The House Democrats and the 2007 Campaign

Ward Armstrong's behavior is coming back to bite him in the ass...

From the WaPo:

"During last fall's campaign, House Democrats targeted several incumbents by sending out mailers and running TV advertisements that criticized them for supporting a pay raise for legislators. "Danny Marshall opposed increasing the minimum wage while voting to increase his own salary," said one mailer aimed at Del. Daniel W. Marshall III (R-Danville)."

Sounds like a good issue... but...

"Legislative salaries have not been raised in more than 15 years. The Democratic ads were referring to House GOP leaders' decision last year to raise the per diem by $5."

Oops.  But then then the House Democrats get really pathetic:

"When they found out this week that the Senate was increasing its per diem, several House Democrats approached Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) and other GOP leaders to ask whether they could also get an increase."

Seriously?  This is a joke, right?

"On Wednesday, Del. Kenneth R. Melvin (D-Portsmouth) told his House colleagues that he will circulate a resolution supporting a raise in the House, saying that a small amount of money could make a difference in people's lives."

Didn't you just run for this office knowing the pay and per diem rate? 

"Saslaw said he doesn't blame House Republicans for resisting calls to raise the allowance this year. Saslaw said that Senate Democrats, who picked up the four seats in the election needed to regain the majority, steered clear of using pay raises as an issue because they thought it was an unfair charge to make against GOP incumbents.

"They cut off their own noses," Saslaw said, referring to House Democrats."

Indeed, Dick Saslaw, indeed!

Meanwhile that isn't the only discussion of the House Democrats under Ward's "leadership":

"Today, Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax) brought the per diem issue back for a second day in a row by accusing Democrats of trying to smear GOP candidates in last year's legislative elections.

Hugo stood up on the House floor and criticized House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry) for the attacks against him during the November election when he was accused of working for a lobbying firm that overcharged the government, represented abusers at Abu Ghraib prison and profited from the war in Iraq.

Hugo said that when he talked to Armstrong during the campaign about the attacks the only response he got was "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."

Oh that's nice.  Accusing someone of being linked to torture and that's the response after?  Wow.

"Every one of us has our own take on what is fair," Armstrong said. "I don't know how much longer we have to talk about a campaign that was over in November. This is the '08 session."

Pathetic.  Sounds like it might be time for some new leadership.

Comments

[TheGreenMiles]

Are you criticizing General Assembly members for wanting to be paid more than $17,000 a year? I think if they got more than $8 an hour, they might not be so easily bought off by Dominion and other big businesses.

[Not Larry Sabato]

No. I am criticizing the House Democrats for attacking Republicans on voting for a raise in this, then begging for another one this session.

[dems4dems]

These cheap shots over penny ante pay raises are horse manure. Judy Feder lost me when she ran a commercial trying to tar Frank Wolf for a congressional pay raise. What goes around comes around.

TheGreenMiles is either giving too much credit to Virginia's Delegates or not enough credit to Dominion and other big businesses. I can't figure out which. Regardless, please take it for granted that Dominion will find a market for its ideas and campaign contributions regardless of how much tax money our GA members receive per hour.

Kudos to Ben for having the guts to call for new leadership!

More timid bloggers might balk at calling for the ouster of Armstrong, after under his leadership Democrats just won back four seats and is on the verge of winning back a fifth (Districts, it's important to point out, that were drawn by Republicans).

So bravo, Ben! Continue your pattern of shi++ing on people who have a track record of winning elections!

[Not Larry Sabato]

Armstrong beat one incumbent this year- the same as 01, 03 and 05. He had more favorable open seats- big whoop.

Where is the criticism of Brian Moran??

[Not Larry Sabato]

What am I supposed to bash him for? This crap didn't seem to go on in 03 and 05 when he was caucus chair- so I assume it is the leader. If you have evidence to show otherwise, let me know, and I will bash Brian.

[Doug in Mount Vernon]

I will admit to not knowing much inside information about what's going on down there with the caucus leadership, but Ben, this does appear to be yet another, in an epic list, of personal vendetta/gripe posts getting "back at" people who you perceive as not bowing to your every beck and call.

So, how do you expect anyone to lend you any credibility when you toss this kind of stuff about so freely?

Anyway, congrats on the new job. Good luck.

[G Lodge]

I'm no Armstrong fan, but he's a sharp guy . . . articulate and good on the floor.

Problem is, he gets caught up in the moment from time-to-time, gets out on that limb and says something hideously inappropriate, not to mention stupid, e.g. saying in public "Jeannemarie should get on her knees and do a Lewinsky."

There are other examples of him crossing the line and opening mouth and inserting foot.

Poor strategy in Southside and SW VA, too, pouring money into several races (at his and Cranwell's behest) and lost them all.

Ward Armstrong is overrated! And I'm glad he was taken to task on the floor yesterday. He deserved it. And, good Lord, am I tired of his whining about committee assignments.

Get over it, Ward.

[Not Ward Armstrong]

Yes, let's oust Ward Armstrong. That way we can have even less leadership from SW Virginia, and consolidate even more power in NOVA. That'll help Democrats statewide for sure.

I admire this post a lot. Ben called out a number of over the top attacks by Democrats in the last campaign, and I'm glad he is still covering it.

In the case of Ward Armstrong, who exactly is he leading anyway. Why do we want our leader to the right of the members Democratic voters elect?

[Not Jack Herrity]

1. Moran's hands are all over the pay raise issue. It was his money going into the coffers of candidates who were pushing it. Follow the money.

2. Kenny Melvin is the wrong guy to cry "poor." The guy's a filthy rich trial lawyer.

NJH

[Doug in Mount Vernon]

A few other impressions I'd like to share since it's an opportune moment.

1) My only contact with Mr. Armstrong was at a fundraiser he was gracious enough to attend this past fall for Kris up here in Mount Vernon. I found Ward to be personable, funny, and very smart. I don't fault him for a second for being an aggressive caucus chair and doing everything he could to win seats. There is always room for discussion on what could have been differently (or more smartly) to be more effective.

But throwing the baby out with the bathwater is never the best option.

2) I have made my gripes known previously with this whole idea of a "Citizen Legislator" that ends up meaning nearly a vow of poverty for elected officials. I don't like the compressed legislative sessions and I don't believe it's possible for legislators to be thorough enough to vet all the bills they come across, to have adequate debate (as in a real exchange of ideas and discussion that MUST be part of forged real legislative progress), or to adequately learn everything they need to about various bills' impacts on state government, communities, and efficiencies.

Is Virginia's government not worth the investment in creating a professional legislature? I think so. I know there are real traditions and strong points to having citizen legislators, one of the biggest being the benefit of elected officials bringing their real-world experiences with them. However, I think they are rapdily becoming outweighed by the need to bring to bear much more scrutiny, much more effort, and much more exchange of ideas, into our legislative bodies.

I think it's time to modernize Virginia's law-making bodies.

The Comment at 4:14 was sponsored by Dominion Virginia Power.

Brian Moran and Ward Armstrong are now paying a very steep price for their actions last election season. Its not just Armstrong's fault. Moran had his hands all over decisions that were made last election season. It very well may cost Moran a governorship because of his new committee assignments.

Kudo's to the Republican leadership in the house for calling them out. Howell and company are now fighting back and taking the offensive. This should have been done years ago.

If Moran and Armstong continue their actions the house caucus may actuall pick up some seats in 09.

[Anonymous Is A Woman]

Actually, Doug, you're right. The "citizen legislator" is not the idealistic democratic legacy that it sounds like. It's really elitism left over from the days of gentlemen planters (or plantation owners) who went to serve in the legislature for a few months and then got home in time for planting season.

Nowadays, it means that the only people who can afford to serve as delegates and senators are those who are self-employed or are lawyers, doctors or other professionals who can more or less make their own hours and take off for a couple of months.

A person with a day job probably couldn't get the time off to serve. And since it's only a part time job, very few business people can afford to give up their real jobs to do it.

As for the campaign tactic of attacking Marshall and others for wanting the per diem raise, wasn't it actually tied to the fact that they also voted against raising the minimum wage?

The charge was that they wanted to raise their own pay while denying a raise to the workers who needed it the most - people who also hadn't had a pay raise in years and probably earn a lot less than these legislators do.

You know what, I don't have a problem with pointing that out to voters.

ANIAW is correct. Its fair game for Ward to attack Marshall for wanting to raise HIS pay and not those of minimum wage workers.

Ward wants to raise the House pay AND that of minimum wage workers. Kudos to Ward once again!

Is also fair for Republicans to point out that democrats are now begging for a raise. What hypocrisy! The democratic caucus pulled out all stops they lost and now they are getting paid back big time.

[Bob Brink]

Something to keep in mind:

This year House Democrats picked up more seats than in any year since 1975. Despite a map that could not have been drawn more unfavorably to us, we waged vigorous campaigns across the entire Commonwealth, and we won seats in places where we hadn't been contenders for over a decade. This didn't just happen. Everybody in the Caucus pitched in, but nobody did more than Ward -- from recruitment to fundraising to campaigning for our candidates across the map. He's tough and aggressive -- and those are the leadership qualities that got us where we are today.

[asmith]

Ward's strategy in Hampton Roads worked pretty well didn't it?

The democrats arent walking around wringing their hands over the bullshit the republicans pulled. The gop even gave the same response regarding heat and a kitchen.

This shit is done tit for tat.

What Holwell and Griffith don't realize is they are simply creating some ruthless opponents with nothing to lose.

[Kris Amundson]

Ben, as Finley Peter Dunne (aka Mr. Dooley) once said, "Politics ain't beanbag." I hardly think that the Other Party should be griping about tough campaigns. No, they're griping because our tough campaigns worked.

Trust me in this--there are no House Democrats--zero, none--who want to replace a leader who is smart, articulate, and (oh, yeah) tough as nails.

[David Englin]

Give me a break, Ben. Under Ward's leadership, House Democrats are far more organized, disciplined, and united than anyone can remember, we won seats in Virginia Beach and Prince William for the first time in a long time, and we're likely about to pick up one more. Campaigning is not for the feint of heart, and we could certainly take to the floor crying "for shame" about the baseless and unfair attacks on candidates like Bobby Mathieson and Joe Bouchard. (Heck, my opponent was gentle compared to some of the Republicans out there, and even *I* was accused of some horrendous things.) But the campaign is over, and it's time to act like grown ups, stop whining, and govern. To quote my Republican seat mate, "Get over it!"

Cry,complain,cry, when the speaker screws with the democratic delegates committees they just keep crying and complaining about not getting their pay raise. I hope you like Ward Armstrong after Howell screws you all in the GA. You can thank him and Moran for making up lies and almost getting sued over some of the untruths out there.
When you don't take out the majority after one of the nastiest years on record expect payback and boy its fun to watch. Now you all are going to have to hold all those seats you barely won.

I don't want to hear one more democrat complain and whine about low pay and poor committee assignments. TO THE WINNER GOES THE SPOILS!!!! HA HA HA! Thank Ward Armstrong and Brian Moran for all your poor assignments.