Not Larry Sabato

Waldo Checks In With George Allen

Great Post.

Andy Resnick Strikes Again

The campaign manager who ran a campaign of calling Jim Webb a racist, a sexist and an anti-semite (IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY) is back at his old tricks again.  TC has the scoop.

Webb's Media Blitz

From Webb's Office:

Sun, May 18: Meet the Press (NBC)

Mon, May 19: CBS Early Morning

Mon, May 19: Fresh Air (NPR)

Mon, May 19: Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)

Tues, May 20: Countdown with Keith Olbermann (MSNBC)

Tues, May 20: Lou Dobbs (CNN)

Amy Sucks (Part 60 of Gerry Sucks)

Lowell has the scoop on the awful article by Amy Gardner this morning in the Washington Post.

I might be able to shed a little more light on this.  Last year (when Amy was writing articles very biased towards Jeannemarie Devolites Davis) she went downtown for a morning speech Tom Davis was giving.   A friend of mine who is also a reporter was at her table.  Amy was talking to someone else at the table saying "Jeannemarie was going to win big".  My friend interrupted and asked what planet she was on.  Amy swiveled around and demanded to know his sources because all of her sources were telling her Jeannemarie was going to win.   She was literally outraged that it was even up for discussion.

As you all know, Jeannemarie went on a few weeks later to lose by a larger margin than any other Republican incumbent in State Senate history.

So now, as campaign 2008 gets underway, Amy is once again touting the Davis candidate- this time Gerri Devolites-Connolly.  Connolly and Davis are one political organization, with numerous similar donors, similar issues and similar "pay to play" styles.  And apparently they have the same reporters in their back pocket too.

California Legalizes Gay Marriage

Good.  This is going to be an issue that is resolved within the next 10 years.  The era of people caring what others are doing in their private lives is coming to an end.

EMAIL FROM BYRNE CAMPAIGN

LOVE IT!!!!!

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

Dear Friend,

Yesterday, the Huffington Post began to expose our opponent’s hypocrisy.  Claiming to be against the war in Iraq from the beginning, Leslie’s opponent is employed for one of the most secretive war profiteers in the world.  In fact, it was a highly-placed executive from his company who made the case for the Iraq war in the first place! Can he really claim to be against the war if he was lining his own pockets with the profits? 

This just underscores the real choice we have in this election. 

CONTRIBUTE HERE

Just three weeks from now, on June 10th, we have the chance to elect a true progressive.  Leslie Byrne has always stood by her constituents.  She opposed the Iraq war from the outset, sponsored such legislation as the Family and Medical Leave Act in Congress, and has always protected a woman’s right to choose. 

With your contribution of $35, $75, $150 or $250 today, we can send a clear signal that we want a progressive Democrat to go to Congress and not someone whose concern for war profiteering is determined by his run for office.  Can you help today?

We have been working hard to take our message of progressive change to voters across Northern Virginia and the response has been overwhelming.  But with election day around the corner, we have many more people to reach and need to continue our aggressive voter contact efforts. 

This week, your contribution of:
$35 will pay for literature handouts in one precinct;
$75 will feed our fabulous volunteers;
$150 will keep our volunteer phone banks dialing for three nights;
and $250 will send direct mail to 450 primary voters.
Almost 2,300 contributors have invested in Leslie’s campaign for progressive change.

Please click here to make your secure online contribution of $35, $75, $150, $250 -  or whatever you can give - and join the Byrne Brigade today!


Sincerely,

Joe Fox
Campaign Manager, Byrne for Congress


P.S. – Please don’t delay in making your contribution.  We need to put Leslie, a true progressive, in Congress!

"Ayatollah Cuccinelli" vs. Frank Wolf

Farewell Frank covers it here.

First Ken Cuccinelli endorses Frank Wolf in the upcoming primary.  Then he sends out the wrong date for the primary.  With "support" like that...

Then as Bearing Drift notices, Ken shifts to the 10th District convention and endorses non-Wolf supported candidates for the State Central Committee.

Remember when a constituent of Ken's whose daughter was killed at Virginia Tech was testifying before his committee on the gun show loophole and Ken walked out?  That was a chicken-shit move.  So was this email- supporting Wolf while trying to undermine him at the same time.

Remember When Gerry Hung Up on Kaine

You should.

(Gerry Sucks, Part 59).

TOM DAVIS USES RACIAL SLUR IN OBAMA ARTICLE

"Tar Baby"?!?!  The Politico just broke the news.

Gerry Sucks, Part 58

Lowell covers the national blogs finally figuring out that Gerry Connolly is a "Zell Miller/Joe Lieberman" kind of Democrat.

GERRY'S CASUAL ENCOUNTER ON CRAIGSLIST

RedVirginia has the scoop.  This ad is currently competing against other ads in Northern Virginia, such as

"Exotic Hot Wife Needs Fantasy Fulfilled",

"Any Cougars Out There?",

"Kitty, Kitty, Lick, Lick",

and "Connolly Staffers Need a Job June 11th".

(Gerry Sucks, Part 57)

The Difference Between Caucuses and Primaries

I've said before- the problem with caucuses is many people have a tough time showing up at one certain time to vote- turnout is always higher when the polls are open all day and they can choose a time to vote that is best for them.

Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton won Texas by a 100,000 vote margin in the primary.  However, those who voted in the primary were allowed to return to the polls at 7 p.m. and cast a vote in the Democratic Caucus. Barack Obama supporters showed back up in mass, and Obama won the caucus, and a majority of the Delegates.  So if you were motivated enough to show up twice in one day, you got counted twice- a new concept in Presidential politics.

Tonight we got another example of how much caucuses skew results:  earlier in the year Obama won the Nebraska caucuses by over a 2-1 margin (26,126-12,445).  Tonight when they had a non binding primary in Nebraska the results were way different as Obama barely won 45,805-43,185.  That's a 34 point margin turned into a 2 point margin based on method of nomination.

Before Hillary gets out, I hope she can force some media attention on this.  We have solid evidence through Nebraska and Texas that primary results are far different from caucus results in the same state.  In both cases, turnout was far higher in the primaries.

So if we know that the caucus results are inflating Obama's real support- and when a primary is held with higher turnout Hillary is doing better- why are we counting caucuses towards the popular vote as if they were equal in voter participation to primaries?

MOUNTAIN MOMMA WINS AGAIN

4:23 p.m. Projection:  Hillary Clinton wins West Virginia.

NOMINATION CONTESTS ARE NEVER OVER WHEN STATES ARE REFUSING TO BACK THE PRESUMPTIVE NOMINEE.

Gerry Sucks, Part 56

Who can forget the mailer calling Charlie Hall a Republican in the 2007 Democratic Primary?  What have we learned since then?

Gerry was quietly trying to undermine Chap Petersen against Jeannemarie Devolites Davis.

Many of Tom Davis' top donors are supporting Gerry---  and Tom even walked Gerry around Capitol Hill.

But back to the "Linda Smyth" mailer calling Charlie a Republican...

Linda Smyth used to head "Republicans for Connolly" in 1999.

Who would be bold enough to pay for a mailer calling one candidate a Republican, when the opponent headed up their Republican organization a few years ago?  Arrogant enough to demand that his advise be included as an in-kind contribution?

VPAP can answer that.

Thanks for the Shout Out RTD!

In this morning's paper.

Delegate Abuser Fees SPEAKS

From the WaPo:

"Del. David B. Albo, a Fairfax Republican involved in transportation negotiations, said Kaine's plan had a "0.000 percent chance" of winning approval."

This is how Tim Kaine stays so popular.  All the voters see is the idiots in the General Assembly attacking him, and assume he must be doing a good job.  I mean if Delegate Abuser Fees doesn't like the bill....

Governor Regressive Tax

The biggest difference between Governor Mark Warner and Governor Tim Kaine is on taxation issues.

First of all, Mark Warner vetoed the repeal of the estate tax, Virginia's most progressive tax.  Tim Kaine campaigned on repealing it, and then signed the repeal into law.  Now he is whining about revenue shortfalls in transportation.  Um...

One of the key aspects of the original Warner tax plan in 2004 (and he admits that not enough of his plan was passed) was the tax REFORM aspect of it, instead of just the increased revenues.  Besides keeping the estate tax, Warner's plan focused on creating a new income tax bracket for Virginia's most wealthy- while giving a tax cut to 2/3 of Virginia families.

So the Republicans gave Warner his revenue but not his tax reform.  Sad.

But what the heck is Tim Kaine doing making the situation so much worse?   His solution in the upcoming transportation session is a sales tax increase- the most regressive tax possible.  This is to make up for revenue we lost when he signed the repeal of the estate tax- the most progressive tax.

For a former missionary it is especially shocking that Kaine may leave office with one of the most pathetic legacies in recent Virginia history for the working poor.