lowkell

Maybe he's not the most inspiring speaker. Maybe he doesn't have the optimal positions on the environment or other issues.  The point is, Mark Warner hustles his butt off, keeps in touch with everyone, nurtures his networks, and wins wins WINS elections (in fairness, he also has a lot of money, but that doesn't negate all the other things Warner does).  That's how it's done, and that's how it should be done to a large extent.  I remember when I went on his campaign kickoff "flyaround" in 2008, the guy knew peoples' names, their kids names, their dogs' names, whatever.  Whatever else you think about Mark Warner, that's impressive.

P.S. A highly observant friend of mine points out that one of the newspaper front pages has the headline, "Poll: GOP Ahead." Perhaps Warner's staff might have folded that paper a bit differently?  :)

Another interesting column by Paul Goldman on Bob McDonnell's ill-conceived, half-baked ABC privatization plan.

The challenge comes from his top spokesman as reported by Washington Post reporter and blogger Anita Kumar in her latest posting.

In the rules of politics, McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin, a friend and a good guy, just dared Democrats to put an ABC referendum on the ballot.

Here's why.

Delegate  Joe Morrissey, the House Democratic whip, came out yesterday against the Governor's plan, for many of the reasons any number of other groups/delegate/senators have also indicated having serious reservations about the proposal.

In addition, the beer and wine wholesalers, big supporters of candidate McDonnell last year, also came out against the plan as being fiscally flawed and favoring the big guys over the little guys, a point made by many small business owners.

Given that such opposition was surely expected by McDonnell and his staff, one would expect the normal response, this is part of the ritual dance here.

BUT THAT ISN'T WHAT HAPPENED.

More after the "fold"

I just looked in the dictionary under the definition of "lame" and found a picture of Eric Can'tor.  Heh.

Thanks to Tom Whipple for the Friday "Clips."

1. BEER AND WINE WHOLESALERS OPPOSE MCDONNELL'S ABC PRIVATIZATION PLAN
2. MORRISSEY CALLS FOR LIQUOR-PRIVATIZATION REFERENDUM
3. MCDONNELL ABC PLAN RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM TRANSPORTATION CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
4. NEW LOBBYISTS IN VIRGINIA FOR RIPLEY'S, LIQUOR INTERESTS
5. MCDONNELL ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF REGIONAL ENERGY BOARD
7. HOWELL SAYS GENERAL ASSEMBLY WILL CONSIDER FEDERAL 'REPEAL AMENDMENT'
10. THREE ARLINGTON LEGISLATORS URGE COMPROMISE ON I-395/95 HOT LANE LAWSUIT
13. CANTOR GREETED BY FANS, PROTESTERS AT BOOK SIGNING
14. OBAMA URGES HIS SUPPORTERS IN THE 5TH TO HELP PERRIELLO
15. BOUCHER USES $29,352 IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO BUY CAR
17. STUDY: TOO FEW MED STUDENTS STAY IN VA. AFTER GRADUATION
34. LOUDOUN NEEDS 21 NEW SCHOOLS BY 2019 TO MEET GROWTH, SUPERINTENDENT HATRICK SAYS

Just thought you'd be interested to know what Bob McDonnell's up to next week. Given that all of the following are closed to the press, unfortunately you won't be finding out much, if anything, about what happens. Ah, Democracy.

*Sunday-Tuesday (9/19-9/21): "Governor McDonnell Attends RGA 2010 Ohio Policy Summit" in Cincinnati, OH

*Monday (9/20): Governor McDonnell Attends Fundraiser for John Kasich, Republican Candidate for Governor of Ohio, at The Golf Club at Stonelick Hills in Batavia, Ohio

*Tuesday (9/21):  Governor McDonnell Attends Fundraiser for Rep. Roy Blunt Republican Candidate for Senate at the Missouri University Plaza Hotel in Springfield, MO

*Wednesday (9/22): Governor McDonnell Attends Fundraiser for Jim Keet, Republican Candidate for Governor of Arkansas, at the Capitol Hill Club (300 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC)
*Wednesday (9/22):  Governor McDonnell Attends Fundraiser for State Sen. Robert Hurt, Republican Candidate for Congress in Virginia's 5th District (Private Residence, McLean, VA)

It's great to see that Bob McDonnell is spending all of his time fighting for jobs, focused like a laser beam on the economy, working hard to get Virginia out of its recession, fixing the transportation mess, etc. Wait, he's not doing any of those things? Instead, he's spending his time raising money for "Party of No" candidates and attending "Party of No" policy summits? And none of these are open to the press, so no questions asked?  Oh well.

Another classic from Jeff Schapiro. I must say, I really look forward to these every week!

They're spending more money than the parties.  They want to take Congress back and return to the days where lobbyists wrote the laws.  It is the most insidious power grab since the monopolies of the Gilded Age.  That's happening right now.  So there's a lot of talk about populist anger and grassroots.  But that's not what's driving a lot of these elections.

We tried to fix this, but the leaders of the other party wouldn't even allow it to come up for a vote.  They want to keep the public in the dark.  They want to serve the special interests that served them so well over the last 19 months.

We will not let them.  We are not about to allow a corporate takeover of our democracy.  We're not about to go back to the days when special interests took advantage of Main Street families.  We're not going to go back to the days when insurance companies wrote the rules that let you languish without health care because you had a preexisting condition. We're not going to go back to the exact same agenda we had before I took office.

Yes! More like this!!!

The nails in the coffin of Bob McDonnell's ridiculous liquor privatization plan just got pounded in harder. First, the wine and beer distributors.

The Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association has joined the wine distributors in opposing Gov. Bob McDonnell's plan to privatize the state's liquor system.

The beer association represents 32 distributors while the Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association, which voted Sept. 7, represents 14. Most members are Virginia-based family businesses.

Both groups oppose the proposal primarily because small businesses would not be able to afford the licenses, spokesman Jim Babb said.

Ha, gotta love that! Now, the Democratic House caucus:

Del. Joe Morrissey set to tell supporters tonight that he and his fellow house democratic caucus leaders will not support ABC privitization.

...he is their whip.. Confirmed he is on the same page w/ Armstrong and Plum.

Del. Morrissey serves as the Dem. House Whip. He said tonight that if the Gov. wants this bad enough he should put it up to referendum.

All this comes on the heels of opposition by Southside Republicans and Virginia religious leaders. In sum, Bob McDonnell's version of ABC privatization looks deader than a doorknob. Yet another winner for McDonnell; what a governor!

I actually thought of this cartoon when I saw the new Democratic logo, but then I realized the "U" in Underdog doesn't have a circle around it. Oh well, it's still a great cartoon theme song, well worth posting! :)

So, seriously, who's going to be "Underdog" for the Democrats this year?  Given that we're not getting much of anything - messaging? narrative? strategy? motivation? an effective 50-state program? - from the "top" (DNC, OFA, etc.) - perhaps it will have to be the Democratic grassroots who play the role of Underdog this year and help save the party from the Tea Party Republicans? My god, we're really screwed. (heh)

P.S. If Tim Kaine thinks the Bell Telephone logo is going to motivate the troops, he is very sadly mistaken!

Republicans should pay a political price for this:

The Senate on Thursday passed a long-stalled bill aimed at providing the nation's small businesses easier access to credit, the latest effort to create jobs and boost the struggling economy.

The 61-38 vote came just after noon, with two Republicans joining the Democratic majority to give President Obama a legislative victory he has been pursuing for months.

"This bill takes [the] credit crunch head on and helps small businesses access the capital they need through targeted tax cuts, robust incentives for investment and support for entrepreneurship," said Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), saying the measure would help "get Americans back to work."

Yes, it will help "get Americans back to work," but no thanks to Republicans, with the exception of George LeMieux (FL) and George Voinovich (OH) - both retiring, by the way.

Thanks to Republicans for caring more about opposing Barack Obama than about helping small business!