stage – Republican Sixth District Congressman Ben Cline and his Democratic opponent Beth Macy, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and his Republican opponent, Bert Mizusawa – but they made the most of their time in the spotlight.

“I think it’s time to end this war in Iran,” declared Warner. “We need to bring this war to an end. We need to go back to an America that is respected around the world. I never thought I’d say this. It’s kind of hard to piss off Canadians. But this president, with his willingness to go against all of our allies and friends and put tariffs in place … [is] not about affordability. The issue is how do we bring costs down. What I see in the president is that he’s not focused on affordability but his focus is almost entirely on vanity projects like the new ballroom or the God-forbidden arch being built that would block Arlington Cemetery. We need to respect our veterans – not put a Trump memorial in front of that cemetery.”

“We are going to continue to advocate for a resolution of this war that does so on our terms – not on the terms of Iran,” said Cline. “We are going to win this war in Iran. We are going to make sure Iran does not possess nuclear weapons. We are going to make sure they do not threaten the Middle East or the people of the United States of America.”

“Do we really want another endless war?” asked Macy. “Trump promised no more endless wars. Ben Cline kisses the king’s ring while our men and women are stuck on aircraft carriers with little food and water while the Iranian mullahs taunt us. You know, Republicans can’t really explain this war. I can explain it in three words – it’s a distraction from the Epstein files. And that distraction is going so badly that they are creating distractions to distract us from the distractions.”

The least partisan of the speeches was delivered by Mizusawa, a retired U.S. Army major general and former deputy undersecretary for the Army. “I know a lot of you like to bring up President Trump for obvious reasons,” he said. “This is [for] a six-year term and it will transcend Trump’s presidency. Who knows what’s going to happen in 2028? I pledge to you that I will do everything that I can do to provide security [and] a positive return on our tax dollar investments.”

According to Warner, “It’s an incredibly important election year. I’m asking you to hire me one last time. Let me tell you why. I think politics is about choices. And there are a series of choices going on right now in Washington.”

If Democrats don’t take control of Congress, Warner warned, “We’re going to see another 300,000 Virginians lose their health care after this election. Nothing was more hypocritical than passing a big bill and not letting the pain take place until after the election. Those 300,000 Virginians – they’re still going to get sick. They’re still going to show up at the emergency room. We have to do better. ... As long as we keep band-aiding this broken health care system we’re never going to get to cost containment. It’s time to move to universal

ABOVE, the Democratic candidates who appeared in Buena Vista’s Labor Day festivities, Sen. Mark Warner and Sixth District House of Representatives hopeful Beth Macy speak with local residents along the parade route Monday morning. AT RIGHT, the Republican candidates who spoke on stage at Labor Day, U.S. Senate hopeful Bert Mizusawa and Rep. Ben Cline, recite the Pledge of Allegiance prior to the start of the speeches. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos) health care in America.”

Cline countered that Republicans “are going to continue to … advocate for positive policies that benefit working families – reducing taxes and reducing the cost of prescription drugs. Making sure that we reduce the cost of housing. The costs are going down because of the legislation that we passed and every Democrat voted against.”

Cline claimed that inflation was much higher under Biden, whose policies, he said, raised the costs of housing, “food, goods and services across the country. … We are rolling back the high inflation that came with the Joe Biden administration. Inflation in Biden’s administration, remember, was 9.5 percent.” Addressing the Democrats in the audience, Cline said, “All of you are lying in saying, ‘Not true.’ [You] seem to have forgotten what 9.5 percent high inflation felt like. You know what? It’s coming down,” which he attributed to the policies of the Trump administration.

Macy offered a starkly contrasting view of Trump’s “disastrous policies that [Cline] backed 100 percent of the time.” Because of the “one big ugly bill,” which led to USDA and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cuts, “People are going hungry like you would not believe.” She said she’s witnessed very long lines at food pantries in Fincastle and Woodstock. Accusing Cline of exhibiting “such entitlement, such arrogance,” Macy said, “I’m running to roll back the one ugly bill [which contained] tax cuts for billionaires. I’m running to stop the tariffs. I’m running to end this illegal war so we can afford to rebuild education, feed our kids, and give health care to working people. I’m running because, in America, we made a promise that you should be able to go as far as your talents allow.”

Mizusawa noted that he’s the proud son and grandson of immigrants who came from opposite sides of the globe – his father’s parents were from Japan and his mother is from the Netherlands. His father’s parents settled in Hawaii. “They were basically laborers in the sugar fields of Hawaii. That was very arduous work. Hawaii was a leader in the labor union movement. They contributed to this holiday we have today known as Labor Day. … We should all applaud the efforts of American labor. They helped make America great. It’s a bipartisan issue.”

He said he and his father share a common bond in having witnessed attacks on America – he worked at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and his father was a 12-year-old boy in Hawaii in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. “So, near and dear to me, as you might imagine, is the national security of our nation. National security should always be a bipartisan effort by both parties in this nation.”