Not Larry Sabato

Is The Virginia Senate Next?

Hopefully all 22 Democratic members of the Virginia Senate will be reading this link today and thinking about the public identity they need to create in the next 12 months to avoid disaster.

FIMIAN PULLS A GORDON GEKKO

ATTENTION SOUTHSIDE AND SOUTHWEST

MARK WARNER JOINS GOP FILLIBUSTER WITH FOUR OTHER "DEMOCRATS" TO BLOCK BILL THAT ELIMINATED TAX BREAKS FOR COMPANIES THAT SEND JOBS OVERSEAS.

Live Tweeting An Execution

For those of you not on twitter, you may have missed this.

CUCCINELLI SCHEDULES FIRST POLITICAL TRIP TO IOWA

Cuccinelli to Campaign for State Attorney General candidates Luther Strange and Brenna Findley

FAIRFAX - Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli today announced that he had accepted invitations to campaign for Luther Strange, Republican candidate for Attorney General in Alabama, and Brenna Findley, Republican candidate for Attorney General in Iowa.  Attorney General Cuccinelli will speak at events on the two candidates' behalf during a trip from October 4-5.  The visits will not be paid for at taxpayer expense. 

"It couldn't be more critical at this juncture in our nation's history to elect more leaders like Luther Strange and Brenna Findley who are committed to preserving the Constitutional rights of their citizens, as well as the traditional role of states in our system of checks and balances, against incursions by the federal government," said Cuccinelli.  "The people of Virginia will also benefit to the extent we further strengthen the nationwide firewall against federal overreach.  I am honored to have been invited to participate in their campaigns."

Thanks Governor McDonnell

In what has been a very rocky first year, you got this one right.

UPDATE:  The WaPo weighs in with a great editorial.

Do You Want A Drunk Governor Killing People?

One thing I have learned from many years of involvement in Virginia politics is the politics surrounding the death penalty are some of the most complicated in the Commonwealth.  

There are strong supporters of the death penalty- who currently dominate the legislature and are from both parties- who want to see more crimes eligible for the death penalty, more prosecutors seeking the death penalty in cases where possible, and are uninterested in any appellate issues after conviction- these individuals want the executions done quickly, frequently and with as few hurdles as possible.

There are also a large number of complete opponents of the death penalty- who would like to see it abolished in all cases, no exceptions.  This group tends to be incredibly un-savvy when dealing with the media- defending the condemned with heartfelt words while rarely mentioning the victims- often causing a backlash amongst people tuning in that pushes them towards supporting the death penalty- not against it.

The largest block of Virginians are those who support the death penalty, but only in the most extreme cases and only when we are completely positive the accused is guilty.  These Virginians don't support executing the mentally retarded, children and generally don't support the death penalty for non "triggerman".  If you ask these people what types of crimes they do want to see the death penalty used for- you will generally hear "terrorism", or "murders committed during rapes" or "cop killers" or "multiple murders", etc.  Basically they only want a death penalty for the "worst of the worst" type of criminals.  This is basically the crowd I would have associated myself with- although statistics about disparities in how the death penalty is used have always troubled me.

Finally, the smallest block on this issue is a block of one- Former Governor Tim Kaine.   Kaine was an anti-death penalty activist who won the 2001 Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor by telling voters he opposed the death penalty.  This primary was held in the direct aftermath of the Illinois Governor making the death penalty a national issue in 2000 by calling a moratorium in his state on executions.  Once elected Lt. Governor, Kaine began shying away from this issue, refusing to publicly oppose any executions approved by Governor Mark Warner.  By his 2005 campaign for Governor, Kaine was publicly claiming that he was a death penalty opponent only morally- and that he would impose death sentences as Governor.  Once elected Governor that's exactly what he did- having transformed from a principled death penalty opponent to a death warrant signer all for his own political benefit.  This group of one, while the smallest, is also the most pathetic.

But enough about Kaine- I wanted to write this post about why Governor Bob McDonnell has managed to transform me from a limited death penalty supporter to a complete death penalty opponent. 

I will not be supporting another execution in Virginia under our current system.

When the death penalty was reinstated in Virginia the Governor was given extra responsibilities as the final word before any execution took place.  Up until the moment that an execution took place a Governor could step in to delay the execution for any period of time- or indefinitely if they chose to do so.  While the court system has specific rules for what evidence they can hear, what issues they can consider after trial and when that information must be submitted by- the Governor has no such restraints. 

In many ways the Governor in our death penalty system is the final judge.  He can consider any legal issue, any moral issue without prejudice.

Which is why I found Bob McDonnell's behavior last night so reprehensible.

This wasn't just "any" execution.  The Teresa Lewis case had sparked tens of thousands of news articles all over the world.  Her IQ test showed her as being mentally retarded when the 3.9 point IQ  test's margin of error is taken into account.  The actual shooters in this case received life in prison.  Executions of women are extremely rare in the United States.

Yet, despite all of these concerns the Governor rejected Teresa's application to have her sentence changed to life in prison on Friday (Virginia has no parole for crimes committed after 1994 so that is a real life sentence).  On the night of the execution he then proceeded to schedule himself at a "Cocktail Party" that was scheduled to begin 2 hours before the execution and continue until there was less than an hour until the execution.

Excuse me?  Was the Governor drinking at this "cocktail party"?  Is there any way to find out for sure (and I don't mean from his press flacks) whether he was inebriated during the execution when the prison was on the phone with his office waiting in case there was a final change of heart?

More importantly- why would the Governor even create such an appearance?

If the death penalty in Virginia has become so routine that the final, most important person in having an execution proceed thinks it is acceptable to go to a "Cocktail Party" immediately before a scheduled execution, then the system is completely and totally broken beyond repair.

It doesn't really matter if the Governor was drunk or not- because what we learned was he doesn't take his own actions around an execution seriously enough to assure the public that he is completely focused at the task at hand. 

That my friends, is reason enough to work to make Teresa Lewis go down in history as the last person executed by this Commonwealth. 

Execution of Woman With IQ Two Points Lower Than Forrest Gump To Take Place At 9 P.M.

The ABC Blame Game

I Told You So!

THE COOCH MOVES CLOSER TO ANNOUNCING FOR GOVERNOR.