Filed under: Election 2008
First, Congressman Tom Davis makes the case for why he thinks McCain still has the edge in Virginia:
Davis, who is known for both his encyclopedic command of politics and a penchant for candor, predicted an uphill battle for the Democratic nominee in a state that has gone to the GOP in every presidential race since 1964.
Obama will have “cultural” problems in Southwest Virginia, Davis said on a conference call with reporters designed to pre-empt the Illinois senator’s visit tomorrow to a high school in his Fairfax-based district, while John McCain is likely to enjoy a “built-in advantage being a veteran in the Tidewater area.”
And in his own native northern Virginia, Davis said Obama would not enjoy the kind of success that Sen. Jim Webb did in knocking off George Allen two years ago.
“That was less pro-Webb than anti-administration, anti-war,” Davis said of Webb’s narrow win.
Further, he observed, McCain would do better among “soft Republicans” in a region known for its political moderation — “the kind of voters that [2005 gubernatorial candidate Jerry] Kilgore and Allen weren’t able to hold.”
Good points. However, we still need to make sure that we get as many Republicans out in our neck of the woods to vote. We started moving towards that goal last night, when four intrepid souls joined me for phone banking at United Country Real Estate in Mount Jackson. We made over 150 calls, moving ever closer to our goal. However, we need your help. Let me know what you might be able to do to help us get just a bit closer.
Something else to take a look at: McCain’s economic plan is out. This is the same one that 300 economists, including some prominent Virginians (such as Kenneth Elzinga), endorsed just the other day. This is the sort of plan that can help the party reclaim the mantle of good government and the sort of reform oriented message that swept us into power 14 years ago. I’d suggest any targeted congress critters embrace this as soon as possible.
Filed under: General Assembly
Plenty of post-mortem to be had on the special session:
-Right Wing Liberal has a pretty good analysis of what went down
-Lt. Gov. Bolling released a statement:
RICHMOND – Early this morning, the Virginia General Assembly adjourned Sine Die, ending the Special Session on transportation that had convened on June 23rd. In response to this action, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling issued the following statement:
“I am very disappointed that the General Assembly was unable to make any meaningful progress toward addressing Virginia ’s transportation challenges during this Special Session. The failure to do so does not reflect well on anyone involved in this process, and it leaves one of the major challenges facing Virginia unresolved.
“Unfortunately, much of the responsibility for this failure rests on the shoulders of Governor Kaine, who decided to call legislators back to Richmond without building any consensus around a possible transportation solution. In my judgment, the Governor’s decision to call the Special Session without first developing a framework for success was a mistake.
“In addition, Governor Kaine complicated the effort to find a transportation solution by introducing a transportation proposal that had very little, if any, support in the General Assembly. The Governor’s bill, which relied on massive statewide and regional tax increases, was not even supported by the members of his own party, and it was clearly not the right solution given the economic challenges that Virginia is currently facing.
“I am also disappointed that Democrats in the General Assembly systematically defeated common sense Republican proposals that would have helped us address Virginia ’s long term transportation needs, at least in part. I was particularly disappointed that Democrats rejected legislation that would have:
- Directed potential revenues associated with offshore drilling in Virginia to transportation.
- Enabled Hampton Roads localities to keep the tax revenues derived from the Port of Virginia and use those revenues to fund transportation projects in their region of the state.
- Enabled Northern Virginia localities to keep the tax revenue derived from the Dulles International Airport and the Ronald Reagan International Airport and use those revenues to fund transportation projects in their region of the state.
- Amended the Constitution of Virginia to prohibit the use of transportation dollars to pay for other government programs without super majority approval of the members of the General Assembly
- Ordered an external management review of the Virginia Department of Transportation to make certain that our transportation dollars are being spent effectively and efficiently and directed to our state’s highest transportation priority – congestion relief.
“These were commonsense proposals that should have received widespread bipartisan support. By rejecting these proposals without serious consideration or debate, Democrats showed that they are unwilling to seriously consider any solution to our transportation challenges that do not involve higher taxes.
“Fortunately, the General Assembly meets every year, and we will have another chance to address this issue in January. It remains my hope that the members of the General Assembly will work to craft a transportation solution that relies on existing revenue sources and innovative transportation alternatives, not higher taxes.”
-Garren Shipley offers this sharp-eyed analysis:
While the policy implications of the GOP’s new-found unity are debatable, the political landscape appears to have changed markedly, at least from where I’m sitting.
The strategy pioneered by Democratic Gov. Mark Warner — peel off just enough Republicans to pass the bill, then let a disaffected base take it out on the party at the ballot box — didn’t work. Nor did regional divisions in the GOP lead to a bi-partisan tax increase.
Couple that with the unity in the Senate’s Republican ranks forged by their losses in November 2007, and the complexion of Capitol Square is different today, indeed.
-Finally, the House GOP Caucus wins the award for best pun of Special Session II, calling this not a train wreck but a “Kaine Wreck”…..
Ok, that may not be everybody’s taste, but you can’t deny their refutation of the Governor’s spin on all this. Take a look.
Rightsideva has posted a scene that those of us who make regular trips south on 81 know very well.
A beautiful sight for true politicos.
Filed under: Election 2008, General Assembly, Local Government and Politics, Morning Round-Up
Three stories you should know about
-Something……happened during the transportation session. It’s going to take a while for the smoke to clear, as neither house adjourned before 1:30. But it appears that his the gist of what happened: Both the Senate plan and the Kaine plan were defeated (the Kaine plan having previously died and then brought back up, when it didn’t get a single vote). Senate Plan failed along almost party lines, although a handful of Democrats defected along with one Republican (to side with the Senate, that is). The House Plan HB6006 then squeaked by after having all of the tax hikes removed (just 51 votes got it to the Senate). It failed in Senate finance. The House also passed a bill diverting revenues from off-shore drilling revenues to transportation, but the Senate killed it (it appears, but I’ll double check that one). So in essence, the Senate killed a reasonable solution, while the House stood up for taxes.
Let’s let nobody forget this moving into 2009.
Linkies: Washington Post and Northern Virginia Daily
-Governor Gilmore is gearing up for his first showdown with Governor Warner. Expect to see a great deal come out of this as Warner is finally forced to duke it out on the issues and not just his “success” in foisting the largest tax hike in Virginia history on the Commonwealth.
-The Strasburg Town Council has voted to delay the reappointment of Town Manager Kevin Fauber until August. It’s unclear what’s going on behind the scenes, but there may be some displeasure with his performance. Were Fauber to be dismissed, he would be the second town manager to leave in a month (Evan Vaas recently left the town of New Market, to be replaced by County Planning Official Chris Boies), but this time not of his own volition. We’ll wait for this one to develop. Sorry, story is on dead tree only.
