Four Years Ago: Dems Rev Up to Run for Governor. Today: Crickets.

Four years ago almost to the day, Virginia Democrats like Creigh Deeds were busy - not to mention eagerly - revving up to run for governor in 2009. For instance, check out the announcement above, by Creigh Deeds, from December 13, 2007 (at the same time, national Democrats were salivating at the prospects of taking back the White House, as Bush's approval ratings were in the toilet bowl and the economy was sinking into recession). In response, another Virginia Democrat running for governor, Brian Moran, responded by (strongly) hinting that he'd be announcing  for governor as well, but not until after the early 2008 General Assembly session. In reality, of course, Brian and Creigh were both running hard at this point in the cycle 4 years ago. And soon to follow were numerous Democratic candidates for LG (Jon Bowerbank, Jody Wagner, Mike Signer, etc.) and one strong one for AG (Steve Shannon).This time around? Basically, we've got the sound of crickets chirping on the Democratic side, even as Republicans galore - Bill Bolling, Ken Cuccinelli, Keith Fimian, Corey Stewart, Pete Snyder, Dick Black, Jeff McWaters, Bob Marshall, Rob Bell, Mark Obenshain, Jill Holtzman-Vogel, and who knows who else in coming months - come out of the woodwork to eagerly throw their hats in the ring, or hint at doing so, for 2013. In comparison, who's on the roster for Democrats? Well, we've got Terry McAuliffe probably possibly running for governor. We've got Chap Petersen and Ward Armstrong mentioned as possible 2013 candidates. In the former case, however, there are no signs of any moves to gear up for such a campaign. In the latter case...after getting his butt kicked (and spending a ton of $$$ doing so) this past cycle, plus pissing off a lot of Democrats with his conservadem distancing from/dissing of President Obama, c'mon Ward, you MUST be kidding! Another possibility for 2013 had been (at least theoretically) Tom Perriello, but he de facto took his name out of contention last week, as he accepted a  great job heading up the Center for American Progress Action Fund(congratulations Tom -- smart move!).

Breaking: Virginia Democrats (Sort Of) Lose Lawsuit on Senate Control

Well, at least we tried. A Richmond Circuit Court judge has denied a top Senate Democrat's request for a temporary injunction that would keep Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling from casting the tie-breaking vote to give Republicans working control of the evenly-divided Senate.In an opinion issued this morning, Judge Beverly Snukals concluded that "the public interest would not be served by having a deadlocked Senate that is unable to agree on organization." So, with that news - and barring a successful appeal at a higher level - it now looks like Republicans will have control of the Virginia State Senate, making Dick Saslaw Minority Leader (unless he's deposed, which he should be by all rights, but which appears highly unlikely). The only questions at this point are: how badly will Virginia Republican'ts overrreach, and if they do, how bad will the backlash be? Stay tuned...UPDATE: Sen. McEachin has issued a statement. Based on this analysis, I may have been wrong that Dems "lost" the lawsuit. Not sure; any thoughts? "While I respectfully disagree with  the outcome, it was purely a procedural decision. The judge determined that the matter was not ripe for a final determination on the merits. The opinion was not a decision on the merits of whether the Lieutenant Governor can vote on Senate organization."I call on the Republicans to respect the will of the voters and past history. The senate is evenly divided, 20-20 so committees and responsibilities and power should be divided to reflect that even split, just as the Republicans said in 1996.  Even then Governor Allen spoke to the need for parity under these same circumstances. "The Senate Democratic caucus will continue to explore all its options, both legal and procedural, to resolve this issue in a way that reflects the actual outcome on election day, not an arrogant partisan power grab, totally to the benefit of one Party that does not reflect a majority of the Senate," Senator McEachin concluded.

Will GOP Demand Drug Tests for Coal and Oil Subsidies?

By TheGreenMiles

Steve Benen flags this quote: South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a member of House Democratic leadership, told POLITICO he rejects a host of the top Republican offsets, illustrating the tricky path Democrats must travel when negotiating with the GOP."I have a real problem with what I consider a penalty to the federal employees; I got a real problem with the mandated drug testing for unemployment insurance," he said Monday, citing an extended federal pay freeze and a favorite conservative change to jobless benefits. "We don't demand drug testing for people getting farm subsidies." Will the GOP be demanding the CEO of Exxon Mobil be drug tested before Big Oil gets the billions of dollars in subsidies that the GOP supports? What about for nuclear power industry executives and the billions in subsidies House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has asked for? How about here in Virginia, wheretens of millions of dollars in subsidies for mining & burning coal are handed out each year - will Gov. Bob McDonnell & Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli be forcing Dominion Virginia Power CEO Tom Farrell to fill a Dixie cup to prove he's clean?Of course not. Republicans only want to bully the least powerful & most vulnerable among us in the 99%. The 1% can keep collecting their huge taxpayer subsidies, no questions asked.

First Kaine-Allen Debate: Live Blog

For whatever reason, the Richmond Times-Dispatch won't let anyone embed their live stream of the first Kaine-Allen debate, going on right now in Richmond. Here are some notes as the debate goes along, in part through peoples' Twitter feeds. *MoElleithee: Here's what I'll do to fix Congress:1) tackle tomorrow's challenges, not fight yesterday's battles. Begins with education. *Ben Pershing: Kaine says "Congress is dysfunctional and doesn't know how to fix our economy." That's putting blame on both parties, not just GOP. *Brandi Hoffine : In opening remarks, @timkaine offers positive, forward looking vision. George Allen offers tired Republican talking points *Ben Pershing: Kaine says it's too early to tell about uranium mining economics versus environmental impacts in Virginia. *Kaine says he approved Wise County coal-fired plant, but also talks about the need for clean energy. *Allen goes on and on about the need for dirty energy. Shocker, since he's made a ton of $$$ off of said industry. Will he disclose those ties? *Ben Pershing: Allen makes clear his two top Obama policy targets: "massive stimulus spending" and "job-killing" healthcare mandates. *Mo Elleithee: Here we go again. @georgeallenva rails against "sanctimonius social engineers" in Washington. Wonder how many of them live in NoVA. #VASEN *Flat tax? Allen says our tax code is far too complicated. "Freedom to choose flat tax." Says Kaine is "defending this complicated tax code." (he is?) *Allen says he thinks mortgage interest deduction and deductions for charitable contributions are good. Taxpayers could stay under "convoluted" system or go to flat tax. Alrighty... *Mo Elleithee: Allen's response to flat tax reverts to talking points -- completely ignores the question about SPECIFICS of his "plan" *Kaine -- Allen's answer was as complicated as the tax code. He wouldn't pin himself to a number, and that's instructive. Agrees that tax code is "way too complicated." We should take away the big subsidies that George Allen voted for as a Senator. Bush tax cuts -- Allen was deciding vote. They were put in place temporarily, because if they were permanent they would bust the budget. That's exactly what happened (along with voting for wars that weren't funded, etc.). Let Bush tax cuts expire at top end, over $500,000. We also need to make cuts -- "it's balance, it's balance." More on "flip" *Kaine: All we have to do is deal with the Bush tax cuts, that's $4 trillion worth of deficit reduction potential. We don't need people who pledge allegiance to Grover Norquist. Allen's plan is even tighter than Rick Perry's plan that would force massive costs to defense, Medicare, etc. *Question about "macaca" being "fair game." We are accountable for what we've said and done in public life. I haven't been talking about that on the campaign trail. I have followed what George said, including his apology, and I give him credit for that. When Allen said that, "welcome to America," there was no confusion about what Allen meant - that the young man was less of an American than you and me. That's the divisive politics we need to put behind us in this country. Like referring to federal employees as "sanctimonious social engineers," knocking peoples' soft teeth down their whining throats. This is not what Virginians want, what we're all about, we're all real Virginians, Allen's a bully. *Allen - "Macaca" was a mistake, diverted campaign from issues families care about. "I do want to unite people, all people, I'm from a football family..." "I do care about the people of Virginia." Talks about "gas prices," claims there are people in Washington who don't care about high gas prices. Really? Energy policies are hurtful. Kaine's in favor of cap and trade, direct attack on coal. *Ben Pershing: Allen takes question about macaca and transitions into a discussion of energy policy and gas prices. A microcosm of the campaign? *Allen says he's worked with Mark Warner over the years, also former DPVA chair Paul Goldman on renovating schools. We need to rein in debt, federal spending (note: after he participated in running up HUGE debt in the 2000s!). "Unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats." (note: Can we say "tired straw men and red herrings?" This guy is SO tiresome). Allen says "additional revenue" means "tax increases." (note: he seems to oppose any increased revenue at all, which of course mans all cuts, no balance whatsoever) *Mo Elleithee: follow-up to @georgeallenva: do you believe we need more revenue to deal with deficit. Answer: "don't use Washington speak." Huh? *Kaine -- George would not work as part of a bipartisan Gang of Six to find balanced approach. Mathematically, there is NO WAY to solve deficit problem without a balanced approach. Allen has put his pledge to Grover Norquist above his pledge to his office. Allen's plan is exactly what he did as a US Senator, and it tanked the economy. We had the biggest surpluses in history when Allen entered the Senate. Allen then voted for every spending item that came down the pike - Iraq, Medicare expansion, etc. They turned biggest surplus in history into biggest deficit. We can't fix this by following Grover Norquist. In Virginia, we were the best state, AAA bond rated, etc. "You've gotta have a balanced approach or you just can't run this nation." *Kaine to Allen - why did you vote repeatedly to give yourself salary increases. (Allen's answer: uhhhhhh.) "I don't think members of Congress deserve any salary increase." Spending was a problem in the years I was in the Senate, I voted against "bridge to nowhere." *Kaine: When Allen came into office, we had huge surplus, but Allen says one thing and does the opposite. State spending went up 45% in 4 years when Allen was governor. Same thing in US Senate. $3.5 trillion of raising debt ceiling limit. Voted against pay-go restrictions 6 times. Best judge of what somebody will do is what they HAVE done, and you increased spending dramatically in the Senate. *Allen: Your record as governor was one of raising taxes, leaving office with a budget predicated on a massive tax increase. Unemployment rate almost doubled when you were governor. (note: yes, because Bush and Allen crashed the economy) You were chair of partisan, political DNC in last year as governor. *Kaine: My job was not the most partisan job in America, you can look at the way I conducted myself. I took that job to serve the commander in chief. In many ways, my last year as governor was my best year. I was able to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. Many Fortune 500 companies moved here. I'm very proud of my service to Virginia and my fiscal record. I was governor during worst recession in many years -- recession largely promoted by the philosophy you promoted in the Senate. Despite that, we kept Virginia's AAA bond rating, "did amazing things," cut $5 billion from budget, cut estate tax... *Allen - You've been advocating for every significant initiative Obama has put forth, including the stimulus. "In fact, the jobs haven't materialized." You can talk about deficit spending, but you've been advocating for spending that's far more than the rates ever were before. You may consider closing rest areas good management... Also, if you had been successful in raising taxes, cap and trade, Virginia wouldn't be as attractive for business. (note: Allen is wildly wrong on cap and trade, remember that he's an extremely well-paid shill for the dirty energy industry). You were in line with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama. *Kaine - Wiping out Al Qaeda, saving the auto industry, etc. Allen - Not the role of the government to determine best product. *Question on gay rights around the world. Allen -- That isn't a subject I've heard from the people of Virginia, who are concerned with jobs, energy prices, foreign aid generally. Talks about our energy policy (and he's totally wrong again). Aid should be focused on humanitarian (so, apparently, Allen would favor slashing aid to Israel - fascinating). Claims Israel going to pre-67 borders would endanger Israel (even though this has been U.S. policy since 1967). *Kaine - The United States is strongest when we combine military, diplomatic, economic, moral example. In last decade, we really let a # of those fray, especially moral example. We condition aid on things like protecting religious minorities and other moral issues. I think it's a great thing that we look negatively at countries who persecute people for who they are, that's a horrible thing. We're in a time that a lot of tough cuts have to be made, foreign aid would be part of that (although it's not a large part of the budget). Israel has to be right at the front in terms of aid. In terms of oil drilling, we're producing a lot more oil and gas now than when Allen was a Senator, also exporting more refined oil now than when Allen was a Senator. *notlarrysabato: George Allen too much of a coward to say what he would do about aid to countries that put gays/lesbians to death. *Ben Tribbett: Good for Tim Kaine on his answer on this. George Allen is a dinosaur who can't even defend human rights of people he disagrees with. *Kaine - We need more transportation revenues. We did a good job of management. *Allen - When Tim was head of DNC, he wasn't looking to squeeze money out to improve roads and keep rest stops open. We kept promises to people of Virginia when I was governor. Welfare reform. Promoted work ethic. Safer communities. Regulatory reform. Economic development. Over 300,000 net new jobs created. Lower taxes, pro-growth, pro-ecnomic development with better schools. We froze tuition for higher education. When Tim was government, Virginian lost over 100,000 jobs, unemployment rate nearly doubled. I'm advocating proven solutions, better future for people of Virginia. Tim has been advocating for $800 billion stimulus, $4.4 trillion added jobs, 1.1. million jobs lost since stimulus passed. (note: can say complete logical fallacy?) *Mo Elleithee: So, to be clear: @georgeallenva says he spent more state money because of strong economy. Then he became Sen and tanked economy. #vasen *Question on campaign finance, outside groups. Allen -- I've always been an advocate of disclosure and freedom, I like Virginia's approach. McCain-Feingold was a "restriction of freedom." I would just hope the ads will be accurate in their portrayals of my positions, Tim's positions, etc. (note: the problem is, THEY ARE NOT!) *Kaine -- Citizens United opinion was an absolute disaster. To allow corporations to spend money the way they're spending it now is a disaster, especially combined with ability of people to spend money secretly. Watergate was about cash in bags. Citizens United opened up to secret money. Corporations should not have same rights as living, breathing persons. I've been the victim of the first attack ad of campaign, by Allen's good friend Karl Rove. The notion that these are independent expenditures is a great fiction. The first ad was false, as almost every newspaper said. I submitted balanced budgets one after the nest. That kind of thing makes me so excited about this race. I've got the forces of everyone aligned against me. *Ryan Nobles claims there are just as many pro-Democratic groups. That is TOTALLY false. *Kaine - I'd agree tomorrow with George Allen to keep third-party groups out of this race. (note: of course, Allen would NEVER agree to that!) *Question on Soering case. Kaine - I am very proud of my record as a crime fighter, in Richmond (cut violent crime 55%) and in Virginia (only time in recent times that Virginia's been one of safest states in country). Soering committed horrible crime. German government approached me to ask for prisoner transfer, part of statute put in place by President Reagan -- can get American prisoners home. I rejected the request. German government at the end of term, they guaranteed that Soering would stay in jail on the German nickle and never step foot back in US, my attitude was "good riddance!" *Allen - We disagree on a lot of things, this is another fundamental difference. When I was governor, we made sure we had safe communities. Richmond was very dangerous, police officer killed on Father's Day by criminal on parole. We abolished lenient parole system in Virginia. When Virginian judges/juries sentence someone, they ought to serve that sentence. There needs to be integrity in government, truth in sentencing, we have fundamental difference of opinion. *Gov. Tim Kaine: Staff: Check out our full rapid response web page for the facts on today’s debate: fort.im/uvXCA4 *Allen asks Kaine about the "stimulus" and his support for it. *Kaine - When stimulus was passed, we were in worst free fall since 1930s, in large part because of the policies YOU voted for. You increased debt enormously, also continue to raise deficit beyond your time in the Senate. Much of that deficit was the direct result of policies YOU promoted and voted. Your policies put America in a free fall. In 2009, stock market and GDP was collapsing, now GDP is growing, stock market is around 11,000 now, we've added private sector jobs for 19 or 20 months in a row. John McCain's chief economist says the stimulus bill created or saved about 3 million jobs. 1/3 of it was tax cuts to working Virginians. You like tax cuts to oil companies. *Allen - You've been bringing up this debt issue. The reality is that the last three years, deficit spending has become the norm, $4.4 trillion added to the deficit. Stimulus bill, reality is 1.1 million people have lost jobs since it passed. Stimulus is not working (note: Allen's empirically and analytically wrong on pretty much everything he says -- look it up yourself, do your own research, Allen's just completely wrong.) *Kaine asks Allen about debt ceiling, notes that Allen voted repeatedly to raise the debt ceiling with no conditions. This year, the Chamber of Commerce, Gov. McDonnell, Rep. Cantor, all said we need to do a deal, you said you were against it even if it would put America's credit at risk. *Mo Elleithee: Nice. @georgeallenva is now holding up a chart showing how the economy is struggling thanks to the policies he supported in the Sen #vasen *Allen - Washington was failing dire need to handle big increase in deficit spending. Congress put the military at risk. (note: Allen's completely evading the question) Need tough choices to be made, not as you say "raising taxes." Line item veto, blah blah blah. *Kaine - On the issue of tough choices, "you're all boots and no cattle man." Debt/deficit increases largely the result of what YOU did! People were making very tough choices this past summer, reduced federal spending by $1.1 trillion and you said you were against it. You demonstrated fiscal irresponsibility. Also, if you can't even work together McDonnell, Cantor, Chamber of Commerce, what does that say (Allen responds that McDonnell and Cantor have endorsed him) *Kaine - State should not adopt amendment defining life beginning at conception, because that would criminalize contraception. Tough moral issue. Should have explicit policy of reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortion. Access to contraception, better health care, etc. You should not criminalize womens' right to make their own reproductive decisions, that's something government shouldn't be doing. Allen has advocated personhood amendment, that would be outrageous intrusion of big government into places big government should't go. Allen would criminalize birth control pills. *Allen - I don't see personhood amendment as preventing contraception (note: he's wrong again). I have 100% "pro-life" voting record. Taxpayers shouldn't pay for abortions (note: they don't!). We were able to stop partial birth abortions. I agree with Tim on adoption. Parental notification. I don't think Kaine's accurate that personhood would prevent contraception. *Question about Tea Party "endorsements" of George Allen. How did that misrepresentation occur. Allen -- It was only 1 person, that was a mistake, a confusion over woman with same name. We've put out a lot of endorsements from great names - business, clergy, Tea Party activists, members of General Assembly, great grassroots organization. We have great support all across the state. Lots of folks are joining the "A Team," including independents and even Democrats, people responding to our positive message. Issue of coal, cap and trade, SWVA knows it's an attack on coal, that means jobs in coal fields but also in Roanoke. *Allen - I'm not a doctor, I'm just using logic, maybe a little Latin, about contraception. If the egg is not fertilized it is not conception. *Kaine - Allen was a stock owner in Barr Labs which produced the "Morning After Pill," which presents FERTILIZED egg from implanting in uterus. IUDs stop FERTILIZED egg from implanting in uterus. {Note: Kaine is 100% correct, Allen is 100% incorrect, not to mention extremist). We should not go back to those days. On coal, I permitted a coal-fired power plant (in Wise County). "I was proud of it," capacity for carbon sequestration. On Tea Party, I'm looking forward to talking to them. If they care about spending, they should compare my record with a Senator who turned biggest surpluses into the biggest deficits in American history. *Health care reform question. Health Care Freedom Act." Kaine - I will vote against any repeal bill, I will vote to make it better. I've been to remote access medical clinic in Wise County. Thousands of people line up to get simple medical treatment in richest country in world. We're so much better than that as a nation. We don't need to have 1 million+ Virginians uninsured. I do think Affordable Care Act was a big step forward. More than 20 million seniors have received free preventive care when they couldn't before. Millions of small businesses eligible. Every American safer against abusive insurance company practices. Allen wants to take all that away, just like he wants to privatize Social Security and adopt Ryan Plan. *Allen - This has been another policy that has been very harmful. I've heard from a lot of people very worried about it. Bizarrely claims that Kaine as claiming "Obamcare" was responsible ("taking credit") for Wise County remote medical care, clearly COMPLETELY missing the point, since Kaine said the opposite! This is hurting jobs. We need health savings accounts.

Evan Macbeth to Be New LCDC Chair? Coup Attempt vs. Bruce Roemmelt in PWC? Plus, Fairfax Wackiness.

After the third straight year of disastrous elections for Democrats here in Virginia, you'd expect a great deal of ferment among Democratic committees, including DPVA. In the case of the DPVA, of course, we're not seeing that, as the culture of non-accountability for failure is deeply entrenched there. Bottom line: at DPVA, it's much more about who people "like," maintaining their exclusive club, racial/gender/regional politics, etc., than about competence and merit. In other words, DPVA seems well beyond hope.At the local committee level, though, we're seeing a bit more ferment right now. Over at NLS, Ben reports that "In York/Poquoson, the new Chair is Jake Evans, a 21 year old local student." Congratulations to Jake, talk about a youth movement! On a far less pleasant note, Ben reports that "Party switcher Chris Wade who ran for Supervisor as a "Democrat" this year (voting in his first Democratic Primary for himself) was elected Co-Chair of the Braddock District Democratic Committee." Now, to be clear, I have ZERO problem with party switchers from "R" to "D." Recall that I "drafted" one of them  -- Jim Webb for Senate in 2006 -- and worked for his campaign. So what's the difference between Chris Wade and Jim Webb (other than that Chris Wade is NO Jim Webb in any way, shape or form)? Simple: Jim Webb explained, repeatedly and persuasively, the thought process that led him to move from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. In Chris Wade's case, there STILL, believe it or not, has been no explanation for how he went from self-identified "strong McCain-Palin supporter" in 2008 (3 years ago) to suddenly a "Democrat" today. So, what's Wade doing as a Democrat, and what in bloody you-know-where is Wade doing being ELECTED to a Democratic Committee?!? What I'm hearing is that, for whatever reason(s), Wade is seen by certain "powers that be" as a potential Democratic candidate in the future. Why, I have no idea, but it's certainly not based on Wade's efforts for Democrats over the years, that's for sure. Terrible choice by the Braddock District Democratic Committee. In other news, I'm hearing that Evan Macbeth (pictured with Mark Warner above) is highly likely to be elected the next chair of the Loudoun County Democratic Committee on January 7 (he was the only announced candidate as of a few days ago, after Andy Resnick pulled out of the running). I think that's great news, as LCDC is in desperate need of having strong, energetic, dynamic new leadership, which Evan will provide. Evan's challenges basically involve picking up the pieces -- actually, more like rubble -- from the Mike Turner years as LCDC chair. That includes a 9-0 Republican Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, former LCDC members running around endorsing against their own party, and general dysfucntion all around (come to think of it, LCDC isn't that dissimilar to that other Macbeth - Shakespeare's, including the intrigue, backstabbing, deceit, etc.). I wish Evan Macbeth the best of luck in pulling together all the REAL Democrats in Loudoun County and in reenergizing the LCDC! Lots more on the "flip," including the coup attempt against Bruce Roemmelt and the wackiness in FCDC that needs to be stopped.

Kaine Campaign Conference Call Lays Out Themes for Virginia 2012 U.S. Senate Race

I just got off a conference call with Tim Kaine's campaign manager, Mike Henry, and Senior Adviser Mo Elleithee, in which they outlined the state of the race for U.S. Senate in 2012. Here are my edited notes.Mike Henry said he's "excited about what we've accomplished" so far. According to Henry, the Kaine campaign's focused on four main things. First, building a strong financial foundation, both in terms of grassroots dollars and also in terms of running a "lean and mean" campaign. "Lean and mean" is particularly important, given all the outside spending from pro-Republican groups. Also of note, Allen's campaign has not been as thrifty as the Kaine campaign, having spent as much as they brought in the last quarter, giving the Kaine campaign a cash-on-hand advantage. This is important as negative and false ads are already running and expected to continue) Second, according to Henry, the Kaine campaign's focused on voter outreach, getting Tim around the Commonwealth, including incredible trips to Southside, Southwest, the urban crescent, pretty much every geographic region in the state. Kaine's gotten a really really good response so far. Third, the Kaine campaign is focused on online organizing, which is becoming more and more important. Henry is very proud of the Kaine campaign's website, which will help arm grassroots activists with the ability to get involved, also is a fully functional mobile site. The Kaine campaign is organizing through smart phones as opposed to just "old fashioned computers." They've also got a fully functional Spanish language site, not just one page. Fourth, the Kaine campaign's been focused on constituency outreach, building a large field and political program to reach out to people from all walks of life. That includes the faith community, particularly important given Tim's background and that faith has been such a big part of his life. Also focused on college campuses organizing, reaching out to constituency groups and organizing in key battleground communities and counties. For instance, the Kaine campaign has a very aggressive program to focus on Virginia's Latino population. Finally, according to Mike Henry, the campaign's off to a great start, but no doubt this will be a competitive race, which is why "we're definitely bringing our A game to this race." According to Mo Elleithee, the Kaine campaign's excited about tomorrow's debate. They expect it to be lively, laying out a strong contrast between two very different candidates with two very different visions about how to get the economy back on track and what fiscal responsibility means. For instance, Elleithee notes, Allen spent six years in Washington supporting economic policies that got us into the crisis we're in today, squandering the largest surplus in American history and turning it into a huge deficit. And now, after all that, he's asking voters to reelect him to the U.S. Senate so he can do more of same.In contrast, Mo Elleithee says that Tim Kaine has a record of real fiscal responsibility, governing during one of the worst recessions in American history, cutting the budget while continuing to invest in key priorities like education that are critical to Virginia's economy. That's why Virginia's still ranked the best state for business, and why we weathered the economic storm with a lower unemployment rate than other states. According to Elleithee, Kaine and Allen have fundamentally different visions on how to get the economy moving again. Unlike  Allen, for example, Kaine believes we need to invest in people and infrastructure, so we can keep our economy strong, competitive, and moving forward. The debate tomorrow will follow along those lines.  Essentially, we've got one guy (Allen) who says we need to fight Washington every chance we get. Then we've got another guy (Kaine), who says the federal government and Virginia's economies are linked, that it's better to FIX Washington not just FIGHT it. Unlike Allen, Kaine has a willingness to actually work together. Both guys, according to Mo Elleithee, are experienced, both have stood on statewide debate stages before, both are pretty good at it, and we expect both candidates to make their points and make them well. This is the beginning of a long conversation over the next 11 months. When we lay out these contrasts, we feel pretty good about the outcome. Question from Dave Catanese (Politico) on Kaine as DNC chair vs. Allen supporting Bush. Elleithee: Allen has said repeatedly that the best way to see what someone is going to do is to look at what they've done in the past. Well, let's look at Allen's record then. He says send me back to Washington despite the fact that my votes got us into this mess in the first place so I can do it all over again. There's not much of an appetite in Virginia for that.  Virginians want someone to put partisanship aside and work for the common good. George Allen has shown no interest in doing that, finding common ground, working across party lines, focusing on challenges of the future. He's pushing the same, failed economic policies that got us into this mess. Look at their records as elected leaders - very, very stark contrast. Tim Kaine governed during the recession that George Allen created.  Allen handed Kaine and other governors a big mess. It's basically the guy who helped create the mess vs. the guy who helped Virginia weather the storm. Question from Wesley Hester of the Richmond Times Dispatch on the Allen campaign trying to tie Kaine with Obama. Do you think you can win Virginia if Obama does not? Mo Elleithee: I actually feel good about Obama's chances in Virginia. If you look at all the polls, both the presidential and Senate races are very competitive, and there's no reason to believe that this will change between now and November 2012. This will be a very competitive state. Despite throwing the kitchen sink at Kaine, there's been consistency in every poll.  Voters will look at the two candidates, their individual records, and make a decision based on that. Kaine's doing well in every region of the state he needs to win. Kaine's doing well with independent voters.  If the Allen people want to continue spending their time and money on tying Kaine to Obama, I say god bless em, I just ask for an address to send a thank you note to. It just shows that they don't want to focus on George Allen's failed record and how he'll do things different this time than last time. Question from Mike Shear of the NY Times on whether "macaca" is a relevant issue for this campaign? If not, will you tell/insist that others do not talk about the issue in their ads, etc? Mo Elleithee: I agree with Gov. Kaine - anything in any candidate's record is fair game for discussion, anything they've said or done is something voters will consider. Voters want leaders with a record of bringing people together and a desire to UNITE people as opposed to DIVIDE. If you look at the records of George Allen and Tim Kaine, those are very different records.  Kaine worked across party, geographic lines, to unite Virginians of all types toward the common good. Allen has a long record of putting partisanship and ideology above all else, pitting one group against the other. That contrast will become very evident during this campaign.  Bringing people together (Kaine) vs. tearing them apart (Allen). Question from Robert McCartney of the Washington Post on tying Allen to policies that brought about recession. What specific policies? Mo Elleithee: A lot of this will come up in the debate tomorrow. In general: on their fiscal records, Allen took office when America had a huge surplus and voted repeatedly for every single budget that turned the surplus into a deficit. That record put us in very tenuous fiscal and economic footing, and George Allen will have to answer for that, especially now that he's running around the state claiming to be a fiscal conservative - he had a chance to do that and he didn't.  Allen will have to answer for his record and reconcile that with his rhetoric. Now he's pushing for increased tax breaks for wealthiest Americans, big oil, etc. at the expense of education, infrastructure, Virginia's defense industry, many of Virginia's small business owners. That approach has been tried, didn't work.  He's saying let's go back to old, failed approach. Record doesn't match the rhetoric on the fiscal matters. Allen's preferred economic policies are failed, why would we want to give them another go? Question from Ray Reed of the News and Advance on whether the economy will determine the race. Mo Elleithee: We have seen some very slow economic improvement over past couple years, certainly since George Allen took a wrecking ball to it.  Clearly, there's still a long long way to go. What's going to dictate our chances of winning this seat have more to do with the economic visions both guys put forward. Virginians know there's a long way to go. They will vote for person they want to take us down that road. George Allen wants to pull a U-turn and takes us right back.  Kaine knows that we need to keep moving forward to keep up with competitors on the international stage, including investment in green technology, R&D investment at Virgnia's institutions of higher education.  Allen wants to go right back to same old policies that got us into this mess in the first place. The economic climate is important, but the candidates' visions are just as important.

Despite Teapublicans' Best Efforts to Screw it Up, Democratic Economic Recovery Accelerates

Good economic news this morning! In a positive sign for President Barack Obama, the unemployment rate surprisingly dropped to 8.6 percent in November - the lowest in two-and-a-half years - as the country's long-stalled economy flashed new signs of strength amid uneasiness about a broader global downturn.The big dip in unemployment from 9 percent in October occurred even though the Labor Department reported Friday that just 120,000 jobs were added in November, a figure roughly in line with expectations. Unemployment now stands at its lowest level since March 2009 - a clear political plus for Obama but something of a mixed bag considering 13.3 million Americans are still jobless and the sovereign debt crisis unfolding in Europe could tip the world into a recession. Yes, clearly there are still a lot of problems. And why is that? Well, first of all, President Obama and the Democrats inherited a hell of bad situation from Bush/Cheney/etc. in January 2009. Remember, at that time, the economy was in free fall, unemployment was surging, the budget deficit was projected at about $1 trillion (BEFORE the "stimulus," let's note for the record), the auto industry was in danger of collapsing, etc. Since, then, Democrats have managed to at least stop the hemorrhaging, and even to get things going in the right direction. No thanks whatsoever - don't believe me, review the record on this - to Republican'ts. That's just a fact.Now, just imagine if a few things had happened that didn't happen: 1) the Teapublicans had not blocked investment in U.S. infrastructure, as well as further measures to boost the economy; 2) the Teapublicans had not held the entire economy hostage this past summer over a normally routine debt ceiling increase; 3) the Teapublicans had not insisted on counterproductive austerity in the short term, including cuts in federal/state government employment, instead of the obvious move, which would have been Keynesian fiscal stimulus while the economy recovers, combined with long-term debt reduction; 4) the Teapublicans had not blocked efforts to sharply bring down long-term U.S. deficits; and 5) the Teapublicans had not continuously "talked down" the U.S. economy and placed destroying Obama's reelection chances over the lives of the American people since January 2009? Of course, all of those things would have required the Teapublicans to put their own political calculations second to the needs of our country, and that's clearly something they were NOT willing to do. I just hope the American people see this, and vote accordingly, next November!

Video: Jeff Schapiro on Cuccinelli's Calculation in Governor's Race

According to Richmond Times-Dispatch Virginia political reporter Jeff Schapiro, speaking this morning at the NOVA Democratic Business Council breakfast in Tysons Corner (which I attended, along with about 50 others):

Clearly the Attorney General is gambling, calculating...that the governor may not have the juice to make the difference, and that Bolling is insufficiently strong to carry the governorship for the party.

I'm not sure about either of those assumptions, as Bob McDonnell is highly popular in his party, and in Virginia generally speaking. I mean, if it were just Bolling vs. Cuccinelli one on one, Kooky would win easily. But if McDonnell throws significant political muscle behind Bolling, I'm not sure how it will play out. Thoughts?

Media Matters Demolishes Kaplan Post Coverage of Solyndra Non-"Scandal"

Media Matters does a great job as usual, this time demolishing the Washington Kaplan Post's coverage of the Solyndra non-"scandal" (for more on that subject, see here and also check out the video by Mike Casey of Tigercomm). A few points by Media Matters:*The Post's ombudsman laughably the paper's reporting on this story "showed that the Post produces journalism that is 'hard-hitting regardless of who is in power.'"   *In fact, the Post's coverage was over the top and wildly biased. For instance, "The Post has published 43 articles related to Solyndra since August 31, not including opinion pieces" vs. just "15 articles related to the Keystone XL pipeline in the same period." *More wild bias: "Twenty-six of the Post articles mentioned that Obama fundraiser George Kaiser is tied to investment funds that owned a large percentage of Solyndra," while "Only one article noted that before Obama took office and before his stimulus law existed, the Bush administration chose Solyndra 'as one of 16 finalists' for a loan guarantee." *"Three of the 43 articles have been updated with corrections." *Only "Three of the articles mentioned climate change or global warming." *"Attention given to Solyndra dwarfed coverage of other notable stories." *In the end, "after 43 articles, they have yet to turn up evidence that the Solyndra loan guarantee was anything other than a well-intentioned investment gone bad." Other than that, it was a superb job by the Washington Kaplan Post. Pat yourselves on the backs, Post boys and girls, you guys rawk!!!

Cuccinelli to Announce Run for Governor Within Days?!?

According to the Washington Post: Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) will reveal his plans next week to run for governor in 2013, according to well-placed Republican sources.Cuccinelli, a tea party hero who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the new health-care law, expects to make a formal announcement after the legislative session in the spring, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely about his plans. The fact that a homophobic, science-denying, extreme social conservative is highly like to be the Republicans 2013 nominee for governor, that's all the more reason for Virginia Democrats to get their act together ASAP. The fact is, as crazy as Kookinelli is, he's a strong politician who should never be underestimated. Clearly, that means we'll need to be as strong as possible heading into 2013. Unless, of course, the thought of "Governor Cuccinelli" isn't enough to light a fire under all of our butts. If that's the case, though, frankly, then we're far beyond hope.Along these lines, another thing we will need to figure out pretty soon is who our ticket will be in 2013. Assuming T-Mac's at the top - and that's not 100% guarantee (either that he'll run, or necessarily that he'd win the nomination, although he's certainly the strong favorite), who will be the LG and AG candidates? I'd argue for strong progressives from the "urban/suburban crescent," candidates who can really fire up our base. I think it's fair to assume that their base will be excited having a Tea Partier at the top of their ticket. What are we going to do to counter that? And, as always, the gubernatorial election will be a battle of bases, so let's definitely have no "Deeds Country" idiocy this time around, please! P.S. Oh, and as for Bill Bolling, the only question is how badly he'll lose to Cuccinelli, given the latter's popularity among the far, far-right-wingnuts who dominate Virginia Republicans' nominating process.