Why Does David Bulova Need Mommy's Help on the Political Playground?

Didn't She Stop Protecting Him From Bullies When He Was in Elementary School?

One of the races Republicans were kicking themselves over was letting Fairfax Delegate David Bulova go unopposed (again!) for a third term as Governor Bob McDonnell swept his district.  Bulova has not been contested since the 2005 open seat race for his seat where he finished further behind the top of his ticket than any other candidate (challenger or incumbent) in the state.  Yet Republicans have failed in both elections since then to even field a candidate.

That sounds like it may be changing in 2011, and David and his mother- Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova- appear to not be happy about it.  Out of Bulova's own precinct is Dave Foreman- the former director of constituent services for Tom Davis and now Chief of Staff to Pat Herrity.

Foreman has been quietly testing the waters for a campaign against Baby-Bulova and I hear he has found a lot of support around the district.  So what happens next?

All of the sudden at a public board meeting, when Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity proposes a 10-15 percent budget but for Supervisors, Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay immediately starts attacking Herrity for having the highest paid staffer of any Supervisor.  Dave Foreman of course.

Like Congressional offices, Supervisors can hire as many people as they want at any salary they want, as long as they stay within their budget.  If Herrity wants to pay someone more because they are a former Congressional staffer with experience other staff doesn't have, there is nothing wrong with that.  But that's not the point.  This was obvious political bullying that the Chairman had one of her members do in order to try and intimidate Foreman from running. 

This is unprecedented. I have never seen a staffer of the county called out like that in public debate before- especially in a way that is supposed to bring them personal ridicule for their salary.  Both Bulova's and McKay owe Dave Foreman a big apology.  In public, just like their planned attack.

Comments

[GOPHokie]

Nice title Ben...

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkYqVwrKwZRlpD2yAerf60smeBA4DpEeUc]

Given that Pat Herrity is such a virtuous budget hawk, one would think that he would be attempting to set an example in keeping down staff wages; but that would require Pat not to engage in partisan hypocrisy.

[Gretchen Laskas]

Yawn.

[VA Blogger]

Why should Pat Herrity pay his staff less than other Supervisor offices? That doesn't make any sense, unless your goal is to shortchange Springfield residents out of the excellent constituent service the Herrity office has provided over the last two years.

[Dan]

Lesbian bondage and the RNC connection with it is in the news and we are talking about how Pat Herrity distributes the salaries among his staff with the money he is budgeted to use for that purpose?

Come on, Ben! That is no way to drive traffic to the site.

Lesbian Bondage! Get with it! The story is getting stale and you have not posted about it yet.

Wake up!

Lesbian Bondage and Republicans!

This is comedy gold. The stuff that blog hits are made of.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

Am I the only one who thinks talking about someone's salary is distasteful? I can't begrudge anyone a living in this economy, and unless he's making a truly ridiculous amount outside of Herrity's budget, I don't think it should be an issue.

If that's all Bulova has - that his putative opponent makes a lot of money - he's truly running scared.

Good.

[Dan]

Yeah, it isn't like the guy is spending it on lesbian bondage shows or something. The guy is a mainstream Republican.

(Psst! Ben, stake out the restrooms at the park. The guy is a mainstream Republican. Might be a wide stance kinda guy.)

[Dan]

Yes, talking about salaries is very distasteful.

[Gretchen Laskas]

I don't have an issue with discussing salaries -- I think pretty much anything is fair game in politics -- so I don't find it distasteful per se. But I also don't expect that people are going to care.

My precinct is one of several in Bulova's district, but I have to say that he is VERY popular here. (It's a pretty Dem precinct overall.) I have neighbors that don't tend to follow state or local politics but adore both Bulovas. When I'm doing door to door campaigning, I've actually been asked by neighbors "So what is Sharon/David's position on this?" and then they accept that position.

Philosophically, I think it is ALWAYS in the best in interest of the party to run a candidate, even in races they almost certainly cannot win. It's good for party building, and we all know that in politics, anything can, and often does, happen.

And I'm also someone who despises complacency -- to the point where I think every race should be run thinking that you are 20 points behind, even if you are 20 points ahead.

But that said, saying that David Bulova is "running scared" is more than a little silly from where I'm sitting.

[VA Blogger]

Bulova would have lost if we had been able to recruit a strong candidate (or keep one, for that matter) in the race. He was also shaken by the relatively strong showing of the Indie in the race, who I think held Bulova to 67% of the vote despite no money and no major party opposition. There's no reason why he *shouldn't* be running scared.

[Not Larry Sabato]

Gretchen- you also live in the development where David lived for over 5 years (and was precinct captain) before he moved to the precinct next door. I expect your neighborhood is more Pro-David.

The rest of the 37th isn't.

[Gretchen Laskas]

Ben- you are right about my precinct in particular, but I do make it my business to know my districts. Perhaps it is because I lived in Prince William for so long that I find some of the rhetoric here about having "only" 67% a tad overheated. Every race should be fought for- but that doesn't make this particular race easier for republicans to win. After all, people like me did not live in Bonnie Brae when the Bulovas did, and many of the houses in this very stable (compared to the rest of Fairfax County) have also turned over in the past five years. (I know I keep harping on the subject, but I do really feel that we miss opportunities by not realizing how much turnover there is in NoVa and planning our campaigns to tap into that. Of course, I'm someone who moves all the time, so I'm biased!)

That said, of course, any race taken for granted is a potentially lost race in the worst way possible. (think MA). In many ways a moncontested race is a short term loan that comes due politically down the road.

[Goldwater/Reagan Republican]

It's "distasteful" for taxpayers to know the salaries of their employees? This is public information!

The Board of Supervisors and County Executive hide more than enough from the public as it is. Salary information for all public employees should be readily available to any taxpayer.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkYqVwrKwZRlpD2yAerf60smeBA4DpEeUc]

Ben is sending a signal: he is beginning a new campaign all about Ben and trashing Democrats to ingratiate himself with the Republican teabaggers that predominate postings on this blog.

Ben just can not help being an attention whore!

[Dan]

It's all about the blog hits, baby.

Did I mention lesbian bondage and Republicans?

So much more fun and far less sordid than the "family values" politicians blowing guys in restrooms or paying prostitutes to change their diapers that are the stuff of typical Republican scandals.

God bless Michael Steele!

[Not Larry Sabato]

google, why are you on here if you attack so many posts? Can't you go somewhere else and give me less hits?

[Dan]

Goldwater/Reagan Republican, I believe those things are indeed a matter of public record. But for those of us raised in a kinder gentler time it was considered crass to discuss what people were paid or how much things cost.

I suppose that seems quaint in this day and age.

[change]

Dan,
Seems you are doing a lot of posting on things that have nothing to do with the original message. I could care less but you often give me a hard time for it.

So, off subject but of interest, is what the consequence of opening up potential drilling off the coast might do for VA’s economy? (just a suggestion for another thread).
I think this session of the GA addressed this somewhat to put us in a favorable position.

[HisRoc]

There is no mystery here to Ben's motivation. The Bulovas are part of the Connolly Machine, pure and simple. A lot of us Fairfax County residents, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike, are sick and tired of King Connolly's crew, with their back-stabbing dirty tricks and undemocratic manipulation of elections while catering to the special interest who fund their campaigns at the expense of the interest of the citizens. Using Jeff McKay to attack David Bulova's potential rival was a classic Connolly dirty trick. In the process, McKay has proven himself to be a scum-sucking weasel who will never be half the supervisor that Dana Kaufman was.

[HisRoc]

BTW, this was a twofer. By attacking Pat Herrity's staff salaries, McKay was also attacking King Gerry's potential rival this fall. Promises have been made to McKay and this was a contract hit.

[www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkYqVwrKwZRlpD2yAerf60smeBA4DpEeUc]

The conspiracy theorists are out in force today: these paranoid freaks teabaggers) think that because they constantly engage in petty partisan conspiracies, their opponents do likewise !

[change]

Hisroc,
I believe I heard that sound you were talking about earlier.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

I didn't say anything about the salary information not being available. I said I found it distasteful to talk about the man's salary.

If you have a problem with the amount of money the Supervisors are given for their staff, that's one thing. But this isn't about that - this is about attacking someone because they make "too much." I think that's a ridiculous argument. Unless he isn't earning his paycheck, and no one is saying he isn't, there's no reason to bring it up. It's a low blow.

[Gretchen Laskas]

Eh, it's not that bad. It's silly, but far from the worst attack I've seen, even locally. And if this is "King Connolly's" idea of a "hit job" then I think people around here have it pretty easy, politics-wise!

But then, I'm someone who doesn't see politics as a gentleman's game (not being a gentleman probably helps...) but more as a blood sport! Call it a weakness....

[Kevin]

"But this isn't about that - this is about attacking someone because they make "too much." I think that's a ridiculous argument."

I agree Brian. Would you say that argument applies to any state or county workers?

[blogpostname]

We all know how much McKay likes to whine and stomp his feet when he doesn't get his way. In this instance he apparently doesn't know how to balance his $400,000+ office budget which is kind of scary when his constituents rely on him to balance a multi-billion dollar county budget - the politics of distraction anyone?

If he has a retention problem in his office maybe he should look in the mirror rather than avoid conversation about his own office's shortfalls by pointing the finger elsewhere. Has anybody checked how much McKay has returned each fiscal year from his office budget compared to Herrity in the last couple of years?

[Dan]

" And if this is "King Connolly's" idea of a "hit job" then I think people around here have it pretty easy, politics-wise!"

Gretchen is spot on here. All the over heated talk about "Boss" Connolly and his "machine" that one hears from both his Republican and Democratic opponents is totally laughable.

One can only assume these folks have never seen a genuine political machine up close. Otherwise they would realize how silly they sound.

[Van]

Factual error: those statements from McKay never happened at a public meeting. It was in a newspaper article, not a public forum, so, sorry, Ben, but you're wrong.

[TomPaine]

"One can only assume these folks have never seen a genuine political machine up close. Otherwise they would realize how silly they sound."

How true! Ben and his tea party compatriots are not only paranoid but sissified when it comes to hardball politics, except when they are dishing out their own brand of political garbarge.

[Mommy Blog]

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