"Macaca" redux in Virginia Governor's race?

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 30, 2009 · 2:24 PM PDT

2009/08/30 · 14:24

There is huge news out of Virginia today in our Governor’s race.

It looks like the Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell’s, “Macaca Moment” has arrived.

Much as George Allen's “macaca” comment fundamentally changed the dynamic of the Allen-Webb race in 2006 and propelled Webb to victory, this material is serious enough – worse than “macaca” IMHO -- so that it could have a similar effect on the upcoming race in favor of our excellent Democratic candidate, Creigh Deeds.

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday August 24, 2009 · 8:48 AM PDT

2009/08/24 · 08:48

Bob McDonnell’s love of George W. Bush’s economic policies is not the only thing Bob has in common with our 43rd president, perhaps the worst in our history.

In fact, if Bob McDonnell is elected governor, odds are he will do for Virginia what Dubya did for the United States. So, I guess, if you liked George W. Bush, you will probably love Bob McDonnell.

As for me and all other sentient Virginians, however, it scares the Bejesus out of us.

(Continued on the flip)

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 10, 2009 · 5:44 PM PDT

2009/04/10 · 17:44

An excellent article from The Flat Hat, the student newspaper of the College of William & Mary, covers the William & Mary Young Democrats 12th Annual Fundraising Banquet from the other night, where Creigh Deeds was the keynote speaker.

Blogs and bloggers tend to focus on the tactics and atmospherics of these races, as opposed to the substance. There’s good reason for this: the substantive issues are generally boring, since in the context of a primary we generally agree with all the candidates more than 90 percent of the time, and where there are differences among them they tend, for most people, to be on the margins. Oh, I understand that for activists, Brian Moran’s position on the Surry coal fired plant is the end-all and be-all, and in the nitty-gritty world of policy, they may be right, but I don’t think it is going to be the deal-maker or deal-breaker come June.

But political tactics, gossip, speculation, money and gossip, now that is interesting stuff, not to mention the endless hours of vicarious thrills. Did I mention gossip?

(More on the flip)

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday April 04, 2009 · 11:32 AM PDT

2009/04/04 · 11:32

Crossposted from The Virginia Democrat

With his latest Snafu, Brian Moran has shown, again, that based on the campaign he has run so far, he is arguably not ready to be the Democratic nominee for Governor.

(Story is on the jump)

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 01, 2009 · 8:22 PM PDT

2009/04/01 · 20:22

Cross-posted to The Virginia Democrat

Well, I’ve had some time to look at the latest PPP poll, and the fact is that it holds the best news for …. wait for it …. Creigh Deeds!

I know I’m in the tank for Creigh and therefore biased, but hear me out on this one.

I have had, and still have, my doubts about the PPP poll for a few reasons (and I say this as someone who knows little about the science of polling). I don’t like their methodology of responding by pressing telephone buttons. I’m not convinced that their respondent dispersion across telephone area codes accurately reflects the Old Dominion’s Democratic voting population, and I fear that it may, ever so slightly, overweight NoVA and Hampton Roads while underweighting Richmond and rural Virginia. Lastly, apropos of nothing, PPP is from North Carolina, and what can I say, it bugs me that a North Carolina polling firm is encroaching on a Virginia election.

(More on flip)

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 23, 2009 · 7:37 PM PDT

2009/03/23 · 19:37

Crossposted to Blue Commonwealth and The Virginia Democrat

During the blogger dinner with Creigh Deeds, the Senator mentioned that he had the strongest pro-choice record of any candidate in the race, but he refused to be more specific, telling us to “look it up.”

So I did.

Here is what I found.

In 2003, Mr. Moran voted in favor of SB 1205, a bill that banned a certain abortion procedure, one characterized with the inaccurate and inflammatory name, “partial birth abortion.”<span> </span>In fact, SB 1205 banned these abortions even in cases that endangered the life or health of the mother. Joining Mr. Moran in voting in favor of the bill, which eventually went on to become law, was none other than Taliban Bob McDonnell, the man Mr. Moran now claims wants to take us back to the last century, and the man Mr. Moran claims he will beat like a drum. And sponsoring the bill was our old friend, “Sideshow” Bob Marshall.

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday March 15, 2009 · 2:51 PM PDT

2009/03/15 · 14:51

Crossposted to Blue Commonwealth

An examination of Brian Moran’s fundraising for governor through the last quarter as disclosed on VPAP shows an unusual level of support for him from the defense and homeland security industries (collectively referred to herein as “defense industry”) as compared to both candidates in current elections and over several past election cycles in Virginia.

The VPAP data does not establish any wrongdoing on Mr. Moran’s part, and it is not the purpose of this diary to make such an allegation. In fact, I take it on faith that Mr. Moran is an honest public servant and a strong Progressive with the best of intentions.

But the pattern of contributions from the defense industry to him and his campaign does stand out, and, frankly, is worth a look because Mr. Moran’s brother, Congressman Jim Moran, is a powerful member of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 10, 2008 · 6:01 PM PDT

2008/10/10 · 18:01

(Crossposted from RK).

Senator Jim Webb was in Charlottesville today to endorse Tom Perriello, who is the Democratic candidate in VA-05 against Virgil Goode.

I was really looking forward to meeting Senator Webb for the first time, and he was gracious enough to give me a few moments of his time for an interview (he was already late for his next appointment), where I blog.

Interviewing Sen. Webb is a different kind of experience. Usually, when you interview a politician, they just keep talking until you ask the next question. After you ask Sen. Webb a question, however, he takes a moment to actually think, then he gives you a direct answer, then he stops talking and waits for you to ask the next question.

The big news: Virginia is looking better and better not only for Obama, but for downticket races as well. The fact that we are ... what ... three or four weeks from Election Day and still talking about the legitimate possibility that the Democratic candidate in VA-05 could beat Virgil Goode is quite amazing.

Text of my brief interview with Webb on the flip.

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 09, 2007 · 7:52 AM PST

2007/02/09 · 07:52

I realize that the Israeli/Palenstinian issue generates heated positions on all sides here at Daily Kos (well, everyplace, actually), but once in a while I read something about it that is so ... what is a word I can use without getting personal ... pointless, that I can't let it pass without comment.

If that pointless comment is someplace that is obscure, or is so lacking in any kind of intellectual credibility (like Instapundit), I usually don't care. But...

Well, a post by M.J. Rosenberg on TPM today has for some reason set me off.

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 19, 2007 · 2:15 PM PST

2007/01/19 · 14:15

I have not seen the "Insight" piece on Obama, but if it is claiming that Hillary Clinton's campaign are the ones digging up the dirt, that is a demonstrable lie.

This slander about Obama has been debunked by the non-ideologues at Snopes.com:

http://www.snopes.com/...

But more to the point, this pretty much establishes that the Clinton campaign has nothing to do with this, since it surfaced prior to Obama's announcement. I realize that I might be violating the rules of a diary by posting this as a diary as opposed to a comment (because it is so short), but appropos of MissLaura's recent post, I want to make sure that the material is out there to stop this dead in its tracks before the Fox faux report has a chance to infect the rest of the media. If I have violated an inexcusable rule, I beg your indulgence. Nothing after the jump. [updated to include link to MissLaura's diary]

The very real danger of an attack on Iran

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 17, 2007 · 7:03 AM PST

2007/01/17 · 07:03

I have noticed quite a range of opinion here on whether the United States plans to launch an unprovoked attack on Iran, and the implications if we did so. This opinion has ranged from those who believe that such a move by us is so lacking in common sense that it is highly unlikely (the "Rationalists"), to those who believe that Bush and Cheney are so insane at this point that rationality doesn't enter the equation (the "Realists").

Actually, both sides are right.

I think both sides would agree that an attack, if it were to occur, would at least at the start be an air and missile attack launched from the two carrier groups we will eventually have in the region. Here, in fact, is an article from today's Arab Times that says the air and missile attack is planned for April. Its sourcing is sketchy, but it does fit with the other facts we already know. According to the article, the purpose of the attack would be:

aznew

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 15, 2007 · 6:33 PM PST

2007/01/15 · 18:33

One reason why much of the chattering class hates the Internet so much is because it has exposed them as having no clothes, although the image of a naked Robert Novak or David Brooks ought to be, if nothing else, disturbing, both to them and to us.

But this is old news, as is the fact that most, though not all of the exposed pundits, are on the Right side of the political divide, mainly because the circle they need to square, the one between their relatively rigid ideology and the unyielding tide of reality, is a virtually impossible task.

Watching columnists of all political stripes and states of intellectual undress grapple over the last half-dozen days with the president's most recent Iraq speech and policy, however, has been a quite entertaining, and as I explain after the jump, has brought to mind for me a long-lost personal memory from 28 years ago.

RSS

"Macaca" redux in Virginia Governor's race?

VA GOV -- Meet Bob "Dubya" McDonnell

VA-GOV - Creigh's unifying vision

VA-GOV: Latest Moran Snafu again raises doubts about campaign direction

VA-Gov: Polling Trends Clearly Show Deeds Gaining Ground

VA-GOV: Who is Brian Moran? 2003 vote to block lawful abortions raises questions

(Va) For Brian Moran, money doesn't talk, it swears

Webb: Obama will win Virginia; Comments on crowd ugliness at GOP rallies

Sometimes Stuff Like This Sends Me Over The Edge

The Insight Article is demonstrably false

The very real danger of an attack on Iran

Pre-post-modern-negative-realism