The 34th House of Delegates district (McLean, Great Falls, and northern Fairfax County) is currently (mis)represented by Vince Callahan (R), who hasn't faced a challenge since 2001. This year, however, there's not just one but TWO Democrats - Richard "Rip" Sullivan and Margaret "Margi" Vanderhye - vying to take him on in the general election. I e-mailed interview questions to both Democrats, and am publishing them in the order that I receive them. I spoke with Rip Sullivan earlier this evening, and he emphasized three points that aren't in the interview:
1) His race will be a family affair, with his kids heavily involved.
2) He plans to be "knocking on lots of doors" in his district.
3) He believes that "every precinct is in play."
Anyway, without further ado, here's the full interview (on the "flip").
1) Top political strategists generally agree that to defeat an incumbent, you need to do two things. First, you have to convince voters that the incumbent should be booted out. Second, you have to convince them that you would make an attractive alternative. Please explain how you would go about both of these tasks with regard specifically to Vince Callahan.
There are lots of reasons to vote against Vince Callahan--to "boot him out" as you put it. First among them is his lack of leadership on transportation--or any other important issue, for that matter. For a Delegate who touts his seniority and power as the principal reason for returning him to Richmond, we see nothing from him when it comes to standing up to his right-wing Republican colleagues in the leadership of the House. Rather, he has consistently done their bidding in order to protect his chairmanship--trading principle for power. My favorite Callahan quote recently was in the Washington Post, where he acknowledged that "there is an erosion of Republicans" in northern Virginia, and he blamed it on the fact that "the Republicans are taking these far right-wing stances, and it's doing them in." " The Republicans"? It's doing "them" in? He likes to talk--when he knows he'll be quoted here in northern Virginia--as if he is not one of "them." But he sure isn't one of us.
But I am more interested in having people vote FOR me rather than AGAINST Callahan. Too often our politics these days have been reduced to voting against someone rather than for someone. We need to change that, and to attract good people who are sitting on the sidelines into the political process. I bring a career of dedication to public service and problem solving to the campaign. I have been a leader in creating and nurturing institutions addressing some of our toughest problems--homelessness, access to justice, and peaceful and productive dispute resolution at the domestic and international level. My campaign is focused on 4 key areas: transportation, education, health care, and the environment. Over the course of the next months, I'll be addressing those issues every time I get the chance, and asking folks to vote FOR me because of the vision and point of view I bring to those and other issues.
2) Please tell us about your roots in the community and also about your reasons for seeking public office in the Virginia House of Delegates.
I moved to McLean 33 years ago, and unfortunately have been represented by the same delegate those entire 33 years! I am a 1977 graduate of Langley High School, as is my wife Beth (yes, high school sweethearts!). We are raising 4 kids in McLean, 3 of them still in the public schools, the oldest now a graduate of the public schools and a junior at Vanderbilt University. I have worked and commuted here my entire career--I know the challenges our families and businesses face first hand--and have been involved in every almost imaginable activity one would expect as the father of 4 active kids. And it's because of my kids that I'm running: every parent wants their kids to grow up in a better world than we were born into, and I'm concerned for the first time ever that goal is at risk. The Virginia General Assembly deals with issues that touch--and should improve--our lives every day. I think I can make a difference there.
3) Why should Democratic voters nominate you and not your opponent?
We each bring a different perspective-- a different set of life experiences-- to the race. I moved into this district as a teenager, went to public schools here, met my wife here, and have had the opportunity to see the drastic changes the 34 th District has undergone over the last 30 years, even the last 5 years, up close. My kids are still in the public schools, my wife and I are balancing our own budget with our daughter in college and our son starting in the fall, and I'm commuting to work every day. While my experiences on numerous boards and with a variety of civic organizations are important, as a father raising a family here, I can do more than just empathize with my neighbors about our problems. I am living with them every day.
4) Please describe your political philosophy - progressive, moderate, conservative, or none of the above - and how that philosophy meshes with the 34th District.
I would describe myself as progressive. I have a strong commitment to social justice and equality, which is why I served for a decade on the Board of Legal Services of Northern Virginia (and was its President), which provides legal aid to the indigent, and as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Homestretch, Northern Virginia's largest and most successful transitional housing organization. Most importantly, I believe in responsibility: we should be responsible for addressing our own problems--those we've inherited and those we've created---and not putting those solutions off on our children. Part of that responsibility is living within our means and finding creative long term solutions. I do that with my own family budget and will insist upon it in Richmond.
5) What, in your opinion, are the top 3 most important problems facing Virginia right now, and what will you do about them?
Transportation-- we need responsible (there's that word again) and sustainable solutions. Education-- the cornerstone of the prosperity of our region and our state, we need to ensure that our K-12 and higher education systems remain the best in the country and make early childhood education a right, not a privilege. Healthcare - one in seven Virginians is currently uninsured, and the tremendous expense of insurance is huge struggle for our business owners. We need to be covering our most vulnerable citizens, our children, and assisting small business owners in covering their employees. And the environment-- again, our responsibility is to take care of this planet, and to leave it a better place than when we found it. All of these things are critical to the future of our state.
6) How would you pay for needed transportation investments in Virginia: a) raise the gas tax; b) raise user fees; c) dip into the General Fund;
d) borrow; or e) other (please explain)?
Dipping into the general fund and borrowing are irresponsible solutions that take from other important priorities and force our children to pay for fixing a problem we created. Some combination of gas taxes and user fees strike me as the right way to go.
7) Do you support embryonic stem cell research? Would you favor putting this issue to a referendum of Virginia voters?
Yes I strongly support embryonic stem cell research. I would not support a statewide referendum. Our leaders are elected to do just that: lead. We cannot and should not govern by referendum. If our leaders get it wrong--that's what November elections are for.
8) What is your opinion of the "Dillon Rule," which severely limits the power of local government vis-+á-vis the state? In general, do you believe in delegating more power to the localities, or keeping it more in Richmond?
The Dillon Rule is deeply entrenched in Virginia and unlikely to go away--at least completely. But it has been interesting to watch the General Assembly, particularly the Republicans who are trying to craft this great transportation "compromise," draft around the Dillon Ruleby ceding power to regions and localities to do what they don't want to or won't do: raise taxes. Overall, I think there is more room for balancing the power between the state and localities.
9) Do you see the Massachusetts universal health care plan as a model for Virginia?
The experiment in Massachusetts will be fascinating to watch unfold, and certainly its goal--universal health insurance for every citizen--is a laudable one. Whether it, or something like it, would work in Virginia isn't clear to me (the demographics and other key factors are different in the two states), but there is no question that we can and should be looking at every option in Virginia for improving access to healthcare. 1 in 7 Virginians are uninsured. We should and can do better, starting with covering our uninsured children and assisting small business owners to pool their resources so they can afford to cover their employees.
10). If elected, what actions will you take to fight global warming and to clean up the Chesapeake Bay?
This is an area in which Virginia should be leading the country. Fairfax County has been a leader within the state in the area of stewardship of our environment, but the General Assembly needs to make this a statewide priority. At my campaign kickoff, I made clear that if elected I will work to have Virginia sign on to the 25 by '25 goal -- that America produce 25% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. Governor Kaine has already endorsed this goal, and the General Assembly needs to join him. I called for Virginia to adopt Renewable Portfolio Standards that require utilities to sell an increasing amount of electricity produced from wind and solar. The fact is that fighting global warming, and cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, can and will be good for business, as new technologies and new industries dedicated to protecting the environment create jobs and bring new economic opportunities to the state.