Appraising Kaine

Virginia’s increasingly gloomy gov stumbles toward the finish line

Dear Odd —

I’m the once-beloved governor of a mid-size, Southern, formerly Jeffersonian brick-red commonwealth with a deeply divided populace. (In fact, one of our more impolitic congressfolks once referred to it as "one-third Northern Virginia and the rest Alabama.") I’ve tried everything I can to make everyone happy, but it just doesn’t seem to be working! How can I tell if people still like me? And if they don’t, what the heck can I do about it?  — Vexed in VA

Virgil Goode continues with his partisan politics and finger pointing in his most recent edition of "Goode News"

The main thing preventing the United States from drilling for oil and natural gas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico is the majority leadership of the House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate.
On July 10 th, 43 House Republicans, including me, wrote to the President, urging him to lift the Executive moratorium on offshore drilling. Subsequently, President Bush did lift the executive order on such drilling. Last month, the President called on Congress to work with him to lift this 17-year-old moratorium jointly. Congress failed to act, so the President did his part. In increasing numbers, the American public is calling for our country to make use of its own natural resources, even as we work diligently to develop alternative forms of energy. These alternative energy sources will help the U. S. lessen sharply its dependence on petroleum-based products produced by foreign nations, many of which are not friendly to us. In some cases, we are sending billions of dollars each year to nations that sponsor terrorists. We must stop this; it is past time for Congress to act and lift its part of the moratorium.

Even Bush is sick of the Iraq fiasco...he has been mumbling about pulling out troops and about a "time horizon"...yes, "HORIZON," not a timeline, for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. Don't know about you, but I have never heard anyone talk about "time horizons" before. Makes me think of an event horizon around a black hole...which is an ominous comparison.

Remember, though, Bush's shifting to withdrawal is not by any choice of his. The Iraq government has told him in no uncertain terms that we have outlived our welcome and they do not want us there permanently.

Rasmussen has a new poll of Virginia showing a tie between Obama and McCain, with McCain leading by one point with leaners included, 48-47%. As previous polls have indicated, the presidential election in this state is a deadlock. New registers and highly increased levels of AA turnout could well prove the difference.

More below.

- NOVA/DC OBAMA EVENTS UPDATE –
(please forward)

FEATURED EVENTS:
*** 8pm 7/17 "Campaign for Change" Bar Crawl in Clarendon! ***

*** 7/18 Sky Lounge Stoplight Party for Obama in Rockville! ***

*** 7/20 Jews for Obama Dinner and Discussion in Falls Church! ***

*** 7/21 Generation Obama Pre-Auction Flyering @ "The Candidate" for Screen on the Green, Metros, as well as your Office and Neighborhood! ***

*** 7/22 "Unify Your Love!" Date Auction & Mixer for Obama! (w/Open Bar) ***   -  AUCTIONEE BIO & HOST SIGN UPS DUE AT 5PM FRIDAY! -  DOUBLE DATES WILL BE AVAILABLE! -  OPEN BAR NOW STARTS AT 8PM!

*** 7/26 Arlington Platform for Change Café @ Cecilia’s ***

*** 7/28-8/11 Monday Night "Screen on the Green" Visibility ***

LOCAL CAMPAIGN EVENTS:
**7/18-21 ARLINGTON VOTER REG, PHONES & CANVASSING EVENTS**
**7/18-21 FALLS CHURCH VOTER REG & CANVASSING EVENTS**
**7/18-21 ALEXANDRIA VOTER REG, PHONES & CANVASSING EVENTS**
(plus canvassing in Lee and Mt. Vernon Districts)
*** 7/18-21 FAIRFAX PHONES & CANVASSING EVENTS***
*** 7/18-21 FAIRFAX VOTER REGISTRATION EVENTS***

Well, well, well, Jim Gilmore and his staff are at it again. Accusing Mark Warner of being a liar is about all his campaign has in its arsenal. That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black don’t you think?

Gilmore or rather "Drillmore" can’t get the facts straight, but then damn the facts and full steam ahead with the stupidity of the Virginia Republican Party.

"When you look at Warner’s disdain for the truth, it makes you think that you are watching the Jim Carrey move "Liar, Liar," said Gilmore spokesperson Ana Gamonal, who pointed out that in 2005 then Gov. Mark Warner vetoed legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly that called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling. Warner was cited by the Sierra Club for the veto of offshore drilling.

The fifty state strategy in action:

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign announced Wednesday that it is adding 20 offices across Virginia, an unprecedented effort by a presidential candidate and another sign that he plans to compete vigorously in a state that has been on the sidelines during past presidential contests.

The offices, which will open Saturday, will be in nearly every medium-size city in the state, along with a few locations often overlooked by statewide candidates, much less a presidential campaign.

"A lot of these places may have never had a presidential campaign before," state Sen. John S. Edwards (D-Roanoke) said at an event announcing the offices. "It shows [Obama] is investing in the commonwealth and it is a bottom-up, not a top-down campaign."

A McCain spokesman called it a "tremendous waste of money" and said:

It is being done to create this image of momentum and enthusiasm that frankly is just not out there.

Uh huh.

Lately I have been getting discouraged about this election. It seems like the media are biased toward McCain. And Obama is passive about controlling the news cycle  while McCain is expertly manipulating it. His national poll numbers are slipping,  though he has been doing well in the state polling. The left have been acting irrationally be it those who formed that FISA group at the candidate's website that was eventually ineffectual or the editors at the New Yorker entralled by their cleverness but not realizing they had a dud in their hands. You don't see the right doing that. They are organizing very quietly and carrying  a big stick.

Greetings, Kossacks from purple Virginia. This is a call for advice and tips.

As you may have heard, Virginia hasn't voted Democratic in a presidential election since 1964 (they didn't even go for Carter when he swept the region in '76) and before 1964 you have to go back quite a ways, too. We've been trending Democratic in the last couple of years, largely owing to the rapid population growth in Northern Virginia (DC suburbs).

Here's the part where I need help:

The following exchange took place on the eve of the FISA vote, July 8th, between myself and Virginia Senator James Webb.  You can listen to this exchange at The Seminal.  

All emphasis is mine.

Josh Nelson:  You mentioned the role the blogosphere played in your Senate campaign.  I was wondering if you could elaborate on that a little bit.  And also tell us what type of role you would like to see them play in legislative fights in the future.  

Back about 4 or 5 years ago when I was beginning grad school and just beginning my conversion to becoming the progressive I am today, I used to watch Fox News (I never, ever watch today- I hate (and that is a strong word, but I use it) them ) and I also sometime around then began to look at www.realclearpolitics.com.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. Jacob saw his first real fireworks display and loved it at first. We were watching from the 12th floor of a building right on the waterfront, so it was spectacular. Unfortunately, he was coming down with a fever and by the end was pretty unhappy. He is fine again now.

This was a big week, both locally where my friend qualified for the ballot for NYC's Sept. 9th primary election, and nationally where Obama's surge continued even as the Democrats once again showed less spine than we would like them to. More below.

TPM Election Central has the audio for a new radio ad that the Obama campaign will run in parts of Virginia and Ohio.  It is in response to a RNC ad which claims Obama will "raise taxes".

It's brilliant, and seems like the start of a real counterpunch campaign against McCain and his prevarication.

Following is a transcript from Monday July 7, 2008 of the speech I gave as a local union leader.

Tom Perriello is the Democratic challenger for the 5th Congressional District, currently held by Republican Virgil Goode.

Perriello announced a 22 county Jobs Tour and a 7-point economic revival plan. Goode, who has yet to come to Martinsvill-Henry County to actually talk to area residents has called the plan "all fluff and no substance".

From a man that has proven himself to be George Bush's lap dog, Goode's comments carry no weight in the Southside.

Virginia is probably the mother of all swing states this year and in my eyes if Obama can win Virginia then he will win the election. Here I will look at the recent polling data out of Virginia and what they show us. I am confident that Virginia will turn blue this year, but not by a large margin.

Just a bit about myself first – I am an 18 year old Australian University student. I have no way of affecting your election and in fact I have no real reason to follow it beyond being a Progressive who enjoys politics. So yeah, forgive me if I repeat blatantly obvious things or if I get the facts wrong.

So here is why Virginia will go Blue...

Loving It
Irony alert: Virginia may just be the key to electing America’s first mixed-race president

O.K., it’s official: With the presidential nominating contests finally, mercifully kaput, and the party’s respective candidates solemnly girding themselves for November’s political battle, our quaint little commonwealth is fast emerging as the key battlefield of 2008’s wide-ranging electoral war.

This is an ongoing series from the national tour for THE UPRISING. You can order The Uprising at Amazon.com or through your local independent bookstore.

LAFAYETTE, IN - Jim Webb has gotten a lot of attention lately in the veep speculation game - the one that has substituted for real political reporting over the last month. Most stories focus in on his military and government career, but what I've always found so intriguing about Webb is the thing that makes him such a unique political animal: namely, that he comes from the world of writing, rather than from professional politics.

Here is a new installment in my adventure as a full time volunteer for Obama in one of the reddest parts of Virginia. Last week, I attempted to chronicle our first Obama organizing effort here. With this diary, I relay my first attempts at registering voters.  Here are all the harrowing details -- complete with photographic evidence.