Terry McAuliff's nascent campaign has a weird way of trying to win over voters. First they are trying to use their names and money to elbow out Moran and Deeds, but then they do get something right. Spokes-flak Mo Elleithee had this to say about Bob McDonnell:
Somtimes they get something right, I guess. The key to this will be to see if McDonnell can bring the entire Republican coaltion around him. Its one of the reasons I so stridently support Ken Cuccinelli for AG, he will perfectly bookend this ticket across the conservative spectrum. One of my worries about McDonnell early on was that he doesn't always seem so keen on taking the Democrats head on, but in our current climate I think McDonnell's temperment will be perfect for the GOP, especially if the bombasitc McAuliffe buy's the nomination. McDonnell is smart, accomplished, and has roots in teh state's two most important areas - Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. I'm excited about his candidacy and I really think he could be the guy that turns this thing aroudn.
Hope Bob recants support for HB 3202 and the first HB 6055 - before it got fixed. Needs to get on board for transportation solutions that actually work and don't include Regional Government.
What taxes and spending do you think he will propose cutting?
Posted by: James Atticus Bowden | November 13, 2008 at 11:10 PM
I think John Brownlee is the better candidate for AG. He's been a federal prosecutor and he's an Army veteran. Go Brownlee!
Posted by: | November 14, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Great post!
Would you like a Link Exchange with our new blog COMMON CENTS where we blog about the issues of the day???
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
Posted by: Steve | November 15, 2008 at 01:00 AM
Another thing we need to think about before campaign '09 gets in full swing is making the College Republicans effective again.
The trouble is, CRFV leadership is inept with no sense of moral rectitude.
Current Chairman Samantha Bradshaw has a power-hungry tendency to push other people out of her way for her own gain based on irrational fears. She failed to keep the former secretary informed on when the meetings were, he naturally could not show up for meeting of which he was not aware, and the was summarily impeached. This was an obvious setup for failure. It turns out the secretary was a personal friend of Bradshaw's ex-boyfriend and this petty act is proof positive Miss Bradshaw cannot separate her personal grievances from her professional life.
As bad as that was, former Treasurer Josh Leggette was falsely accused by the Bitely regime of embellishing federation funds for his personal use during the 2007 CRFV. Mr. Leggette got an apology for the accusations, but where do you go to get your reputation back? Under Adam Bitely's watch, impulse trumped reason and the inmates ran the asylum. Then Bitely resigned from the CRFV in order to work for a presidential campaign and left Virginia altogether to campaign in Colorado. This leave of absence was short-lived as Bitely moved back to Virginia after only a few weeks. Worst of all, the CRFV has done NOTHING during the past election cycle. It seems to me if the leadership had devoted all the time and effort in counteracting the highly active Democrats as they did on backstabbing or political infighting, Republicans might have been much more successful in making Virginia's youth vote more competitive.
The Democrats could have hardly done a better job sabotaging the youth Republican movement than its own leadership. With that kind of ineptitude and lack of a moral compass, is there any wonder the Democrats won the Virginia youth vote by so much?
Posted by: OldJoeClark | November 15, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Great post on 2009 Chris. Wow this is some heavy stuff here in this post about the CRFV. Fortunately, the YRFV has been doing very well over the past two years and doubled the number of its Clubs. I will say that I have interacted with other CRs in leadership and they have been totally awesome.
Posted by: Virginian for McDonnell | November 17, 2008 at 06:44 PM