Video: Mark Keam at Fairfax JJ Dinner

At the Fairfax JJ Dinner I was able to talk to Mark Keam who's running to for the House of Delegates from the 35th District. Here's a few comments that he made. What I really like was how even in this brief video he called upon people to stand up and take action so that we can win back the House and make sure we have elected officials who truly represent our best interests.

Steve Shannon on Ken Cuccinelli Receiving Republican Nomination

The following is a statement that Steve Shannon made earlier today in regards to Ken Cuccinelli receiving the Republican nomination for Attorney General.

“I congratulate Ken on his decisive victory at today’s Republican convention and welcome him to the race for Attorney General of Virginia. Tomorrow, the contest of ideas begins. We will present competing visions of what the role and priorities should be for our next Attorney General. I have a record as a prosecutor who has put violent criminals behind bars. I have a record of putting partisanship aside and promoting economic growth, making Virginia the best state for business. Elections are about ideas and who has the mainstream values to best represent Virginia families. I look forward to a vigorous debate.”

Gerry Connolly Endorses Mark Keam for Delegate

The race in the 35th House of Delegates race has definitely been heating up as of late. Shortly after Roy Baldwin's attack piece hit mailboxes (though it was conveniently left off of a list of mailers the campaign sent to bloggers and the mainstream media), Congressman Gerry Connolly announced his endorsement of Mark Keam's candidacy. According to the Washington Post, Connolly had the following to say about Mark.

"He has the experience, energy and character to be an effective leader in the House of Delegates. He will fight for Fairfax and Vienna in Richmond, helping us get our fair share of transportation and education funding. I fully endorse his election."

This endorsement is important for several reasons. Firstly, it isn't everyday that a sitting Member of Congress gets involved in a House of Delegates primary. Gerry's decision to endorse Mark Keam therefore says a lot about how strongly he believes Mark would make an excellent Delegate. Secondly, Gerry Connolly spent much of his Congressional campaign talking about how he believes local public service is something that is extremely important and this is something that Mark has also emphasized. Gerry has taken his involvement in the local community with him to Washington and Mark wants to take his involvement in the community with him down to Richmond. In both cases, I think their potential constituents are better served due to the emphasis on public service.

What's also interesting is that even though I strongly believe Gerry Connolly is serving the 11th District well and was honored to cast my vote for him, I don't think you could exactly describe him as a favorite of the netroots. Mark Keam, however, has garnered the support of many extremely active netroots activists in Northern Virginia. When you combine this with Mark's endorsement from the Sierra Club, NARAL, and other community leaders, I believe this is a prime example of how a variety of people believe that Mark will make an excellent member of the House of Delegates. I know I certainly do.

UPDATE: I just received the full statement from Gerry Connolly:

Today I am pleased to announce my enthusiastic support for and endorsement of Mark Keam as the next Delegate from the 35th District.

Mark is a highly-qualified candidate who has devoted his career to fighting for progressive change. He served under President Clinton at the Federal Communications Commission and the Small Business Administration, fought Bush Administration policies when he worked on Capitol Hill for the Senate Democratic Leadership and then joined the Government Relations office at Verizon, working with Democrats to extend high-speed internet access to underserved communities. In addition to his extensive legislative experience, he's been President of his homeowners association, serves on Governor Tim Kaine's Asian American Advisory Board, and played a key role both in my Congressional campaign and President Obama's successful effort in Fairfax County.

I believe that this race has attracted four worthy and capable candidates, but Mark Keam is a standout. He has the experience, energy and character to be an effective leader in the House of Delegates. He will fight for Fairfax and Vienna in Richmond, helping us get our fair share of transportation and education funding. I fully endorse his election, and I encourage voters in the 35th House of Delegates district to do the same.

Video: Prop 8 Rally in Dupont Last Tuesday

On Tuesday evening I was at the Fairfax County Democratic Committee meeting, but there was also a rally in the Dupont Circle area in downtown DC. The rally was just one of many across the country that was organized to protest the Supreme Court of California's decision on Tuesday to uphold Prop 8 (the ban on same sex marriage in California). I had heard from several of my friends that the rally had a good turnout even though the weather wasn't too spectacular so I decided to go through youtube to see if there was any decent footage of the event.

The following is a video of an activist named Dana who I've seen at a variety of events over the years. What I think is very noteworthy here is that she talked about how we cannot simply wait for Obama to give equal rights to all Americans. People must stand up and make sure that the Obama Administration and our elected officials know understand that they cannot get away with denying a group of citizens their basic civil rights. That is why a group of activists got together and wrote the Dallas Principles, which lay out the fundamental principles beneath their call to action for equal rights.

Another interesting aspect of this speech is that I think it can apply to any issue that you care about. Nothing is going to be accomplished if you simply sit back and wait for someone else to take care of it. People must stand up for what they believe in and take the action that will help improve our communities. Of course, one of the most important things we can stand up for is the fundamental fact that nobody should have their basic civil rights violated.

Video: Leslie Byrne Endorses Creigh Deeds for Governor

I was at the Old Fairfax Courthouse earlier today when Leslie Byrne endorsed Sen. Creigh Deeds for governor. You can see the video below, but the sound wasn’t too great so here are some of the major points from Leslie’s speech.

*Creigh and Leslie have worked together since 1995 when they were in the House of Delegates together. They later served in the Senate together and Leslie was proud to be on the statewide ticket with Creigh in 2005 as she ran for Lt. Governor and he ran for Attorney General.

*Leslie said that you really get to know someone when you’re on the trail with them and Creigh’s “not a creation by consultants. He’s authentic.”

*Leslie said that “no other candidate is better prepared” to take on the responsibility of the Governor’s office.

*Leslie Byrne is known as a progressive candidate and in regards to Creigh’s progressive qualities she pointed outh that he has a 100% pro choice voting record, has done a lot for the environment, earned a 93% ranking for the teachers which is higher than any other gubernatorial candidate has scored, and it’s clear that he’s going to make transportation a priority.

*She ended her speech by saying that “He has the qualities that I believe we need in a governor. And that’s not only the ability to do great things but to listen to those in the community, to listen to those in the Commonwealth, and to listen to their ideas and put them into action. That’s why I’m proud to give my endorsement today to my good friend, Sen. Creigh Deeds.”



After Leslie spoke, Creigh stepped up to the microphone and spoke about how he "couldn't be more humbled to have the support of Leslie Byrne." Since Leslie has a history of standing up for working families, it was fitting that Creigh then went on to speak about how Bob McDonnell has done nothing but stand up for the "big guys" but he believes we need a governor who will stand up for the little guy. He pointed out that he has that background and argued that he is the only candidate who has stood with the Warner and Kaine administration every step of the way. In a swipe at Brian Moran, he pointed out that he "put public service before this campaign" by keeping his commitment to middle class families by continuing to serve in the General Assembly during this economic crisis instead of resigning in order to raise more money.

Some people have questioned whether Creigh is "progressive enough" to be the Democratic nominee for governor. I think Leslie's endorsement and the points both of them made today won't completely quash those doubts in everyone, but they will definitely help convince voters who were on the border and just needed convincing that Creigh would truly represent the best interests of working families.

Video: Creigh Deeds Speaks at FCDC Meeting

The following is a video of Creigh Deeds speaking to the FCDC meeting last night. As an interesting side note, there was a television crew that was following Creigh around and there appeared to be a lot more excitement about his campaign than I've seen in the past up in NOVA. I'll have more about that soon, but in the mean time here's his speech from last night.

My Endorsement in the 35th House of Delegates District: Mark Keam

I’ve gotten to know Steve Shannon over the years and have always been tremendously impressed with the work that he’s done in the House of Delegates. Now that Steve’s running for Attorney General, it’s tremendously important that residents of the 35th District elect a new Delegate who has a passion for public service, the background to stand up for what’s right on important issues such as education and the economy, and a work ethic that will serve his/her constituents well in the House. I strongly believe that Mark Keam brings these qualities to the table and am proud to announce that I’m endorsing his candidacy for the House of Delegates.

I first met Mark during the early stages of presidential primary as he was volunteering for Barack Obama. After hearing him speak for just a short while about why he was involved in the campaign, it was obvious that Mark truly believed that we need to elect leaders who will truly represent the best interests of the general public. As time went by, I saw Mark put in the extremely long hours going to events, making phone calls, knocking on doors, and doing whatever he could to make sure that we elected Barack Obama president. Anyone who has volunteered for a campaign realizes that the hard work put in by volunteers isn’t always very glamorous and only someone who truly wants to give back to the community will repeatedly do the hard work for free. Mark not only repeatedly did the work necessary, but he went above and beyond what was expected of him.

As I have been able to see Mark’s campaign in action and even sit down with him to discuss his candidacy, it’s become clear to me that he is running for the House of Delegates because he wants to give back to his community. I have him speak passionately, for instance, about making sure our public education system receives the investment and attention it needs to remain top notch. On other occasions I’ve heard him speak about how we need leaders who will open up a dialogue with the general public about what is taking place down in Richmond because that will help to ensure that our General Assembly is truly looking out for the best interests of all Virginians.

Through his experience as the Chief Council to Dick Durbin on the US Senate Judiciary Committee or as a policy counsel at the Small Business Administration, Mark has also shown a great ability to master the important issues and work towards creating the best possible solution to the issues at hand. I am confident that he will take these skills and others and combine them with his passion for public service to make an excellent member of the House of Delegates. I therefore strongly encourage my readers to support Mark Keam for Delegate from the 35th District.

Video: Mike Signer Speaks at FCDC Meeting

The following is a video of Mike Signer speaking at last night's FCDC meeting. What's interesting about this speech is that at the end of it he makes it perfectly clear that he understands he's the underdog in this race running against an establishment candidate. He argues, however, that he has been picking up a lot of momentum and the race is very similar now to the conditions that allowed other grassroots candidates such as Jim Webb to win Democratic primaries here in Virginia. I'm not completely convinced, but with recent polling showing huge numbers of voters undecided you never know.

Video: Democratic Candidates March in Falls Church Parade

Here's some footage from the Falls Church parade yesterday including some brief comments from Steve Shannon at the end.

Reaction to the Viva Vienna Festival

In addition to the parade in Falls Church, I also attended the Viva Vienna festival yesterday. This was a three day festival in the heart of Vienna which attracted a good size crowd. Since the festival lasted for three days, however, the action wasn’t as compact as it was at the festival in Falls Church. Nonetheless, it still attracted a number of candidates and local political activists.

One of the first elected officials I ran into at Viva Vienna was Sen. Chap Petersen who is extremely well liked in the area. Every time I’ve gone to a festival in the Vienna area Chap! is there and is greeted by people who he has obviously meet before. I think this truly speaks to how active Chap has been in the community beyond his official duties because it’s very rare that you see a politician who is so warmly received by his/her constituents. Furthermore, it is very telling that Chap also takes the time to listen to what folks have to say instead of merely brushing them off onto a Legislative Assistant or campaign staffer.

This festival also featured the candidates who are hoping to replace Steve Shannon as the Delegate from the 35th District. Their signs were up all around the festival site and the Town of Vienna. While several of the candidates had a good showing at the actual festival, Mark Keam appeared to have the most success getting members of the crowd to wear his stickers and talk about his candidacy. At many festivals and parades children usually love to take the pencils or pieces of candy that the campaigns are giving away. At Viva Vienna, however, I thought it was very interesting to see how many adults were anxious to get their hands on the candy and pencils that the Keam campaign had at its booth. If people of voting age were that excited to get these goodies, then it’s also likely they’ll be motivated to get out to the polls on primary day to vote for Mark. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that Mark has been extremely busy as of late knocking on doors and making phone calls because that type of action can prove to be very beneficial during a House of Delegates primary.

An interesting note from the event was that I ran into Keith Fimian, the Republican who ran for Congress against Gerry Connolly in the 11th, as he was campaigning for Jim Hyland – the Republican running for the House of Delegates from the 35th. Keith and I had met several times along the campaign trail last year but had never really spoken beyond a few seconds. I was therefore pleasantly surprised when he sparked a conversation with me about a variety of topics including education and economic justice – two of the big issues I’m passionate about. We have our differences about policy, but he did have some interesting ideas that could have helped him during the campaign if he had given them their proper attention. That being said, I still think it’d be a big challenge for him if he ran again in 2010 because Gerry Connolly has served the 11th extremely well in Congress.

While this year’s Viva Vienna event was successful and the campaigns were well represented, I believe the fact that it was a three day festival might have limited the impact that candidates could have had at the event. Nonetheless, it’s proximity to the Falls Church parade and festival did allow for candidates to turn Monday into a great day for reaching out to a lot of voters gathered in some central locations. With primary day rapidly approaching, the opportunity to talk to a lot of voters is likely to be appreciated by candidates and a good showing is likely to serve them well.

NLS Endorses McAuliffe: What Does That Really Mean?

Ben Tribbett of Not Larry Sabato has put up a video about his decision to endorse Terry McAuliffe for Governor. Besides the actual endorsement that's being made, what's interesting about this video is that it's on Terry McAuliffe's youtube channel. In other words, it's the campaign that really wanted to put this up and market the fact that Terry has picked up the support of a netroots activist. When you combine this with the fact that Mike Signer's Lt. Governor campaign just put out a video that highlights all its netroots accomplishments and many statewide campaigns have hired folks to help with online strategy, it seems to suggest that many candidates here in Virginia realize the major role that the netroots can play in elections.

So while Ben's decision to endorse Terry will likely cause some chatter among political insiders here in Virginia, I think the big picture story here is that this campaign represents a prime example of how campaigns have gone from being willing to accommodate the netroots to actively seeking the support of bloggers and promoting their work.

Reaction To Candidates At Falls Church Parade

There were a number of festivals across Northern Virginia yesterday that coincided with Memorial Day. One of those was in Falls Church which had both a festival and a parade. Although a good appearance at a parade doesn’t directly relate to victory on election day, I think they can say something about a campaign’s ability to organize and rally it’s supporters. Plus a good showing can provide candidates with some name recognition that they otherwise wouldn’t have received.

Both Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe marched in the campaign and had a decent size showing (Creigh Deeds was apparently in Portsmouth at another parade, but did have a few people marching in the parade). Brian's supporters in attendance were folks who I recognized as activists who put in long hours making phone calls, knocking on doors, and taking part in other grassroots activities supporting Democratic candidates over the years. Considering that Brian has built his campaign from the ground up and really promotes grassroots action, it shouldn't be too surprising to anyone that it was grassroots activists who were rallying behind Brian during the parade.

While Terry McAuliffe did have the largest number of people there, someone who was marching for a candidate in another race pointed out that many of the people there marching for Terry were on his paid staff. Even though this person supported Terry, she thought it was disingenuous of the campaign to use campaign staffers in an attempt to make it look like Terry is running a purely grassroots campaign. Since parades are largely an opportunity to rally supporters and energize them heading into grassroots action, the fact that Terry’s crew seemed to turn off some of his own supporters in attendance suggests that Brian’s team of dedicated volunteers won the event.

In terms of the Lt. Governor campaigns, Mike Signer had a decent showing of support. Since a large number of people still do not know much about the LG race, this showing at a well attended parade could have helped him pick up some name recognition. It’s also worth noting that many of the people who were marching with the gubernatorial candidates were wearing Signer stickers. While the crowd might not have picked up on those folks, it does fit with the fact that Mike has picked up a lot of grassroots support. As we are heading into the final days of the election and canvassing efforts could really help convey Mike’s message, this is a good sign for his campaign.

While Signer was able to get some name recognition out of the event, Jody Wagner had a horrible showing as there were less than five people marching with her group. In fact, it was only when she later tweeted about the parade that I even realized Jody herself was there (I also asked at least 15 Democratic activists who were there and nobody else had realized that Jody had marched in the parade). Since there was another parade in Portsmouth which is very close to her home base, it seems as though she would have been better served to have a good showing there or have skipped the parades all together to either canvass or make phone calls.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, I spent most of my time during the parade marching with Steve Shannon who is the Democratic nominee for Attorney General. As I watched him interact with the crowd, he was received extremely well. On a number of occasions he was even briefly stopped by people who he’d seen on the campaign trail before and wanted to express their support. Other folks said things like “We cannot afford to have Ken Cuccinelli be Attorney General” or “We need your leadership in the AG’s office.”

There were also a few state and local elected officials who took part in the parade including Del. Bob Hull and Del. Jim Scott. Along the way, a lot of people seemed to know Del. Hull as I heard them shout out things such as “Hey Bob” or “Keep it up Bob.” When you combine this with the fact that Hull’s opponent in the primary, School Board member Kaye Kory, wasn’t even there, a lot of people were wondering if this was representative of how the overall campaign is going.

All in all, I thought the parade went very well. There have been many times when I’ve marched in parades with candidates and there would be more people in the parade than watching it. That was not the case during yesterday’s parade, which means the candidates in attendance actually had an opportunity to shake hands with a large number of undecided voters. While in the end an appearance at a parade won’t guarantee victory on election day, the large crowd did result in the parade being worthwhile for campaigns that had a good showing.

Photo Slideshow From Falls Church Parade

Here's a slideshow of some photos I took today during the Memorial Day Parade in Falls Church. My newer camera ran out of batteries so some of these shots were from my old camera, so I wasn't as pleased as I could have been with the photos but I did still manage to grab a few good ones. I spent most of my time marching with Steve Shannon, the Democratic nominee for Attorney General, so that's why there's a large number of shots of him.

Some of my thoughts about the parade and Viva Vienna will be coming in a future post so keep checking back.

Televised Lt. Governor Debate

A few weeks ago there was a televised debate between Jody Wagner and Mike Signer, both of whom are running for the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor. At the time, Jon Bowerbank was also in the race but did not attend the debate because he was spending Mother's Day with his family in Southwest Virginia. Now that Jon has decided to drop out of the race, I thought it might be worth providing people with the opportunity to watch the debate again since much of the commentary immediately following the debate focused on Jon's absence.

Despite the fact that there was some petty back and forth between the candidates such as whether Signer served as Deputy Counselor for either four or seven months, there was some discussion about where the candidates differ on policy -- which is what I believe should receive the most amount of attention from viewers. With that in mind, here's the video of the debate that was originally aired on Mother's Day.

Rachel Maddow Covers Liberty University's Decision to Ban College Democrats

Yesterday I wrote a post about how the administration at Liberty University was stifling free speech by banning the College Democrats Club from campus after claiming you couldn't be a Christian and a Democrat at the same time. Bloggers throughout Virginia realized this was incredibly wrong and some of candidates and community leaders also expressed severe disappointment. Last night the discussion made it to national television when the Rachel Maddow show covered the situation.

Welcome, Owen Shannon

I just received an email from Roman Levit, Steve Shannon's campaign manager, announcing the birth of Steve and Abby Shannon's third child.

A few minutes ago, I received a call from Steve sharing the wonderful news about the birth of Owen Shannon, Steve and Abby’s 3rd child. Owen was born weighing 8 pounds, 5 ounces, and is 20.5 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing great. Steve and Abby are blessed by this new addition to their family.

Welcome, Owen, and Congrats Steve and Abby.

Liberty University Bans College Democrats Club

It appears as though the extreme right is getting scared of the fact that many religious faithful are also members of the Democratic Party. At Liberty University, a private Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, the school's administration decided to ban a College Democrats club from the campus. According to the News and Advance, the administration apparently told students that the club is in violation of the University's goals because you cannot be a Christian and a Democrat.

Jan Dervish, secretary of the club, and Maria Childress, its staff adviser, said they met with Hine after the revocation and asked for a further explanation.

“He said it wasn’t us. It was the national Democratic Party,” which the campus club’s constitution supports, Dervish said. The campus club also opposes abortion and supports the traditional view of marriage, Dervish said.

“His bottom line was, ‘You can’t be a Democrat and be a Christian and be a university representative,’” Childress said.

Setting aside the fact that the university has a nonprofit status and therefore shouldn't be acting in a partisan manner, this move is an utter shame. In my opinion, neither party should have a claim to being the party of the faithful. The Democratic Party, for instance, is generally the party that believes we should stand up for those in need which is a policy that most religions also promote. Based upon the campus club's constitution, it also appears as though these are the Democratic priorities that the club focused on and they even drew some distinctions between themselves on the issues of abortion and same sex marriage (though I still believe you can be a good Christian and agree with the Democratic Party's platform on those issues too).

The overall lesson that can be taken from this situation is the fact that some on the extreme right are so nervous about the advances the Democratic Party have made in recent years and they'll do whatever it takes to stifle free speech. In the long run, however, I believe this simply causes more and more people to be alienated from the Republican Party which gives more people the opportunity to see that the Democratic Party is promoting commonsense ideas that are in the best interests of the general public.

As much as I'd like to see more progress candidates elected to office, I also believe our political process thrives on having an opportunity for a productive discussion to take place. I therefore hope that moderate Republicans take a stand against the extreme right wing of their party and let it be known that religion shouldn't be used to stifle the free speech that our democratic process depends upon. If the administration at Liberty University gives any clue as to what the leaders of the conservative movement are thinking, however, it doesn't look like moderate Republicans will be given an opportunity to succeed in the party any time soon.

The Domestic Parnership Benefits and Obligations Act is Gaining Momentum

With more an more people realizing that it is wrong to discriminate against people simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, there has been a lot of momentum recently towards recognizing the committed and loving relationships that so many Americans have. According to a statement released by Sen. Jeff Merkley's office, it appears as though there has been another step taken towards recognizing same sex relationships.

Merkley has signed on as a co-sponsor of The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which is office says "will help the federal government keep pace with the 16 states, including Oregon, and the majority of Fortune 500 companies that are already offering domestic partner benefits to their employees." Some of the benefits the legislation would provide for federal employees and their domestic partners are:

• Employee Health Benefits
• Family, medical and emergency leave
• Retirement and disability
• Group life insurance
• Long-term care insurance
• Death and disability benefits
• Compensation for work injuries
• Relocation, travel and related expenses
  

What's perhaps most noticeable about Merkley's move here is that it's clear he views this as a basic right for employees to be able to work for the federal government and not be discriminated against when it comes to receiving their benefits.

“It is plain wrong that some federal employees are not currently entitled to equal health and employment benefits,” said Merkley. “This legislation will ensure that all federal employees, regardless of their sexual orientation, have access to employee health benefits, family and medical leave, compensation for work injuries, and the retirement and disability plans that are vital to the financial security of families.”

“This bill is a step in the right direction to make sure that all Americans are compensated equally under the law,” said Merkley. “It is time for the federal government to stand up for fairness and ensure that all federal employees and their loved ones are treated the same.”

I wholeheartedly agree with Sen. Merkley here, it is indeed "time for the federal government to stand up for fairness." That is why this legislation needs to be passed by Congress and signed into law. I encourage everyone to contact their members of Congress and let them know that they should join Merkley and stand up for what is right by co-sponsoring this legislation.

WTOP Features Discussion How to Catch Cyber Terrorists

Over the years, many folks have gotten to know Jim Southworth as someone who has used his technological skills to help public forums run smoothly or through being the president of the local Public Access television station. The skills needed to do those tasks, however, are just the tip of the iceberg as far as Southworth's techie skills go. As a recent piece on WTOP points out, Southworth is a "cyber expert" who "has helped government agencies track hackers and terrorists."

The article which featured some of Jim’s thoughts discusses how some criminal organizations are using social media and other new technologies to try and advance their cause. People like Jim who have an extremely advanced background in technology, however, are helping to track down these terrorists and protect our communities.

According to U.S. intelligence sources, global intelligence agencies use powerful data, web and text-mining tools to follow the activities of suspected terrorists.

From the inter-relationships intelligence sources find, Southworth says in many cases a three-dimensional model can be created so investigators can see it on a computer screen.

"Analyst or law enforcement individual can literally follow the money," Southworth says.

In other words, while many of us in the political blogosphere pride ourselves on being able to use technology to open up the political process, it’s also important to remember that having people with a background in technology and the online community can truly help to keep our country safer. As social networking technologies continue to progress, I imagine we will need more people like Southworth who have an in depth knowledge of how the internet and other technologies work. In the meantime, I'm glad to see that people are recognizing that Jim is indeed a "cyber expert" who can do our country a lot of good.

This Year's No Different: Negative Tactics are used Every Year

It seems like almost every year there are political insiders moaning and groaning about how one campaign or another is going negative and has “crossed the line.” Of course, all the campaigns try to claim they want to focus on the issues. Nonetheless, there is usually a shouting match taking place by Election Day about which campaign went negative first and which attacks are worse. That has become the case this year in the gubernatorial primary.

Instead of focusing on who has the best plan to help create jobs, make sure our educational system prepares students for the 21st Century job market, and to provide affordable health care coverage to all Virginians, we’ve seen the gubernatorial campaigns go back and forth about which campaign has launched the worst attacks. Today, for instance, Terry McAuliffe’s campaign sent out an email pulled a random quote from a blogger to claim that Brian “Moran's attack bears a striking similarity” to Republican tactics (essentially accussing him of launching an attack and bailing on his own party).

During the 2007, many of Terry’s biggest netroots supporters threw a fit over at the then prominent Raising Kaine when a Republican House of Delegates candidate pulled a similar stunt. Now I have yet to hear any of those bloggers call out Terry for this stunt, but they sure do like to point out negative campaigning whenever they highlight any blogger or activist switching their endorsement from Brian Moran to Terry McAuliffe. In other words, they’re fine with using a negative tactic if it helps their candidate but will moan and groan about it if it hurts someone they’re supporting.

The moaning and groaning gives folks a story to talk about, but it doesn't further our political discussion like the blogosphere should. Moving onwards we need to focus on the ideas that have been put forward in this election. As I mentioned in previous posts, for instance, I really like Brian Moran’s homeowner’s bill of rights, how he called for health care to be more accessible in rural communities, and how his background has influenced him to fight for those in need. All of this is covered up, however, by the back and forth between people in the various campaigns.

As I mentioned earlier, people have been moaning and groaning about negative campaigning for years so I highly doubt that one simple blog post will prevent the practice from continuing. The only way to truly stop the practice would be if people actually stood up as a group and actively worked towards rallying behind candidates who focused their efforts on a positive campaign. Call me naive, but if enough people stood up this might actually work because candidates would realize they have to focus on the issues if they want to be elected.

The problem is, people won't make a true effort to stand up against negative campaigning. They moan and groan every year about the negativity in politics, but jump at the opportunity to launch attacks if they think it'll help their cause. So to everyone out there who is engaged in the meaningless back and forth about who went negative first, just remember that you are only prolonging the use of negative campaigning and preventing a fruitful discussion of the real issues at hand.

My Reaction To Jon Bowerbank Suspending His Campaign

A lot of folks have asked me what I thought about Jon Bowerbank dropping out of the race for Lt. Governor. Out of respect for Jon, I didn’t give my opinion at first because I thought the discussion should focus on his accomplishments and not on what his new media director had to say about the decision. With that being said, I’m still not going to comment on the actual decision other than to say that I was saddened by the move because I truly believed (and still do) that he would make an excellent Lt. Governor. I did, however, want to take an opportunity to say a few words about Jon.

Many politicians work their passion public service into their stump speech in one form or another, but it was quite obvious to me that Jon Bowerbank actually cared about giving back and serving his community. In recent weeks, for instance, I have traveled literally thousands of miles with him all over the Commonwealth. When we left each stop Jon was always excited to talk about the good that each program was doing for the local community and the hard working people that he had just met. This got folks around Jon excited about how he was running a campaign that might be able to draw more attention and potential to these deserving programs. I bring this up because I believe it helps to provide just a small glimpse into how his campaign was about something larger than politics, it was about an opportunity for Jon to use his background and vision to help his fellow Virginians.

Jon’s campaign for Lt. Governor might be over for the time being, but that doesn’t mean his desire to give back to the community has ended. For example, he’s still a member of the Russell County Board of Supervisors where I’m confident that he’ll continue to be an excellent public servant and will fight for those who need a voice in local government. I also am confident we'll see him out on the trail helping elect leaders who truly desire to represent the best interests of Virginians.

Having gotten to know Jon over the last year, I’m honored to consider him a friend and have a great deal of respect for the work that he’s done. I look forward to the possibility of working with him again in one form or another in the future and wish him and his family nothing but the absolute best.

Video Message from Miles Grant for Delegate

What I really like about this video that Miles Grant put out is that in less than a minute he gives us a glimpse into his campaign and what his cause will actually mean for Virginians. In other words, he gives us an idea of we should send someone who's been so involved in environmental activism to the House of Delegates. As he points out, it could affect (among other things) savings for Virginians on their energy bills and some new opportunities could result in job creation which is greatly needed at a time when about 300,000 Virginians are unemployed.



(h/t Blue Virginia)

Mark Keam Wins Straw Poll in 35th District House of Delegates Race

In the race to replace Steve Shannon as the Delegate from the 35th District, there was a straw poll among the Democratic candidates at the Providence District Democratic Committee’s annual MayFest fundraiser. The results of the straw poll were as follows:

Mark Keam 69%
John Carroll 15%
Esam Omeish 8%
Roy Baldwin 8%

There's always going to be some question about how reliable straw polls actually are, but I think there are a few trends here that are worth noting. Mark Keam ran away with this poll receiving twice as many votes as the rest of the field combined and four times as many votes as his nearest competitor. This seems to suggest that Mark's campaign was extremely well organized when it came to turning out supporters to this event. That would go along with the fact that Mark is well known among Democratic activists for the work that he's done in the Providence District for Obama and other candidates.

Of course with polls still showing that many likely primary voters are still undecided in the statewide campaigns that have been receiving attention from the press, this House of Delegates primary is still anyone's race to win. As it stands now, this straw poll is one example of how Mark Keam's campaign is organizing it's supporters in the final stretch. If he's going to win on June 9th, that organizing is going to need to continue and transform into people knocking on doors and making phone calls.

Video: Jon Bowerbank on Visiting Girls, Inc in Bristol

More to come on the tour as a whole, but here's a quick video that Jon Bowerbank made on his education tour last week. The video was shot shortly after we visited Girls, Inc in Bristol, Virginia. It's worth noting that the Bristol Girls, Inc has received national recognition for the program there.

Video: PWC Committee of 100 Panel on EFCA

At the end of April the Prince William County Committee of 100 hosted an event that featured a panel discussion of the Employee Free Choice Act that was moderated by Mark Plotkin from WTOP. The panel included folks from both sides of the debate and featured Dan Duncan, President of the Northern Virginia Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Ted Phelgar, Senior Counsel for the Workforce Freedom Initiative, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; James Young, Staff Attorney with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation; and Nancy Schiffer, Associate General Counsel with the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO].

The program, which ran for about an hour and forty-five minutes, covered a variety of topics including the following:

• How does it affect Virginia's Right To Work laws?
• Is the secret ballot a cornerstone of democracy in the workplace?
• Does the necessity of winning a majority of secretly cast votes raise an unreasonable barrier to employees seeking the opportunity to collectively bargain with employers?
• Does management have too much power to threaten workers who want to unionize, if unions are unable to organize in private, by quietly soliciting worker signatures, rather than having to win a publicly scrutinized contested election?
• Or are workers subject to undue coercion if they have to openly declare their position on whether to unionize in the presence of union organizers?
  

Thanks to the technical work of Jim Southworth, the video of the event is now available and can be seen below. I think this is a good discussion of how federal legislation would impact workers here in Virginia and across the country.

Mistake On Nats Jersey Results in 8 Grand for Dream Foundation

I missed the story last month when Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman wore jerseys last month that had misspelled Nationals -- they had it was spelled "Natinals." According the NBC 4's website, the uniform manufacturer sent them the misspelled jerseys an nobody noticed it until the game had already started but it still caused some jokes to be made on late night TV.

Although not much might have turned around about the Nationals season yet, but the jerseys featuring the mistake are bringing in some money for a good cause. A big fan has spent $8,000 to purchase the uniform that Dunn wore and all of the profits will be going to the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, which is an organization that works towards improving the lives of the area's youth among other things.

While I wish I had other things to report about the Nationals besides a mistake on their uniform, I'm glad to see that there is some news about the Nats being associated with such a good cause.

Video: Del. Dave Marsden on the Inside Scoop

I have gotten to know Del. Dave Marsden over the last few years and I believe he serves the residents of the 41st District extremely well. He was the guest on the Inside Scoop last night and spoke about some of the big issues in the House of Delegates and his background. I highly recommend watching the show because Dave has a lot of good ideas and brings a unique background that makes him a good leader down in Richmond.

On Tuition Increases, We Need Productive Discussion

Since a good education provides people with a significant amount of opportunity, many families view an investment in higher education as something that can be very beneficial. Unfortunately, rising tuition costs have placed a much higher burden on families with one or more people in college. Michael Birnbaum wrote a piece for the Washington Post yesterday which discussed how this has resulted in many students having to make decisions on where they’ll attend college based upon the tuition costs.

With many of the examples that he used, the students were at the top of their classes in high school and were considering attending out of state or private colleges which would have resulted in absolutely enormous amounts of debt. While I can feel for these students and I appreciate the fact that Birnbaum even wrote an article on the topic of tuition increases, the article was making it sound like it was a horrible thing to attend one of Virginia’s public colleges or universities. The article opened up, for instance, with a reference to students who Birnbaum claimed would have to “dial down their dreams” and “[sign] up with cheaper George Mason University.” He then went on to imply that Virginia Tech was the second choice for engineering students.

As a graduate of George Mason University I take issue with this portrayal. Not only do I take pride in the high quality education I received at Mason, but this clearly ignores the fact that schools like GMU have been receiving national recognition. Mason, for instance, was named the number one school in US News and World Report’s “Up and Coming” category -- ahead of other schools on the list like Clemson and Drexel. Other Virginia public schools such as Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia have also been considered among the top schools in other categories for years.

In addition to clearly insulting Virginia’s institutions of higher learning that have been receiving national recognition, I think Birnbaum’s article completely missed an excellent opportunity to have a productive discussion about the costs of higher education. You see, even with the excellent colleges that we have right here in Virginia there are some families who cannot afford to pay the cost of in-state tuition. This is in part because schools have to increase their tuition due to the fact that they aren’t receiving the funding from other sources that they need. An article that looked into possible ways to increase funding to our schools could have been a useful way of showing what could be done to help students in the future.

The article also could have provided a resource for students if it hadn’t been so set on casting Virginia’s school as second choices, but actually helping to illustrate how students could get the best bang for their buck when receiving a higher education. The article, for instance, could have mentioned how Virginia’s community college system provides students with a high quality education at a significantly lower rate than some of the four year institutions. By attending a community college for their first two years and then transferring to a school like George Mason, students can receive a very good education and also save some money. The community college system can also be used by students who might not be able to afford a four year degree, but want to receive an Associate Degree that will provide them some skills necessary for the 21st Century job market. Of course, none of these options were discussed in the article.

Drawing attention to the rising costs of a higher education is a good thing, but doing it in a way that doesn’t offer solutions and insults the high quality schools we have in Virginia actually results in doing a disservice to readers. In the future, I hope that we see more articles that actually discuss potential solutions rather than simply insulting local organizations that are working hard to provide students with the best education possible.

Reaction to Great Event In Braddock District Yesterday

Yesterday I attend the Braddock Derby Days event, which is one of the big fundraisers for the local Braddock District Democratic Committee. The event was held on the patio of a local restaurant, which luckily had a covering since it started to rain towards the end of the event, and attracted a very good sized crowd which included Del. David Bulova, Del. Dave Marsden, Del. Steve Shannon, Del. Vivian Watts, Sen. Dick Saslaw, Sen. Creigh Deeds, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Sharon Bulova, and Congressman Gerry Connolly.

While many of the people in attendance already knew the importance of gaining control of the House of Delegates and the LG and AG offices, it was noticeable that more and more people are beginning to pay closer attention to these races. Greg Werkheiser, for instance, was also in attendance and people were really excited about the chance to send him to the House of Delegates instead of Republican Del. Dave Albo. In addition to all the excitement on display for his candidacy yesterday afternoon, I have spoken with a lot of grassroots activists who are really rallying behind Greg’s campaign and are looking forward to his campaign kicking into full gear. I note this because the grassroots support that Werkheiser has will go a long ways towards helping spread his message to voters, a task which is absolutely critical is a Delegate race.

As I spoke with people about the Lt. Governor’s race, there were a large number of people who were still undecided. At the same time, several folks mentioned that they had seen Jon Bowerbank’s live blog over at Blue Commonwealth and were very impressed with what he had to say. Many of them were also looking forward to hearing what he has to say during his education tour next week. This truly falls in with what I’ve been seeing on the campaign trail – when people hear what Jon Bowerbank is all about, they believe he will make an excellent Lt. Governor.

Of course, there was a lot of talk at the event about the gubernatorial primary. Sen. Creigh Deeds did make an appearance and took some time to very briefly address the crowd. He received a warm welcome as he worked the crowd, which is to be expected because I noticed several of his supporters in the crowd and even people who aren’t supporting his candidacy have a lot of respect for the him as a person and the work he has done in the Senate.

Brian Moran wasn’t able to make it, but there were several of his volunteers there who were wearing Moran for Governor t-shirts and letting people know about how they can get more involved in the campaign. Many of the people in the crowd were already Brian supporters and several of them mentioned to me that they had already been participating in phone banks, which seems to suggest that the volunteers were doing a good job of creating grassroots action.

Terry McAuliffe had one of his almost one hundred paid staffers there who was trying to sign up some volunteers. Ironically, when he found out what precinct I lived in he told me that sometimes the volunteers that “they just want to get out of the way” were sent there because it was a Republican precinct. While that might actually be true, that doesn’t seem like the way you’d want to inspire confidence in a certain campaign. Perhaps next time he meets someone from a largely Republican precinct he’ll remember that just a few years ago Virginia as a whole was considered a Republican stronghold and it was the dedication of volunteers from this so called red state that helped Virginia elect Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, and Jim Webb to statewide office; have a Democratic majority in our Congressional delegation; and go blue for the first time in 44 years during last year’s presidential election.

All in all, I think the event went very well and raised a fair amount of money for the Braddock District Democratic Committee. Perhaps more importantly, the energy surrounding our candidates was very evident which could prove to be very beneficial as we head into the June 9th primary and then the general election in November.

Jon Bowerbank Live Blog

Jon Bowerbank, who is running for Lt. Governor, will be live blogging over at Blue Commonwealth today from 10am until 11am. There are already a fair number of questions, so it should be a good event and I highly recommend following this link to go check it out.