Not Larry Sabato

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Faisal Gill- Twinkees and the Navy

BVBL has a hillarious question up.  Is Faisal Gill eating his way out of the Navy?

Chairman Exchange Quips

From the WaPo:

"State GOP Chairman Ed Gillespie said: "Through no effort of his own, Governor Kaine now has the transportation plan he promised in 2005. Now isn't the time for listening tours, obstruction or sharp partisanship from the governor. Kaine owes it to Virginians to sign this bill."

C. Richard Cranwell, chairman of the state Democrats, responded: "This is the same Ed Gillespie that used to be in Washington [as national GOP chairman]. The problem is, he can't forget the tricks he learned in Washington and wants to bring them to Virginia. Attacking the governor with a television ad -- it almost borders on being juvenile."

Misleading, obnoxious quotes aimed at personalities instead of the issues.  Something both party chairman have in common apparently.

Dirty Dozen- House of Delegates- Edition 2

Here's the updated list for the Virginia House of Delegates:

#1-  68th District:  Katherine Waddell vs. Manoli Loupassi vs. William Shewmake
Bush 58.2%, Kaine 53.7%, Allen 52.6%, No on Marriage 55.5%
Rating:  Toss Up.  Primary Rating: Likely Loupassi
(#1 Rating is unchanged from last Dirty Dozen)

Loupassi is putting away the primary, but Waddell is out working hard.

#2-  52nd District:  Jeff Frederick vs. Chris Brown
Kerry 52.4%, Kaine 55.5%, Webb 57.0%, Yes on Marriage 61.0%
Rating: Toss Up (#2 Rating is UP 4 spots from last Dirty Dozen)

Mayor of Dumfries is like being Sheriff of Mayberry (not much to do).  But it looks good on a resume.

#3-  51st District: Faisal Gill vs. Julie Lucas vs. ???
Bush 50.3%, Kaine 55.1%, Webb 54.6%, Yes on Marriage 58.5%
Rating:  Toss Up (#3 Rating is DOWN 1 spot from last Dirty Dozen)

Considering it isn't even March yet, this race is very entertaining.

#4-  67th District:  Chuck Caputo vs. Marc Cadin
Bush 53.5%, Kaine 55.1%, Webb 54.0%, Yes on Marriage 51.9%
Rating:  Slight-Lean Democratic
(#4 Rating is unchanged from last Dirty Dozen)

Sully has taken such a turn left after being reliable GOP territory for decades.  No one knows what to expect this year.

#5-  9th District:  Allen Dudley vs. Eric Ferguson
Bush 63.9%, Kilgore 55.3%, Allen 61.9%, Yes on Marriage 71.3%
Rating:  Slight-Lean GOP   
(#5 Rating is DOWN 2 spots from last Dirty Dozen)

An almost perfect campaign wasn't enough for Eric in 2005- not sure how to set the expectations here this time.

#6-  34th District:  Vince Callahan vs. Margi Vanderhye vs. Rip Sullivan
Kerry 50.4%, Kaine 60.1%, Webb 57.1%, No on Marriage 55.3%
Rating:  Slight-Lean Republican.  Primary Rating:  Leans Vanderhye
(#6 Rating is DOWN 1 spot from last Dirty Dozen)

Leslie Byrne has endorsed Margi which should give her a leg up for the nomination.

#7-  59th District:  Watkins Abbitt vs. Connie Brennan
Bush 54.3%, Kaine 51.7%, Allen 50.5%, Yes on Marriage 59.0%
Rating: Leans Republican (Abbitt)
(#7 Rating is UP 2 spots from last Dirty Dozen)

The more I talk to people, the more this race comes up as a very possible upset.

#8-  14th District:  Danny Marshall vs. Adam Tomer
Bush 53.9%, Kaine 51.3%, Allen 54.0%, Yes on Marriage 75.7%
Rating: Leans Republican
(#8 Rating is DOWN 1 spot from last Dirty Dozen)

There's a weird local issue going on here with power issues.  Trying to learn about it. 

#9-  21st District:  John Welch vs. Bobby Mathieson
Bush 56.0%, Kaine 53.3%, Webb 50.5%, Yes on Marriage 59.1%
Rating:  Leans Republican (Not on last Dirty Dozen)

The only district at the Beach to vote for Kaine/Webb/Kellam.

#10-  32nd District: David Poisson vs. ???
Bush 55.5%, Kaine 53.1%, Webb 51.4%, Yes on Marriage 53.7%
Rating: Leans Democratic
(#10 Rating is DOWN 2 spots from last Dirty Dozen)

The Republicans can't even seem to settle on who they want to rumor for this seat.

#11-  93rd District:  Phil Hamilton vs. ???
Bush 50.5%, Kaine 57.7%, Webb 54.7%, Yes on Marriage 53.9%
Rating: Leans Republican (#11 Rating is unchanged from last Dirty Dozen)

Hamilton is popular, but these are Fairfax like numbers recently for Republicans.

#12-  41st District: Dave Marsden vs. ???
Bush 50.3%, Kaine 58.6%, Webb 55.7%, Yes on Marriage 50.6%
Rating:  Leans Democratic (#12 Rating is unchanged from last Dirty Dozen)

Tim Hugo has been recruiting here...

Which Republican did this?

When I was looking at the Democratic Delegates from Northern Virginia who voted for the GOP transportation plan this morning, I suddenly realized what they all had in common.

100% of the Democratic Delegates who represent a district that is mainly in a competitive State Senate District voted YES on the plan.

Here's the Delegates, and who they undercut:

Steve Shannon:  Undercut Chap Petersen, Janet Oleszek
Dave Marsden:   Undercut Janet Oleszek, Chap Petersen, Galligan or Barker
Mark Sickles:     Undercut Greg Galligan or George Barker
David Poisson:   Undercut Mark Herring
Chuck Caputo:   Undercut Janet Oleszek, Mark Herring, Chap Petersen
David Bulova:    Undercut Chap Petersen. Janet Oleszek

Did the Republican party specifically target these Delegates to hurt Democratic attempts to take over the Senate of Virginia???

I expect this undercutting of Democrats from Marsden, but I'm very surprised at some of the others.

It's also worth noting that Chap Petersen was asked about this on his blog this morning.  That's why I like Chap- even with the knife still in his back, he chooses not to return the favor.  Class Act.

Jeff Frederick- A Class Act

Eyewitnesses are telling me Jeff Frederick has done it again. 

Yes the same guy who screamed at a teenager, harassed a cameraman and took a walk instead of voting on the transportation bill.

This time an eyewitness reports to me on a Sine Die party at Richbrau last Saturday night...

Apparently a number of Delegates and staff had gathered there, and my eyewitnesses says Jeff "had clearly had something to drink, but he wasn't totally sloshed yet".

Richbrau has a policy against hats after a certain time of night.  Basically its so the bar doesn't become a "white trash" hangout.  Good for them.  So, the manager went around asking some of the partygoers to remove their hats.  Bill Janis was one who had a hat on, and he immediately agreed to remove it.

So in the middle of the party filled with important General Assembly regulars, what did Jeff Frederick do when he was asked to remove his hat? 

"Do you know who I am!?!?!?" he asked the manager according to the eyewitnesses before going into an obnoxious tirade.

Sources tell me the manager then asked him to leave.  He left with Amy Frederick, only for her to return alone later in the evening, and according to my source "clearly embarrassed".  Meanwhile partygoers spent the rest of the night speculating that Jeff was back at the hotel, either sobering up, or just pouting.

Pathetic.

CLUB FOR GROWTH SPEAKS OUT

Gov. Kaine should veto HB 3202

 

We agree with Governor Kaine that the House Transportation Compromise bill is “bogus”, “irresponsible” and “a very bad idea.” It raises taxes and introduces another layer of unelected and unaccountable government. We implore the Governor to do the right thing and veto this bill.

Phillip Rodokanakis, the President of the Virginia Club for Growth said: “A man’s word used to be his bond; unfortunately, one can no longer trust the word of Virginia politicians even when they sign a pledge guaranteeing to the voters that they will not raise taxes.”

“Like a bad chapter from George Orwell’s novel ‘1984,’ a pledge against taxes has been reduced into a newspeak quote: ‘Tax is prosperity, unaccountability is freedom, collective voting is strength” said Rodokanakis.

Although we obviously disagree with the Governor on the root issues that make this a bad bill, we agree with him in principle and urge him to veto this abomination of a bill. At a time of unprecedented budget surpluses, Virginia families do not need to be saddled with another tax increase.

Rodokanakis said, “Virginians are sick of the same blatant lies from politicians year after year. We strongly urge members of the General Assembly to consider funding a transportation plan that does not include a tax increase, but instead allocates more money for roads from the General Fund and allows for building of smart roads through public/private partnerships that are funded through tolls and congestion pricing.”

There is no justification for enabling unaccounted and unelected regional authorities. This is particularly dangerous, given that they may end up controlling funds larger than the budgets of some local governments. “If anyone thinks that unaccounted and unelected authorities are desirable, they should take a look at the cronyism and unaccountability that goes on with the Commonwealth Transportation Board” said Rodokanakis.

As a result of this vote, we have lost all means of holding elected representatives accountable for what they do in office. If we can no longer rely on a politician’s signed pledge, how can anyone trust what they say when they are knocking on doors asking for our vote?

Northern Virginia Delegates off party line

From Delegates outside of Northern Virginia, the transportation vote was almost perfectly on party line. However, in NoVA the following Delegates flipped from their caucus position on the bill.

"Democrats" Voting Yes:  Steve Shannon, Dave Marsden, David Bulova, Chuck Caputo, David Poisson, Mark Sickles

"Republicans" Voting No:  Bob Marshall

Republicans who ran away like cowards and didn't vote:  Jeff Frederick

Who does this help politically and who does this hurt?

Drake Locks Her Doors

This went on last week, but I'm just catching up today because of everything that went on in Richmond.

MoveOn.org had people take petitions into their local Congressional offices.  I'm not a big fan of moveon, but there's nothing wrong with doing this.  Here's a video of what happened in the 5th District- some annoying people for sure, but totally harmless.  Plus, that is the reason the offices are there.

But in Virginia Beach it appears the staff of Congresswoman Thelma Drake locked the doors of the office.  This was a terrible move on the part of an obviously very immature staff.  Those offices are paid for by tax dollars, and you don't get to pick who comes in based on politics.  Had they been disruptive, they could be asked to leave. 

Instead one veteran of the Iraq War sat out front until they reopened the office.  So what did the staffers being paid by our tax dollars do?  They called the police and had the man waiting for them to reopen- arrested!

The guy who was arrested is fighting the charges in court, and threatening to subpoena Drake.  Good for him.  More important, Thelma needs to fire these staffers immediately.  This would not be tolerated in any other taxpayer funded office at any level of government.  If these staffers are not dismissed, this needs to be taken to the ethics committee in Congress for action.

Just to contrast- when these same activists came into Congressman Tom Davis office, he took the time to personally meet with them.  Thelma should truly be embarrassed, and until she apologizes for this no one should let her forget it.
 

Preview of 2007

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