Video: If You Needed Any More Evidence that Fox “News” is Nuts
These people are pitiful – whining, constantly posing as victims, ranting and raving LOSERS. My god, why does anyone watch this garbage?!?
Cuccinelli’s World: the Objectivist Nightmare
Your mother phones crying. Your ne’er do well sibling has threatened her; physically shaken her; demanded money. You phone social services and they visit discretely; see bruises. Mothers often blame themselves; she won’t file a complaint. Ken Cuccinelli insists the abuser must be notified. Due process confers, he claims.
Objectivism actually explains such a misbegotten perception. In a narrow life experience such as Ken’s, he simply hasn’t had the exposure to reality required to develop a sophisticated perception of this situation. He is still in the “victim as perpetrator” phase of his maturity. You know, the one that explains why it is always the victim of rape at fault for the crime. Literally, his position is just as poisonous to the general welfare.
It is difficult enough to process and adjudicate elder abuse cases in Virginia without another obstacle. But here is one certified by our Attorney General:
Proposed changes to the regulation also provide the opportunity for an alleged perpetrator to request a review of the LDSS’s investigation findings when the disposition is needs protective services and accepts, needs protective services and refuses or need for protective services no longer exists. These changes ensure that alleged perpetrators are guaranteed due process (emphasis added). – Agency Statement dated 5/16/2011
The comment period for this regulation ends this Friday. Everyone is encouraged to provide input through the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall comment process.
Please protest this inane application of due process and invitation to retaliation. Assist Ken with his continuing perceptual development and personal growth so that he might one day achieve that objectivist ideal.
Bob McDonnell’s Weighing in on Israel-Gaza? Can We Say T-Bob for President 2016?
Gov. Bob McDonnell just released this statement on the Hamas attacks on Israel:
“In recent days, the citizens of Israel have come under attack by Hamas. Rockets fired from Gaza into Israel have struck civilian centers, and terrorized the nation. And today a terrorist attack struck a city bus in Tel Aviv, the first such event in the city since 2006. Israel has rightly responded to these attacks with appropriate force. Now, a cease fire has been called to these hostilities. America stands with Israel as it continues to move through this dangerous period. Hamas must cease all attacks on Israel, and it is my hope that the unwarranted and random violence the group has unleashed on our friends in Israel will now come to a permanent end.”
Uhhhhh…why on earth would the governor of Virginia be weighing in on the Israeli-Gaza situation? Can we say T-Bob for President 2016? Oh please, make it so! 🙂
P.S. Unless, of course, “Bobby”‘s best friend forever Pat Robertson got a communication from god on this subject that he shared with T-Bob? Heh.
P.P.S. On a related note, there’s now a Draft Bob McDonnell for President 2016 Facebook page. It’s wildly popular, with 41 (woo-hoo!) “likes” so far. For comparison purposes, Christie 2016 has 751 “likes,” Hillary Clinton for President 2016 has 8,588 “likes,” Elizabeth Warren for President 2016 has 3,131 “likes,” and Big Bird for President 2016 has 416 “likes.” Will Big Bird be weighing in on the Gaza situation shortly? Stay tuned!
Virginia Democratic Congressional Candidates’ Performance Relative to Obama vs. Romney
For whatever reason, election numbers broken out by congressional district are still not available on the State Board of Elections website. Fortunately, David Nir at Daily Kos has crunched the numbers himself and come up with preliminary estimates for Virginia. Those are the numbers I’ve used for this graphic. Also note that this graph is the Democratic candidate’s performance in each district not in absolute terms, but relative to how President Obama did against Willard “Mitt” Romney in the district. Thus, if Obama won a district by 5 points, and the Democratic congressional candidate won it by 2 points, then the congressional candidate “underperformed” Obama by 3 points (5-2). It’s really not that complicated, but I think it will become crystal clear as I explain the results by CD.
1st CD: President Obama lost this district to Willard by 8 points (53%-45%), while Democratic congressional challenger Adam Cook lost his race to Rep. Rob Wittman by 15 points (56%-41%). Thus, Cook “underperformed” Obama by 7 points. What happened? I’d point to almost total lack of name recognition for Cook, plus a dearth of financial resources to get his name and message out there, plus not much use of social media. Still, I like Adam Cook and think he could be a strong candidate in the future, assuming he addresses those issues.
2nd CD: Barack Obama carried this district a narrow (50%-49%) margin, but much-touted Democratic challenger Paul Hirschbiel ended up losing to Rep. Scott Rigell by 8 points (54%-46%), meaning that Hirschbiel underperformed Obama by 9 points. Why? I’m not sure that it was money, so much as not having a particularly strong or clear message, not focusing on the grassroots, and not using social media. Also, gotta give credit to freshman Rep. Rigell, who appears fairly well ensconsed in this seat for a while. 🙁
3rd CD: Rep. Bobby Scott romped, actually overperforming Obama’s performance relative to Romney in this district. That’s probably a combination of Scott’s many strengths and a Republican opponent who had nothing particularly going for him (to be charitable).
4th CD: This is a fascinating district, held by an incumbent Republican Congressman (Randy Forbes), but in which Romney managed only a 50%-49% win over Obama. In contrast, Democratic congressional challenger Ella Ward lost the district by a whopping 14 points, thus underperforming Obama by a whopping 13 points. This seems like a district that we could, and should, do better in during future elections, but we’ll need a strong (well funded, focused, talented, etc.) candidate for sure.
5th CD: President Obama lost this district by 7 points (53%-46%), while Democratic challenger Gen. John Douglass lost his race against Rep. Robert Hurt by 12 points (55%-43%). Thus, Douglass underperformed Obama by 5 points. I’d point to three main factors: first, Douglass started off completely unknown in the district; second, Douglass initially was running in the 10th CD, but after redistricting was (finally!) completed he ended up in the 5th, meaning he had a relatively late start; and lastly Douglass was outspent significantly by Hurt. Add all that up, and you get the result we see here – despite the fact that Douglass ran an energetic, in many ways impressive, campaign. Bummer.
6th CD: This is a solidly red district with an entrenched incumbent (Rep. Bob Goodlatte), thus almost impossible for a Democrat to win. In this case, Andy Schmookler ran an energetic, spirited campaign, but he had basically no money to get his name or message out, which clearly is not good news for a first-time candidate (or any candidate). Also, Schmookler built a small grassroots following, but not the “ragtag army” he would have needed to make Goodlatte sweat at all. In the end, Schmookler lost by 30 points (65%-35%), while Obama lost the district by 20 points, so Schmookler underperformed Obama by 10 points. Sigh…
7th CD: Democratic challenger Wayne Powell lost by 17 point to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, but President Obama lost the district by 15 points. So, not much difference between the two, actually. This indicates to me that, all things considered, Powell’s campaign wasn’t a disaster or anything. Having said that, Powell’s strategy seemed to be to try and separate himself from President Obama, and clearly that did NOT work. If it had, then Powell should have OVERperformed Obama, but in the end, he underperformed Obama’s margin vs. Romney by 2 points. Meh.
8th CD: Rep. Jim Moran won easily (65%-31%) but underperformed Obama’s margin in the district by 3 points. That’s not terrible, especially considering the late-breaking scandal involving Moran’s son. On the other hand, Moran’s opponent was utterly pathetic, a horrible fit for the district. So, one COULD make the argument that Moran should have done better than he did. In the end, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s interesting to political junkies like me. 🙂
9th CD: Democratic challenger Anthony Flaccavento lost to Rep. Morgan Griffith by 22 points (61%-39%), but Flaccavento managed to outperform Obama’s performance in the district by 6 points, which isn’t bad. It will be interesting to see whether Flaccavento decides to give it another shot in 2014.
10th CD: On the one hand, Democratic challenger Kristin Cabral underperfomed Obama’s margin vs. Romney in this district by 17 points (note that Obama lost the 10th CD by 2 points). On the other hand, for whatever reason people in the 10th seem to loooooove them some Frank Wolf. Blech, I know, but it appears impossible to convince them otherwise. I’d also note that Obama won this district by 7 points in 2008, while Judy Feder lost it by 20 points, so Feder underperformed Obama by 27 points. So it’s all relative I suppose. Still, I wonder if Wolf’s lurch to the right in recent years is eroding his support a bit. Not enough to really hurt him, and he’s almost undoubtedly safe here until he retires, but still…we’ll take crumbs of encouragement at this point.
11th CD: Gerry Connolly neither underperformed nor overperformed Barack Obama’s showing vs. Mitt Romney in the 11th CD. Of course, Connolly was facing an unknown and underfunded opponent, so you could argue that Connolly actually should have overperformed, but I’d say that Connolly did ok, especially given that he was basically on cruise control in his safely-drawn, “incumbent protection” district.
P.S. See my analysis of social media efforts by Virginia Democratic 2012 congressional candidates. In short, there’s a TON of room for improvement in this area, and I’d argue that in this day and age it’s absolutely crucial, non-optional, etc. No way you’re going to win as a challenger just by the cookie-cutter “strategy” of raising money and saving it all for TV ads at the end. That’s a definitely #FAIL.
Virginia News Headlines: Wednesday Morning
Here are a few Virginia (and national) news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, November 21.
*In Gaza, sides want truce without backing down
*Big News From Mars? Rover Scientists Mum For Now …
*House GOP keeps focus on Susan Rice (“Some Democrats suggest attacks on State Department official over Libya could be racially motivated.”)
*Sargent: The poetic justice of Romney’s vote total (47 percent – perfect!)
*Analysis: Race For Virginia Governor Shifts As Warner Sticks To Senate
*Fairfax to examine election problems
*Senate Dems demand health care special session
*Cuccinelli gets gobbler mock award
*House District #52 (“As currently drawn, the 52nd will be Torian’s for as long as he wants to hold it.”)
*Chesapeake’s Jackson confirms LG plans
*Virginia’s jobless rate falls in October – first time since March
*Mark Warner says he’ll remain in U.S. Senate and not run for governor in 2013
*Goodlatte and His Vote for Speaker
*Editorial: A smart fix for Virginia’s roads (“A state senator is proposing a 5 percent increase in the wholesale gasoline tax as part of a comprehensive plan that includes tax relief for the poor.”)
*Johnathon Montgomery released from Greensville Correction Facility after Gov. McDonnell issues pardon (It’s about freakin’ time; why was Cuccinelli holding this up?!?)
*Terminal helps ease volume of diverted cargo after Sandy
*Fairfax votes to save Tysons’ ‘last forest’
*Peace in Fairfax County water war
P.S. Also see Paul Krugman’s The New Republicans, which argues that “[a]nyone who imagines that there is any real soul-searching going on [in the GOP] is deluding himself or herself.”
Video: Mark Warner Says He’s NOT Running for Governor in 2013
Totally unsurprising, but still good to have it officially from the horse’s mouth…
Former RPV Chair Jeff Frederick Rips Republican LG, AG Candidates
In his Thanksgiving missive, emailed earlier this afternoon, former Republican Party of Virginia Chief Jeff Frederick has some…er, interesting things to say, as always. After endorsing Del. Scott Lingamfelter (R) for Lieutenant Governor and Del. Rob Bell (R) for Attorney General in 2013, Frederick writes that “be remiss if I wasn’t completely candid with you about serious doubts I have about a couple other candidates running for these offices.” This is good, and you might want to heat up some popcorn first. Bolding added for your reading pleasure by yours truly. Enjoy! 🙂
During my time in public office I quickly learned that the real test of one’s character and commitment isn’t simply what they say. Talk is cheap. Rather it is how one conducts themselves — and more specifically, what they choose to do or not do when the heat is on. Are they consistent when the pressure is unbearable, or are they quick to sell out to relieve that pressure? Further, in this time when so many politicians say one thing and do another, I think it is instructive to take any and every opportunity to look beyond the rhetoric and try to determine who a candidate really is.
There are two people I’d like to warn you about.
I got to know Susan Stimpson (who is running for LG) during my time as RPV Chairman and in the period prior when I was seeking that job. I considered her a friend. Yet, she was a strong ally of Bill Howell (she owes her current elective office to his blessing in her seeking it). When she announced her candidacy for LG and in the subsequent time since, her rhetoric has reflected the exact opposite of the person I knew. Of course, she sounds great now (convenient as she pursues statewide office), but my experience is that she is a top-down establishment Republican who is more interested in position and power rather than her recent claims to be about people and principle. It is only because her public record is so brief that she has been so effective at leading others to believe she’s something she is not. And, I should mention that she was among the loudest voices in supporting the effort to reverse the will of the grassroots in removing me as state chairman.
Unlike Susan, Mark Obenshain (running for AG) does have a long voting record, and, in all honesty – it’s not bad. But for someone who I counted on as a friend and an ally in the legislature, I was shocked to find Mark’s name on a letter calling for my removal as RPV chairman. When I called him on it at the time, the best excuse he could muster was that he was now in the state senate party leadership and he had to go along with the other senate GOP leadership in coming out against me. Now, if he’s willing to compromise friends and principle because of some “leadership” position, it seems it wouldn’t take much for him to “go along” when something of real importance hangs in the balance — when politics dictates that doing so will further one’s ambitions — and especially for someone who is pursuing a position of even greater leadership.
I hesitated sharing this less-than-positive information with you, but putting aside any personal animosity I may have for these two people, there are few truly defining moments in political careers, particularly young careers. The battle – not for my chairmanship-but for our efforts to create a bottom-up, grassroots controlled, and effective Republican Party of Virginia was one of those watershed moments for our Party and these two people chose to stand with the status quo and the corrupt party establishment instead of the very grassroots they now claim to represent.
Ouch. Oh, and happy Thanksgiving from former RPV Chair Jeff Frederick! LOL
Tim Kaine at Tigercomm Clean Energy Forum on Combating Anti-Clean-Energy “Theology”
Cross posted from Scaling Green, the following is by Tigercomm President Mike Casey
In our first post on the Clean Energy Forum we held recently at Tigercomm, we noted that there’s an aggressive, ongoing effort by the fossil fuel lobby to push clean energy policy into the culture wars (hat tip to J. Patrick Coolican of the Las Vegas Sun). How to combat this assault is a pressing question not just for those of us in the clean economy, but also for politicians who get the urgent – even existential – need for our country to develop abundant energy that’s clean and cost-effective.
All too often, though, we have had to choose between one candidate who might support us and one who is cheering our demise (go figure!). Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine recently ran for, and won, a U.S. Senate seat from Virginia. A few weeks earlier, Kaine was willing to sit with some of the sharpest minds and most dynamic companies in the mid-Atlantic region’s clean economy community (note: also see our first and second posts on the forum). He actually wanted to hear from us and had an understanding of what we’re doing.
During the roundtable, Kaine made a number of astute observations, but one particularly jumped out at us regarding the phony Solyndra “scandal.” According to Kaine, demonizing the entire solar industry over one particular company’s demise would be analogous to people arguing that the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill should make us stop using oil completely.
More Kaine:
- It’s time for opponents of clean energy to stop acting like the reign of fossil fuels as our dominant energy source constitutes some sort of inviolable theology.
- Even for those who don’t “believe” in climate science, or who think clean energy is a science project, it’s still common sense to move ahead aggressively with energy efficiency and clean energy. Unless, of course, they want America assigned permanent international follower status on the technologies other counties want to lead.
- If we find out in 50 years that the climate science was wrong, we’re still ahead by getting off the dirty stuff. If the 98% of practicing climate scientists were right and we let clean energy pass us by, we’ll deeply regret it.
- Clean energy adoption is being slowed by an inherent, incumbent advantage that fossil fuels have and are using to block innovative new technologies.
- We don’t have a level playing field for clean energy because even the way we currently price electric power provides little incentive for energy efficiency and conservation.
- An important step is to “take all the incentives that we currently put on heavy carbon and move them to mid-carbon, low-carbon and no carbon [energy sources]…we don’t need to subsidize mature industries and we shouldn’t be subsidizing the Big 5 oil companies.”
In sum, Senator-elect Tim Kaine understands that we can’t transition to a clean economy overnight. However, unlike many of the clean economy’s deniers, he also clearly understands that we need to be moving a lot faster for powerful economic, national security, and environmental reasons that aren’t going away.
Virginia Senate Democrats Call for Special Session to Create Health Insurance Exchange
Democratic Senators call on the Governor to put Virginians’ health care above partisan politics
Today, the Virginia Senate Democrats called for a special legislative Session to create a state health insurance exchange as provided for under the Affordable Care Act.
Senator Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), Democratic Leader, said, “The Governor needs to call the legislature back into Session now to get a Virginia-based health exchange created. Virginians deserve an exchange that suits their specific needs, not a one-size-fits-all solution from the federal government. I can’t understand how the self-proclaimed party of limited government would allow the federal government to impose a generic exchange on Virginians. We are ready to get to work, and I hope the Governor is too.”
Senator A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico), chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said, “The time for action is right now. Governor McDonnell should follow the recommendation of his own expert panel and call the legislature back into session. Virginians have different needs than Texans or Minnesotans, and they deserve an exchange that suits those specific needs. Democrats stand ready to get to work now to improve access to health care for thousands of Virginians.”
In 2011, the legislature passed HB 2434, which expressed the bipartisan consensus that Virginia should create its own health insurance exchange. The Governor’s own Virginia Health Insurance Reform Initiative stated that a Virginia-based health insurance exchange would be far better than a federally run exchange. And Gov. McDonnell has himself said, “We ought to have a state-based exchange.”
But for nearly two years, Gov. McDonnell and his Republican allies in the legislature have made excuses, putting the health care of thousands of Virginia families at risk.
* Excuse #1: In 2011, Gov. McDonnell claimed that Virginia should wait for the Supreme Court’s judgment of the ACA’s constitutionality.
* Excuse #2: In the summer of 2012, Gov. McDonnell cited uncertainty over the outcome of the presidential election as a reason to delay, saying, “four months from now I may not need” to create a health care exchange, were Mitt Romney to win the presidency.
Both excuses were justified with an explanation: “There is plenty of time to act” in a special session. As recently as February 2012 the Governor stated that a special session could be convened if his excuses ran out.
Now, with deadlines looming, Gov. McDonnell says, “The only logical option for us is to use the federal option.” The Governor’s endless delays have backed Virginia into a corner. We need to act immediately to create a state-run exchange.
Democrats were ready in 2011. Democrats remained ready in 2012. Governor McDonnell should put partisan politics aside and call a special session. Democrats will gladly work with him to create a state-based exchange that works for all Virginians.
Congratulations to Ken Kookinelli, Winner of the 2012 ProgressVA “Turkey of the Year” Award
From our friends at Progress Virginia – an excellent, if obvious, choice. I'd just add that calling Ken Cuccinelli a "turkey" is an insult to perfectly reasonable, sane, intelligent fowl everywhere! Heh.
We've got a winner! We had an extraordinary number of votes for our 2012 Turkey of the Year and the overwhelming choice was…(drumroll please)…Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. You all recognized him for his dogged pursuit of an extreme ideological agenda at the expense of Virginia families.
We loved reading through your comments, which were pretty much unanimous in condemning Cuccinelli's extreme ideological agenda. Christopher Schaffer, a ProgressVA member from Annandale, VA, noted that he voted for Cuccinelli, “Because he is using his office to advance his own partisan views instead of putting Virginia first.”
Attacks on women’s health and interference in the regulatory process also played a key role in the Attorney General’s "win". Whitney Whiting of Richmond, VA supported Cuccinelli for the Turkey of the Year, “Because of his bullying the Board of Health over their decision to grandfather-in existing clinics in an effort to keep them open."
To mark the honor, Attorney General Cuccinelli will receive a copy of the resolution announcing his award. The resolution reads as follows:
“Whereas, Attorney General Cuccinelli has repeatedly used the office bestowed on him by the voters of the Commonwealth of Virginia to advance his own personal, political agenda,
and Whereas, Attorney General Cuccinelli has prioritized politics over medicine,
and Whereas, Attorney General Cuccinelli bullied the Board of Health into approving egregious abortion clinic regulations that could shut down access to women’s health clinics across the Commonwealth,
and Whereas, Attorney General Cuccinelli has supported extreme personhood legislation that could criminalize some forms of birth control,
and Whereas, politicians like Ken Cuccinelli have no place interfering in health care decisions that should be between a woman, her doctor, and her faith,
Now Therefore,
On this day of November 20, 2012, ProgressVA does hereby confer and award Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli the honor and accomplishment of “Turkey of the Year”, as recognized by this proclamation and the ignominy thus attached.”
Cuccinelli succeeds Governor Bob McDonnell, the inaugural "Turkey of the Year" in 2011. McDonnell's award recognized his extraordinary use of budget gimmicks and refusal to take a balanced approach to Virginia's budget.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving,
Anna, Brian, and the the whole ProgressVA team
If you want to help support ProgressVA and our work, click here to pitch in. Your donation helps us provide activist tools and talking points, run campaigns, and more.
