Not Larry Hussein Sabato

Jody Wagner's Facebook Group

I can't tell if this is official or not, but looks like more campaigning before Jody Wagner resigns as Finance Secretary.  This reeks. 

Watch Out For McCain. Great Ads so Far.

Morrogh Collars Criminal in Virginia Beach

Some guy tried to steal Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney Ray Morrogh's surfboard in Virginia Beach.  Read here for what happened next.

Awesome.

Hillary Should Be Nominated For Unity

"Keith Fimian's Silence"

AIAW has more.

Paris Responds to McCain

Hysterical.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Back to Our Favorite Thug...

Is there anyone that can step in and stop Gerry Connolly from bullying people?  Now its the City of Falls Church.  Connolly is spending taxpayer money in Fairfax County to "investigate" them.

Really?  Fairfax County is investigating the City of Falls Church?

Fallout from Brodnitz Betrayal

I won't rehash the details, read about it on RK.

This raises a ton of questions:

1)  Jody Wagner has not filed any paperwork for Lt. Governor yet.  Yet Pete Brodnitz is telling Jon Bowerbank that he is flipping to Jody.  Jody hasn't filed paperwork, her campaign doesn't exist and she has no official agents.  Basically it sounds like Brodnitz is saying that he reached an oral agreement for polling with Wagner- prior to her filing a campaign committee- a huge violation of state law as it would seem to indicate active campaigning without filing.

2)  What is Brodnitz doing speaking to a candidate running against someone he is working for- let alone negotiating with them.  Is this something he does with other clients?  If he hadn't reached an agreement with Jody would he have told Jon Bowerbank that he was talking to his opponents about working for them while under contract to Jon?  Who's going to hire him after this?

3)  Jody is resigning as Secretary of Finance this Friday, seeming to indicate she understands the conflict between holding that position and being a candidate for Lt. Governor.  So why is she violating her own implied principle with her resignation by campaigning before it is official?

4)  By the way is Jody using state resources since it appears she is campaigning prior to establishing a committee or leaving office?  Will she release her phone records in the office and her emails to show that she was not using taxpayer money to finance exploring her own political future?

5)  What is Governor Tim Kaine's involvement in this?  Did he or his staff direct Brodnitz to this decision?  Has the Governor given Jody permission to use taxpayer resources while she was exploring this campaign?

6)  Speaking of Kaine, if Jody is running as his puppet, does she agree with all of his positions?  Is she pro-life?  Does she oppose stem cell research?  What was her role as Secretary of Finance in bringing us Abuser Fees and $1,000 tickets for failing to use a turn signal?  Did she agree with Abuser Fees?  Does she agree with Kaine about needing to continue to push use of coal for power?  Did she support repeal of the estate tax as Secretary of Finance?  In replacing the estate tax with a proposed sales tax increase the next year did she do anything to make the tax code MORE fair to working families?  Rail to Dulles?  Tunnel in Tysons Corner?  I could go on all night...

7)  Does this kind of maneuvering with Tim's fingerprints on it make her a stronger candidate or does it make her look weak and vulnerable in the primary?

Job Openings At New Media Strategies

For those of you who have always dreamed of getting to work with me, a couple openings on our team in Public Affairs at NMS:

------------------------------------------

Online Analyst, Public Affairs

 

New Media Strategies (NMS), the Industry Pioneer & Global Leader in Web 2.0 Online Brand Promotion & Protection, offers a challenging and exciting team environment that will give you the opportunity to play a key role as a stakeholder in a company named:

 

• One of Inc. 500’s “Fastest Growing” companies in America, three years in a row;
• One of the “50 Great Places to Work” by the Washingtonian Magazine, two years in a row; and,
• Listed in the Washington Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work”

 

NMS is a thriving (triple digit growth over past 5 years) Arlington, VA- based Marketing/PR firm that offers the opportunity to work in a fun, creative environment with a top-notch client roster that includes Fortune 500 Companies, leading brands and major Hollywood Studios.

 

Currently we are seeking experienced and highly motivated government affairs/public policy professionals for our Online Analyst position. Online Analysts help execute the online marketing, communications and business intelligence campaigns for our clients.

 

Qualifications: 1-3 years of Campaign/Hill/Administration experience in a communications/marketing/public relations capacity; robust knowledge of the Internet, online communities/blogs, and excellent written and verbal communication skills.

 

Visit our website at www.newmediastrategies.net for further information.

 

Please send resume and salary requirements to resume@newmediastrategies.net

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Intern Listing

 

New Media Strategies is currently seeking qualified interns to work with our Online Brand Managers and Client Services team. The internship will provide interested candidates with invaluable communications, promotions, and marketing experience in the new medium of the Internet. Interns will work closely with members of our Client Services team in the implementation of NMS' suite of services that include online brand promotion, protection and business intelligence services.

Qualifications include:

Current university/college student or recent graduate

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Creative and enjoys working in a fast-paced, exciting start-up environment

Sound knowledge of the internet

Please submit resume and cover letter to bcooper@newmediastrategies.net

For those of you in the 1st CD

Rob Wittman is live twittering the Republicans on the floor.

The Eyebrow's Looming Shadow

A report from Richmond:

Okay, so there are a lot of folks here in Virginia who are excited about the possibility of our governor (Tim Kaine) being on Obama's short list for VP.  I personally think he's got zero chance for a lot of different reasons, but some Virginians are very excited about it.  So this morning and the local morning political talk AM radio guy here in Richmond asked listeners to call in and voice their opinions about whether Kaine could make a good VP.  This guy gets on and says (paraphrased): "Well, Tim Kaine is fairly conservative, you know, and I think he would add some legitimacy to the ticket and calm down some of the conservative voters who are so worried about how liberal and unpredictable the candidate himself is"

So yeah, McCain - Kaine 2008, I'm for it."

It's Convention Month

Let's start with a flashback to 2000:

Fake Strippers Outdraw Gilmore

This is too amusing to ignore.

Jim Gilmore has been drawing some tiny pathetic crowds in his tour of Virginia.   One recently in Culpeper drew about 15 people and even featured a picture of the local Board Chairman falling asleep listening to Gilmore.

I hadn't written about this, giving Gilmore the benefit of the doubt that drawing large crowds in the summer is difficult.

But then I saw this:

One week earlier at the same restaurant, a huge controversy erupted when a planned Chippendales show turned out to be fake in front of 250 people.  250 people showed up for a HOAX?

Check out the video here.

Hmmmm...

NIGHTMARE SCENARIO DEVELOPING

POLITICO REPORTS ERIC CANTOR IS A FINALIST FOR JOHN MCCAIN'S TICKET...

We are on the verge of being the laughingstock of the nation if this turns into Tim "Abuser Fees" Kaine vs. Eric "Congress Doesn't Declare War" Cantor.

How Long Has Frank Wolf Been in Congress?

Admit It- Primaries are Fun

Got Kenton Ngo's permission to republish this from his blog "750 Volts".  Great blog post that deserved more attention than it got:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With over a year to go until the 2009 elections, there is already some concerned hand-wringing over how Democrats are going to have a primary for governor next year–however, many are convinced that this would harm or eventual nominee. That’s wrong–especially because, not in spite of, the fact that Republicans have an uncontested primary race. When only one party in an open race (like all gubernatorial races are in Virginia because of the one-term limit) has a primary, the party with the primary benefits. A primary between Brian Moran and Creigh Deeds against an uncontested Bob McDonnell is the best electability aid the Democrats could possibly hope for, and blogs do a great disservice to themselves and to the public by scaling back the discussion.

I’ve just returned from the Netroots Nation conference, where over 2,000 of the nation’s progressive bloggers gathered. What the convention represented was how bloggers were democratizing media, opening up previously closed political processes, and crashing the gate of American politics. Blogs are an incredibly useful tool for primary campaigns because they take a process previously dominated by party insiders, in a contest that receives little public and press attention. In fact, this primary is likely to be undercovered by traditional media, and bloggers have a responsibility to fill the void. We have worked hard to democratize media coverage. Why would we, the very people fighting to give more attention to politics in the media, try to push off coverage of important campaigns because it’s “too soon”? It is clear that news is happening now, and we are the people who need to cover it at this early stage. If blogs do not step up to talk about this primary now, we defeat ourselves by allowing the discussion to be controlled by party insiders and the traditional media, who will happily dictate when the race will be talked about, at their convenience.

Democrats have a stragetic advantage because they already know who they will be fighting against, while Republicans will remain in the dark until June 2009. This gives us an opportunity for an unbridled free-for-all to soften Republican candidate Bob McDonnell ahead of the general election. Both Del. Moran and Sen. Deeds will have months of coverage leading up to the primary while Attorney Gen. McDonnell will be left behind because he will not be generating news. Democrats get a head start defining the Republican candidate even before we know who ours will be. Look at the long Obama-Clinton primary. By taking it to every state, Obama and Clinton caused Democrats to win the media battle for weeks on end. John McCain effectively disappeared into the ether after he sealed up the nomination early while Obama and Clinton slugged it out. It is undoubtable in my mind that this fight has done wonders for Obama. Trawl the archives of the Project for Excellence in Jornalism Campaign Converage Index and you’ll see how the Obama-Clinton fight caused Democrats to consistently win the media war. No matter who wins the primary, our candidate will benefit from being talked about and turned over like an interesting pebble for months on end while McDonnell struggles for coverage.

Most importantly of all, a long primary allows our nominee to build up statewide campaign infrastructure, and have even more ready-made infrastructure transferred in once the primary is over. Since Barack Obama was forced to organize in every state for a primary fight, he has already had infrastructure in place everywhere. By forcing our candidates to compete everywhere early, we give them an advantage once the primary is over. Our candidates will receive more face time in the local media, have more time to build connections with community leaders, and bring early interest to the Democratic Party. A competitive primary sparks interest which drives up the demand for campaign organization.

I love a good primary. Admit it, it’s at least just a little exciting. Primaries give Democrats a chance to question their candidates before setting them loose on the general public. Have faith in our primary electorate that they will make the right decision–otherwise, what’s the point of elections?

If anything, there should be more primaries, because primaries are the most open way to choose a nominee short of a radical change in our electoral system (for instance, a switch to a jungle primary or instant runoff system). Fellow Democrats, it’s going to be a long ride, and maybe you’ll get caught up in the excitement too.

[I’m a Brian Moran supporter. Just letting you know.]

-------------------------------------------------------------
Great thoughts Kenton.

Only 1% Online Want Tim Kaine

From Daily Kos- check out people's choice for Vice President.

Tim Kaine
1% Yes for VP
99% No for VP

I bet the Obama campaign noticed that!!!

JODY WAGNER RESIGNS AS FINANCE SEC

Nice of Jody Wagner to finally resign since the taxpayers apparently needed to pay her until she was done exploring a run for Lt. Governor.