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Recap from the Inaugural Ball
Capping off yesterday’s Inauguration of Governor Bob McDonnell, the festivities from last night’s Inaugural Ball provide a memory that will remain around for a long time. I arrived at the Ball around 9 p.m., decked out in a teal column dress that had back cutouts and lots of sparkle. I can tell you that I felt and looked like a princess…so special thanks to my sister, who selected the dress and has great fashion sense.
Upon arriving, I went into take pictures. Ed Gillespie was talking to the audience, and members of the Inaugural Committee were on stage. Soon after Gillespie introduced the members of the Inaugural Committee, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his wife, Teiro joined them. Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and his wife, Jean Ann joined them on stage. After an introductory video, Governor McDonnell and his family made their grand entrance onto the stage. Governor McDonnell and the First Lady, Maureen, danced to “You’re Still the One,” which their daughter, Jeanine sang especially for the event.
The Governor’s favorite band, America, provided the entertainment. It was a great time to celebrate the victory and meet up with friends. Below are some pics from the event (including one of myself in my gown).
**All pics with the exception of mine were taken using the iPhone 3GS. My picture was taken by a friend.**
Recap from Last Night's Victory
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!
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.
Poll Numbers Showing GOP Victory
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).
Good News from SurveyUSA
There’s good news for the Republican statewide candidates. All hold significant leads over their Democratic counterparts. According to the SurveyUSA polls, the Republicans hold a 14-19 percent lead.
Here’s the breakdown:
Bob McDonnell. 59
Creigh Deeds. 40
Bill Bolling. 56
Jody Wagner. 42
Ken Cuccinelli. 56
Steve Shannon. 41
Live Blog from the Republican Roundup
I have finally made it to the Republican Roundup here in Richmond after a two hour drive from the battle station in Northern Virginia. Due to the weather, it appears that the crowd is significantly less than the previous three years. Upon coming into the event, I caught up with Steven Latimer, Jim Hoeft of Bearing Drift, Lynn Mitchell, Tom White of Virginia Right and Rick Sincere.
Right now (4:31 p.m.), the Royal Blue Band is keeping the audience entertained, and Rep. Eric Cantor stopped by new media row to say hi before being interviewed by Jim Hoeft.
Update at 4:44 p.m.: The elected officials are gathering in the front and will soon be going on stage. I will be featuring small samples from each of the speeches. CBS 6 Richmond has a crew here taking footage of the event.
(5:00 p.m.) Candidates appear on stage.
7th District Chair, Linwood Cobb, is introducing the candidates and giving an explanation to the protesters outside the venue. Basically, the venue, Snag-a-job Pavilion, does not want guns on their property, so the Virginia Civil Defense League (VCDL) was upset by this and decided to hold a protest against the 7th District GOP and Rep. Eric Cantor. The VCDL asked the 7th District GOP to relocate it to a more gun friendly venue. More on this in a later post.
Ken Cuccinelli started the comments by bringing a broom on stage saying that we are going to sweep in November, but he encouraged the crowd to keep up the momentum to help make this possible.
Bob McDonnell was next on stage. “Life is controlled by those who show up, so we need to inform our friends to come to the polls on November 3.”. McDonnell mentioned his work on bringing more jobs to the Commonwealth, improving transportation, and boosting Virginia’s economy.
Rep. Eric Cantor is currently making remarks. Cantor said, “Deeds will bring Obama-Pelosi style politics to Virginia, if elected.”. Cantor also said the results from Virginia’s election this fall will send a clear signal to those in Washington that the GOP is making a comeback.
More pictures will be online later tonight.
Interview with Ken Cuccinelli
Recently, I had the chance to talk with Ken Cuccinelli about the race and the issues facing the Attorney General’s office. Cuccinelli is a small business owner and partner in the law firm, Cuccinelli & Day, PLLC in Fairfax. Additionally, Cuccinelli is a State Senator representing the 37th District, a seat that he has held since 2002. As State Senator, Cuccinelli serves on the following committees: Courts of Justice, Transportation Committee, Local Government Committee, and the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee.
During the interview, Cuccinelli highlighted some of the differences between both him and his opponent, Democrat Steve Shannon. Below is the interview.
CCC: When you have been door-to-door and talking with voters on the phone, what do you believe is the number one issue that they have been focused on? How do you think the campaign is going thus far?
Ken Cuccinelli: Well, the campaign has been going really well. So far, I expect to be outspent, and I hope that a solid foundation can help carry me forward.
As for the top issues, I have been hearing a lot of people voicing concerns about crime and the economy. Criminal justice is one of the most popular issues, and in previous attorney general races, nothing matched criminal justice. My opponent [Steve Shannon] does not want to talk about the economic issues. He [Shannon] has been funded by the unions and has supported tax increases, while serving as Delegate.
CCC: Have you heard much from voters about illegal immigration?
KC: I hear about the illegal immigration issue a lot. My opponent has been afraid to talk about the subject, especially since he has voted on a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to attend public universities. In fact, I have had more bills in the Senate that addressed illegal immigration than any other Senator since I’ve been there – these have addressed stopping human trafficking, and clearing the voter rolls of illegal immigrants.
CCC: During the summer, you called for a special session, in regards to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court with Melendez vs. Diaz, could you explain a little about the case and the implications that it would have on Virginians? Why do you believe your opponent decided not to call on Governor Kaine to have a special session?
KC: First, I’ll give a little background on Melendez vs. Diaz. Melendez vs. Diaz was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and basically, it defends a person’s right to call witnesses. While this is great, it also creates a problem with Virginia law. After talking with several prosecutors, many drunk drivers and drug dealers were being released. In fact, Fairfax County lost five cases due to Melendez vs. Diaz.
So, after reading the case and talking with prosecutors, I decided to petition Governor Kaine for a special session of the General Assembly to address this issue and fix Virginia law. I also sent a letter to my opponent urging him to call the special session. My opponent called this a “political stunt,” and asked me why I did not support his bill to stop the Melendez bill. This bill (HB 3086) would have no impact on the Melendez problem in DUI cases. I sent my opponent’s bill off to six prosecutors and asked if this bill would solve the issues posed by Melendez in Virginia. Five of the six prosecutors said it would make things worse, and the other one said it would be a disaster.
Governor Kaine called a special session on August 19th to address this problem and we fixed it. We haven’t lost a case since passing legislation to solve the problem. We rewrote a bill, while my opponent just wrote a bill and put his name on it. This is the stuff that the Attorney General deals with, and he totally got it wrong. We focused on this in an ad.
Meanwhile, my opponent got the law wrong and played politics with it. His immediate reaction was to call this a political stunt. He got burned by this.
CCC: As State Senator, I know you were quite active with property rights legislation. Could you perhaps discuss what you will do as Attorney General to protect the property rights of Virginians and what you might do if there is a challenge to the Supreme Court decision of Kelo v. New London? Also, do you think that your opponent, Steve Shannon, has any solid issue stance on this important issue?
KC: If there is a challenge to Kelo, I will make sure to continue fighting for property rights. As Attorney General, I will fight to get property rights protected in the Virginia Constitution. My opponent has been against this all along. Another thing is that Creigh Deeds was the tie breaking vote to kill property rights in the Constitution. The vote was 8-7.
Property rights is a great dividing line between those who care more about special interests and those who care about property rights. My opponent cares more about special interests, and I still have more work to do to protect property rights.
CCC: With the Defense of Marriage Act being challenged at the Federal level, how will this impact Virginia and the marriage amendment that was passed by the voters in 2006?
KC: The office of Attorney General is the only office that matters in this debate. My opponent is against the marriage amendment. I am certain that this will come up within the next four years, and it will be fought by the AGs. I have been a strong advocate for protecting the marriage amendment.
CCC: Your opponent, in your debate on WTOP, shows that he is in favor of the harmful and economically devastating climate change legislation. What is your position on this legislation and what will you do as Attorney General to prevent the after effects of this legislation?
KC: This was important enough to be my opponent’s first question during this debate. I oppose climate change legislation. It will be economically destructive to Southside and southwestern Virginia. Currently, unemployment rates are at 20% in Southside. If this legislation is passed, the Attorney General could be involved with regulatory aspects. I would be deeply involved in the fight for Virginia to regulate itself, and I would do the same thing with other Congressional legislation, such as Card Check. As Attorney General, I would be very aggressive in using the 10th Amendment.
In fact, with card check, this would be a 10th Amendment issue, as Virginia is a right-to-work state.
CCC: Your opponent also attended a seminar in Baltimore recently that gave lessons on how to attack private employers on environmental grounds. Could you talk about your business record and what you will do as Attorney General to protect business?
KC: I am a small business owner, who was endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)-Virginia Chapter and the Virginia Farm Bureau. Agribusiness comprises about 10% of Virginia’s workforce.
I would bring a free market approach to the economic side of the Attorney General’s office. I would reduce regulations, instead of increasing them. Additionally, I would put in place a methodical way to deal with regulations to ensure a cost-benefit analysis. If there is something that takes away from benefits, then I would take a closer look at the costs involved.
CCC: What challenges do you anticipate will be waiting for the next Attorney General? Why do you think that you will be the best candidate to face these challenges?
KC: I feel that the biggest challenge will be the right to work legislation from Congress. I am the only one who will do anything about it. Democrats might say that they are against card check and for right to work, but they will not do anything about it. I will fight with anybody, if I think they are wrong. I think my strongest trait is that I have the independent willingness to stand on my own.
In terms of criminal justice, I have been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, and it is the only grassroots endorsement in this race. The 71 lodges and their members all voted, and I won that vote. On the day that this announcement took place, my opponent announced his endorsement by the Virginia Police Benevolent Association and six Commonwealth Attorneys. I have received the endorsement of 79 Commonwealth’s Attorneys and Sheriffs combined.
For more about Cuccinelli, click here.
McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli Leading in the Polls
According to a recent Washington Post poll, Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli are all leading by nine points. McDonnell is leading Deeds, 53-44; Bolling leads Wagner 49-40; and Cuccinelli leads Shannon 49-40.
So, what has caused Deeds to lose points with the voters?
The survey reflects the trend of the campaign over recent weeks. After being on the defensive since his thesis was published in late August, McDonnell has been able to retake momentum by focusing on issues, such as the economy and transportation, and articulating his vision to voters. McDonnell has been aided by airing twice as many campaign ads in Northern Virginia.
By double-digit margins, voters say that he would better handle virtually every major issue facing Virginians, including transportation, taxes, education, the state budget and the economy. Only on issues of special concern to women does Deeds hold a tepid 47 to 41 point advantage.
No Justice
Ken Cuccinelli released his first TV ad called “No Justice,” which displays Cuccinelli’s record in reaching across the aisle to close a loophole that would allow drunk drivers and drug dealers to get off punishment scot free.
Big Endorsement Today for the Republican Ticket
Virginia Virtucon reports that there will be a big endorsement for Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli today in Richmond from the Fraternal Order of Police. This is great news for the Republican ticket.
The announcement will take place in the House Briefing Room in the General Assembly at 9 a.m.
On a side note, yesterday, McDonnell picked up the endorsement of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce NOVABizPAC, adding to the other endorsements by the Virginia Realtors PAC, Virginia AgPAC, NFIB, Virginia Credit Union League, and the National Rifle Association.
