Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to interview Delegate Paul Nichols (D-51st; Lake Ridge, Occoquan, Woodbridge). Del. Nichols was first elected in 2007, defeating Republican Faisal Gill 52%-48% in a "purple" district politically. This year, Nichols is being challenged by Republican Richard L. Anderson. As of on May 27, Nichols had a cash-on-hand balance of $56,289, while Anderson had $41,820 (of which $30,000 was his own money). Almost needless to say, this is a district that Democrats have to hold onto this year if we are going to take back the House of Delegates. With that, here are highlights from the interview.*Regarding the blogs, Nichols said he's "new to this and am not a real technology buff," but definitely considers the blogs to be an "important asset for anybody in politics...to be involved." Nichols says he plans to be a lot more active on the blogs this time around, because he thinks "you guys do a great job getting the word out, and it really is where a lot of stuff starts in terms of people talking about things...it's a great tool."
*In terms of getting involved in politics, he got frustrated with what he was seeing after 2000 both nationally and on the state level in terms of political "gridlock." Nichols continues, "The thing that turned me around was that I now have a grandson, 2 1/2 years of age, I started thinking about my grandson and his future and what this area's going to be like...I wanted the area to hit the potential that it has, because it's such a great spot that we live in...For all those reasons, I had the opportunity to get involved, maybe make a difference, and be progressive, get away from the social issues and the gridlock and maybe get something done, so that's the team I'm on."
*"I'm a moderate Democrat who's got a strong business background...I think that we offer our community what it needs right now, which is improving the community, staying away from the divisive social issues, getting something done that really means something like roads, education..."
*On being a "moderate" Democrat, he says "it's not necessarily issues, it's the approach to the issues." He adds, "I'm the guy in the middle saying we've gotta be practical here...more to the center is where we need to be."
*On the 51st district, Nichols says he feels like it's a "50/50 jurisdiction" where the independents have leaned more left than right recently because they're tired of tired of hearing about divisive social issues when what they really care about is transportation, education, etc.
*On Bob McDonnell, Nichols says his record "speaks for itself" and he's certainly no "moderate."
*On what people care about right now, Nichols says it's jobs and the economy, with a close second in his district being transportation.
*On fixing transportation, Nichols said that smart growth is a 50-80 year plan. What we need now is "people with foresight and vision to see the need for Metro to come down here." Form a "real team" that presents a "real front" to convince the federal government to help us bring Metro from Springfield to Woodbridge and Potomac Mills.
*On revenues for transportation, Nichols says we don't have to raise taxes, we just have to divide the money up differently than the way we're currently dividing it. We should change the revenue stream so that NOVA gets a fair share of the money we're supposed to be getting; we send a dollar down, we get back 40 cents, "that ain't right."
*Nichols says we "can't asphalt our way out of this;" instead, mass transit - BRT, VRE, Metro - has to be a major player as part of the solution. If Metro came down to Woodbridge, you'd see "a complete redo" of the Route 1 corridor. "People start living near the Metro, and all of a sudden an area that's been a little beat up starts turning into a place people want to live."
*On how we get things done in Virginia given political gridlock and the "flat earth Republicans" in the General Assembly, Nichols says "in the current form that the House is in right now, to be totally straighforward, I don't think it's very workable...when it comes to major issues they vote as a block, and we need dynamite to break that up." What we've got to have is voters who are sick and tired of being stuck in traffic to come out and vote for change, for progressive people who want to get things done. "Just think where we'd be if in the late '50s, the U.S. Congress was effectively what we have in our General Assembly, would we have major interstate highways?"
*On regional rivalries in Virginia, Nichols says that delegates from the "rest of Virginia" don't seem to understand that "the golden goose [of Northern Virginia] is getting mad." Why is this? According to Nichols, the reason Republican delegates from outside NOVA don't support this part of the state is "arrogance...it's the way it's been, we're in control, nothing's changing, if you don't like it go somewhere else."
*Nichols says he's got the experience as a legislator and a businessman that make him a better selection than his Republican opponent. He doesn't think fundraising will be a problem for him.
*On immigration, Nichols believes that the issue had a major impact in 2007 in Prince William County. "In the August [2007] timeframe, my polling was showing me 12-15 points ahead, and all of a sudden in October,I was 4 points ahead." Other delegates races "flipped" as well. "I firmly believe that the immigration issue infested the whole situation...by and large, the general public believed that Democrats weren't going to protect us from illegal immigrations and Republicans were...the mantra opf 'Republicans are going to do something about illegal immigration' really changed the atmosphere of the whole election in October." "It greatly affected the outcome of the races."
*Nichols says that today, voters aren't focused on immigration because "for the most part, people left...because the jobs aren't here." Doesn't really think this will be a "top-5 issue," although "some people are going to try to put it up there." Nichols adds, "Now, we've got vacant houses where these people were living...and some are saying that the reason they left is because we were so ugly about the immigration issue, that we went over the top, and being over the top caused more houses to go into foreclosure...I mean, the rule of law is a simple principle...the shame of this whole thing is the federal government puts the community at risk in having to deal with each other and create this craziness."
*More on immigration: "On a national level, in both parties we're being totally let down when it comes to immigration." Nichols says he believes in comprehensive immigration reform because without it, it's like "Swiss cheese with so many holes in it." "We should have a real plan, and our motivation should be to solve the problem not make people think we're doing something about it."
*Why is Nichols running for reelection? "I feel like the community has invested in me and I have a commitment about getting something done...I would like to see Metro come down here." Nichols' major focus in his second term will be on transportation. Metro is a long-term project, but we've got to get started right now. "Our need down the 95 corridor is even greater than getting people to Dulles Airport."
*Finally, Nichols agrees that the only way we're really going to get anything done in Virginia is by turning it blue. Unfortunately, according to Nichols, what we've got down in Richmond is political decisions by the Republicans. Nichols says, "When we turned down that unemployment compensation, that was absolutely absurd...why not take the damn money?" "The reason why it failed is because the other party wants to see Obama fail, they want to see Kaine fail...it's not about a team game it's about their team, it's not about the good of the overall situation." The Republicans have no diversity and vote "in unison," whereas Democrats are a highly diverse party.
Thanks to Del. Nichols for the interview, it was very interesting. Again, this is a crucial seat we need to win this year if we're going to take back the House of Delegates. To learn more about Nichols or to help him out, please click here.
