Tag Archives: 2009 Election

Recap from Last Night's Victory

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Last night, I reported live from the Richmond Victory Party for Bearing Drift. However, I wanted to provide a glimpse into my thoughts on the Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey.

The victories of both Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie have definitely been a blow to President Obama, and even more so, it served as a referendum to the way Democrats have been handling the economic issues. When I worked at my polling location in the Centreville precinct in Western Fairfax, some of the voters I spoke with mentioned their disdain with the President’s handling of the economy and the current rise of unemployment numbers. One voter even mentioned that he never understood where Creigh Deeds or the rest of the Democratic ticket stood on the issues, and for the first time, this man was voting Republican for all of the statewide offices. Similar responses have been heard by many poll workers here in Virginia, as well as in New Jersey.

These victories are sweet, but we need to keep the momentum going. Both McDonnell and Christie will have to stick to their campaign promises and work to getting their proposals through. At times, this will be difficult, but it is not impossible, if they work across the aisle to implement common sense, limited government approaches. Another thing is that we should not be overly comfortable with being the dominant party, and I believe this point was best stated by Brian Kirwin’s post at Bearing Drift, when he said,

“Which brings me to what I’ve told most people for the past month: I think 2009 was 1993, and I’ve been saying so all year. That means we Republicans are ripe to have a 1994.

That ain’t good.

1994 for the rest of the nation was a great year. 1994 in Virginia and Hampton Roads wasn’t exactly stellar. The supremely vulnerable Sen. Chuck Robb won. Congressional Democrats across Hampton Roads won easily. Tom Davis defeated Leslie Byrne in the 11th, our sole pickup in the Gingrich Revolution, and a seat we no longer hold.

My memories of 1994 are full of a crowd of Republican candidates all anxiously and viciously destroying each other to win a nomination, and once it was won, the wounds didn’t heal at all (Ask any Democrat if they’ve seen how much fun that is lately.)

So, if we Republicans treat McDonnell’s victory like Allen’s victory, and go into 2010 like we went into 1994, we’ll be stuck with Nye and Perriello and Connelly while the rest of the nation has winning Republican campaigns.

Let’s think this time around. Now that we’ve beaten Democrats, let’s not make the mistakes they made in 2009 or the ones we made in 1994.”

I am overjoyed by the Republican tidal wave victory here in Virginia. Congratulations to Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli on their victories. Also, a special congratulations goes out to newly elected Delegates, Barbara Comstock, Rich Anderson, Tag Greason, and Jim LeMunyon, as well as those who were re-elected. Now, let’s get to work and follow through with the promises made during the campaign to move Virginia forward.

Election Day is Finally Here!

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Well, the day we have been waiting for is finally here: Election Day. I will be providing some coverage throughout the day at Bearing Drift, but there will be some highlights here at CCC.

Here’s a voter’s guide for you based on some of my posts, yet it shouldn’t surprise some with my endorsements:

Governor: Bob McDonnell
Lieutenant Governor: Bill Bolling
Attorney General: Ken Cuccinelli

13th District: Bob Marshall
32nd District: Tag Greason
34th District: Barbara Comstock
35th District: Jim Hyland
38th District: Danny Smith
40th District: Tim Hugo
41st District: Kerry Bolognese
42nd District: Dave Albo
43rd District: Tim Nank
44th District: Jay McConville
47th District: Eric Brescia
48th District: Aaron Ringel
50th District: Jackson Miller
51st District: Rich Anderson
52nd District: Rafael Lopez
67th District: Jim LeMunyon
86th District: Tom Rust

Overall, if predictions and history are true, we are looking towards a Republican tidal wave in the House of Delegates.

Distortions and Deceit a la Kaye Kory

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The Democratic Party of Virginia recently sent out a misleading, deceitful mailer on behalf of Kaye Kory, who is running against Danny Smith in the 38th District. Smith’s campaign has called on Kory to denounce the mailer sent out by the DPVA that said Smith stated support for cutting a certain amount of education funding out of the general fund. Smith said,

The Danny Smith Campaign demands the Democratic Party of Virginia and the Kaye Kory Campaign apologize to the voters of the 38th District for sending out a piece that blatantly misconstrues the truth and misleads thousands of voters. Sending out a mailer with falsified information the Friday afternoon before the election is the kind of dirty campaign tactics that do not belong in Virginia. The voters of the 38th District deserve to be represented by a leader who will not use deceitful campaign tricks to win votes.

Here are the mailers:
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Just another hint of desperation and a dirty display of the political process.

Stevens Miller Fumbles Tele-townhall

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What in the world was he thinking? Stevens Miller, who is running against Tom Rust in the 86th District held a tele-townhall meeting tonight. This is one of the most important sports watching nights of the year (outside of the Super Bowl): the World Series game 2 (where the Yankees will handily defeat the Phillies) and the UNC vs. Virginia Tech football game (Go Hokies).

Miller rambled on about his brilliant ideas from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, which is odd considering that he has made no accomplishments.

Words can come back to haunt you…

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Words can come back to haunt you, especially when you are placed on the record for supporting bringing the Redskins Hall of Fame to Loudoun County. The Hall of Fame would have made Loudoun County, the corporate headquarters of the Redskins franchise and would have provided over $100,000 to promote the county. Who voted against it? None other than Stevens Miller, who is the Dulles District Supervisor running for Delegate in the 86th District…(Funny, he actually had to move into the district to run for Delegate).

At a recent debate, Miller decided to take credit for something he didn’t do. He claimed that he supported the Redskins Hall of Fame. It’s kind of hard to be against something, then turn around a year later to say you supported the measure. Flip-flop-itis has struck again!

Poll Numbers Showing GOP Victory

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Yesterday, both Survey USA and Public Policy Polling released polls showing Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli all leading their opponents in double digit margins.

McDonnell leads Democrat Creigh Deeds, 58-41% (Survey USA) and 55-40% (PPP).

Bolling leads Democrat Jody Wagner, 56-42% (Survey USA) and 50-38% (PPP).

Cuccinelli leads Democrat Steve Shannon, 57-41% (Survey USA) and 52-36% (PPP).

Distortions = Signs of Desperation

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Jody Wagner still can’t get the facts right, as she continues to attack Bill Bolling for being a health insurance executive and on the meeting attendance issue. These attacks are nothing but desperation from Wagner in the days up to the election and need to be dispelled. Enter the truth squad.

Wagner was asked about the public option by Not Larry Sabato and whether or not, she supports the measure. Wagner supports public option, but then attacks Bolling for being a health insurance executive.

Jody then took the opportunity to draw a sharp contrast with the record of incumbent Lt. Governor Bill Bolling. It’s worth noting that Virginia Lt. Governor is a part time position- and Bolling also serves as an insurance company executive by day.

Here’s some clarification for Wagner:

Bolling is not a health care insurance executive, and he is not employed by a health insurance company. Rather, Bolling sells property and casualty insurance. He represents his clients and protects their interests, not insurance companies.

Now, here’s another issue that Wagner keeps focusing on, just like a broken record, and that is Bolling’s meeting attendance record. Wagner continues to hit on the fact that Bolling has missed GACRE meetings. Bolling does not serve on this committee, thus meaning that he is not obligated to be at these meetings. In fact, Bolling has attended 219 of 281 meetings (78%) of his Boards and Commissions Meetings, State Senate sessions and meetings of the Attorney General’s Regulatory and Government Reform Task Force, Working Group on Infrastructure, and National Lieutenant Governor’s Association. Bolling has been an active Lieutenant Governor, who has received scores of pro-business endorsements, the NRA and VCDL endorsements, Fraternal Order of Police, the Virginia Police Benevolent Society, and others.

Just another sign of desperation from Lieutenant Governor’s Mansion Fantasyland.

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The Washington Post Endorses Eric Brescia, Aaron Ringel, and Tom Rust

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The Washington Post released their endorsements of the House candidates starting on Friday. I’ll have more criticisms of their list in tomorrow’s edition regarding the candidates they should have endorsed, but in the meantime, I will praise their efforts for today’s endorsements.

As you have read several times on this blog, Del. Tom Rust is the better choice to his opponent, who is a carpetbagger (currently represents the Dulles District on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, owns a house in the Broadlands, and rents an apartment in Sterling). The Post agrees, and they endorsed Rust in his re-election bid.

District 86: Thomas D. Rust, the incumbent, is one of the more effective lawmakers in the General Assembly, a pro-business Republican who has also gained backing for some of his initiatives from environmentalists. Mr. Rust has enacted important legislation that will ease the way for more toll roads to be built, and he’s played a constructive, responsible role in securing funding for education and other priorities that many in his own party opposed.

In Arlington, two rising stars in the Republican party have also received the endorsements of the Post. Both Aaron Ringel (who is challenging Bob Brink) and Eric Brescia (who is running in the 47th District) are excellent candidates, who will bring refreshing change in Richmond for their respective districts.

By contrast, Mr. Brescia, an economist who’s just 24, is a relative newcomer. However, he is exactly what the Republicans need in Northern Virginia: an independent-minded thinker who has fresh and specific ideas for how to save money in health care and make government work better.

Robert H. Brink, the Democratic incumbent, has held this seat for a decade, and in that time he’s barely faced a serious challenge. This year he has one in the form of Republican Aaron Ringel, a bright young combat veteran of the war in Iraq who works for a defense contractor. Mr. Brink is a competent legislator but he has opposed widening Interstate 66. That wins points with some homeowners who’d be directly affected but does little for the tens of thousands of commuters who suffer that road daily. Mr. Ringel takes a broader regional view of that issue.

This is definitely good news and could add two more pickups for the Republicans in Arlington, which is typically a Democratic stronghold.

Richmond Times-Dispatch Endorses Bob McDonnell

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Richmond Times-Dispatch endorsed Bob McDonnell in an editorial today. This endorsement joins other endorsements from the following newspapers:

  • The Washington Examiner
  • Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
  • Waynesboro News-Virginian
  • The Culpeper Star Exponent
  • Bristol Herald Courier
  • The Daily Press
  • The Culpeper Times
  • The Loudoun Times-Mirror
  • News and Messenger
  • The Winchester Star
  • Harrisonburg Daily News Record
  • Northern Virginia Sun-Gazette

Richmond Times-Dispatch said in their editorial that McDonnell offers solid, pragmatic solutions that will embrace free enterprise, while defending our personal liberties. As you can see, the editorial writers actually paid attention to the plans each candidates have, not endorsing on a party line, like The Washington Post did with their endorsement of Creigh Deeds.

The Washington Post and Fairfax Times Endorse Danny Smith

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In the 38th District, Danny Smith has been working hard to get elected by sharing his vision for improving Fairfax County’s outlook on education, transportation, and the economy. From my first interview with Smith back in May, I knew that he stood a strong chance of winning this seat, especially after watching the performance of his opponent during a debate about a month ago.

Well, The Washington Post and Fairfax Times have endorsed Smith for Delegate.

Fairfax Times said:

We like what we’re hearing from Republican Danny Smith, who has some interesting thoughts on improving Fairfax County’s transportation, education, and economic outlook. Smith’s idea of setting smaller, more attainable transportation objectives in order to regain the trust of Fairfax residents who’ve been sending dollars to Richmond for 20-plus years certainly resonates with us. He also has strong opinions on tailoring K-12 education to our high-tech world, saying math and science need to be getting more attention in our classrooms.

The Washington Post said:

Danny R. Smith, the Republican candidate, is a bright, independent-minded civic leader who cares about promoting affordable housing. A Realtor and corporate executive, he would bring a refreshingly bipartisan sensibility to Richmond.

There’s still a lot more work to be done, and if you would like to help Danny to victory, visit his website.