Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln is looking pretty much like a done deal down in Arkansas. With a runoff election still in progress, draining funds, a Lincoln win in 2 1/2 weeks will pit her against Republican John Boozman who is running on the “I will vote against anything Obama favors” platform.

Should Lincoln lose the runoff primary to Democrat and Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, the Dems prospects brighten, but not by much.

According to Rasmussen:

If Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter is his opponent, Boozman, currently the state’s only GOP congressman, earns 60% of the vote to the Democrat’s 33%. Four percent (4%) like someone else in the race, and three percent (3%) remain undecided.

In previous surveys, all the Republican Primary hopefuls outpolled both Lincoln and Halter, generally by double-digit magins.

In short, the race at this juncture is an uphill struggle for the Democratic candidate in a state where the national health care bill continues to rankle voters who register much higher opposition than voters nationwide. Lincoln’s initial support for the bill in the Senate is credited for much of her political trouble, although Halter chose to challenge her. He is strongly supported by labor unions and national liberal groups.

While 56% of voters nationally favor repeal of the health care bill, 72% of Arkansas voters feel that way, including 60% who Strongly Favor repeal. Only 24% oppose repeal, including 18% who Strongly Oppose it.

As we pointed out on Wednesday at Virginia Right!, Blanche Lincoln is running as far away from Obama as possible.

This Rasmussen Poll shows exactly why.

The Washington Post published a rather disturbing article yesterday on Senator Creigh Deeds, the Democratic Candidate for Governor last year.

While this blog supported Bob McDonnell in that race, during the process, I came away from the race with a lot of respect for Senator Deeds.

It seems many in the Democratic Party want to place the “blame” for last November’s loss totally on the Senator’s shoulders.

That is simply wrong.

Those accusers are blind to the fact that the 2009 Virginia elections were a referendum on not only Barack Obama, but the Progressives in Washington. And those that blame Deeds after Democratic losses in New Jersey and Massachusetts are obviously unable to see. Probably because their heads are so far up their own keesters.

It was hard for Deeds to look pretty with a 900 pound sack of Washington D.C. ugly around his neck.

And let’s also give Tim Kaine some of the credit, or blame as the case may be.

And while Bob McDonnell ran a splendid race, Creigh Deeds played the hand he was dealt.

I may disagree with Deeds on politics, but I believe he is truly a “Gentleman from Bath” in the traditional sense of a gentleman from years gone by. Back when the divide between Democrats was but a small obstical, easily stepped across and forgotten at day’s end.

One of the last remaining Democrats of old.

Not the petty, sniping velociraptor Democrats of today, blaming everyone but themselves and unable to see how their misguided views are destroying the country.

The article mentioned the Senator’s troubles at home, his snub from people that were supposed to be his friends, and the blame and accusations for his significant margin of loss in the last election.

I truly believe that Deeds received far more votes in 2009 than any of his primary opponents would have against McDonnell. Or any other Democrat would have for that matter. Voters are moving away from radical left wing politics, and Deeds is a far more centrist candidate than either of his primary opponents.

Perhaps Deeds should have run for Governor in 2005. Virginia would not be in as bad of a financial mess if Deeds were Governor instead of Kaine, I am sure.

My heart and prayers truly go out to Creigh Deeds. And I pray that he is given the strength rise above these troubled times in his life.

Politics is politics, but there are few remaining Democrats worthy of respect.

Creigh Deeds tops my list.

And to quote the ancient Vulcan philosopher Spock, “Live long and prosper, Senator.”

Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds is caught on tape disrespecting a woman simply trying to ask him a question. His condescending attitude is a true look at the inner thoughts of this self proclaimed “work in progress” Fundamentalist.

As we reported last night, Democratic candidate for Attorney General Steve Shannon took $50,000 from Robin Abbott’s Law Firm and has begun a relentless attack on Republican Delegate Phil Hamilton, Abbott’s opponent. The ethics questions in this matter are obvious.

Steve Shannon put out a press release titled Accountability in Government. Keeping in mind that Steve Shannon is a member of the House of Delegates, he would also be subject to the same laws and ethics code to which he holds fellow Delegate Phil Hamilton. And taking $50,000 from Hamilton’s opponent could definitely be seen as causing “a reasonable person to question the legislator’s impartiality in the matter affecting the donor.”

Shannon quotes the Virginia Code in his press release. Perhaps Shannon should also take a look at his actions to determine his own compliance with the Statutes:

§ 30-103 – 10.
Accept a gift from a person who has interests that may be substantially affected by the performance of the legislator’s official duties under circumstances where the timing and nature of the gift would cause a reasonable person to question the legislator’s impartiality in the matter affecting the donor. Violations of this subdivision shall not be subject to criminal law penalties; or

As a matter of fact, all three of the Democrats running for State office, Candidate for Governor and current Senator Creigh Deeds, Candidate for Lt. Governor and current Treasurer Jody Wagner as well as Shannon are all in potential violation of the ethics code, as they all accepted money. (Note – Section 2.2-3103 – 8 would be applicable to Wagner.)

Will Steve Shannon call for an ethics investigation into his and his ticket mate’s possible ethics violation for accepting a combined amount of over $122,000 and then attacking Phil Hamilton?

Somehow I have to believe Steve Shannon’s indignation at ethics violations extends only to Republicans.

Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds has stepped in it this time. HE has been caught telling one Police group one thing, and the opposite to another.

What a liar!

The Contemporary Conservative does a nice job exposing the lies.

Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds has a new ad out that was promoted by The Washington Post today. The ad and article attempt to pin blame on Republican candidate Bob McDonnell for supporting Appalachian Power’s requests for rate increases.

The article states:

“The State Corporation Commission approves all increases, not the Attorney General’s office,” said McDonnell spokesman J. Tucker Martin. “Given that Creigh ran for attorney general he knows that. We guess he just chose to ignore it.”

Deeds promises to “protect consumers and small businesses from rate increases”.

Deeds energy plan says Deeds will “support cleaner coal research and enforce rigorous air quality standards for coal-fired plants. Forty-five percent of Virginia’s electricity currently comes from coal. Creigh will invest in the cleaner coal research and technology like carbon capture and sequestration practices that are currently occurring at Virginia Tech, Abingdon, and at Dickenson County in Clintwood. Creigh will also enforce rigorous air quality standards for current and future coal-fired plants..”

If Deeds bothered to check Appalachian Power’s web site, he would see that the utilization of the new, cleaner technology is already happening.

Exactly how does Deeds propose the new cleaner technology he supports will be paid for? Opposing rate increases will put a halt to this new technology and lead to the eventual shut down of the Coal Fired electrical plants, putting millions of Virginians in the dark and leading to massive layoffs and job loss. And many of these are union workers.

Deeds is wrong again. Bob McDonnell understands that there is a balance and a cost to all of the programs that will clean up our air and our environment. You must allow the company the rate increases to fund the environmentally friendly technology, pay for it with state funds, or watch the company fail.

Bob McDonnell comes down on the side of a cleaner environment, jobs and the lowest possible rates that is a win-win proposition for Virginians.

Deeds short sightedness will continue the incompetence of the Kaine Administration and continue to cause Virginians more pain, debt and lost jobs.

It’s rather ironic that Bob McDonnell has spoken against Cap and Trade and has warned that it will increase rates for electricity. This stuff must be paid for. These increases are keeping up with Federal Mandates, but Democrats like Deeds are oblivious to the fact that we will be fleeced by these policies. Deeds simply proves Bob McDonnell’s point.

Democratic Candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds seems to have a theory. All state revenue defaults to Education, therefore, any money spent elsewhere is a reduction in Education spending. It does not really matter how important the non Educational expenditures are. Republican Candidate Bob McDonnell’s plans to use revenue above predictions, which is not earmarked for Education, for Transportation somehow takes money from Education. The strange thing is, Deeds seems to forget that School Buses need safe roads to transport kids to school.

So, while the irresponsible fiscal policies of Current Governor Tim Kaine and Jody Wagner are causing massive cuts in Education, money that they were counting on from the Commonwealth, Deeds ignores that and is running around accusing McDonnell of planning to cut Education.

Oh, and somehow it’s former President George W. Bush’s fault as well.

Deeds has a serious disconnect with reality.

The Washington Times reports that Democratic Candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds admitted yesterday that some of his own views have changed since 1989.

Republican Candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell has said that since writing the thesis in 1989 that has garnered much attention from Deeds the past week, his life experiences have changed his views on many of the items in the 20 year old paper.

According to the Washington Times Article:

Mr. McDonnell said he no longer believes that working women and feminists are detrimental to families or that the state has a right to discriminate against “cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators.”

The Times also stated:

Concerning his own record, Mr. Deeds acknowledged voting in the Senate in 2005 and 2006 to put the proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions in Virginia on the ballot for a statewide ratification vote. But he said he voted against it in the November 2006 referendum.

So Deeds says he voted for the Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage before he voted against it. Talk about changing views.

Deeds also says he was against closing the “gun show loophole” before he was for closing it. Lovely!

After hearing McDonnell say his views have changed in the last 20 years and he no longer believes much of what he wrote back then, and Deeds himself admitting that his own views have changed on many things over those 20 years, Deeds went back to attacking McDonnell on the thesis.

Some things never change.

Another day, another pile of false claims from Democratic candidate for the 73rd House seat Tom Shields’ manager Tony Coppola.

Coppola continues his ridiculous attack on Delegate O’Bannon babbling something about O’Bannon repudiating Republican candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell because of McDonnell’s Catholic beliefs on contraception, abortion and how best to raise a family.

Has Coppola forgotten his own Catholic background? Does he now reject the Catholic morals and principals that just a couple of short years back he found so important? As a student at Boston College, Class of 2006, Tony Coppola issued a manifesto of his own when Condoleezza Rice was invited to speak at the graduation ceremony. The Catholic and Jesuit teachings he held so dear at that time enraged him to spew the hateful diatribe below in support of the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Vatican.

It seems that now, Coppola is asking O’Bannon to repudiate McDonnell’s beliefs that are exactly the same position the Pope holds.

So, the question is, will Tony repudiate the Catholic Church, the Pope and disavow the Church he loved so much? Has Coppola given up his Catholic faith? How could a devout Catholic attack another Catholic on the teachings and beliefs he also holds? Or was he faking his indignity for political gain?

This smacks of a very disingenuous person who is willing to turn his back on the Church for his 7 pieces of silver, which has apparently inflated to $1,500.00 twice a month. The current price of his soul.

Read the Tony Coppola Manafesto:

Condi at commencement …
It has recently been announced that Condoleezza Rice will be speaking at this year’s commencement ceremony and receiving an honorary degree from Boston College. Although there are some individuals on campus who support this decision, there is a growing movement among students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents who are opposed to the BC administration’s invitation to Rice and are insulted by the extension of an honorary degree to a secretary of state who supports morally-reprehensible policies both in the United States and abroad. The BC administration’s decision to award the secretary of state with an honorary degree morally condones these unjust policies at best, and at worst endorses them. Consequently, we have come forward to voice our particular concerns as they relate to this problematic decision in an effort to raise awareness and initiate dialogue about an appropriate response. On multiple occasions, the BC administration has cancelled events, claiming that they ran contrary to Catholic and Jesuit values. As a Catholic, Jesuit university, we have the moral imperative to uphold the ideals of peace and social justice. Yet despite the Vatican’s vehement condemnation of the Iraq war, BC is honoring one of its chief architects. This is an example of how the BC administration has clearly been inconsistent in its invocation of Catholic values.

While we are not in favor of censorship on the basis of Jesuit ideals, we feel that the gift of an honorary degree extends beyond the limits or invocation of free speech and into the realm of acclamation and endorsement by BC. A commencement speaker in particular is meant to embody the spirit of our University in order to commemorate its graduates’ final experience as BC students. We do not believe Rice fulfills this role, and we ask the University to rescind its invitation to Rice and the offered honorary degree. Eight hundred-plus members of the BC community have signed on to our petition, and it’s continuing to grow.

Tony Coppola, A&S ’06

And if you still want more proof of the vile beliefs of Tony Coppola such as his classy debate at BC saying things like “All through the evening Gephardt/Coppola seized every chance to call President Bush “a miserable failure” read this story.

Tony, I hope you attend confession every day. The lies flowing out of your keyboard are absolutely shameful. Shame on you for attacking you own religion. Is there such a thing as religious cannibalism? I believe you qualify.

I think Bob McDonnell and Dr. O’Bannon would be glad to say a prayer for you.

Democratic candidate for the 73rd House District held by Republican John O’Bannon, MD sent out a flier this week to residents of the 73rd House District.

A few weeks ago, I attended a Town Hall meeting held by Shields to correct his false claims that Delegate O’Bannon was somehow responsible for the Qimonda failure and the loss of 2100 jobs. The fact is, nothing could have saved Qimonda. The owner of the company was not interested in saving it. From a Reuters Report:

“Nobody can save a company whose owner does not want to save it,” he told Saechsische Zeitung, a daily published in the Saxony state capital Dresden, where Qimonda’s main European site is located.

The German owners of Qimonda had begun selling assets of the Henrico County based plant and all that money went to Germany. $289 million to be precise. The grant was just $5.4 million. That would have ended up in Germany, too.

The points made in the Shields Ad were:

False Claim #1:
Last year, the House of Delegates debated on whether to give chip manufacturer Qimonda a grant to protect jobs.

Truth:
The “grant” was part of a contract deal signed when Qimonda agreed to locate in Virginia. Deligate Morrissey wanted to give Qimonda the installment due to be paid in 2011 earlier, in 2009. The argument against this was presented by GOP Whip Kirk Cox who correctly said to give Qumonda this money early would signal that all contracts in Virginia were open to renegotiation. Meny Democrats voted against the Morrissey amendment including Democratic Attorney General candidate Steve Shannon.

False Claim #2
During the debate, John O’Bannon is told that a no vote means Qimonda jobs could be lost in Henrico County.

Truth:
Give me a break! Joe “Chicken Little” Morrissey thinks the sky is falling on every bill. Morrissey is well know for his hyperbole. If the House of Delegates spent money on Morrissey’s say so, we would be far more than $6 Billion in the hole. Qimonda needed $418 Million to stay in business and the EU refused to give it to an owner that wanted his business to fail.

False Claim #3
O’Bannon votes against the grant anyway.

Truth:
Because the financial genius Joe Morrissey said so? Qimonda Henrico had told Republicans they would be there for the long haul. Morrissey failed to offer evidence, or bring in someone from Qimonda to substantiate his claims.

False Claim #4
After O’Bannon’s vote Qimonda shuts down it’s plant and Henrico County loses 2700 jobs.

Truth:
Qimonda remained in business for a year. And the fact is, the plant shut down long before the payment would have been made even if the amendment had passed. An article in today’s Times Dispatch shows just how bad the financial trouble was at Qimonda: Claims against Qimonda total more than $2.5 billion. They were over $2.5 BILLION in debt. What does Tom Shields think would have happened to taxpayer money if we had given them the $5.4 million – a drop in the bucket. It would have gone to line the German owner’s pockets.

False Claim #5
O’Bannon refuses to own up to his actions, claims he didn’t know his vote could cost local jobs.

Truth:
O’Bannon saved the state $5.4 million dollars by voting with Democrats Shannon, BaCote, Bowling, Brink, Bulova, Dance, Mathieson, Miller, Howell, Phillips, Spruill, and Toscano. One can only assume Shields holds his fellow Democrats responsible as well. To not hold their feet to the same fire would be intellectually dishonest.

Tom Shields has spent his entire career hiding in the ivory towers of academia. This attack is simply proof that Shields is totally incapable of understanding complex financial problems. He has always asked for what he wants and the University has to worry about the money.

This is nothing more than a desperate attack from a campaign so lost in space that they will never find their way back.

At both Shields town hall meetings, his followers asked for expensive program after expensive program. I gave him the nick name Santa Shields. He doesn’t have a clue when it comes to money.

Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds is launching a new campaign ad. For the first time in campaign history, the Deeds campaign has released the ad as an exclusive to Virginia Right! Blog. This astonishing action is a direct result of campaign manager Joe Abbey’s never ending search to try to get voters to want to vote for Deeds.

When we say he will pull out all the stops, this scoop is absolute proof!

Enjoy!

Shocking Photos Emerge Of Deeds Humiliating Women

Researchers in the Bath County archives have discovered a shocking new photograph taken of Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds when he was in the third grade pulling a female classmate’s hair. This is a degrading and demeaning act towards women and is proof that a man like this lacks the compassion and social skills to be governor.

Reports that the little girl being humiliated in the photo are of a young Jody Wagner are unsubstantiated rumors.

More Shocking News To Come
We are presently interviewing a former 4th grad classmate of Creigh Deeds named Ellie Mae who claims Deeds once told her she had “cooties”.

This is a pattern of abuse towards females that is sure to rock the Commonwealth.

An additional rumor has yet to be substantiated, but our crack staff is working diligently to confirm that Deeds once, on a first grade paper, wrote the letter “R” backwards. If true, the VEA will have no choice but to endorse Bob McDonnell for his educational prowess.

On a serious note, when will Creigh Deeds and Joe Abbey talk about the issues Virginians care about. The reason you are behind is not because you have been unable to dig up enough decades old dirt on Bob McDonnell, it’s because you have no relevance in the lives of Virginia voters.

In case you missed last week’s posts on this blog, let me give you a little background as to what went on last week.

While looking around the Virginia blogs on Blog Net News, I noticed a photo I took at an event for Republican Delegate O’Bannon posted on several Lefty Blogs. The photo was of Congressman Eric Cantor and Delegate O’Bannon and I had used that picture in my post about the event.

These blogs were all attacking Dr. O’Bannon and Congressman Cantor (which means they are doing an effective job in my book). The attack was because they were of the opinion that Delegate O’Bannon was anti-worker because he was in the majority that turned down the Federal Unemployment Stimulus money. (And no, the irony that unemployed people were referred to as workers did not escape me.)

So, I made a few comments challenging the idea of revisiting the arguments to accept the money. When I posted a list of questions to consider as far as a cost benefit analysis, the owner of the blog deleted my post and blocked me. Nice! You can see that story by clicking this link.

Obviously, the Lefty Blogs are not capable of answering the questions. They are simply mindlessly parroting anything a Democratic politician says. So, I decided to go to the source of the information. Democratic Candidate Tom Shields, who is running against Dr. O’Bannon. Now I have met Professor Shields and attended a Town Hall meeting he held a couple of weeks ago, and gave my opinions of the meeting in this post. If anyone would answer my questions, it would be him.

So, I sent Shields the questions by email and published the email in an open letter posted here.

I found out Monday morning that Professor Shields was having a Town Hall meeting on Education that evening, so I attended.

I spoke with Professor Shields prior to the meeting and asked if I could ask the question I had emailed him, since the meeting was about Education. He said that would be fine.

Note: I did not attend the Town Hall because my questions had not been answered as it had only been a couple of days. I wouldn’t have expected a response for at least a week or two.

So I asked my questions at what I thought was an appropriate time.

You can read the questions here, so I will do a short summary.

Question: Given that accepting the Unemployment Stimulus money ($125 million) from the Federal Government requires mandatory and permanent changes to Virginia laws, which may cost as much as $1 billion over the next 10 years, and given an over $6 billion budget shortfall, how can this be fiscally sound judgment. It is as bad as a payday loan.

We will be required to extend benefits from 26 weeks to 59 weeks, which would have no immediate impact because the Federal Government is already picking up the tab for weeks 27 – 59. We must increase the weekly payments by around $4 (which is not much of a “stimulus”), and add part timers for the first time. So, the net effect is $4 a week, and part time workers can draw unemployment.

In his answer, Professor Shields did not dispute the numbers, but thought it might be a longer time before the financial impact was fully realized. Which will happen if we are still in a recession for another year or two. He also did not dispute that the impact to full time unemployed workers would be minimal. But his real reason for wanting to accept the money is, he would have a hard time telling people he didn’t accept every penny he could to help them.

That policy is admirable, compassionate, and financially ruinous. And that is the exact logic that Jody Wagner and Governor Kaine have used to create an over $6 Billion budget shortfall. Who cares what it costs, we’ll worry about that when the bills come due.

That scares the hell out of me. We have a Constitutional requirement to balance the state’s budget. We can’t print money or run a deficit like Washington. This must be paid for by either raising taxes, with Unemployment Taxes hitting businesses hard and causing more job losses, or by huge budget cuts.

Throughout the Town Hall, and the previous Town Hall, Professor Shields fielded question after question. Everyone had concerns about numerous problems. And most of these were serious questions that need to be addressed.

Questions like:

We need to spend more to recycle. Shields agreed.
We need to spend more on mental health. Shields agreed.
We need to spend more on educating Special Needs children. Shields agreed.
We need to force Dominion Power to sell us windmill power. Shields agreed.
More money for educational programs. Shields agreed.

Tom Shields is a very agreeable guy. Especially when it comes to spending. I have yet to hear him disagree with spending of any type. He knows we have serious budget problems and has said he will not raise taxes. But he can’t say no to more spending.

To be fair, Professor Shields has identified one area we may be able to shave a few dollars in savings from. The $35 million we spend on SOL testing. So, what. 10%? That is but a drop in the bucket.

Now numerous times during both Town Hall meetings, Professor Shields has criticized “his opponent” (he rarely mentions his name) for voting against spending for various purposes, including education. Now, to be fair to Dr. O’Bannon, many of these were not actually spending cuts, but reductions in the rate of increase. It seems Delegate O’Bannon does not get the Tom Shields stamp of approval because he is trying to have the Commonwealth live within it’s means. Within the budget. For shame! How dare O’Bannon and the obstructionist Republicans be fiscally responsible with Virginian’s money!

The bottom line is, Tom Shields has not heard a spending idea he does not like, or a budget cut he can agree with, but raising taxes is not a good idea. Tom Shields is a smart guy, and I am quite amazed that he can’t see the looming problem with this type of thinking.

Professor Shields works at the University of Richmond. Prior to Shields arriving at U of R, back in the late 80′s and early 90′s, I was employed by U of R as what would now be known as the IT Department. I was the only one at the time. I installed the first network backbone, fiber and routers and began the process of bringing the Campus up to date with technology. I was involved with the networking aspects of the Jepson Center where Shields works, and was involved in the meetings with the Architects and everyone involved in building the Jepson School.

Many, many meetings involved input from faculty, which we joked was like herding cats. I learned then that many college professors have absolutely no concept of money. They are accustomed to asking for piles of money for this project, or that project, and somehow the money magically appears. To them, there is no difference in asking for an ink pen or a million dollar grant. Fill out a requisition and somehow you get it.

The Virginia House of Delegates is not the academic world. It is the real world where the touchy-feely emotions and financial disconnect that prevail in the hallowed halls of academia are not a luxury a legislator can afford. It is the real world and you are spending other people’s money. Professor Shields has failed to understand that all the feel good wants and desires of his liberal followers cost money. A Delegate cannot just fill out a requisition or request a grant to pay for everything his constituents desire. If you pass it, you must pay for it. You don’t get to pass the financial work to some administrator to fund your whims like you do at school.

Tom Shields is a nice guy with a big heart and a lot of empathy for everything his supporters want. He is a great educator or he would not be working at U of R, one of the best Universities in the country. But one bad thing about Academic life is the isolation from reality that fosters the learning experience without external disruptions. It is good for learning and teaching, but simply does not translate to the real world.

Delegate O’Bannon knows how to control budgets and spend our money wisely. He has been doing it for years. Shields criticism of O’Bannon’s responsible fiscal actions is all the proof one could need to see that Tom Shields is simply not fiscally ready to serve as a Delegate. I have never heard Tom Shields accuse Dr. O’Bannon of spending too much money.

If you doubt me, go to one of his Town Hall meetings. He plans at least 8 more. Ask for something you would like to have, and Santa Shields will promise to place it under your tree in November.

In the new audio ad Deeds is circulating, the only thing you hear from the Democratic candidate for Governor is the “Paid For” blurb at the end of the audio.

But you do hear a lot from Barack Obama. Is is no secret that Obama is a Socialist. He has already taken over most of the banks and industry in the country, and wants to own Health Care. But Obama claims in the ad that Deeds is “Cut from the same cloth” as Obama.

But what is even more troubling is the fact that Obama says he and Deeds have the same plan for Virginia “Has the same vision for the Commonwealth” as Obama.

Now it is clear why Deeds wanted to accept the $125 million unemployment stimulus. The strings attached give Obama the power to write Virginia laws.

I am a bit confused on exactly when Obama converted the previously “Conservative” Deeds to the Progressive Socialist radical wing of the Democratic party. And Deeds is going to allow Obama to take control of Virginia. That is not good.

So, after running from Obama for months, it looks like Deeds and Obama have finally developed a bro-mance.

Good for them. Bad for Virginia.

We are truly lucky in Virginia this year. Both gubernatorial candidates are Conservatives. While Republican Bob McDonnell represents the true conservative Republican values, and is most definitely the best choice, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds might just qualify as Republican-Lite.

Deeds often plays the “me too” game with Bob McDonnell where Bob comes out with a sold plan or idea, then Creigh chimes in and claims the same beliefs, or plan, or whatever the occasion. It is a truly refreshing change from the partisan rancor of past elections in Virginia.

This contest has the look and feel of a Republican primary.

Deeds seems to be running the same type of campaign that John McCain ran against Barack Obama. Many of us called McCain Democrat-Lite. I have often remarked that McCain should just move on over to the dark side.

I am not quite sure what it is with Creigh Deeds that has him following Bob McDonnell’s every step like a puppy. Is it a man crush?
The hard core Democrats in Virginia must really be beside themselves with the watered down Deeds campaign. Pro gun, English as the official language, the Marriage Amendment, and Deeds has even voted to restrict abortions. Creigh voted for the so-called “Partial Birth Abortion” bill, HB 1154, in 1998 [patron Roger McClure] and he voted for the parental notification bill, HB 2899, in 1997 [patron Robert G. Marshall].

Hardly a candidate the left can get excited about. If only left wing extremist Terry McAuliffe had won the primary, the dwindling numbers of Obama supporters would be jumping up and down. No matter what happens in the election, “Progressives” have lost Virginia.

Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds has quite a dilemma. The polls are showing him down by large margins. Double digits, in fact. The latest Washington Post poll has Deeds down by 15 points! So, what exactly is the problem?

We are all keenly aware of his lack of any comprehensive plans for … well, anything at all. He mostly wants to wait until after he is elected to decide what to do.

Deeds faces a huge dilemma. And he serves two masters this time.

In 2005, Bob McDonnell defeated Deeds by just over 300 votes in their race for Attorney General. A race so close it required a recount.

If you will recall, in 2005 then President Bush was a rallying cry for Democrats everywhere. And, let’s face it. Jerry Kilgore was an OK candidate, but not exciting enough to pull enough Republicans off of the sofa to vote for him. Tim Kaine benefited from the anger towards Bush in a big way.

In 2009, however, we have a different picture. There is still anger involved, but it is now directed towards President Obama. And then we have Deed’s balancing act with two masters.

Deeds is well aware that without his home base votes in Bath County, he likely can’t win. In order to win votes in Bath, he must be careful with gun rights, property ownership, taxes, gay issues and abortion, among other issues. And religion. See, many of the voters in Bath County count themselves as Christians, they love to hunt and there are never enough jobs to go around, so taxes are not something they are willing to see increase. And Bath County, while hardly backwards, does reflect a simpler time and lifestyle. It is a great place to raise kids (provided you can make a living) and is the envy of most city folk. But this lifestyle tends to be very pro family, and gay issues are not a big topic in Bath. They are in no way gay bashers, it is just not a big concern. And the less said the better.

Contrast this with the so called “progressive” liberals in NoVa. These people hate the mention of God, the sight of guns, are proponents of bigger government and higher taxes and believe you should marry within your own sex first.

Without the votes of either group, Deeds will lose. So he is trying to walk the line between radical “progressive” socialists and old time Southern Democrats who are more conservative than many Republicans.

So, in trying to appease both groups, he has managed to turn his campaign into a mush mouthed, non committed conglomerate of dodging questions and trying to be all things to both groups. No wonder the poor boy stutters and stammers during interviews. The only way he can keep both ends of his spectrum happy is by saying nothing. Which is what he has been doing.

The problem is, those voters who will swing the election, the moderates that have no particular strong allegiance to either party are demanding answers and ideas.

There is but one candidate providing both answers and ideas. Bob McDonnell. On jobs, taxes, the economy, transportation, education and every other voter concern, Bob McDonnell is free to give a complete and honest answer without fear of offending one faction or the other among his supporters.

Deeds problem is, if he is honest with his constituents, he will lose the election.

I was unable to find time to watch the Times Dispatch online interview with Democratic candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds until today. It was an interesting interview that I believe showed an ill prepared Deeds stumbling through most of the difficult questions. Deeds seemed to stutter a lot on questions that put him on the spot, which were almost all of them.

Many of the Blue Blogs have demonized Republican candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell for his position on the Marriage Act, which defines marriage in the Commonwealth as between a man and a woman. McDonnell has been called homophobic, anti-gay, and has even been accused of discrimination against gays because of his views. So I must assume the Gay community and their supporters would feel the same about Deeds, despite the (D) after his name. To do otherwise would be hypocritical, right?

Deeds stuttered quite a bit when asked about “Card Check” and other anti-worker laws favoring Unions. Deeds copped out and refused to answer, saying that would never cross his desk.

He also stammered through his lack of a Transportation plan, incorrectly accusing McDonnell of taking money from education for roads. He used the word “essentially taking money” to indicate he was aware that he was not being truthful. I just wonder if Deeds realizes that without roads, it will be pretty hard to get to our schools.

The one place he did not stutter or stammer was when he said he would raise taxes to pay for roads. Pretty much any taxes.

Deeds squirmed like a schoolboy in need of a bathroom when asked about Obama. He pointed out there were areas where he disagreed with Obama, but failed to mention any. One can only assume his disagreement was with Obama’s plummeting poll numbers.

McDonnell came out with a comprehensive Transportation plan that included no tax increases to pay for Virginia roads. Deeds says he will wait a year or so and get some people together to look at what to do about transportation after he is elected. Good plan!

Deeds ever changing position on ABC privatization was back to “it’s dead on arrival”, yet according to a Washington Post story on July 22, 2009:

The Deeds campaign said the Democrat is not necessarily opposed to privatizing ABC, saying it could be a piece of the puzzle to raise revenue. “It’s an option that should be on the table,” Deeds campaign spokesman Jared Leopold said.

It gets a little hard to following the ever changing position of Creigh Deeds. At the end of the interview, Deeds said he wants to carry on the “pragmatic” leadership of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. By definition, pragmatism is “a practical, matter-of-fact way of approaching or assessing situations or of solving problems”. I suppose what Deeds means is that the Warner – Kaine $6.5 billion budget shortfall is easily solved by Jody Wagner’s overly optimistic and pragmatic projections of growth. We all see where that got us. I think a realistic approach using true and realistic projections is what we need. Not more budgetary hocus-pocus.

We would have to call Mr. Deeds the “anti-gay, pro-tax, me too, hocus-pocus pragmatist” candidate without a plan.

No wonder he squirms so much.

Democratic candidate for 73rd House District Tom Shields held a Town Hall meeting today at the J.S. Reynolds Parham Road campus. A good audience of around 40 people showed up for the 1:00 PM gathering. Professor Shields introduced himself to everyone before the meeting began and had everyone introduce themselves, which was a good way to turn a room full of strangers into a room full of not so strangers. There were folks from every walk of life, some lived in the district, some outside. Two representatives from Shields’ opponent’s office, Delegate John O’Bannon, sat quietly in the back listening. Shields was cordial in thanking them for being there.

To be fair, this blog has called Tom Shields to task on his statements that appeared to blame O’Bannon for the failure of Henrico high tech corporation Qimonda. Speaking with Shields, he clarified the statement and said he believes O’Bannon was not up to speed on the troubles at Qimonda prior to their failure, and he should have been. While I don’t believe that to be a fair assessment of O’Bannon, it is certainly a valid point for a political campaign, and I applaud Shields for this clarification. Note, this is not any type of position change on Shields’ part, just a clarification.

If you have been paying attention to other Town Hall meetings of late, this was nothing like those meetings. We had a great discussion on many topics ranging from Health Care to Qimonda.

While the forum was designed to give Tom Shields an opportunity to listen, he offered several items up for discussion. One of his thoughts is concerning Virginia’s SOL’s. We are paying a lot of money for testing and Shields is wondering if we are getting enough bang for the buck.

Shields was very aware of the over $6 billion budget shortfall we face and while no one asked him to take a no tax pledge, he did say he was against raising taxes to make up the shortfall.

Shields is also calling for non partisan redistricting, which both statewide tickets are calling for.

All in all, I am very encouraged to see we have two intellectuals running for the 73rd District House seat and I am delighted at the prospects for a clean and rigorous campaign based on the issues. At the end of the day, my political leanings are aligned very closely with Delegate O’Bannon, and I believe his leadership has been a shining example of top notch leadership we need in Virginia, and O’Bannon’s leadership as the only Doctor in the House makes him even more valuable.

But I can honestly say, both are honorable men and I am looking forward to a good debate.

You can reach Delegate John O’Bannon by clicking his name, or Tom Shields by clicking on his name.

Democratic Candidate Creigh Deeds is at it again. He is unable to find any issues on which to trump Republican candidate Bob McDonnell, so he is going back to the failed $125 million unemployment offer from Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

What Deeds does not want you to know is that this $125 million offer comes on the condition that Pelosi and Obama get to rewrite Virginia unemployment laws. That’s right. These Socialists will get to write Virginia’s laws.

Here’s the deal. If we accept the money, which, by the way, will only last about 5 weeks, we will be required to extend unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 59 weeks, recipients will see only a couple of bucks a week in extra cash, and for the first time, we will be required to extend unemployment to part time workers.

Bob McDonnell and the Republicans are not against extra benefits for unemployed workers, but the strings attached to this are worse than any loan shark on the streets. We are in a budget crunch. Governor Kaine has seriously mismanaged the State’s budget and continued to spend, spend, spend. Now, instead of a few minor adjustments, we are forced to close rest areas, lay off VDOT and other workers and still have a severe budget shortfall.

At last count, 30 states have run out of funds for unemployment an are now forced to borrow money – from Pelosi and Obama. These states all took the $125 million poison pill Virginia turned down. What are the terms of borrowing money from these Socialists? You guessed it. They get to write even more laws.

This money would necessitate increasing unemployment taxes on businesses at a time that many are struggling to keep their heads above water. It will create more unemployment as small businesses go under, or lay off workers to pay the additional taxes.

It is ideas like this that are the reason Creigh Deeds is so far behind in the polls. Instead of trying to make this a political issue, perhaps he should ask Pelosi and Obama to take the strings away and let us write our own laws. Then we will able to afford to take the extra money, and not until.