Criegh Deeds, in his own words, in today’s Washington Post:

The day after I’m elected, I will begin assembling a bipartisan commission to craft a comprehensive transportation package. Like Gov. Baliles did, I will appoint Republicans, Democrats and independents along with private-sector leaders and transportation experts. The commission would begin work in December and issue its report early next year.

Emphasis mine. But just to make sure you didn’t miss it:

THE DAY AFTER I’M ELECTED

THAT is when Creigh Deeds intends on begining to come up with any sort of solution for transportation.  That is when he’ll start telling Virginians his plans for the roads they drive on (or sit on for hours on end) every day.  Not before, no, not when you and I are supposed to consider Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell’s positions so we can make an informed decision on who to vote for Governor.

And who will he stock his bipartisan committee with?  Maybe the tax raising Republicans who have endorsed him?  You know, the same bipartisan individuals who brought up Mark Warner’s tax increase?

A bipartisan tax increase is good for Deeds and Democrats. Gives them political cover from any hounding they’d face for raising taxes during a down economy.

On the issues that matter to Virginians Deeds fails.

Transportation he has no plan.

Jobs? He’d raid the general fund that is so vital for education (in his words) to maybe help create some. Probably union jobs, but we don’t know because he can’t take a stand on card check.

Unions? Love em! And their money! Even though only 4% of Virginians are members of a union.

Is he for collective bargaining or against it for police officers? Depends on which police organization he’s talking to.

And this is all from a guy who can’t even appear on the same stage with his opponent!  A guy who can’t articulate basic answers to basic questions about whether or not he’ll raise taxes without snapping on a reporter simply trying to do her job.

From a campaign that touts “Deeds not words” they really aren’t delivering much of either.

Today Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds took part in a live interview through the Times Dispatch where he took questions from the public. Yours truely happened to have his question asked first. Look, ma,  I’m on virtual TV!

For those that don’t want to watch the video, my question was this:

During the VBA debate at the Homestead both candidates pledged to not make social issues a focus during this campaign. Yet, only a few weeks later your campaign has decided to run strongly on the issue of abortion. Why the change of heart and will your campaign continue to focus on social issues instead of issues like jobs, transportation, education and others?

Deeds response is more or less this:

This campaign is not about social issues… this is an important issue because it shows the difference in priorities.

So it’s not about social issues, but it’s about this social issue in regards to priorities.

Priorities?

Creigh Deeds has said in regards to his campaign that we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. And he’s absolutely right. Nothing on transportation. Nothing on taxes. Nothing on education. Nothing on jobs. Nothing on the issues that matter.

But abortion? Well, we’ve seen a lot of talk out of his camp on that. Not that it’s an issue in this campaign or anything. Just that it’s an important issue that he would really really really like to highlight.

Thanks to Ryan Nobles at NBC12 for the video and a good write up.

Lynn Mitchell puts it best when she quotes an old carpentry saying:

“Measure twice … cut once.” In other words, be certain before putting saw to wood because there’s no turning back.

Yesterday, Ben Tribbett of Not Larry Sabato measured once and then cut clean through his thumb, posting a picture of a Confederate flag near a Sportsmen for McDonnell booth and shouting from the hilltops that clearly, despite the rigged angle of the shot, that flag was smack dab in the middle of the McDonnell booth, displaying for all that McDonnell’s campaign is as wrapped up in southern heritage as Senator Jim Webb and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds.

Lowell Feld of Blue Virginia felt equally aghast and jumped on the bandwagon as well, going so far as to compare it to George Allen’s appearance in Gods and Generals.

Problem is, it ain’t Bob’s flag:

Hugh Crittenden, the founder and manager of the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show, is backing up McDonnell.

Crittenden said he invited both campaigns to staff a booth at the show, which draws 20,000 people each year. McDonnell’s campaign decided to show, but came late, so Crittenden assigned them the only booth left open: Number 43.

It happened to be next another vendor who also signed up late, Down Home T-Shirts, which got Number 44. According to material submitted to the show, Down Home T-Shirts sells “Confederate T-shirts and more.”

He said even if McDonnell’s staffers had asked for a move, the show was so crowded that they could not have been accommodated.

“I don’t want Bob McDonnell to get a bad rap from my show. He was there trying to be there for the outdoors people and the hunters,” Crittenden said.

Not good enough for Ben Tribbett, who, according to the Washington Post, feels the McDonnell campaign should have marched right up, ripped that flag down an thrown it into the racist face that dared to display it.

Or move to another location.  Which Crittenden says would not have been possible.

So what’s a campaign to do?

Well, in the case of the Deeds campaign, they allow their entire new media playbook to be blown wide freakin’ open.

Shortly after Ben Tribbett’s post goes live, Deeds campaign manager Joe Abbey chews it up and then spreads his cud to the Twitterverse:

“BREAKING NEWS: MCDONNELL HAS CONFEDERATE FLAG POSTED IN HIS BOOTH AT GUN SHOW IN RICHMOND”

Suddenly this becomes big news. But not because of the flag. No, because, well, not only is the flag flap fake (alliteration can be fun!) but the Deeds campaign just got their hands dirty, ruining their message machine, at least, according to Lowell:

The story about the Confederate flag that ran on NLS (and also here at Blue Virginia) should have stayed on the blogs. In other words, the Deeds campaign shouldn’t have touched it with a 10-foot pole.

…

First of all, the Deeds campaign touches the Confederate flag story, a mistake on so many levels it’s hard to even know where to begin (distracts from the campaign’s real messaging, is a controversial subject that is much better off being handled by “surrogates,” etc). Then, in the Washington Post no less, we’ve got the campaign’s senior communications guy clarifying and contradicting the campaign manager. Not good at all.

The second part of this Dear Abbey letter is very true, and plays right into the hands of those defending McDonnell because, well, what the heck are you guys doing in the Deeds camp?  Focusing on the issues or kinda sticking stuff up on the corkboard and letting each person throw a dart to figure out what they’re going to do today? Where are your priorities?

The first part is a gem.  Lowell is saying, “Hey, Deeds camp, keep feeding us the dirt and the mud and the things we do best (you know, NOT fact checking) and we’ll do all the nasty work while you guys can just go ‘oh, we don’t care about that, we’re just focusing on the issues, lah dee dah…’ *wink*wink*”.

Thanks for sharing, Lowell.

So here we have a campaign for governor trying to gain traction with its base by ignoring the issues that matter like jobs, transportation, education and instead focusing on abortion and feeding the bloggers who call their rural efforts a “Deliverance Tour” a horrible picture in an attempt to associate the McDonnell campaign with the south.

Oh, and Deeds is down by double digits in every poll but one that only has him down by nine.  Oh, and that abortion issue is one that those polled trust McDonnell on 12% more than deeds.

And we have two of the biggest Democratic bloggers in the state running crazy with a picture.  Just a picture. And it’s not a picture of someone doing something inappropriate or even picking their nose. No, it’s a flag near a candidate’s booth at a gun show.

Ben Tribbett ran Bob “Cooter” Jones’s campaign against Eric Cantor.  The other drafted Jim Webb, for whom the Confederacy “simply reflects Southern pride“, to run against Haris Miller.  Southern heritage wasn’t much of an issue then.

And THIS is supposed to excite Deeds’s base?

This is turning into one LONG August for the Deeds camp.

UPDATE: Cuccinelli responds to Brownlee below.

Today the John Brownlee for Attorney General campaign’s “The Brownlee Report” dictated that Brownlee was leading the fight to curb illegal workers in Virginia. How’s that?

In response to a question regarding illegal aliens and undocumented workers, John Brownlee said he strongly supports “the use of the U.S. government’s E-Verify system.” Brownlee supports making the use of E-Verify mandatory for all employers in the Commonwealth, including the state government, in an effort to reduce the number of illegal aliens in Virginia. E-Verify is a proven and effective resource for employers to verify citizenship / residency status and screen out illegals who are seeking employment.

In a response to the same question, State Senator Ken Cuccinelli said he opposed requiring private employers to use E-Verify, suggesting the system was too flawed to be reliable.

How do their stances measure up to other states in this fine nation?

Currently, three states – Mississippi, South Carolina and Arizona – require all employers to use the E-Verify system. Seven more states require state agencies and government contractors to use the system, and two other states (including neighboring North Carolina) require all government agencies to use it. Legislation requiring the use of E-Verify is under consideration by four other states, and as of July 1, all federal government contractors and subcontractors will be required to E-Verify their newly hired workers.

Nine states agree with Cuccinelli’s assessment as opposed to three following Brownlee’s take.

During a time of economic crisis and increasing burdens on private businesses to pay their bills and put food on the table of their owners and employees, John Brownlee feels the power of government should be to create a greater financial burden on said businesses. And to what end?

Brownlee added that by implementing E-Verify and reducing the number of illegals coming to Virginia, both businesses and taxpayers will save money and reduce costs.

By increasing the burden of government on businesses and the people you can decrease the burden of people on government.

Isn’t that a little backwards for a Conservative to argue?

Isn’t the more Conservative argument to limit the size of government so it is a less burden on the people?

Does E-Verify reduce the costs by preventing the government from spending thousands upon thousands of dollars busting up small businesses to ensure they are using an electronic surveillance system to track citizens… er, ILLEGAL ALIENS?

Is Brownlee taking the Bloomburg approach on small businesses?

We already know from the AG debate at the advance that Brownlee’s in favor of price controls.

What else does the government get to check?

This isn’t leading the fight against illegal immigration. It’s leading the fight against small businesses, entrepeneurship and limited government.

Brownlee’s full text available after the cut.

4/28 UPDATE: Ken Cuccinelli responds to Brownlee’s accusations:

For the record – I do not oppose any effort to verify the status of someone’s legal residency. Unlike John Brownlee, I have a proven record in the State Senate opposing illegal immigration. No where in my comments did I say I opposed E-Verify. But don’t believe me – long time party activist, VFRW member and party leader Helen Blackwell was there – and this is what she said:

“No where in Ken’s comments Saturday did he say he opposed E-Verify. In fact, he recited his record supporting E-Verify in the State Senate. Ken said that they have not yet been able to get E-Verify out of Committee in the State Senate, and he suggested that an approach he would support would be to have the state government go first, then require private employers to use E-Verify. Ken said generally that he believes that the government should first impose requirements on itself before imposing those requirements on business.”

Amazingly, John Brownlee’s lack of research has missed an important point. Working with then Attorney General Bob McDonnell, I actually PASSED legislation REQUIRING that all state government contractors hire only legal residents of the United States and for the first time, giving the Commonwealth the ability to FIRE contractors not in compliance. As simple and straight forward as that sounds – this was an enormously difficult bill to pass in the Senate. John didn’t mention that in his email. Another case of false rhetoric versus the actual record.

Cuccinelli’s full response is after Brownlee’s full text.

Continue Reading »

How can you run to the right of someone in a primary and at the same time claim that other individual is too far right to win statewide?

Does this make sense to anyone?

UPDATE: I know there’s the usual “say one thing to appeal to the base in a primary and say another thing to appeal to the general electorate” mentality, but that assumes that:

1. Your base is stupid
2. The general electorate is stupid
3. Both will support you anyway despite your lying

If you’re counting on any of these three, well, can’t say I respect that one bit…

D.J. McGuire has announced his candidacy for Board Of Supervisors in Spotsylvania’s Lee Hill District.  You may know DJ from his weblog Right Wing Liberal where you can also get a feel for not just where he stands on things but the zeal he brings to the issues at hand.  It’s good to see strong Conservatives stepping up to help the people from back home.

I’m also happy to help him out with a website:

The goal is to just be a clean, straight forward design that presents the candidate, the issues, and a way to reach him.  More is on the way and further tweaks will be made as time goes by, but for an out the gate site it does the trick.

Check DJ McGuire For Supervisor out at the website, on Facebook or on Twitter and please consider a small contribution to his campaign through RedStormPAC.

Chris Marston is liveblogging the recount in the 46th House District where Republican Joe Murray is down in the special election by 16 votes.

Republicans, here’s your chance.

Joe Murray’s making one hell of a run for Tuesday’s special election in the VA-46.  You know, Brian Moran’s old seat.  The one Moran bailed on when he realized he needed to spend more time focusing on his race for Governor as opposed to his constituents.

Joe Murray is the Republican candidate and has a great chance to win one in what has been a dark blue district.  But he needs our help.

Please consider a contribution of $5, $25, $50 or more to Joe Murray for Delegate.  Your help can really make a difference, take one for the right, and send a good man to Richmond.  A man who will represent his constituents through and through.

For more information on Joe, check out his website and Facebook group.

Arlington School Board member Dave Foster has sent out a letter announcing that he will announce his candidacy for Attorney General after the November elections. Whether that announcement will change should Tim Kaine become Veep is anyone’s guess.

The Letter – Page One -Page Two

UPDATE: Belated thanks to Steven for the scan.

Back on the 15th the John Brownlee for Attorney General campaign put out a press release that his campaign out raised Ken Cuccinelli‘s in the quarter. Certainly the overall numbers speak for themselves (Brownlee – Cuccinelli) but looking deeper into Brownlee’s numbers something really stands out.

The largest contribution to the John Brownlee campaign was $25,000 (nearly a QUARTER of his total income) from R. Ted Weschler. I don’t know Mr. Weschler’s roots, but I can see how he’s contributed in the past and that has me a little concerned for the Brownlee campaign:

$20,000 to Mark Warner’s One Virginia PAC

$20,000 to Tim Kaine’s Moving Virginia Forward PAC

$20,000 to Tim Kaine for Governor

$500 to Warner for Governor

And perhaps quite notable to Conservatives:

$12,500 to Virginian’s For Responsible Government

Virginians for Responsible Government was set up in 2002 by a group of business leaders to defend the Senate “Gang of Five” Republicans — Chichester, Norment, Stolle, Stosch and Wampler — from intraparty challenge from conservatives.

Brownlee has shown his concern for questions of his conservative credentials (see BD: Brownlee takes exception to Kenney comments). Given his lack of a legislative record, there are going to be many more questions and people are going to look at things like donors for answers.

This is not a very good answer to Conservatives.

UPDATE: D.J. McGuire has another find in Weschler’s contributions:

One of Weschler’s “Republican” recipients (to the tune of $19,500) was James C. Wheat, a 2007 candidate for Delegate in Henrico County who endorsed Kaine (Elephant Ears) and has since endorsed Mark Warner (Lynchubrg News and Advance).  So Weschler’s $60K to Democrats looks a lot more like $80K.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli made it official today and announced his candidacy for Attorney General.  That rounds out one hell of a 2009 ticket for the Republican Party.

That’s one hell of a ticket.

Bearing Drift, Virginia Virtucon, and Cathouse Chat have more but I’m sure you can expect a lot of talk about this in the blogosphere this week.

UPDATE: Rick Sincere has video of Sen. Cuccinelli addressing the Republican Liberty Caucus last Saturday available here.

UPDATE 2: If there was any question on AG McDonnell intentions, he cleared the up with a letter today, available in full at Virginia Virtucon.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling has scheduled an announcement this afternoon to discuss his plans for 2009.  Sources are saying he may seek re-election to the LG spot.

Chris Green (aka STD) wondered why I support John McCain and why I chose now to express it.  It’s a good question and one I answered back in the comments, but I figure I should share it here as well for anyone else who might find themselves scratching their heads:

I had avoided making a full endorsement of anyone because not only was the field too large but my time to actually look into the candidates was limited. Initially I was a Thompson guy, but he looked better when thinking about running than he did once he was in. I have for months considered McCain the candidate to watch. Despite the troubles in his campaign he still held steady in numbers and kept his name around.

Looking at the field, what do you have? Huckabee’s more or less Jimmy Carter, only with less foreign policy experience. Ron Paul is utterly unelectable and out of left field. Romney’s ability to mold his politics to public opinion is amazing.

Immigration is a non-issue for me. Seriously, I don’t care, and I’ll articulate why in the near future. McCain/Feingold was a band-aid to a broken system to which any solution was not going to be taken well. And I don’t see McCain about to push for any restrictions on the Second Amendment, [NRA] C+ rating or no.

John McCain’s foreign policy experience and stand in the War on Terror is stronger than anyone else in the field. His support for making Bush’s tax cuts permanent goes a long way to putting him in solid conservative financial footing. His overall experience trumps anyone else in the field and he has what it takes to not only win the party nomination but take the White House in November.

More later…

George Allen has ruled out a run for governor in 2009.  Democrats Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and Del. Brian J. Moran have both announced.  No one has announced on the Republican side yet, though may expect a battle between AG Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling.