Deeds: "Bob McDonnell is not fit to be governor."

I'm just back from a "meet and greet" with Senator Creigh Deeds on a cold day in downtown Charlottesville.

On side note: Before I even got there, I couldn't help but notice that the downtown Charlottesville pedestrian mall, which typically is bustling on every weekend prior to the Christmas holidays, even cold ones, was relatively empty: an economic warning sign if there ever was one.

But back to the meet and greet, held in a beautiful loft apartment right on the Mall. Maybe 20 colorful, large paintings hung on the walls (some are visible in the photos following this diary).  The event was for Creigh to discuss his recent trip to Israel with members of Charlottesville's very active Jewish Community. Approximately 30 people were there.

Creigh mainly discussed his recent trip, and while it is always interesting to hear the reactions of people after they visit Israel,  I won't bore you with too many details

Nor will I bore you with yet another diary about what a great guy I think Creigh is, except to note that many of the people who attended, for the most part not politically active and many of whom had never met Creigh, came away impressed. I'll also add that it took some guts for Creigh to stand up in front of a roomful of Jewish Americans and discuss his experiences on a visit to Israel. Talk about walking into a minefield!

(more on the flip)
The idea of the meeting was to discuss what Sen. Deeds took away from his experience. He visited Israel in September with a group organized by a D.C.-area organization as part of a group that included a number of Virginia legislators.

Like many Americans who visit Israel, he came away amazed at how geographically small the country is, and how life is so normal in a country that is so ... vulnerable.

Creigh also offered up personal insight, although given the audience and purpose of the meeting, it centered mostly on Creigh's experience with the Jewish aspects of Israeli culture. At one point, he spoke about how his visit to Masada reminded him of rallying House Democrats years ago when he was House leader and we were in a minority for which political victory seemed hopeless.

"Although that didn't work out too well for the Jews," our Rabbi observed. (Some 900 Jewish rebels committed mass suicide at Masada rather than surrender to the Romans)

In any event, I would imagine that to walk where Jesus walked has to be a profound experience for Christians.

In the realm of public policy, one issue that came up repeatedly in the context of what we, in Virginia, could learn, was the concept of some form of universal public service, or, barring that, incentives that could be implemented on a state level to encourage public service by young people. Such service is an intrinsic part of Israeli life and culture. There was no discussion of any concrete policy, mind you, although all agreed it was a great idea. Also, it was not clear whether such a policy could work on a state level, or could only be implemented at a national level. But the discussion clearly demonstrated to me, at least, that people are aching to do something at an individual level to benefit the public good. This public ache is part and parcel of the public rejection of the "me first" attitude that has come to define the GOP approach to governing the country in the Reagan-Bush years.

I hope to have the opportunity to expand on this in a future diary.

Meanwhile, the small amount of politics that were discussed came in response to a question about Terry McAuliffe's candidacy.

While Creigh noted McAuliffe is still officially in the exploratory stage, Creigh stated flatly, "he is going to run."

Creigh's assessment of what McAuliffe would mean to the race was pretty much the conventional wisdom: McAuliffe "neutralizes" Brian Moran, he asserted, because they are both from Northern Virginia and drawing from the same pool of voters.

(Separately, BTW, I had heard some talk that McAuliffe was offering to fund Creigh's campaign for Attorney General if Deeds were willing to abandon his run for Governor. I have absolutely no first-hand knowledge of this, or any idea of whether it is true, but I hope it isn't because it really reeks of the kind of inside, back-room politics that I thought was a thing of the past. But nor can I dismiss it out of hand, which is why I mention it. McAuliffe has suggested that one reason to nominate him for Governor is because of the fundraising he would do for down-ticket and General Assembly candidates, but McAuliffe's promise seemed to be dependent on his gaining the nomination. He has since clarified his comments, and said he would help raise funds whether he won the nomination or not. I take him at his word. In any event, I spoke with Creigh briefly about it, and he made clear, yet again, that he was not interested in running for Attorney General. He wants to be governor.)

Using some good humor, Creigh managed to damn both his opponents for the Democratic nomination with faint praise for McAuliffe. Creigh completely exonerated McAuliffe of the carpetbagger allegation. "No one should have a problem with it," Creigh said. "He's been a resident of Virginia longer than Brian Moran."

Now that is good stuff!

Creigh also noted that McAuliffe's presence would make the race more expensive for everyone, but he warned that should McAuliffe happen to snag the nomination, "he can't get elected."

"A guy who went on national television and drank shots of rum to raise funds," Creigh said, "just isn't going to get elected Governor of Virginia."

Now that is some plain talk!

Could Creigh get any more direct in his assessment of the candidates for Governor?

Yeah, he could.

"Bob McDonnell," he said, "is not fit to be governor."

In the spirit of the Holy Land being front and center in today's event, I'll only add this: Amen!

Some pictures follow:

This is Russ Linden, a former co-chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Party and the main organizer of the meeting, introducing Creigh. Note the paintings in the background.

Creigh speaking to the group.

I'm always impressed by Creigh's sincerity in  listening to voters and addressing their questions and concerns thoughtfully, not just with canned spin.  

Comments