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Eric Cantor hammered by opponent Waugh

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A few days ago I had the chance to interview Rick Waugh, the Democratic nominee in Virginia’s 7th Congressional House District.  We had a wide-ranging discussion and I asked him many questions relating to his background, the economy, defense, Virginia politics, and his opponent in Virginia’s 7th: House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, “Mr. Party-of-No” himself.  This post is a summary of some of the high points in our conversation.  If you’d like to read the entire interview in five parts, you can scroll down to the very bottom of this post and click on the links to the various sections of the interview.

Rick Waugh doesn’t have the typical resume of a politician: he is neither a lawyer nor a lobbyist.  He is a therapist and social worker.  He is also an activist and was heavily involved in volunteering for President Obama in 2008.  Rick was one of thousands of volunteers who helped to carry Virginia for Obama.

When I asked him why he was running, Rick pulled no punches: he wants to defeat Eric Cantor:

Q. Running for the U.S. House of Representatives is a big commitment; why are you running?

Rick Waugh: I am a therapist and social worker. I help families everyday with the struggles of life. And I tell you, life will knock you on your knees. My job was to help guide those folks to get back on their feet to being self sufficient. The problem is that too many of our representatives have forgotten what it is like to struggle. They have lost touch with the people as a whole. And based solely on Eric Cantor’s votes, not counting his rhetoric or how he lavishly spends his donations, it is clear that Cantor represents big business, executives on Wall Street, and those who have power. It seems to be a common thread among those who go to Washington. And he has been there a decade. That is why I support term limits, and I promise I will retire from Congress at the end of my fourth term. Our framers believed the House of Representatives should be a place for citizen legislators who would rotate office. Thus the House has the shortest terms of any federal office. And a citizen legislator is what I will be.

I took advantage of the fact that Rick is a therapist to ask him about the kinds of pressures he sees being placed on Virginia families.

Q. What kinds of stress do you see Virginia’s families facing?

Rick Waugh: The people I see in Virginia have great dignity, but too many of them are struggling. It is amazing what people can endure, but it is awful that so many are struggling so badly in a nation as wealthy as ours. Most people cannot imagine being in the shoes of a pregnant mother who has been left alone, or a single mother who is practically netting 2 dollars an hour because she must pay the daycare, and the rent, knowing that she probably could easily quit and make just as much on Welfare. I see working fathers and husbands caring for a disabled spouse or child, knowing that they are needed at home, but they can’t be home because these guys are working two jobs to pay for runaway medical expenses. It is unfathomable to me that Cantor wants to repeal the health care reform – imperfect as that reform may be – and that Cantor would just say “Too bad” to the people with preexisting conditions. The struggling Virginians are the majority, not the minority. Our middle class is dwindling, which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Yet Cantor has the audacity to take away the safety nets that were established in the 1930s and 1940s to provide stability to the nation.

What I see in Virginia so often comes back to economic hard times. People are spending more time at work, getting paid less, and having less family time. This will continue to produce alarming divorce rates, and unnecessary broken homes, which is not good for children or for adults. Yet Eric Cantor in effect helps companies pull the rug from underneath their employees. Then he hits people when they are down, by opposing unemployment benefits. He does not want to help people who cannot get health insurance, even thought it is so often through no fault of their own. We have spent the last year watching him grandstand about health care. He has no reasonable counterproposals to control what was a runaway spiral of health care costs. If Cantor wants to grandstand and preen, he should answer to the citizens of the Seventh. And I will stand up to Cantor on their behalf. We seem to have nothing to show for his representation. I am asking Cantor: where’s the beef? Does he have any substance, any ideas to help our District? The guy is all about conservative shibboleths. He apparently cannot do the job of Whip and the job of Representative at the same time. We need to remind him that he works for the people.

In the course of my conversation with Rick, I learned that he has a pretty unique perspective on military families.  Rick was a Navy brat growing up, and his stepson is a veteran of Iraq who is still on active duty with the military.

Q. What can the federal government do to better serve our veterans?

Rick Waugh: This was more than evident when I was the Social Services Director for the nursing home. Too often in order to receive long term care, many have to sell everything they have ever earned including their homes, their life insurance policies, and their possessions. It seems that our government isn’t doing enough to take care of our veterans, our elderly, and our disabled. If they spend their entire livelihoods protecting us, and providing us a safe and secure nation, shouldn’t we do the same for them with a safe and secure life at home?

Indeed, someone who serves our nation as part of the National Guard or Reserves shouldn’t lose their home or custody of their children simply because they are called to serve our nation in time of war.

Although Rick had brought up Eric Cantor in some of his answers, I held off asking him about Cantor directly.  I had wanted to learn more about Rick and his family, but once we’d covered his background, we began to discuss Virginia politics.

Q. This seems to be the year of the Tea Party. Over in Kentucky, when Rand Paul won the Republican nomination, he mentioned the Tea Party in his acceptance speech nine times and the state of Kentucky only once. Do you think the Tea Party is going to have a big influence in Virginia?

Rick Waugh: Yes. I say this because many people are angry at their politicians. They are not angry at a particular party, but rather at the establishment of government as usual. Many in the Tea Party have stated that they will not support Eric Cantor, because his actions do not support those of the true meaning of the Constitution. Personally, I understand their anger, and am glad that many are taking a stand.

That wasn’t the only question I asked about Rand Paul.  We also delved into Governor Bob McDonnell’s controversial appointment of Fred Malek to head up a government reform commission.

Having discussed Virginia politics generally, we progressed to finally talking specifically about Eric Cantor.

Q. Your opponent, Eric Cantor, has led the fight against federal involvement in economic recovery-how would your approach differ?

Rick Waugh: Small businesses and farms are being wiped out, while giant “too big to fail” companies get a free pass. Eric Cantor should never bail out Wall Street unless he bails out Main Street. I saw a Republican bumper sticker the other day upset at Cantor stating “Where is my bail out?” That is so true! Our representative needs to concentrate on finding ways to put regulations in place so that our businesses are not too big to fail. But Eric Cantor can’t do that if his campaign is funded by big dollars from those same corporations. He has to side with the oil companies that ruin the families of fishermen and oystermen. He has to side with those banks that fund his campaign. He voted to bail out a bank that his wife works for, where she sits on the board of directors. By the way, the minimum account balance in that bank’s wealth management division is $40 million. How many ordinary Virginians can maintain a $40 million balance? Special interests will not ever have a place in my congressional staff. They will never influence me to vote one way or the other. Only the citizens of the district can do that. That is who I listen to, because that is who I work for.

Next, I asked Rick about Cantor’s fundraising machine.  Eric Cantor rose to power as one of Tom DeLay’s bagmen, and he remains a formidable fundraiser among corporate lobbyists.

Q. Eric Cantor is one of the top fundraisers in the Republican Party. Cantor spends hundreds of thousands of his donors’ dollars every year on luxury travel and expensive restaurants for his friends, campaign supporters and staffers-how will you counter all of that campaign cash from K Street lobbyists?

Rick Waugh: All I can do is bring up to the voters what I will do for them, regarding the struggles that they are experiencing. I will lead by example, and I won’t be part of these dirty Washington games that seem to be a form of sneering at the American people. I will never vote myself a raise, or utilize any donation money to pay for luxury travel or expensive restaurants. In the last year and a half alone, Cantor has spent $136,000 of donor money on golfing and restaurants and the like. For Cantor, luxury seems to come for free, because he abuses donor money. If what he does is legal, it shouldn’t be.

If hard work can make a difference, then I believe Rick Waugh will be able to give Eric Cantor a run for his corporate money.  Rick comes from the hard working, grassroots end of the Democratic Party and he is already tirelessly campaigning against Cantor.  Today alone, Rick is attending at least three events in his district, to meet his potential constituents and bring them his message of reform and ethical government.  I plan to join him during two of those stops and lend him my support, both moral and financial.

If you’d like learn more about Rick Waugh you can visit his website and his campaign blog.  You can support him with donations by clicking here.  If you’d like to read Rick’s entire interview with me in five parts, just scroll down a little further and you’ll see the links to my home blog, The Richmonder.

Thanks for taking the time to read this diary and learn a little more about Rick Waugh.

Part 1 of 5 – Family and Personal Background

Part 2 of 5 – Jobs and the Economy

Part 3 of 5 – Military and Defense

Part 4 of 5 – Virginia Politics

Part 5 of 5 – Eric Cantor

Yet Another Attempt To “Streamline” Government

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Leaving aside the dubious resume of the chair of Bob McDonnell’s commission to streamline Virginia government, we might want to consider whether this new commission won’t simply be repeating what former Govs. Doug Wilder, Mark Warner, and George Allen tried to do, all with mixed results.

I have a feeling that the 31-member commission that is supposed to report to McDonnell by the end of August is simply another way for the governor to recommend selling off the state’s ABC stores. Doug Wilder was the first governor I remember who advocated privatizing the stores, but his idea got absolutely nowhere, and I predict that this governor won’t get any further either, unless he finds a way to keep revenue going annually into the General Fund approximately equal to what state-owned stores produce now. There is one result of privatizing that would help localities, however. Liquor stores would be on local property tax rolls.

I really don’t know what yet another commission report will accomplish, especially since Gov. Warner’s report was presented just eight years ago. Plus, relaying on 31 people to agree on things is practically nil, so I expect that Fred Malek and several other businessmen – along with staff from the governor’s office – will write the report that McDonnell gets.

No one has asked me, not will they, but I do have a couple of suggestions for the commission to look at, none of which I expect them to actually study. After all, I’m not a banker, a politician, or an executive in big business. But, here goes…

Here’s my first suggestion: The commission should look at the excellent results that have been achieved by the Iowa Charter Agency program. Basically, this program allows agencies willing to adopt the program “to be held strictly accountable for measurable benefits in return for exemption from many of the state’s bureaucratic requirements.”

The results in Iowa have been quite remarkable. Six Iowa agencies accepted charter status in 2003: the Department of Revenue, Department of Corrections, Department of Human Services, Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Veterans Home, and the Alcoholic Beverage Division.

Those agencies, in the first year of the program, produced savings of $22 million. In addition, the turnaround time for permits went down, the failure rate of prisoners on probation decreased, the speed of issuing tax refunds was better, and citizens reported improved service. It’s pretty obvious to me why. The people who actually do a job are the best people to find ways to do that job better, not some CEO type or politician who never worked in that environment.

My second suggestion for something to be looked at is just a personal gripe. I’ve often wondered why Virginia cities have both a professional police force headed by a chief of police, plus a sheriff’s office and sheriff’s deputies who simply run the jail and transport prisoners to and from court. Why not fold the sheriff’s department in cities into the police force, with the jail and court deputies under the leadership of the police chief, thus eliminating the position – and the large salary – of the sheriff?

My final comment is simply to agree with Paul Galuszka of Bacon’s Rebellion who wrote in the Washington Post,

What Virginia needs even more that streamlining is jobs…Badly-hit areas such as Southside and Southwest Virginia with double-digit unemployment can’t wait…McDonnell managed to pay up to $14 million in state money to get defense contractor Northrup Grumman to move 300 high-paying headquarters jobs from Los Angeles to Northern Virginia. Let’s hope he can do something for out-of-work Virginia textile and furniture workers, as well.

President Obama’s Weekly Address, From Louisiana

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…this is the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country.

We’ve also ordered BP to pay economic injury claims, and we will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf Coast.  The Small Business Administration has stepped in to help businesses by approving loans and allowing deferrals of existing loan payments.  And this week, the federal government sent BP a preliminary bill for $69 million to pay back American taxpayers for some of the costs of the response so far.  In addition, after an emergency safety review, we’re putting in place aggressive new operating standards for offshore drilling.  And I’ve appointed a bipartisan commission to look into the causes of this spill.  If laws are inadequate — laws will be changed.  If oversight was lacking — it will be strengthened.  And if laws were broken — those responsible will be brought to justice.

The full transcript is here.

Virginia Beach Councilman Speaks For All Virginians

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After coming home from work on a warm Friday evening, I settle down to watch my local news and checkout the weekend weather report. I turn to WVEC TV 13 and they are running a story about a local Virginia Beach city councilman, Bill DeSteph, writing a letter to the mayor of New York in opposition to the Muslim Center to be built near the World Trade Center site. OK. This is America and he can express his opinion. May not agree, but this is the right of any citizen. But what really perked my interest was that he used his official city letterhead. Not being a citizen of Virginia Beach, I really don’t know what their rules and/or regulations are concerning the use of official city stationary. Then the reporter read the letter and it stated that the councilman was speaking for the citizens of Virginia Beach and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Huh? Did the citizens of the Commonwealth elect this councilman to represent them? Does being a local elected official give him the authority to “speak” for all the citizens of Virginia? He stated that he had been getting calls and requests from 300 citizens that someone had to do something about this and felt compelled to write this letter. All right Blue Virginia community, I think this councilman needs to hear from the citizens he claims to speak for. And don’t forget to let WVEC know how much you appreciate his spokesmanship on your behalf. Here is the contact info:

Councilman Bill DeSteph

bdesteph@Vbgov.com

WVEC TV 13

assignments@wvec.com

757-625-1313 – phone

757-628-5855 – fax

BTW, if someone knows how to capture the video from WVEC.COM and post it to this, please feel free.

Dear Sen. Hurt

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“Amateur blogosphere, RIP” at National Level. What About State Blogs?

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With the news yesterday that the superb FiveThirtyEight.com and its founder, Nate Silver, will be partnering up with the New York Times (congratulations Nate!), Chris Bowers is declaring that the days of blogging as “predominately a gathering place for amateur (that is, unpaid or barely paid)” are “almost completely over.”  At the national level, Bowers points to the following evidence:

*”Established media companies and advocacy organizations hiring bloggers to blog, full-time”

*”Previously “amateur” progressive blogs became professional operations”

*”Bloggers translate blogging into consulting and advocacy work”

The end result, according to Bowers, is that “the progressive political blogosphere is now both thoroughly professionalized and integrated into the progressive media an political ecosystem.”

No doubt, there’s truth to Bowers’ observations, particularly at the national level. At the state level, however, what Bowers argues seems a bit less cut and dried.  Follow me over the “flip” for a few caveats and observations.

First, I’d point out that national bloggers have been consulting and/or joining up with political campaigns for a long time now. For instance, according to Wikipedia:

In January 2003, Markos Moulitsas joined Jerome Armstrong in a political consulting partnership called Armstrong Zuniga, before being formally dissolved in December 2004. Howard Dean hired them for a time as technical consultants in 2003. Armstrong introduced the campaign to Meetup.com and directing on online advertising and blogger outreach.[10]

In 2005, Armstrong worked for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine and U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown’s 2006 Senate campaign in Ohio.[11] He also signed on with Mark Warner’s Forward Together PAC to develop their internet strategy, before Warner decided to not run for President in 2008.[12]

There are numerous examples of this, other than Armstrong and Moulitsas. For instance, Matt Stoller “was Blogger-in-Chief for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jon Corzine’s official blog” in 2005. In Netroots Rising, Nate Wilcox and I talk about Tim Tagaris, who went to work, as a paid staffer, for an Ohio Congressional candidate named Jane Mitakides in late 2004. Tagaris also worked for Sherrod Brown in 2005, Ned Lamont in 2006, and Chris Dodd in 2008, among many others.  Peter Daou ran the superb Daou Report until he joined Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign in 2006. (also worth pointing out, the Daou Report was hosted by Salon starting in February 2005)

The examples could go on and on. The point is, the idea of a purely “amateur” blogosphere, at least at the national level, has always been somewhat oversimplified and even mythologized.

Second, we’ve also seen this phenomenon at the state level.  Here in Virginia, for instance, soon after Eric and I started up Raising Kaine in January 2005, another Virginia progressive blogger – John Rohrbach, went to work for Tim Kaine’s gubernatorial campaign as its internet campaign director.  In 2006, several bloggers were hired by Senate campaigns in Virginia, including Jon Henke by George Allen; Josh Chernila and myself by Jim Webb. During 2007-2008, while continuing to blog at Raising Kaine, I consulted to Judy Feder, Jon Bowerbank, and the South Dakota Democratic Party. Ben Tribbett went to work for New Media Strategies while writing his blog, Not Larry Sabato. Tribbett has also served as Executive Director of the Accountability Now PAC since September 2009. Bryan Scrafford consulted to Jon Bowerbank’s Lieutenant Governor campaign while running Left of the Hill.

On the right, Vincent Harris of Too Conservative runs Harris Media, has worked for Del. Jackson Miller and for Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. Harris also served as “Online Director” for Bob McDonnell’s gubernatorial campaign, and is currently consulting to Keith Fimian for Congress.  Jon Henke went on from the Allen campaign to become New Media Director for the Republican Communications Office in the U.S. Senate, then worked as “Online Brand Manager” for Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign, worked at New Media Strategies, etc. Jim Hoeft (Bearing Drift) has worked on “several campaigns in Hampton Roads” and has “served on the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia.” Brian Schoeneman of Too Conservative worked for the Bush Administration and is communications director for the Fairfax County Republican Committee.

Essentially, we could go on and on all day with this. The point is, the “consulting” model is alive and well among state-level bloggers of all political persuasions. In addition, many bloggers wear multiple hats – candidate, elected official, party official, consultant, campaign staffer, activist, businessperson, etc., etc. Of course, the stereotype of bloggers as some sort of “pure” amateurs, living on water and bread crumbs (and no money), let alone “wearing pajamas and living in their parents’ basements,” was always highly oversimplified if not completely inaccurate. Having said that, however, it’s important to point out that the vast majority of political bloggers continue to post their diaries for free or for next-to-no money.  It’s also important to stress that the vast (99.9%?) majority of political bloggers (myself included) started as pure amateurs, earning not a penny for their work.  Even in cases where bloggers make a living – meager for the most part, decent in a few cases – it’s almost never on the blogging itself, but on netroots consulting services of various kinds.  And even then, as far as I can tell, the vast majority of state-level political bloggers remain “amateurs” by almost any definition of the word, earning nada or next-to-nada for their blogging. (not that it matters particularly much; as long as the bloggers fully disclose what they’re doing so you can decide how much – or how little – stock to put in what they have to say)

Third, it does not appear that many state-level political blogs have been “professionalized” in the sense of being bought up (or hired) by “old media” corporations. True, there is the Washington Post Political Blog Network, of which three Virginia political blogs (Blue Virginia included) are members. But that is a completely uncompensated “partnership,”  with no restrictions whatsoever on what “partner” blogs write. That’s very different than a blogger going to work for an old media outfit. In this case, it’s more a relationship of equals, as far as I can tell. Other than this, it’s hard to think of a case where a state-level political blog has been snatched up by an old media operation. Not that I’d be terribly surprised to see that at some point. Then, the state blogs would face the same issues of editorial independence, paid “firewalls,” etc. that FiveThirtyEight.com, Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Erick Erickson, and many others currently face.

Finally, in terms of a “business model” for state-level political blogging based on advertising revenues, the short answer is…there isn’t one. Period. This year, Blue Virginia probably has earned a few hundred dollars on ads, basically enough to pay our hosting fees but certainly not enough to compensate any of our writers. That’s not a complaint, it’s just a fact, and pretty much standard operating procedure for political blogs with modest (e.g., 1,000-2,000 visits per day) traffic. Until that situation changes, and political bloggers can actually earn a living – even if marginal – by blogging, it’s hard to see how this can ever become too “professionalized.” Until then, for better or for worse (or both), it’s “amateur hour.” Enjoy! 🙂

National Crisis, National Opportunity

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More than a month after the Deep Water Horizon rig sank into the Gulf of Mexico, we can only begin to comprehend the scale of this human, environmental, and economic catastrophe. It took eleven lives. It continues to wreak havoc on the delicate ecosystems in and around the Gulf. It has endangered huge swathes of our coastal economy from Texas to Florida, and possibly beyond.

Estimates vary, but the ruptured well is spewing 39,000 to 58,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf each day. It will take years to recover from this disaster. Even in the darkest days, we must remember that with many crises come opportunities. Opportunities to learn from our mistakes. Opportunities to seek a better future. This oil spill compels us to take an honest and much-needed look at our dependence on fossil fuels.

As we deplete accessible oil supplies, we will have no choice but to stretch the limits of safety and prudence to find new reserves. We will be forced to go to ever-deeper waters to quench our insatiable thirst for oil.

In the days since April 20, we have seen the cost of our dangerous addiction to oil. It is a cost too high to bear.

Many of us feel a great deal of anger at the spill and those responsible for it. This anger is justifiable, and we must hold BP accountable. They must clean “every drop of oil off the shore” as they have promised to do. But anger should not be our only reaction. Here’s another idea: instead of getting angry, let’s get smart. Every TV set in the country is tuned to coverage of the oil spill.  Public dialogue is focusing on this disaster. It is an unprecedented opportunity to have an honest discussion about the costs of – and solutions for – our fossil fuel addiction.

We must take a decisive stand for alternative, renewable, sustainable energy, and we must do it now.

This is a theme I have been pushing the entire campaign. In my primary debate in April,  I discussed how the pursuit of alternative energy resources should be among our foremost priorities. On Wednesday, President Obama issued a powerful call to action: we must renew our dedication to passing legislation that comprehensively addresses our climate change and fossil fuel dependence problems. I fully support this effort.

There are a number of viable alternative energy resources and technologies that could supplement and diversify our energy portfolio and allow us to move away from the human, economic, and environmental risks of fossil fuels. I look forward to discussing them in the weeks – and blog posts – to come.

National Crisis, National Opportunity

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The recent explosion on the Deep Water Horizon Oil Rig in the Gulf is a human, environmental, and economic catastrophe. It took eleven lives. It continues to wreak havoc on the delicate ecosystems on the Gulf. It has endangered huge swathes of the coastal economy. Our first obligation must be to the families whose livelihoods are imperiled. We must act quickly to prevent more damage from occurring, and we must insist that BP fulfill its obligations to the people it has hurt.

But with every crisis, there is an opportunity. An opportunity to learn from our mistakes. An opportunity to make sure they don’t happen again. Last month’s crisis should force us all to take an honest look at our dependence on fossil fuels.  

As we deplete accessible supplies, we will have no choice but to stretch the limits of safety and prudence to find new reserves. We will be forced to go to ever-deeper waters to quench our insatiable thirst for oil.

For the last 46 days, we have learned the cost of our dangerous addiction to oil. It is too high to bear.

Many of us feel a great deal of anger at the spill and those responsible for it. This anger is justifiable, but it should not be our only reaction. Here’s another idea: instead of getting angry, let’s get smart. Every TV set in the country is tuned to coverage of the oil spill.  Public dialogue is focusing on this disaster. It is an unprecedented opportunity to have an honest discussion about the costs of – and solutions for – our fossil fuel addiction.

We must take a decisive stand for alternative, renewable, sustainable energy, and we must do it now.

This is a theme I have been pushing the entire campaign. In our debate in Early April, Rich Anthony and I agreed that searching for alternative energy sources should be among our foremost priorities. On Wednesday, President Obama issued a powerful call to action: we must renew our dedication to passing legislation that comprehensively addresses our climate change and fossil fuel dependence problems.

There are a number of promising alternative energy technologies that could provide supplement and diversify our energy portfolio, and I look forward to discussing them in the weeks – and blog posts – to come.  

Susan Mariner Meets With Loudoun County Democrats

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Yesterday, Susan Mariner once again demonstrated her work ethic and commitment to the Democratic Party by driving all the way from Virginia Beach to Leesburg to meet with the Loudoun County Democratic Committee and discuss her candidacy for DPVA 1st Vice Chair.

Well beyond this particular election, what Susan is committed to doing is listening to Democrats doing the hard work “on the ground.”  That’s why she’s traveling around the Commonwealth, asking for people’s thoughts, meeting with local elected officials and party leadership, and learning firsthand what’s happening with the Democratic Party in key battleground counties like Loudoun.  

Susan points out that many Democrats “downstate” tend to think of Loudoun as Northern Virginia, which to many people is synonymous with Fairfax County.  That, of course, is not the case.  And, Susan adds, it’s important that the 1st Vice Chair have the time to commit to understanding and representing all of the state, not just one part.

Susan reports that last night, in speaking with the Loudoun County Democrats at their meeting, nobody could remember any members of the DPVA leadership attending any event other than a fundraiser. Having worked on campaigns professionally (Susan served as the general election Political Director in Hampton Roads for Barack Obama, also as an advisor on Senators John Miller’s and Ralph Northam’s tough Red to Blue election victories in 2007, etc), she understands numbers, campaign strategy, and tactics.  Even more importantly, perhaps, Susan also understands how critical it is for campaigns to listen to Democrats who know their communities and their voters better than any staffer.  

Last but not least, Susan believes that a key aspect of the 1st Vice Chair should be to interface between the DPVA and statewide campaigns, which makes understanding the entirety of the state absolutely critical. Fortunately, when Susan is elected DPVA 1st Vice Chair in 8 days, we will not only have someone who understands Virginia and meets the other criteria cited above, we will have a committed, hard-working, dynamic, inclusive leader who takes the DPVA to another level of excellence. Go Susan!