Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, May 28. Two weeks until the Democratic primary, which I’m increasingly thinking will see extremely low turnout…possibly 100k or even lower. Also, check out the video by Eric Byler and Annabel Park (as part of their “Story of America” project) about voter suppression efforts in North Carolina. The video could apply just as well to what Republicans have been trying to do here in Virginia.
*Poll: Do you support or oppose the health care law? (43% support the law, while 16% say it’s not liberal enough. That leaves just 35% – the Tea Party, largely – who oppose Obamacare because it’s too liberal. As usual, Politico is misreporting these poll results.)
*Josh Barro didn’t leave conservatism. Conservatism left Josh Barro. (“Over the last few years, the Republican Party has been retreating from policy ground they once held and salting the earth after them. This has coincided with, and perhaps even been driven by, the Democratic Party pushing into policy positions they once rejected as overly conservative. The result is that the range of policies you can hold and still be a Republican is much narrower than it was in, say, 2005.”)
*Groups Targeted by I.R.S. Tested Rules on Politics (We need to tighten up rules for tax exempt status by these political groups, and we need a Federal Elections Commission with teeth to enforce those rules!)
*An Addiction to Zealotry (“No one could have been more surprised by the convention’s upset choice than State Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli II, the Republican nominee for governor. Mr. Cuccinelli will probably have to try to moderate some of his own extreme positions (he is dogmatically opposed to the health care reform law, measures tackling global warming, immigration reforms, gay rights, etc.) in his search for the Northern Virginia vote. But there he was, yoked to Mr. Jackson by the heavy sway in the party of conservative zealots.”)
*Bipartisan task force seeks to tackle criminal code (“Looking to spark the first major rewrite of U.S. crime statutes in half a century, U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott, a Newport News Democrat, and Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, are leading a 10-member task force to address what they call the ‘overcriminalization’ of America.” This is badly needed!)
*Cuccinelli campaign trying to paint McAuliffe as a Virginia outsider
*Kaine: First five months on job have been great experience
*Attorney general to release report on restoration of felons’ voting rights (This shouldn’t even be a question; once you’ve “done your time” your right to vote should be automatically restored, as it is in most states for nonviolent felons.)
*Report: Va. agency should handle rights restoration
*McDonnell helps honor Virginia’s war dead (“Memorial Day bell rings for each of 19 who died in past year”)
*The Gig is big for Blacksburg (“1-gigabit Internet connection could power free WiFi service downtown.”)
*Sen. Tim Kaine Pays Tribute To Fallen Soldiers In Amelia
*Worker caught fudging Virginia Railway Express on-time records
*D.C. area forecast: Heat and humidity; rinse and repeat through the weekend
*Gio Gonzalez, Washington Nationals fall to Baltimore Orioles, 6-2
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