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Man, you don't see profiles of people in the media -- or of anyone, really -- like this one too often. In short, NBC political director Chuck Todd -- husband of Webb for Senate communications director Kristian Denny Todd -- is the Mr. Spock (or maybe Data from The Next Generation?) of U.S. politics, with the valuable (and rare) ability to "take the minutiae and make it sound like English for laypeople who haven't been following the DNC delegate rules for 20 years."
Not bad for a 36-year-old political junkie who had a successful "career out of the limelight" but has now become "the campaign season's most improbable TV star." For anyone wanting to follow in Chuck's footsteps, how do you do it?
1. Be brilliant
2. Be "genial"
3. Have a photographic memory for politics
4. Grow up watching a "conservative father and a liberal cousin often [getting] sloshed and [arguing] about politics. Ha.
5. Leave college six credits short of graduation (actually, Chuck Todd says this is "not the proudest thing on my résumé."
Anyway, congratulations to Chuck "Spock" Todd, keep up the great work, and don't let the turkeys - the political campaign hacks trying to tell you you're "in the tank" one way or the other, that is -- get you down!
I've been reading the news reports on Gov. Kaine's plan to raise $860 million for Virginia's transportation system. The key facets appear to include:
*A 1 percentage point increase in the sales tax in northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, with food and over-the-counter medicine being exempted.
*A 25-cents-per-$100 increase in the grantor's tax, paid by people selling their homes.
*Transferring $180 million from the transportation trust fund, normally used for building new roads, for use in maintenance.
*Increasing the auto titling tax from 3% to 4% and adding a $10 registration fee to the sale of used and new cars.
Also, Bob Lewis reports, "Kaine said he will also insist that all money from the increase in the grantor's tax be routed directly into the state's Transportation Trust Fund and that most of the new money be committed to mass transit projects, the Democrat who heard the briefing said."
If Obama wins the nomination, he still faces a red state-blue state-swing state electorate, with little margin for error. Even with large African-American populations in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, those states may be out of reach. Western states like Arizona, Idaho, and Montana are probably out of reach as well, Arizona in particular for obvious reasons.
That makes his choice for Vice President critical.
In an earlier post I noted several swing states that are critical for the 2008 National Election. At first, I assumed some of the New England states, like Maine and New Hampshire will be toss-ups, but I am starting to doubt that. Those look good for Obama.
Just a reminder that the Virginia Commission on Climate Change will meet on Tuesday at George Mason University (Fairfax campus). There will be a public comment period.
The commission is coming under increasing pressure to deliver recommendations for strong action. After all, if the presumptive Republican presidential nominee can get behind a plan to cut our carbon emissions 2% a year, can't Virginia do better than 0.4% a year (7% by 2025)?
And maybe while he's out there, Paul Ferguson can kidnap some skunks and bring them to Arlington?
This past Thursday, Virginia's Secretary of Technology, Aneesh Chopra, met with bloggers, assorted politicos (Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, Arlington Revenue Commissioner Ingrid Morroy), and other "new media" types at New Media Strategies in Rosslyn.
I had met Secretary Chopra once before, at Brian Moran's "bloggers' day" in Richmond. Since then, I had heard that Chopra was considered a "rising star" in Virginia politics. Certainly, he's smart, having graduated from Johns Hopkins (BA, 1994) and Harvard University (MA, 1997). He's also highly articulate, personable, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about his area of responsibility. So I was definitely looking forward to the meeting at New Media Strategies.
By the way, the session was videotaped, so hopefully it will be available on the Secretary of Technology's website soon. In the meantime, I scribbled down some notes about the session.
*Chopra talked about how his job had three main parts: managing the Virginia state government's information technology infrastructure; using technology to advance broader goals/innovation; and helping to foster technology-related economic development in Virginia. He noted that at least 1 out of 3 new jobs being created in Virginia are technology releated.
*He described how Virginia had partnered with Google in order to -- as Gov. Kaine said back in April 2007 -- "provide easy, quick and intuitive citizen access to every government resource." This initiative cost the taxpayers of Virginia nothing, while -- as Google described it -- "mak[ing] it easier to search for hard-to-find public information on state government websites."
"Yes, we know what's coming. I'm not naive," Obama said in the North Carolina speech. "We've already seen it . . . pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy, in the hopes that the media will play along."
That's the message: Attack me; attack my pastor; attack my wife; bring it on. I'm ready.
The quote is from a piece entitled, as is this diary, Mr. Cool's Intensity by David Ignatius, whose Washington Post columns are often about international affairs. The column is interesting in what it has to say about Obama. I will explore it a bit, and per usual, offer a few thoughts of my own.
Glenn Nye, the presumptive Democratic nominee in the 2nd CD (against Thelma Drake) will be live blogging this evening at VB Dems. Go check it out! Thanks.
"It's fair to say that I did not win Miss Congeniality," Senator McCain said here earlier this week in a debate in South Carolina. "I've taken on the iron triangle: special interests, campaign finance and lobbying. I did not make a lot of friends."
John McCain: Portrayed by himself -- and also by the media, which loved/loves to fawn over McCain's supposed "straight talk" and "independence" -- as a heroic crusader against money in politics, 527s, "pay to play," special interest groups, lobbyists, etc. (Wait a minute, wasn't John McCain one of the Keating Five, accused of corruption as part of the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s? Hmmmmm.)
The public relations executive whom Senator John McCain's campaign had chosen to run the Republican National Convention this summer resigned his post on Saturday after a magazine reported that his firm had lobbied for the military junta that runs Myanmar.
The executive, Doug Goodyear, said in a statement that he was stepping down as the coordinator of the convention, which will be held Sept. 1-4 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, "so as not to become a distraction in this campaign."
"I continue to strongly support John McCain for president and wish him the best of luck in this campaign," the two-sentence statement concluded.
Mr. Goodyear is the chief executive and a founding partner of the DCI Group, which has offices in Washington and Phoenix. He offered his resignation after Newsweek reported that his firm had been paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent the junta.
It's interesting, by the way, that DCI has an office in Phoenix, given that John McCain is U.S. Senator from Arizona. No connection there, I'm sure, just a coincidence.
As far as the Burmese junta is concerned, I think it's fair to say that this is one of the most evil and corrupt regimes in the world -- "illicit narcotics, human rights abuses and political repression," according to former U.N. ambassador John Bolton. Currently, the junta is in the process of allowing tens of thousands of its own citizens to die in the aftermath of a cyclone.
Recently the Virginia Education Association posted an important action diary entitled Virginia's Children: A Wise Investment The item discusses how 54 members of the House of Delegates tried to cut state funding for public schools by an astounding $175 million, which would have seriously damaged the quality of Virginia's schools, which are among the nation's best, especially thanks to the commitment to public education of our last two (Democratic) Governors. And had they succeeded
If the 54 had prevailed on school funding, we'd see results like these:
> Lower student achievement
> Overcrowded classrooms
> Cuts in school programs
> Higher teacher turnover and greater difficulty attracting high-caliber teachers to Virginia
>Bigger real estate tax bills for you, as the state passes its responsibility to your locality
Despite weeks of Democratic infighting -- and lots of angst (myself included at times) about how this could weaken us for November -- a new LA Times poll should put many of those fears to rest. The highlights:
*Barack Obama leads John McCain 46%-40%, very similar to the LA Times poll results released in April 2007.
*Hillary Clinton also leads John McCain, 47%-38%, which to me indicates that John McCain is extremely vulnerable this November. I mean, if he's trailing now, despite having clinched the nomination while the Democrats continue to pound each other, what happens after the Democrats settle on their ticket and rev up for the fall?
*As James Carville famously said back in during the 1992 campaign that ended up defeating Dubya's dad, "it's the economy, stupid!" According to the LA Times poll, 56% of Americans rate the economy the top priority right now, well ahead of the Iraq war (34%), healthcare (11%), and illegal immigration (11%).
*Even better news for the Democrats is that just 23% of respondents believe that John McCain would be best at handling the nation's economy. More than twice that percentage go with the Democrats, 32% for Hillary Clinton and 26% for Barack Obama. Gee, I wonder if John McCain's admission that "[t]he issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should" has anything to do with this? Or maybe it's McCain's vow to continue the same, failed policies we've seen under George W. Bush the past 7 1/2 years? Duhhhhh.
*Finally, 78% of Americans believe we're in a recession, while just 17% say that we're not. Undoubtedly, this feeling -- whether it's correct or not -- contributes to the bottom line finding that 76% of Americans believe the country's headed in the wrong direction. Is this going to be a "change election" or what? And does that bode well for the party that's controlled the White House the past 7 1/2 years, and the Congress from 2000 through 2006? Uh, let's just say it doesn't take a brilliant political analyst to figure this one out.
The following is from an interview in the Sun Gazette with Dranesville District (Fairfax County) supervisor, John Foust.
Do you still favor competitive bidding and a tunnel for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, or are those options pretty much done?
I don't know whether they're done or not, but I'm still in favor of them. I think we all want rail to Dulles. They're spending an awful lot of money to pursue a project that still hasn't demonstrated that it qualifies for funding. What we're doing is designing something that might not get implemented. We should be using this time to competitively bid and get the costs under control, and have a fair hearing and evaluation for the tunnel option.
Thank you, John! Now, why is this concept -- build Metro to Dulles, but make sure it's competitively bid and try as hard as possible to get a tunnel in there -- so difficult for so many others to understand?
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) supported by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) introduced a bill last year which would substantially increase educational benefits to veterans. The Webb-Hagel bill would pay a realistic amount in line with World War II veterans' benefits. The original GI Bill provided full tuition, housing, and living expenses for over 8 million veterans. By the mid 1980s, the plan was scaled down so that today a veteran can receive a flat sum of approximately $10,000 a year for four years and must personally invest into the system some active duty pay.
Senator John McCain offered vague objections to Webb-Hagel and withheld his support. Then, with some haste and under pressure from veterans' groups, he introduced his own bill to counter Webb-Hagel.
Differences involve length of service for eligibility. Webb-Hagel starts benefits after two years of enlistment. McCain, backed by the White House and Pentagon, would insist on 6 to 12 years of enlistment.
McCain and Pentagon officials believe that Webb-Hagel would hurt the services by enticing service members to reject reenlistment in favor of college and civilian life.
Today, the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan service of Congress, reported that Webb-Hagel offers more hard benefits to the military than expected. The CBO concluded that departures from the service would be more than offset by recruitment gains.
Complicated issues exist on both sides; however, the current GI Bill is an outdated failure that needs the kind of overhaul first proposed by Jim Webb in 2006. Strange that John McCain, a war hero veteran, and Congress member since 1983, waited until 2008 and five years into the Iraq war to make his proposal.
Once again the U.S. military is conducting major combat operations in Baghdad's Sadr City slum. Urban street fighting, daytime air strikes, refugees fleeing, the whole 9 yards. The targets are Shiite extremists who have been killing our troops and obstructing the so-called progress of a freely elected Iraqi government. Oh yeah, we are winning but we have to do this sort of thing from time to time -- no biggie.
So for the foreseeable future the violence rages on, US troops will continue to die, Iraqis will die, and according to President Bush it is all for the cause of our freedom here at home.
The Iraqi insurgents hate us for our freedom -- didn't ya know?
Americans United for Change Slams Reps. Drake, Wolf For Opposing Help for Virginia Families Facing Foreclosure, Declining Home Values
Drake, Wolf Stood With President Bush Who is All for Huge Federal Bailouts of Bear Sterns and Other Wall Street Financiers but Opposes Assistance to Struggling Families Losing Their Homes
Washington D.C. -- As the economy continues to slip further and further into recession and thousands of Virginia families face the prospect of losing their homes under the subprime mortgage crisis, Americans United for Change blasted Reps. Thelma Drake and Frank Wolf for voting against the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act - comprehensive and meaningful legislation to help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process.
The heart of the housing market stabilization legislation passed Thursday with broad bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives, despite a veto threat from President Bush. According to the Pew Center on the States, between 7,000 and 8,000 people a day are filing for foreclosure on their homes. One in 33 homeowners is projected to be in foreclosure over the next two years, as a result of subprime loans made in 2005 and 2006.
"8,000 Americans from all walks of life will lose their homes today under this subprime mortgage crisis. Tomorrow, another 8,000 will plant a foreclosure sign in their yard - and another 8,000 the day after that," said Jeremy Funk, spokesman for Americans United for Change. "But President Bush and his allies in Congress like Thelma Drake and Frank Wolf believe the government has no business getting involved. Thankfully the Democratic leadership in Congress sees things differently and passed meaningful legislation that provides a life preserver to struggling families drowning in mortgage debt -- which will in turn help stabilize the ailing economy for everyone."
"Fresh on the heels of a $30 billion bailout this Administration supported for Bear Stearns and other Wall Street financiers, it takes a lot of nerve for President Bush to now threaten to stand in the way of help for so many American families on the verge of losing their homes under a mortgage crisis that his own Administration's inaction and incompetence exacerbated. And now struggling Virginia families and communities caught up in this mess know exactly where Reps. Thelma Drake and Frank Wolf stand."
Let's make sure we make Mark Warner our next U.S. Senator. And let's also make sure this election isn't even close, if for no other reason than many of our fingernails have just grown back after that crazy election night in 2006. :)
The military leaders of Myanmar continue to stall efforts to deliver help to victims of last week's cyclone. But it's important to do what we can now to make sure aid organizations have the funding to get aid into the disaster zone as soon as political barriers are lifted:
Another 4 inches of rain was forecast to fall next week as more than 1 million people waited for food, clean water, shelter and medicine to reach them. Diplomats and aid groups warned number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses and said thousands of children may have been orphaned.
Please give what you can to the American Red Cross or the aid organization of your choice.
Man, you don't see profiles of people in the media -- or of anyone, really -- like 
I've been reading the news reports on Gov. Kaine's plan to raise $860 million for Virginia's transportation system. The key facets appear to include:
If Obama wins the nomination, he still faces a red state-blue state-swing state electorate, with little margin for error. Even with large African-American populations in Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, those states may be out of reach. Western states like Arizona, Idaho, and Montana are probably out of reach as well, Arizona in particular for obvious reasons.
also posted at Daily Kos
Despite weeks of Democratic infighting -- and lots of angst (myself included at times) about how this could weaken us for November -- a new 
The following is from an 
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) supported by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) introduced a bill last year which would substantially increase educational benefits to veterans. The Webb-Hagel bill would pay a realistic amount in line with World War II veterans' benefits. The original GI Bill provided full tuition, housing, and living expenses for over 8 million veterans. By the mid 1980s, the plan was scaled down so that today a veteran can receive a flat sum of approximately $10,000 a year for four years and must personally invest into the system some active duty pay.
The military leaders of Myanmar 
