KAINE SAYS HE WILL FINISH TERM
Bypassed for Biden, he cites 'no circumstance' under which he'd leave
By Olympia Meola
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
With his shot at running for vice president behind him, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that he expects to finish his term and thinks the newly minted Democratic ticket with Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. for vice president will play well in Virginia.
"It is my complete intention to be governor through January of 2010, and I see no circumstance under which that's not going to happen," said Kaine, indicating that he would not accept a Cabinet post next year in an Obama administration.
Speaking from Denver in a conference call with Virginia reporters, Kaine kept mum on how or when he was told he would not run alongside Obama, who is to accept his party's presidential nomination this week at the Democratic National Convention.
Kaine, a national co-chairman of Obama's campaign, said it's nice to have an answer to the speculation surrounding his potential vice-presidential candidacy, but he sidestepped a question on what implications the buzz could have on his relations in Richmond with Republicans.
The governor has caught flak from GOP lawmakers for his political work for Obama. It has intensified as Virginia faces a budget deficit that will force tough cost-cutting decisions.
Virginia Republicans said yesterday that Kaine had "failed the audition" and must "settle" for being governor.
"I'm sure Tim Kaine enjoyed the attention he received as Barack Obama's surrogate, attending rallies, traveling the country, going on the Sunday morning talk shows and being showered in confetti at each stop," Prince William County Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said in a statement.
"But Tim Kaine will not be vice president this year, and he must now set aside his ambitions to focus on getting back to work as governor, particularly now, given the budget mess we find ourselves in -- likely a billion dollars in the red."
Kaine told reporters yesterday that Virginia is grappling with the results of a declining national economy and that Virginians don't mind a government scaling back when times get tough.
He segued into a push for Obama, saying fiscal responsibility needs to start in Washington.
"It does make me more engaged in the November race because we've got to have a partner in Washington that understands how to manage an economy."
Although he's not on the ticket, Kaine will continue helping Obama in Virginia, trying to secure the state's 13 electoral votes for the Democrats, who have not carried the state in 44 years.
In an interview last week with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Obama called Kaine a good friend who will help him in Virginia -- no matter the role.
The addition to the ticket of Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could help Obama in Virginia, where one in 10 residents are veterans. Biden might increase the ticket's appeal to military families, traditionally a source of strength for Virginia Republicans.
Obama currently is neck and neck in Virginia with presumed Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.
"I think he's made a great pick with Joe Biden," said Kaine, citing the Delaware senator's expertise in foreign policy and the judiciary and his work to pass the Violence Against Women Act. The combination of experience between Obama and Biden, "I think will play very, very well with Virginians," Kaine said.
As for his own political horizon, Kaine said he's focused on helping Obama win in November and that he expects to complete his term as governor. He said he hasn't started to think beyond that -- and won't until spring or summer next year.
"It has been surreal in kind of a beyond-your-wildest-dreams [way] to be mentioned" for vice president, he said. "All the speculation has been obviously gratifying, but it also raises some tension and in the uncertainty of it all is a bit challenging."
His family, which also had to dodge the anticipatory flock of reporters who followed Kaine in the past few weeks, handled the attention with "a lot of grace and good humor," he said.
"My wife reminded me that I had already been elected to the highest office in the land -- her husband, and that was a good thing to be reminded of."
This weekend, Kaine will make at least one other cable TV program appearance, on "Fox News Sunday." He was interviewed on MSNBC yesterday afternoon.
When asked on that program about the scrutiny he has endured, including comments about his haircut, he gave a shout out to his barber at the William Byrd Hotel Barber Shop on West Broad Street, where a cut still costs $14, Kaine said.
On the conference call from Denver, where he's enjoying time with his wife, Anne Holton, and their children, Kaine expressed little disappointment about being passed over.
"I'm not feeling bad at all right now," he said, noting that he is looking forward to Obama's formal nomination.
"There are an awful lot of people who said we'd never get here, but here we are, and I feel absolutely great about that." Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6061 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
HISTORY-MAKERS HONORED AT LAST
HISTORY-MAKERS HONORED AT LAST
4,000 attend unveiling of monument to black Prince Edward youths
By Jim Nolan
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
It took five years of work and fundraising to acknowledge an act of bravery 57 years ago, but there is now a civil-rights memorial at the state Capitol. In granite and bronze it celebrates the courage of black men and women -- who, until yesterday, could not be found among the iconic statuary on the grounds once occupied by the Confederate Congress.
Sen. Henry L. Marsh, III, D-Richmond, stands in front of representations of two of his former law partners, Oliver W. Hill and Spottswood Robinson, at the dedication of the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, in Capitol Square in Richmond, VA .Prince Edward County schoolgirl Barbara Johns and her classmates walked out of Robert R. Moton High School on April 23, 1951, and marched to the county courthouse, daring to challenge the inequity of Virginia's segregated educational system. But for many of the 4,000 people who endured 95-degree heat, yesterday's unveiling in Richmond was hundreds of years in coming. A symbolic recognition of the largely ignored and unwritten history of black people in Virginia, the memorial honors their pivotal role in the civil-rights struggles of the 20th century.
"This is a great day," said Del. Dwight Clinton Jones, D-Richmond. "Today I want you to know that history is being made and the tide has changed. Thousands of young people who come here from schools all over the commonwealth of Virginia will not get half of the story or part of the story, but they'll get the whole story," Jones said. "They will be taught that Virginia is not just for a select few, but that Virginia is for all Virginians." Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said the recognition -- in the state and on the grounds of the Capitol -- was long overdue. "The statues we have are great, and they recognize people of great accomplishment. But let's be honest: They only recognize one kind of person. They don't recognize all who have been Virginians," Kaine said.
"The first thing we do today . . . that does make this a new Virginia, is we open up Capitol Square to recognize African-Americans, recognize women, recognize all who have been part of history, the tragic but triumphant history of this wonderful commonwealth." Johns and her classmates made history that day in 1951. A month after their walkout, noted civil-rights attorneys Oliver W. Hill Sr. and Spottswood W. Robinson III took on their case. It and four similar suits eventually became the basis for the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. The court unanimously struck down the doctrine of "separate but equal," effectively mandating desegregation of public schools. Yesterday's dedication occurred less than 200 yards from the statue of the late U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr., D-Va., the architect of the state's Massive Resistance strategy that kept the state from fully integrating its schools for years after the court's decision.
"I hope as you contemplate this memorial you'll think of . . . the tens of thousands of others who experienced the tragedy and triumph that is the history of Prince Edward County and the history of our national struggle to come to grips with the unresolved problem of race," said NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, the grandson of a slave. Few were closer to the struggle in Prince Edward than Johns' sister, Joan Johns Cobbs. "I was shocked and I was afraid because at that time we didn't think any one of us, as black people, could do anything to upset the establishment," she recalled yesterday after the dedication. After the unveiling, she touched the bronze likenesses of her sister and the others depicted in Stan Bleifeld's four-panel sculpture and wept.
"This is a wonderful day. I'm just happy to be able to witness something like this in my lifetime, because I never thought that this would happen," said Cobbs, 70, whose sister died in 1991.
"I think [Barbara] would have been very pleased and very surprised." Johns' daughter, Terry Harrison, agreed. "It's incredible. It's amazing. It still hasn't hit me," she said. "I think she would be overwhelmed. All this for a little girl from Farmville?"
To Harrison, the statue is there to "help kids see the potential in themselves. It's like a continuation of what she did during her life." Actor Blair Underwood, an honorary co-chairman of the memorial dedication, said the new sculpture "tells more of the story" of Virginia. "We have a flawed history, we all do, every state," said Underwood, whose parents live in Petersburg. "We learn from mistakes, we learn from the victories and triumphs of the past. This is part of telling the complete story. Not instead of, but in addition to."
Bleifeld wanted to make a living memorial. "A living memorial to me is one in which people that see it engage with it," he told the crowd. "They want to know why it's there. Who are the people? What are they doing, and what's behind it? If they think that way, for me, it's successful." Hundreds from the crowd walked up to and around the piece. They touched it and posed next to the figures of Hill and Johns and the Rev. Francis Griffin, like admired family relatives or famous ballplayers. Heroes. Earlier, Bleifeld told the audience that his vision for the memorial sprang from the thoughts of a friend who said that the achievement of civil rights is a continuing struggle. Three sides of the rectangular memorial honor the past; the fourth looks to the future.
"Young people of all kinds and types striding forward together, confident of their future, into a society that they will help to create," he explained. "It's their energy that infuses this work. And that's my message." Yesterday, it was a message worthy of remembering, poet Nikki Giovanni said. "This is about us celebrating ourselves, and a well-deserved honor it is," said Giovanni, thrilling the audience with a lyrical, rapid-fire homage to the contributions of black women.
"Light the candles. This is a rocket. Let's ride!"
4,000 attend unveiling of monument to black Prince Edward youths
By Jim Nolan
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
It took five years of work and fundraising to acknowledge an act of bravery 57 years ago, but there is now a civil-rights memorial at the state Capitol. In granite and bronze it celebrates the courage of black men and women -- who, until yesterday, could not be found among the iconic statuary on the grounds once occupied by the Confederate Congress.
Sen. Henry L. Marsh, III, D-Richmond, stands in front of representations of two of his former law partners, Oliver W. Hill and Spottswood Robinson, at the dedication of the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial, in Capitol Square in Richmond, VA .Prince Edward County schoolgirl Barbara Johns and her classmates walked out of Robert R. Moton High School on April 23, 1951, and marched to the county courthouse, daring to challenge the inequity of Virginia's segregated educational system. But for many of the 4,000 people who endured 95-degree heat, yesterday's unveiling in Richmond was hundreds of years in coming. A symbolic recognition of the largely ignored and unwritten history of black people in Virginia, the memorial honors their pivotal role in the civil-rights struggles of the 20th century.
"This is a great day," said Del. Dwight Clinton Jones, D-Richmond. "Today I want you to know that history is being made and the tide has changed. Thousands of young people who come here from schools all over the commonwealth of Virginia will not get half of the story or part of the story, but they'll get the whole story," Jones said. "They will be taught that Virginia is not just for a select few, but that Virginia is for all Virginians." Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said the recognition -- in the state and on the grounds of the Capitol -- was long overdue. "The statues we have are great, and they recognize people of great accomplishment. But let's be honest: They only recognize one kind of person. They don't recognize all who have been Virginians," Kaine said.
"The first thing we do today . . . that does make this a new Virginia, is we open up Capitol Square to recognize African-Americans, recognize women, recognize all who have been part of history, the tragic but triumphant history of this wonderful commonwealth." Johns and her classmates made history that day in 1951. A month after their walkout, noted civil-rights attorneys Oliver W. Hill Sr. and Spottswood W. Robinson III took on their case. It and four similar suits eventually became the basis for the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. The court unanimously struck down the doctrine of "separate but equal," effectively mandating desegregation of public schools. Yesterday's dedication occurred less than 200 yards from the statue of the late U.S. Sen. Harry F. Byrd Sr., D-Va., the architect of the state's Massive Resistance strategy that kept the state from fully integrating its schools for years after the court's decision.
"I hope as you contemplate this memorial you'll think of . . . the tens of thousands of others who experienced the tragedy and triumph that is the history of Prince Edward County and the history of our national struggle to come to grips with the unresolved problem of race," said NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, the grandson of a slave. Few were closer to the struggle in Prince Edward than Johns' sister, Joan Johns Cobbs. "I was shocked and I was afraid because at that time we didn't think any one of us, as black people, could do anything to upset the establishment," she recalled yesterday after the dedication. After the unveiling, she touched the bronze likenesses of her sister and the others depicted in Stan Bleifeld's four-panel sculpture and wept.
"This is a wonderful day. I'm just happy to be able to witness something like this in my lifetime, because I never thought that this would happen," said Cobbs, 70, whose sister died in 1991.
"I think [Barbara] would have been very pleased and very surprised." Johns' daughter, Terry Harrison, agreed. "It's incredible. It's amazing. It still hasn't hit me," she said. "I think she would be overwhelmed. All this for a little girl from Farmville?"
To Harrison, the statue is there to "help kids see the potential in themselves. It's like a continuation of what she did during her life." Actor Blair Underwood, an honorary co-chairman of the memorial dedication, said the new sculpture "tells more of the story" of Virginia. "We have a flawed history, we all do, every state," said Underwood, whose parents live in Petersburg. "We learn from mistakes, we learn from the victories and triumphs of the past. This is part of telling the complete story. Not instead of, but in addition to."
Bleifeld wanted to make a living memorial. "A living memorial to me is one in which people that see it engage with it," he told the crowd. "They want to know why it's there. Who are the people? What are they doing, and what's behind it? If they think that way, for me, it's successful." Hundreds from the crowd walked up to and around the piece. They touched it and posed next to the figures of Hill and Johns and the Rev. Francis Griffin, like admired family relatives or famous ballplayers. Heroes. Earlier, Bleifeld told the audience that his vision for the memorial sprang from the thoughts of a friend who said that the achievement of civil rights is a continuing struggle. Three sides of the rectangular memorial honor the past; the fourth looks to the future.
"Young people of all kinds and types striding forward together, confident of their future, into a society that they will help to create," he explained. "It's their energy that infuses this work. And that's my message." Yesterday, it was a message worthy of remembering, poet Nikki Giovanni said. "This is about us celebrating ourselves, and a well-deserved honor it is," said Giovanni, thrilling the audience with a lyrical, rapid-fire homage to the contributions of black women.
"Light the candles. This is a rocket. Let's ride!"
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
House Dems want to Pull Gas Tax Increase
Here we go again folks...raise taxes, or let NOVA and Hampton Roads do it themselves...what should we do?! TJM
HOUSE DEMOCRATS WANT TO PULL GAS-TAX INCREASE
By Jim Nolan and Olympia Meola
Times-Dispatch Staff Writers
Democrats hope siphoning a gas-tax increase out of a Senate transportation bill will accelerate a compromise on a roads fix for Virginia this year.
But as state lawmakers reconvene the special session on transportation today after a two-week hiatus, neither Republicans nor Democrats seem confident that a plan will emerge to fill the state's maintenance deficit or fund projects in its most congested regions.
Instead, both parties have spent the days leading up to today's session cranking out news releases in preparation for the next battle: who's to blame for nothing getting done.
House Democrats want to eliminate the gas-tax increases in a bill put forth by state Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax. It would increase the tax by a penny each of the next six years.
The Saslaw measure, which also includes an additional 1 percent increase in the fuel tax in Hampton Roads, comes before the Republican-controlled House this afternoon.
The plan also calls for a 0.25 percent increase in the state sales tax and 0.5 percent increases in the auto titling tax and vehicle rental tax, offset by a 0.5 percent reduction in the sales tax on food, currently 2.5 percent. Additional tax and fee boosts are included in the regional portion of the plan covering Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
The Democrats who back the proposed amendment to Saslaw's bill previously supported Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's bill, which died in the House Rules Committee.
They say the amended version of Saslaw's bill would generate about $5.5 billion over the next seven years, or nearly 80 percent of the plan's original revenue.
Saslaw yesterday called the proposed amendment "a step forward," saying that if House Republicans are serious about transportation, they'll allow the amended bill to be debated and voted on.
"Now that Democrats have come together, it's time for our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to give this compromise a full and fair hearing," said House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry.
"Everyone is tired of the political games in Richmond," said Del. Brian J. Moran, D-Alexandria, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We are here with a serious proposal; it is time to show leadership."
A skeptical House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he doesn't know how the amendment will fare today in the House.
"Clearly we'll take a look at it," Griffith said. "This looks like more games to me that the Democrats are doing. If games is what they want to play, I know how to play."
Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, could effectively prevent Democrats from attempting to rewrite the Saslaw bill by immediately putting the original, gas-tax measure to a vote on the floor, where the Republican majority and a number of Democrats are likely to vote no.
House Republicans want to fix the parts of last year's transportation plan -- addressing regional solutions for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads -- that the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.
A bill introduced by Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, takes a regional approach only.
For Hampton Roads, it calls for a state-imposed increases of $20 each in vehicle registration and inspection fees; a 2 percent car-rental tax and a method to capture up to $250 million per year in future tax revenues at the port of Hampton Roads.
Northern Virginia would see an initial driver's license fee of $100, imposed by the state, which would exempt teenage drivers; a 2 percent increase in the vehicle rental tax imposed by the state; a grantor's tax of 40 cents per $100 of assessed value on homes sold, to be imposed by localities; and a 2 percent increase in the transient occupancy tax, also to be imposed by localities.
House Republicans face opposition from Northern Virginia officials, who released a letter rejecting the GOP's proposed plan for regional fixes.
"The bill, not coordinated with any local jurisdictions, contains no statewide component to address the growing highway maintenance deficit and highway and transit capital needs across the state," the letter reads.
"As a result, [Hamilton's bill] is not an acceptable solution for Northern Virginia."
Griffith said the letter "would appear to put a stake through the heart of the regional plans." He blames political motivations for opposition to the regional proposal.
"If we get something done, even regional, [Kaine] loses the ability to go out and say we [House Republicans] are the evil people. He's got to up the ante because we're keeping our word," Griffith said.
Kaine communications director Delacey Skinner said the governor has concerns similar to those voiced in the Northern Virginia letter, and had discussed concerns about the GOP proposal in a conference call with Northern Virginia officials in late June.
As for the efforts of House Democrats seeking to amend the Saslaw bill, "We're for anything that's going to move this process forward" to a transportation solution, Skinner said.
Failing to give the measure a chance in the House, she said, will mean that the today's session will be little more than a "perfunctory political exercise."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS WANT TO PULL GAS-TAX INCREASE
By Jim Nolan and Olympia Meola
Times-Dispatch Staff Writers
Democrats hope siphoning a gas-tax increase out of a Senate transportation bill will accelerate a compromise on a roads fix for Virginia this year.
But as state lawmakers reconvene the special session on transportation today after a two-week hiatus, neither Republicans nor Democrats seem confident that a plan will emerge to fill the state's maintenance deficit or fund projects in its most congested regions.
Instead, both parties have spent the days leading up to today's session cranking out news releases in preparation for the next battle: who's to blame for nothing getting done.
House Democrats want to eliminate the gas-tax increases in a bill put forth by state Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax. It would increase the tax by a penny each of the next six years.
The Saslaw measure, which also includes an additional 1 percent increase in the fuel tax in Hampton Roads, comes before the Republican-controlled House this afternoon.
The plan also calls for a 0.25 percent increase in the state sales tax and 0.5 percent increases in the auto titling tax and vehicle rental tax, offset by a 0.5 percent reduction in the sales tax on food, currently 2.5 percent. Additional tax and fee boosts are included in the regional portion of the plan covering Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.
The Democrats who back the proposed amendment to Saslaw's bill previously supported Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's bill, which died in the House Rules Committee.
They say the amended version of Saslaw's bill would generate about $5.5 billion over the next seven years, or nearly 80 percent of the plan's original revenue.
Saslaw yesterday called the proposed amendment "a step forward," saying that if House Republicans are serious about transportation, they'll allow the amended bill to be debated and voted on.
"Now that Democrats have come together, it's time for our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to give this compromise a full and fair hearing," said House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, D-Henry.
"Everyone is tired of the political games in Richmond," said Del. Brian J. Moran, D-Alexandria, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. "We are here with a serious proposal; it is time to show leadership."
A skeptical House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said he doesn't know how the amendment will fare today in the House.
"Clearly we'll take a look at it," Griffith said. "This looks like more games to me that the Democrats are doing. If games is what they want to play, I know how to play."
Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, could effectively prevent Democrats from attempting to rewrite the Saslaw bill by immediately putting the original, gas-tax measure to a vote on the floor, where the Republican majority and a number of Democrats are likely to vote no.
House Republicans want to fix the parts of last year's transportation plan -- addressing regional solutions for Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads -- that the state Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional.
A bill introduced by Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, takes a regional approach only.
For Hampton Roads, it calls for a state-imposed increases of $20 each in vehicle registration and inspection fees; a 2 percent car-rental tax and a method to capture up to $250 million per year in future tax revenues at the port of Hampton Roads.
Northern Virginia would see an initial driver's license fee of $100, imposed by the state, which would exempt teenage drivers; a 2 percent increase in the vehicle rental tax imposed by the state; a grantor's tax of 40 cents per $100 of assessed value on homes sold, to be imposed by localities; and a 2 percent increase in the transient occupancy tax, also to be imposed by localities.
House Republicans face opposition from Northern Virginia officials, who released a letter rejecting the GOP's proposed plan for regional fixes.
"The bill, not coordinated with any local jurisdictions, contains no statewide component to address the growing highway maintenance deficit and highway and transit capital needs across the state," the letter reads.
"As a result, [Hamilton's bill] is not an acceptable solution for Northern Virginia."
Griffith said the letter "would appear to put a stake through the heart of the regional plans." He blames political motivations for opposition to the regional proposal.
"If we get something done, even regional, [Kaine] loses the ability to go out and say we [House Republicans] are the evil people. He's got to up the ante because we're keeping our word," Griffith said.
Kaine communications director Delacey Skinner said the governor has concerns similar to those voiced in the Northern Virginia letter, and had discussed concerns about the GOP proposal in a conference call with Northern Virginia officials in late June.
As for the efforts of House Democrats seeking to amend the Saslaw bill, "We're for anything that's going to move this process forward" to a transportation solution, Skinner said.
Failing to give the measure a chance in the House, she said, will mean that the today's session will be little more than a "perfunctory political exercise."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Journals Say Goode is Likely to be Re Elected
For all those who are following the hot race between Tom Pierello (D) and Virgil Goode (R), how legitimate and how credulous are these journals???? Post comments. TJM
JOURNALS: GOODE RE-ELECTION LIKELY
By Bernard Baker
Danville Register Bee
Three major political journals have slightly downgraded their forecast for U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode’s re-election, but still give him an edge.
Congressional Quarterly, the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball now say voters are “likely” to re-elect Goode, R, 5th. All three moved the race for Goode from “safe,” down one level to “likely.”
Sabato, who heads the University Center for Politics, said they look at district’s demographics and voting record (which favors Republicans), the overall climate for 2008 (which favors Democrats), and the nature of the challenge to the incumbent.
“In this case, the Democrat is raising a lot of money and has strong national party support (both pluses), while he has never held any public office and is unknown in much of the district (both minuses),” Sabato said. “An upset cannot be ruled out, but the incumbent is given the edge in this set of circumstances. The size of the edge is yet to be determined. I think this probably summarizes all the ratings, no matter the source.”
The Perriello campaign announced that it has raised about $900,000 for the race, they say this is one sign they are moving in the right direction. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also supporting the campaign by naming it as an “Emerging Race” this year.
“It’s great to see the pundits recognizing what we’ve known all along: That the working families of the Virginia Fifth District are ready for a new leader who will fight for them in Washington,” Perriello said. “This race is receiving national attention because voters are responding to our positive agenda of job growth and work force development, relief at the pump and responsible solutions to the crisis in Iraq.”
Goode campaign manager Tucker Watkins dismissed the news. He said Goode has a proven track record and Perriello could never reach Goode in his ability to help the district. He added that Perriello is the most liberal Democrat to take on Goode — more liberal than John Boyd, Meredith Richards or Al Weed.
Goode has raised about $580,000 since May 21 and has $621,152 in unspent funds. Watkins did not know how much money Goode raised for the last campaign cycle, which ended last week.
Perriello kicks off a month-long economic tour beginning Monday where he plans to talk about his plan for Southside economic relief.
The tour will look into economic relief for working families of Southside Virginia. Perriello will visit every county and municipality in the district, meeting with workers, business leaders and the unemployed, in July.
Perriello will have lunch with United Steel Workers Local 831 in Providence, N.C. to discuss issues at the union hall at 1 p.m.
Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7986.
JOURNALS: GOODE RE-ELECTION LIKELY
By Bernard Baker
Danville Register Bee
Three major political journals have slightly downgraded their forecast for U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode’s re-election, but still give him an edge.
Congressional Quarterly, the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball now say voters are “likely” to re-elect Goode, R, 5th. All three moved the race for Goode from “safe,” down one level to “likely.”
Sabato, who heads the University Center for Politics, said they look at district’s demographics and voting record (which favors Republicans), the overall climate for 2008 (which favors Democrats), and the nature of the challenge to the incumbent.
“In this case, the Democrat is raising a lot of money and has strong national party support (both pluses), while he has never held any public office and is unknown in much of the district (both minuses),” Sabato said. “An upset cannot be ruled out, but the incumbent is given the edge in this set of circumstances. The size of the edge is yet to be determined. I think this probably summarizes all the ratings, no matter the source.”
The Perriello campaign announced that it has raised about $900,000 for the race, they say this is one sign they are moving in the right direction. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also supporting the campaign by naming it as an “Emerging Race” this year.
“It’s great to see the pundits recognizing what we’ve known all along: That the working families of the Virginia Fifth District are ready for a new leader who will fight for them in Washington,” Perriello said. “This race is receiving national attention because voters are responding to our positive agenda of job growth and work force development, relief at the pump and responsible solutions to the crisis in Iraq.”
Goode campaign manager Tucker Watkins dismissed the news. He said Goode has a proven track record and Perriello could never reach Goode in his ability to help the district. He added that Perriello is the most liberal Democrat to take on Goode — more liberal than John Boyd, Meredith Richards or Al Weed.
Goode has raised about $580,000 since May 21 and has $621,152 in unspent funds. Watkins did not know how much money Goode raised for the last campaign cycle, which ended last week.
Perriello kicks off a month-long economic tour beginning Monday where he plans to talk about his plan for Southside economic relief.
The tour will look into economic relief for working families of Southside Virginia. Perriello will visit every county and municipality in the district, meeting with workers, business leaders and the unemployed, in July.
Perriello will have lunch with United Steel Workers Local 831 in Providence, N.C. to discuss issues at the union hall at 1 p.m.
Contact Bernard Baker at bbaker@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7986.
The Purpling of Virginia
By QUENTIN KIDD
TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST
NEWPORT NEWS The great scholar of Southern politics, V.O. Key, once said of Virginia's political class: "[It] demonstrates a sense of honor, an aversion to open venality, a degree of sensitivity to public opinion, a concern for efficiency in administration, and, so long as it does not cost much, a feeling of social responsibility."
Key, of course was describing the Byrd organization, the oligarchy that ruled Virginia for half a century. Harry Byrd Sr.'s political machine may be a thing of the past, but some of the values of its political philosophy -- principally an aversion to taxes and little interest in government services -- echo in Virginia to this day, and are one of the main reasons Virginia is changing from a politically red state into a shade of purple.
While the 1950s may be known in Virginia as the decade of Massive Resistance, it is also the decade when the first modern debate about taxes and services took place.
In 1953 the Republican gubernatorial candidate, State Sen. Ted Dalton, proposed a $100 million revenue bond to finance highway building in the commonwealth. Prior to this proposal, Dalton's candidacy for governor had not garnered much attention from the Byrd people, but as soon as he proposed such a radical policy change as borrowing money to build highways, Byrd himself got involved and actively campaigned against Dalton.
At the beginning of the 1960s the Democrats, although fractured and unstable, were still dominant in Virginia. There was plenty of evidence that change was in the air -- but its shape had not really become clear. In January 1960, there were about 1 million registered voters; the governor was a Democrat (there had not been a Republican governor in the 20th century); there were six Republicans in the 140-person General Assembly (and no African-American had served in that body since 1891); and there were two Republicans in the 10-person congressional delegation.
Ten years later, in January 1970, Virginia had nearly 2 million registered voters; the governor-elect was a Republican (Linwood Holton); there were 31 Republicans and three African-Americans in the 140-person General Assembly; and five of the 10-person congressional delegation ran with a Republican label.
The 1960s and 1970s marked a period of instability and realignment of Virginia's political parties. Democrats were composed of African-Americans, progressive liberals, labor, and central-city voters. Republicans were composed of social and economic conservatives, longtime small government conservatives (who traditionally had composed the Republican Party of Virginia and simply stayed when the Byrd people came over), and pro-business conservatives.
While the two parties traded control of the governor's mansion almost on the decade between 1970 and the turn of the century, Republicans made slow but steady gains in the General Assembly, taking control of both chambers by 2000 to complete the realignment. Virginia had gone from being a solidly conservative one-party Democratic state in the 1950s to a firmly conservative two-party state by 2000.
The small-government, low-taxes, low-services ideological heart of Virginia's conservatism appeared still firmly rooted. The majority of voters did not seem interested in either party moving far from the right-of-center "mainstream." Few could see how the suburbs would soon loosen those roots and change the political hue of the state.
Virginia didn't really have suburbs in the 1950s. What we now call Northern Virginia was just beginning to emerge as a coherent presence, but the suburban growth and sprawl that we have come to know simply did not exist. Virginia started experiencing this suburban growth in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Said growth accelerated rapidly in the 1970s, and then went through another rapid acceleration in the 1990s -- an expansion that continues to this day.
While the conservative values of Byrd-era Virginia are rural values at their core, suburbs and suburban voters played an important role in the realignment of Virginia politics and in helping conservatism remain dominant in Virginia. They are also responsible for the purpling of Virginia.
Suburban voters initially wanted to move away from the problems of the cities. They wanted good, clean, and safe schools, and safe streets and neighborhoods. Suburbs tended to be filled largely with white people, middle-class people, and those self-described as fiscally and socially conservative.
Republicans argued for low taxes and small government, and this worked well electorally for the GOP in suburban Virginia. Why? Because middle-class suburban Virginians liked low taxes, and because they lived in relatively new communities, with relatively new infrastructure (such as schools and roads). Since many of them earned a good middle-class living and were relatively young (middle-age), they had little need for much government. The problems of the cities were distant. Suburban dwellers had good jobs that provided health care benefits, and while they might have had to drive a little further than they would prefer to get to work, it wasn't too unbearable.
However, as suburbanization rapidly increased in the 1990s and 2000s, some problems began to emerge that looked a lot like the problems cities have always had to deal with: schools became increasingly overcrowded and roads became unbearably congested. Suburban voters began to discover their desire for government and the services it provides. Republicans have had a hard time responding to these new suburban realities. The low-tax, low-services legacy that is at the heart of conservative Virginia is still an active and powerful influence in the Republican Party and it has caused Republicans to increasingly fall out of favor with suburban voters.
The souring of suburban voters on the GOP has resulted in the election of two Democratic governors in a row, both of whom ran campaigns that focused on core service issues such as highways, education, and the role of government in providing services. Jim Webb's election to the U.S. Senate had different circumstances, but it is safe to say that those suburban voters who pushed him over the top had been made more comfortable with the idea of voting Democratic by the candidacies of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. And this fall, Barak Obama will hope that same comfort level has traction for him as well.
Former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry once said that where she grew up in Southwest Virginia's Patrick County, they never expected government to do much for them and were never disappointed. That, however, is not the attitude of suburban voters, and Virginia is purpling because of it. Quentin Kidd is the chairman of the Department of Government at Christopher Newport University.
TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST
NEWPORT NEWS The great scholar of Southern politics, V.O. Key, once said of Virginia's political class: "[It] demonstrates a sense of honor, an aversion to open venality, a degree of sensitivity to public opinion, a concern for efficiency in administration, and, so long as it does not cost much, a feeling of social responsibility."
Key, of course was describing the Byrd organization, the oligarchy that ruled Virginia for half a century. Harry Byrd Sr.'s political machine may be a thing of the past, but some of the values of its political philosophy -- principally an aversion to taxes and little interest in government services -- echo in Virginia to this day, and are one of the main reasons Virginia is changing from a politically red state into a shade of purple.
While the 1950s may be known in Virginia as the decade of Massive Resistance, it is also the decade when the first modern debate about taxes and services took place.
In 1953 the Republican gubernatorial candidate, State Sen. Ted Dalton, proposed a $100 million revenue bond to finance highway building in the commonwealth. Prior to this proposal, Dalton's candidacy for governor had not garnered much attention from the Byrd people, but as soon as he proposed such a radical policy change as borrowing money to build highways, Byrd himself got involved and actively campaigned against Dalton.
At the beginning of the 1960s the Democrats, although fractured and unstable, were still dominant in Virginia. There was plenty of evidence that change was in the air -- but its shape had not really become clear. In January 1960, there were about 1 million registered voters; the governor was a Democrat (there had not been a Republican governor in the 20th century); there were six Republicans in the 140-person General Assembly (and no African-American had served in that body since 1891); and there were two Republicans in the 10-person congressional delegation.
Ten years later, in January 1970, Virginia had nearly 2 million registered voters; the governor-elect was a Republican (Linwood Holton); there were 31 Republicans and three African-Americans in the 140-person General Assembly; and five of the 10-person congressional delegation ran with a Republican label.
The 1960s and 1970s marked a period of instability and realignment of Virginia's political parties. Democrats were composed of African-Americans, progressive liberals, labor, and central-city voters. Republicans were composed of social and economic conservatives, longtime small government conservatives (who traditionally had composed the Republican Party of Virginia and simply stayed when the Byrd people came over), and pro-business conservatives.
While the two parties traded control of the governor's mansion almost on the decade between 1970 and the turn of the century, Republicans made slow but steady gains in the General Assembly, taking control of both chambers by 2000 to complete the realignment. Virginia had gone from being a solidly conservative one-party Democratic state in the 1950s to a firmly conservative two-party state by 2000.
The small-government, low-taxes, low-services ideological heart of Virginia's conservatism appeared still firmly rooted. The majority of voters did not seem interested in either party moving far from the right-of-center "mainstream." Few could see how the suburbs would soon loosen those roots and change the political hue of the state.
Virginia didn't really have suburbs in the 1950s. What we now call Northern Virginia was just beginning to emerge as a coherent presence, but the suburban growth and sprawl that we have come to know simply did not exist. Virginia started experiencing this suburban growth in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Said growth accelerated rapidly in the 1970s, and then went through another rapid acceleration in the 1990s -- an expansion that continues to this day.
While the conservative values of Byrd-era Virginia are rural values at their core, suburbs and suburban voters played an important role in the realignment of Virginia politics and in helping conservatism remain dominant in Virginia. They are also responsible for the purpling of Virginia.
Suburban voters initially wanted to move away from the problems of the cities. They wanted good, clean, and safe schools, and safe streets and neighborhoods. Suburbs tended to be filled largely with white people, middle-class people, and those self-described as fiscally and socially conservative.
Republicans argued for low taxes and small government, and this worked well electorally for the GOP in suburban Virginia. Why? Because middle-class suburban Virginians liked low taxes, and because they lived in relatively new communities, with relatively new infrastructure (such as schools and roads). Since many of them earned a good middle-class living and were relatively young (middle-age), they had little need for much government. The problems of the cities were distant. Suburban dwellers had good jobs that provided health care benefits, and while they might have had to drive a little further than they would prefer to get to work, it wasn't too unbearable.
However, as suburbanization rapidly increased in the 1990s and 2000s, some problems began to emerge that looked a lot like the problems cities have always had to deal with: schools became increasingly overcrowded and roads became unbearably congested. Suburban voters began to discover their desire for government and the services it provides. Republicans have had a hard time responding to these new suburban realities. The low-tax, low-services legacy that is at the heart of conservative Virginia is still an active and powerful influence in the Republican Party and it has caused Republicans to increasingly fall out of favor with suburban voters.
The souring of suburban voters on the GOP has resulted in the election of two Democratic governors in a row, both of whom ran campaigns that focused on core service issues such as highways, education, and the role of government in providing services. Jim Webb's election to the U.S. Senate had different circumstances, but it is safe to say that those suburban voters who pushed him over the top had been made more comfortable with the idea of voting Democratic by the candidacies of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. And this fall, Barak Obama will hope that same comfort level has traction for him as well.
Former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry once said that where she grew up in Southwest Virginia's Patrick County, they never expected government to do much for them and were never disappointed. That, however, is not the attitude of suburban voters, and Virginia is purpling because of it. Quentin Kidd is the chairman of the Department of Government at Christopher Newport University.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Civil Rights Memorial Dedication Information
I thought that you all would be interested in the Civil Rights Memorial Dedication in Richmond. Click here for more information: www.buckinghamcountyva.org/community/civilrightsmemorialdedicationsch.html.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
2008 College Leaders Program Graduates
On Saturday, June 28th, 2008, the following students graduated from the Sorensen Institute's College Leaders Program:
Michael Billingsley, Dumfries, University of Virginia
Madison Busch, Doswell, University of Virginia
Laura Castro, Richmond, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Brookelynn Constant, Bealeton, Christopher Newport University
Bram Crowe-Getty, Amherst, Guilford College
Ronald D'Agostino, Vienna, George Mason University
MoniQue Drake, Richmond, Longwood University
Hunter Fairchild, Palmyra, Lynchburg College
Sarah Drabkin, Springfield, Old Dominion University
Anna Godlewski, Arlington, George Mason University
Benjamin Heath, Virginia Beach, Christopher Newport University
Lacey Howard, Spotsylvania, Christopher Newport University
Allison Hunn, Arlington, University of Virginia
Andrew Jennings, Hillsville, Hampden-Sydney College
LaThaniel Kirts, Portsmouth, Morehouse College
Jonna Knappenberger, Charlottesville, College of William and Mary
Anne Lojek, Chester, Sweet Briar CollegeElizabeth Maloney, Vienna, Radford University
Jordan Miles, Dillwyn, Longwood University
Melissa Molnar, Chesterfield, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Matthew Ogren, Ashland, Duke University
Cameron Patterson, Lynchburg, Longwood University
Matthew Reges, Clearbrook, The College of William & Mary
Joseph Riedel, Burke, Christopher Newport University
Benjamin Schultz, Winchester, College of William and Mary
Heather Shuttleworth, Alexandria, James Madison University
Soulmaz Taghavi, Midlothian, Virginia Commonwealth University
Adria Vanhoozier, Christiansburg, Virginia, University of Virginia
Dale Warfield, Portsmouth, VA, George Mason University
Torrey Williams III, Bumpass, Virginia, Bridgewater College
Congratulations to the future leaders of the Commonwealth of Virginia!
Michael Billingsley, Dumfries, University of Virginia
Madison Busch, Doswell, University of Virginia
Laura Castro, Richmond, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Brookelynn Constant, Bealeton, Christopher Newport University
Bram Crowe-Getty, Amherst, Guilford College
Ronald D'Agostino, Vienna, George Mason University
MoniQue Drake, Richmond, Longwood University
Hunter Fairchild, Palmyra, Lynchburg College
Sarah Drabkin, Springfield, Old Dominion University
Anna Godlewski, Arlington, George Mason University
Benjamin Heath, Virginia Beach, Christopher Newport University
Lacey Howard, Spotsylvania, Christopher Newport University
Allison Hunn, Arlington, University of Virginia
Andrew Jennings, Hillsville, Hampden-Sydney College
LaThaniel Kirts, Portsmouth, Morehouse College
Jonna Knappenberger, Charlottesville, College of William and Mary
Anne Lojek, Chester, Sweet Briar CollegeElizabeth Maloney, Vienna, Radford University
Jordan Miles, Dillwyn, Longwood University
Melissa Molnar, Chesterfield, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Matthew Ogren, Ashland, Duke University
Cameron Patterson, Lynchburg, Longwood University
Matthew Reges, Clearbrook, The College of William & Mary
Joseph Riedel, Burke, Christopher Newport University
Benjamin Schultz, Winchester, College of William and Mary
Heather Shuttleworth, Alexandria, James Madison University
Soulmaz Taghavi, Midlothian, Virginia Commonwealth University
Adria Vanhoozier, Christiansburg, Virginia, University of Virginia
Dale Warfield, Portsmouth, VA, George Mason University
Torrey Williams III, Bumpass, Virginia, Bridgewater College
Congratulations to the future leaders of the Commonwealth of Virginia!
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