Talk about not getting it. Some of the rightwing SWAC bloggers are quite fond of using a bloodstained graphic (scroll down and take your pick) on their sites that questions the awareness of Democrats in today’s world. Yet the ambitions of these same folks to move the Republican Party to the extreme right illustrates that they really don’t “get it†themselves.
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Today, the House worked on H.R. 3 (stem cells) and the Senate continued work on S. 1 (Senate Ethics Reform). Several amendements were offered to S. 1, and one of those amendments, Amendment 11(DeMint Amendment, earmark reform) was brought to a tabling vote, and when the amendment survived, it was not accepted (typically, if amendments survive a vote to table, they are accepted). The Senate leadership took the matter offline and worked with the members who had voted not to table the amendment to keep the amendment out of S. 1. The open reason for this was to limit the scope of S. 1 to gain broad bi-partisan support. (Article from Congress Daily after the jump).
Voting:
Condi Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Jim Webb is a member) on the Bush Plan for Iraq.
Tomorrow:
The proponents of the Gay Bashing Amendment claim it’s restating current law. Lets see if that’s true (hat tip to Fruitcake for digging out the current law).
The amendment:
Question: Shall Article I (the Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Virginia be amended to state:
“That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.
This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.”?
Current Law:
§ 20-45.2. Marriage between persons of same sex.
A marriage between persons of the same sex is prohibited. Any marriage entered into by persons of the same sex in another state or jurisdiction shall be void in all respects in Virginia and any contractual rights created by such marriage shall be void and unenforceable.
(1975, c. 644; 1997, cc. 354, 365.)
§ 20-45.3. Civil unions between persons of same sex.
A civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement between persons of the same sex purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage is prohibited. Any such civil union, partnership contract or other arrangement entered into by persons of the same sex in another state or jurisdiction shall be void in all respects in Virginia and any contractual rights created thereby shall be void and unenforceable.
(2004, c. 983.)
Yes, I highlighted one slightly important distinction between current law and the amendment. Current law distinguishes as same sex, while the amendment merely states “unmarried individuals”. What you Republicans don’t realize is that Bob Marshall isn’t just attacking gay people, he’s attacking unmarried women also.
While Frank Wolf was on vacation, Judy Feder was joined by Delegate Dave Poisson and state Senator Mark Herring in canvassing the Cascade District in Loudoun today. She met with several of the residents and received a lot of positive support. Just like other placed in the district, Democrats are seeing disgruntled Republicans lean more to the left due.
At least Grandpa Wolf is smart enough to vacation instead of attempting to shut down the HOV to get a fundraiser out of Bush. Though, it’s only a matter of time before Wolf brings Bush in to help him compete with Feder’s power fundraising. While other Republicans are doing their best to keep Bush far away from their district, Wolf is still standing by his man, no matter how low it will drag him.
Come on George Bush, show up in the district for Wolf so his number will tank like yours.
Before now, if you wanted to identify a racist/redneck/bigot, all you had to do was look for the confederate flag, such as the one mounted proudly on George Allen’s mantle. Since we now know Allen is a racist, and have suspected for a while, the question is how to identify other racists. Well, it just got a lot easier today. To identify the racists among you, look for these signs:
If you see any of these, or a pickup truck with an Allen bumper sticker, and you’re a shade darker than tan, be aware of your surroundings and make sure you’ve got 911 on the cell phone. For you closet racists that are encouraged by the example of George Allen, I’ve helped you by creating some new web banners.
Update: the new term is that Allen “craddocked”
Interestingly, there’s two attack posts on Judy Feder today (BVBL and 2C). Is this is foreshadowing of a Wolf failure to raise enough funds again or is he reacting to polling numbers that show he’s vulnerable? Is Wolf finally afraid of having to work to get re-elected?
The silence has been deafening for a while and all of a sudden, Republican blogs are on the attack (at least BVBL seems to be using Wolf’s oppo research, while Vince can only call her a lesbian).
And unifying it was. What an awesome group of candidates we’ve fielded this year. In attendance was Jim Webb, Harris Miller, Brian Moran, Creigh Deeds, Judy Feder, Andy Hurst, Shawn O’Donnell, Al Weed, Richard Cranwell, and James Martin.
A good time was had by all and Creigh’s speech was very Federesque in that it was powerful, intelligent, and stirred the crowd. It was a bit warm but the rain stayed away.
I got a few minutes to talk to Andy Hurst and congratulate him on winning the primary. In the next few weeks sometime, I’ll go out to one of their canvasses and get some pictures–I can’t wait to see Andy canvassing in a dark blue suit in July or August.
Every Democrat should be excited about our candidates, every Republican should be worried, and every voter should rejoice and the chance for change. Folks, if you get a chance and have even a few bucks, please consider giving to one of these amazing campaigns. I’ve got them all on my actblue page. 10 bucks can help a lot. It doesn’t take much. [Ed Note: James Walkinshaw, for the love of Christ, could you please get a picture of Andy up on Act blue?]
The flickr photostream .
With the bitter and nasty Senate primary past us, I want to recognize one primary that was honest and stayed focused on the issues. Anyone who attended the Hurst/Longmyer primary debates wouldn’t be suprised by the following notes from both campaigns;
On behalf of Andy and the entire campaign, I’d like to thank Ken Longmyer, his campaign staff and his supporters for running a great campaign based on the issues. Ken stood up to challenge Tom Davis in 2004 when no one else would and this year he ran a campaign that strengthened our Party and prepared us for the tough challenge that lies ahead. The Hurst campaign is proud to call Ken Longmyer a friend and supporter.
We’d like to give a special thanks to Ken Longmyer, his campaign staff and his supporters. Ken stood up to Tom Davis in 2004 when no one else would, and this year he ran a spirited campaign that has made our Party stronger and our community more vibrant. We’re looking forward to working with him closely through this general election.
And from the Longmyer campaign:
Our campaign to represent the people of Virginia’s 11th Congressional District is over.
I congratulate Andy Hurst on his victory. I wish him success. I will support him in his race against Tom Davis, and I urge all our supporters to do the same.
I thank my many supporters. One of the best things about running for public office is getting to know so many kind, generous, intelligent, and public-spirited people. You have given me your support and trust, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that.
I can’t thank you all by name, but I want recognize a few who made an extraordinary effort:
- Sally Davis, our coordinator in Prince William County,
- Kathy Hackshaw, our coordinator in Fairfax City,
- Larry Baldwin, our coordinator in Sully
- Chris Ambrose, our coordinator in Mt. Vernon,
- Terry Mansberger, host of our first public event, and
- Paul Sullivan, our liaison to veteran community.
Although I am disappointed tonight, I am proud to have had your support. I will continue to be involved in public affairs. I look forward to working with all of you in the future.
Ken Longmyer
Falls Church, VA
I’d also like to note that all volunteers for the Longmyer campaign got a nice postcard a few days after the primary thanking them for their service. Hurst and Longmyer both represent the best of Virginia politics and I think they should be recognized for this. If you see Ken Longmyer or Frank Blechman around town, please thank them for running a good campaign and showing the rest of us how to be true in Virginia politics. Also, please remember to support Andy Hurst against Tom Davis (who has endorsed Judy Feder).
Judy Feder who is running against Frank Wolf in the 10th district needs your help. They set a goal to raise 60k in the month of June and have reached 58k. They need 2k more to reach this important fundraising goal. As you may know, Team Feder has out-raised Frank Wolf in every reporting so far, and they can do it again with your help.
If everyone who reads this will donate 10-20 bucks, we can hit that goal tonight. Please donate a few dollars to wonderful candidate who can go a long way to helping make Congress a better place for rational, sane people who don’t own oil companies.
My boy Lowell over at RK is helping to lead the charge on this.
Okay, while I think there was a battle of endorsements in the primary, could we please stop listing the endorsements in comments? Seriously, by the time the election comes up, there will be 1,642,783,273 endorsements, which will leave us with 6 million pages for one comment.
Now that the Senate primary is over, we need to start working towards beating the so-called “Marriage Amendment” (aka lets bash the gays bill). On Tuesday, volunteers worked the polls for the Commonwealth Coalition, including the NoVa superstar Shayna Englin.
On June 24th, Equality Fairfax and the Commonwealth Coalition will be canvassing registered voters to educate on the amendment. This is the beginning of a planned campaign to canvas the last Saturday of every month until November. The schedule for June 24th is:
The schedule for the Day of Action is as follows:
9:30am – 10:00am – gather and enjoy coffee/bagels at MCC NOVA in Fairfax
10:00am – 10:30am – briefing and training on canvassing
10:30am – 1:30pm – canvassing
1:30pm – 2:00pm – return to base for debrief and sharing of stories
Volunteers will meet at:
Metropolitan Community Church of Northern Virginia (MCC-NOVA)
10383 Democracy Lane
Fairfax, VA 22030
Please come out and assist in defeating this despicable legalized gay-bashing bill. If you would like to help, please e-mail sarah@equalityfairfax.org.
[Note: this is fast because I start school today, so I need to get back to that. More later]
I don’t care who you backed in the primary, I want you to first read this post, then hopefully feel like it’s time to build party unity back. I know a lot of people were turned off by nastiness in this primary (I’m speaking not of the campaigns, but of the bloggers, on both sides). There were some dirty tactics employed and some nasty things said, all in the name of defeating George Allen. It’s time to forgive the things that were said and done and follow through with what we all said we’d do: come together to beat George Allen. There’s a lot of experience and knowledge on the Miller side of the race that the Webb campaign could use.
We have some great candidates that we’ve battle tested and others who need our support. Lets not forget about the other campaigns while focusing on just the senate It’s time to go to war on all fronts. We either hang together or we hang separately.
As precinct captain of Centre Ridge (901 represent), I feel I am bound by my oath to live blog my poll experiences. As of 0830 hours, the count was 14. I can attest that 3 of those are Miller and 2 are Webb.
An interesting exchange I had was with several of the teachers (polling place is Centre Ridge Elemen). As they were coming into work, I was speaking with one of the teachers, and more teachers joined our conversation about the Senate race. The overwhelming comment by these teachers is that Jim Webb is a Republican and “I’m sick of these guys switching parties to just get elected.”
We discussed issues, and stances, lobbyists, negative campaigns, ex-Republican, the entire range and the six teachers I spoke to are all confirmed Miller voters.
Another interesting point is that most of the people I’ve talked to today have skipped the Webb/Miller lit and gone right for the Feder lit. They all want to talk about here (especially the teachers). A teacher I talked to who was a lifelong Republican said she was voting for Feder because she heard Judy speak and was amazed at “such a powerful educator”.
Heading back over in a few and will report back later. This is going to be an interesting day.
[10:41]
A Republican came to the polls, gave his name, but then refused to vote once he learned it was a Dem primary.
In all the negativity, I want to point out what I feel is a representation of the views of most Democrats. Josh Chernila wrote this post over at Raising Kaine. It’s not secret among my friends that I’ve been sick about the nastiness between people (especially between friends) in this primary. It bothers me to see rational people like Paul get upset and write some things I don’t think he means, or Ben to advocate to have an elected official who supports Miller removed from office in the next election. I’m especially bothered when intelligent people advocate calling up a campaign office and attacking the staff.
Say what you will, but all sides have been negative in this campaign, regardless of who threw the first punch (and by all sides, I mean both campaigns, bloggers, and elected officials).
Josh’s post at RK this morning made me feel better. It was a shot of rationality in this race of anger and hysteria (something I only expected from Waldo). He will support Miller if he wins (though he won’t work for him, which is what the Miller campaign can expect from the majority of the Webb supporters). Josh didn’t call anyone a traitor or advocate to work against any Miller endorsers. Josh was honest with his feelings without attacking, and I respect that. I think we can all respect what Josh has to say.
I hope that we don’t lose friends over this. I know a lot of us have lost a sense of fairness and purity to the process here, something that can never be regained. But I look forward to having dinner with my friends again once this is over, and talking about something other than Jim Webb and Harris Miller…something like Judy Feder (who could kick both their asses). Yeah, I said it. Miller and Webb, you’re lucky Judy didn’t want to waste her time with you two, she could take you both out. Bring it suckers.
Sorry, I get caught up in that sometimes. So, Tuesday, go vote for the guy you like best, that’s how Democracy works, and try to refrain from attacking another person because they like a different guy. Their vote is just as powerful as yours. Remember, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or a god-like Deity, you’re the same thing as everyone else, an American. We fight hard for what we believe in because that’s what Americans are good at…that and baseball (hey, an American team always wins the World Series). That guy next to you at the polling place is a fellow Democrat, a fellow American, and possibly an all-star shortstop.
Tomorrow, please vote for Judy Feder for Senate.
Harris Miller announced the endorsements of VBCPS School Board Member-Elect Pat Edmonson:
“While I initially supported Jim Webb, it became clear to me that not only is Harris Miller the candidate making the greatest effort to reach out to voters, Harris also is the candidate with the vision and message on education that I share and support. I am proud to be supporting Harris Miller in the June 13th primary.”
VBCPS School Board Member Ed Fissinger:
“I have paid close attention to both candidates, in particular to their visions and plans for education and training. I believe that Harris Miller is hands-down the better candidate in terms of his plans for education and keeping our workforce competitive in a global economy.”
VBCPS School Board Member-Elect Todd Davidson:
“Harris Miller is the kind of pragmatic, yet insightful, leader we need on Capitol Hill.”
And with the recent announcments from Lowell at RK that there are people who endorsed Miller but work behind the scenes for Webb, and that these people obviously couldn’t come out publicly, we see this:
Davidson, Senior Pastor of Piney Grove Baptist Church, had initially favored Webb but changed his mind to come out in public support of Miller.
Also, it warms my heart to see my good friend, Vivian Paige, jumping into the fight. I respect Vivian and I respect her opinion:
“I have spent a lot of time learning about both Harris Miller and James Webb,” said Paige. “I am proud to endorse Harris Miller, and I trust that he will represent the things that are important to me, from finding a way to get out of Iraq, to access to education, to support for increasing the minimum wage, to a plan to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil.”
You’ve been silent too long Vivian, and I appreciate your voice in the blogosphere which will hopefully return to issues instead of attacks.
Frank Wolf is up to his old tricks again. Running a tough election? Afraid to get voted out? Might lose that House gravy train? Lets start a commission. Why does a commission work for Wolf? It gives the appearence of doing something while it takes 2 years to come to the same conclusions that Judy Feder came to 20 years ago. The voters won’t be fooled.
Feder: “We Don’t Need a Commission. We Need Real Leadership.”
Sterling, VA — Judy Feder, Democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 10th District, today criticized Congressman Frank Wolf’s announcement of a proposed commission on the budget crisis.
“It seems that Frank Wolf has suddenly recognized that he’s squandered the resources needed to meet our obligations to our aging population by running up the national debt,” said Feder of Wolf’s speech announcing his proposed commission.
In his speech, Wolf quoted President Abraham Lincoln: “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
Unfortunately, Feder said, it is Wolf himself who is trying to escape responsibility for creating this dire fiscal situation by hiding his record in Congress.
“Frank Wolf has supported the Bush agenda 90% of the time, passing budgets with the largest deficits in history, raiding Social Security, and delivering huge giveaways to oil and drug companies. Mr. Wolf and President Bush have run up $8 trillion federal debt. Now it seems Mr. Wolf wants to force seniors to pay for his mistakes by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits.”\n
Feder, Dean of Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and one of the nation’s leading policy experts on healthcare, compared Wolf’s warnings of a fiscal crisis to another avoidable disaster.
“Frank Wolf’s admonishing the American people to be more fiscally responsible is like the captain of the Titanic telling drowning passengers that they should have taken swimming lessons.
“After 26 years in Congress, Frank Wolf doesn’t seem to understand that he can’t escape the problems he’s helped create with commissions. What we need is real leadership and a fresh approach that Frank Wolf cannot provide.”
Over at Raising Kaine, Lowell has broken the story that several Miller endorsements are actually working for Jim Webb behind the scenes:
In addition, I would point out that I personally know of several Miller “endorsers” who did so very early on, before Webb was in the race, and are now de facto backing Webb. In at least one case, this has been a HUGE help to Webb, as it’s one of the most prominent people on Miller’s list of “endorsers.” In contrast, I am not aware of anyone who has backed off from their endorsement of Jim Webb. Interesting, eh?
This is awesome news. I wonder when it will be made public officially. Way to go, Lowell.
Update:
What’s your guess for the endorsers that switched? Since Lowell says one is really influential, I’m going with Jim Moran, Don Beyer, and Janet Howell. Anyone else got a good guess? I wonder if NLS will have the answer.
Update 2:
Teacherken at RK knows of two, and also knows that some people close to an endorser are supporting Webb:
but I know of at least two and in one case people close to the public official are actively working on behalf of Webb with the knowledge and blessing of the public official. I doubt that Lowell can say more, although I’d be delighted if he could. I know of no PUBLIC switches by endorsers.
Reading the WAPO article this morning on Miller (hat tip to the boys over at RK), I started wondering about a part in the article:
“Taxes. We gotta cut ‘em, but we gotta make sure that we cut ‘em in a way that we can pay for them,” Miller told Virginia Beach resident Virgil Kilpatrick at the Norfolk AFR’AM Festival last month.
“So you’re all about changing the tax system?” Kilpatrick asked.
“Absolutely. I’m a business guy,” Miller said. “I’m all about doing things in a businesslike way.”
One of Miller’s biggest negatives is that he’s a lobbyist, and with MZM/Abramhoff, that’s a dirty word. What I want to question is the idea of running government like a business. I don’t think that’s a bad idea. I’ve said many times that if you ran a business like the US Government, you wouldn’t last very long.
No one likes taxes; the Republican party would have you believe that the Democratic party drinks the blood of the innocent in order to raise taxes. I don’t like the idea of higher taxes to pay for a war, but I like even less the idea of cutting taxes and still paying for a war. The pay as you go program was a great plan, which Miller brought up at the Flag Day Celebration on Sunday.
Now, it’s no secret that I have a beef with people who take Miller’s point out of context that Bush’s tax cuts are “a good idea” without talking about finding a way to pay for them. Especially when these people attack the Miller mailers for taking Jim Webb’s words out of context. It’s hypocrisy. I believe there should be a law banning ellipses in campaign literature. Print the whole thing.
But I wonder, what would happen if all the Senators and Congresspeople got to Washington DC, sat down with business persons (or even gave attention to the members who are from business, or people like Mark Warner) and said, “Lets run this place like we (and the IRS) expect a business to be run. Quarterly filings, operate in the black, etc.
This could be one advantage to Harris Miller. While I think the lobbyist scarlet letter still hangs, in a day when people are worried about the national debt, do you accept the lobbyist title to further the businessman title? Is this a wise strategy? There is no way the VA blogs are going to let the lobbyist title slide, so why not play up the businessman role as a strength?
I welcome discussion on the point, but not personal attacks on Miller or Webb. Argue the point not the man.
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