Congratulations to Creigh Deeds & Jody Wagner

I am proud to support the democratic ticket (Deeds, Wagner, Shannon).

Creigh Deeds is a man of honor. He is a moderate, he connects with working, middle class people because of his own experience. With him as the nominee, I feel like anything is possible- his optimism surely cannot be matched. His credibility in the General Assembly and with voters in Virginia will allow him to get things done in Richmond in a unifying, not divisive manner.

Jody Wagner - what can I say about her? She dominated. She will provide Bill Bolling the competition he needs. She has made things happen in Virginia- she will as Lt. Gov.

Congratulations to all democrats in Virginia. I am now convinced that a primary, while painful to watch, can build the party.

Political Buzz

Jody Wagner will be in Charlottesville on Saturday to speak to at the Chville-Albemarle Democratic Breakfast. She is a candidate for Lt. Governor, her opponent in the primary is Jon Bowerbank. Light breakfast will be served, starts at 9:30, donations appreciated, its at JABA on Hillsdale Drive.

Brian Moran says he can win Virginia because a bunch of Delegates in Loudoun County endorse him. I find some flaws in his logic- first those folks better support any eventual nominee, so this isnt about winning Virginia, its about winning the nomination. And Loudoun County is not really part of the rest of Virginia anymore, it is northern Virginia, AND endorsements from Moran's colleagues in the House, while thoughtful, doesnt exactly mean an onslaught of support for Moran.

I went to a Creigh Deeds reception last night, wow it was fun. I had never been to the Second Street Gallery (this is me ducking, I know I should visit). The gallery was full of people, most of whom wore their grown up clothes. The good Senator discussed the economy, transportation and reducing our carbon footprint. Deeds wants to get Virginia moving again- especially with a vision for transportation that represents the future not the past - obviously funding and building roads, but leading the way in new modes of transportation. Deeds is straightforward, in a refreshing, non political way-- I really appreciate candidates who tell me the truth "I am not saying its going to be cheap or easy" he told the crowd. I appreciate that to move forward and protect the future for my children (and yours), sacrifices will need to be made. Donate to Deeds campaign -- its a great opportunity to keep the issues of all Virginians on the front burner.

The NEW Congressman from the 5th district showed up to the estatic and thankful group. Tom Perriello, wearing his classic campaign boots, barely made it past the front door before a line formed to speak to him. He patiently, even enthusiastically talked to everyone and seemed to be doing quite well, not as tired as last week for sure. Even I waited in line with friends to thank Tom for his hard work and awesome campaign. Tom Perriello needs some donations to cover the cost of the attorneys covering his canvasses in far away precincts. Please consider donating so that Perriello can go into his term debt-free (and fund raising for the next cycle).

Its been a week, lets talk 2009

I have my favorites all lined up for next year's statewide offices primary. I wont outline all of them for your here since well I feel bad stating a preference. Anyone who is nominated I will work for 100%. We have some excellent candidates, and I will hold my breathe and hope my colleagues admonishments that "hard fought primaries are good for the party" are true.

In the Governor's race I cant be any more obvious about my support for Creigh Deeds. The man is a good guy, hard working, bright and moderate. I appreciate that in my Governor. Brian Moran is a good candidate, bright, hard working, slightly too liberal for me (I know all of my Democratic friends are rubbing their eyes in shock), I prefer a more moderate Governor.

A third candidate is testing the waters for the Democratic nomination- former DNC chair Terry McCauliffe. This is when I get all "ANYBODY BUT TERRY" in my opposition to his candidacy. Really- who is he? MAKE IT STOP. Dont let his money influence the primary goers of Virginia.

I dont think it will, these primary goers also nominated Jim Webb- a serious moderate without a lot of money (initially). I will continue to support Creigh Deeds (GO CREIGH GO) in any way I can (dont forget to donate to Creigh- use the widget on the side of my blog) and otherwise ignore Terry's potential run (unless he does something ridiculous).

Picnic at the Park

The Park is a wonderful place for a picnic for 200+ of your friends. The Charlottesville Democrats gathered today for its annual outreach and awards picnic. Mark Warner was the headliner, alas he did not attend as a result of a flare up of a sports injury. He had to cancel his appearance at all of the events which was at least 5 events that I knew about.

Creigh Deeds did an able job in Mark Warner's place, he noted the work that lay ahead and the importance of the work. Senator Deeds knows something about getting out the vote, so he is very keen on the registration efforts of the Obama campaign.

Delegate David Toscano and Tom Perriello spoke towards the end of the event. Tom Perriello was really inspiring- bringing about a new brand of politics to Washington, DC, this is something to be proud of, and Tom is the real deal.

Thank you to all of those who attended, I had a great time meeting all the new folks in town and catching up with those I hadnt seen in awhile. Mel's Diner did a fantastic job catering, everyone loved the food, and the sweet potato pie is ... sublime, thanks to Holly Edwards for reminding us to get dessert.

Bipartisanship or something like that?

I have been mulling over the experience I had this past weekend at Sorenson. While I learned a great deal from the program (agriculture and negotiating public policy), I have found a few issues-

1. As all of you know I support Creigh Deeds. He has been a mentor and an inspiration to me. I admire his determination and intellect and his absolute commitment to serving all Virginians. I am not working for Senator Deeds, I will try to help him win by talking to people, raising money and blogging about him.

I find my competitive spirit towards those favoring Senator Deeds' opponent hindering my relationships with them. Its unfortunate because this bad feeling I have will be what is left (in the Party) after this bruising primary is over NEXT YEAR.

2. Attempting to overcome my utter repulsiveness towards those supporting the so-called Marriage Amendment, I sought out a classmate to assist. Needless to say, it did not go well.

SO here it is- three months into the program, I love it-but man I am uncomfortable. I suppose one has to be uncomfortable to learn. Is anyone else "learning", is this the way it is supposed to be?

What a cool Friday

Today was mother's day at D&A's preschool. They both served me lunch individually within an hour. It was very cute- hummus on pita, strawberries, veggies and ranch, chips and salsa and brownies. I got one strawberry from each, one chip from Andrew and 1/2 chip from David. Very funny. And a 1/3 cup of punch "it tastes like ginger ale but its not" "what is it?" "its punch" with a huge grin and burst out laughing like he got away with something.

The poultry plant smells bad when you first enter. We were not able to see the evicerations because the workers were done for the day- we saw the leftover parts and blood and I am grateful we didnt see it. The rest of the plant tour involved parts of the turkey we are used to seeing it, still revulsion still overcame me at points. Deli turkey meat will take awhile for me to eat again.

The Staunton Grocery is a restaurant in Staunton on Beverly Street- it was delicious. The chef made a speech beforehand on how he opened this place to use the locally grown foods in new and productive ways and to serve the farmers and economy of the valley. Very noble thing. While I didnt expect the apple crisp deconstructed with rhubarb cream, mint and caramel to be like it was- I am adventurous, so it was cool. Also the BEST coffee so far this trip- no way anything will be able to beat it till Shenandoah Joes.

Off to the depot and baja. BTW- CREIGH DEEDS for GOVERNOR.

In the morning I have to argue in favor of the ten commandments in school- I got figure out how to make those arguments- my assumption is if I just act belligerent I will get the point across that the foundation of this country is the Bible so we should instill these moral values in our children at a young age. I will win by being righteously indignant.

Creigh Deeds for Governor

Because I am not actually involved in the campaign, I want to post my suggestions to the Deeds campaign.

1. World wide web fundraising;
2. Website- improve it, make it more interactive and interesting;
3. NoVa is in play;
4. Spend plenty of time in Hampton Roads;
5. GOTV- obviously;
6. Your suggestions here...
I suspect the campaign is working on all of this.

People I talk to believe that Moran is going to win the primary (they are all from the other side of the state). I do not know how Moran can win against McDonnell. McDonnell has positioned himself as a centrist candidate, something Moran cant pull off given his primary residence in Alexandria.

The word is any candidate can now win if they are from northern Virginia. Apparently no longer can statewide candidates win if they are not from NOVA/Richmond. I find this depressing, unrealistic and frankly foolhardy on the part of those pundits. I believe Creigh represents Virginians, I know he can beat McDonnell (he almost did a couple of years ago) and he will serve all of us by working with all Virginians.

raising money

I had this great conversation last month about fundraising for candidates. The professional fundraiser was so confident in his prowess in helping candidates fundraise (candidates have to make the pitch- he pumps them up). He mentioned there are not a lot of female fundraisers and that he didnt know if his system would work on women (he relies on testosterone), which I found interesting.

I raised a good amount of money for my own campaign, a lot of in kind donations make the # look impressive. I hated every minute of fundraising- I do not know how to make it easier for candidates to make the pitch- except for nowadays fundraising is a politicians first job (so disappointing), so they have to even if it is awful.

I will get to a point, but first, I am half way (59%) to my goal of $1000 for my MS Walk fundraiser. My initial goal was $217, I blew by that with one email. Thank you to all of you who donated. The walk was last week, it was great. Team MICU rocks! A cure for MS is within reach, I am praying for the day to be sooner rather than later.

Finally, I was the youngest member of a group invited to be a fundraiser for Creigh Deeds. OK I may not have been the youngest in the state, but I think I was in Chville. I had no idea what this meeting would be about, my friend said "money" and I recoiled in horror "I dont have any money" I told my friend. He said "oh you dont have to" "what??" was my response.

OK so I learned. I want to raise $5000 for my choice for the next governor of Virginia Creigh Deeds. I havent actually told the campaign yet, because I am not that good at committing to raise money since my kids are in preschool, perhaps when they are in public school...but I digress. I want to be called a city bumpkin (as opposed to pioneers etc from the Bush campaigns). Will you help me elect Sen. Deeds? I am happy to tell you more about why in future posts.

Stay tuned for far more sophisticated fundraising goals and pitches.

Governors, Hillary and Britney

Bill Bolling is not running for Governor. I am shaken a bit by this news. Chris tells me his theory is that the new Republican strategy is to nominate someone quickly then let the Democratic infighting destroy any chance of the Dem nominee to win. Evil Genius.

I particularly appreciated the quote by a Brian Moran staffer in the Post (?) perhaps Progress article "Jesse Ferguson, communications director for Moran, said the nomination contest with Deeds appears likely to be settled in a statewide party primary in June of next year. “Virginians for Brian Moran has 10 full-time staff,” as though that somehow makes Moran a viable candidate. To have ten staffers for 14 months is wasting the campaign's resources early, this is a long primary fight (June 2009 is the vote), staff gets tired, loses momentum and worse ... insular thinking. But heck that is just my theory and I am Senator Creigh Deeds supporter so take it what you will. Also I strongly urge Delegate Moran to drop out and run for Attorney General or LT Governor. I admit I have no great influence over anyone.

I say these things only as an individual, the Party in the City has no position on either of these candidates and will work equally strongly to elect either one of these fine candidates.

Other topics of interest- Hillary over exaggerates her role in these foreign policy issues. She will not be able to beat McCain on that issue period. The post said today she is trying to convince superdelegates she is more 'experienced' yes, in manipulation and lying, not really in public policy- if you are a superdelegate, dont buy it.

It was great to see Britney Spears on "How I Met Your Mother" last night. She did a good job, certainly not awful. IMO the best part is she looked healthy. As you know I worry about her, mostly for her children's sake. I am glad she is under care that is likely not to harm her any more.