And The Votes Are In!

I've closed my "Bill Clinton 2.0" poll, and these are the results:
Governor Phil Bredesen 12%
General Wesley Clark 26%
Senator John Edwards 3%
Governor Bill Richardson 0%
Governor Brian Schweitzer 3%
Governor Mark Warner 56%

First, notice Bill Richardson got completely shut out of voting. Then, notice that the Democrat Governor of Virginia won on a Virginia Democratic blog. How could that happen!? :) Well, I'll say I'm glad he won, and he's the candidate I'll be supporting and working for in 2008.

But enough with old news; Time for new stuff! I've got a new poll up tonight on the 2006 Senate race, so please cast your vote as to who you want to see take down George Allen in 2006.

That's all for the night (sorry for all the short posts I've been doing, but Dual Enrollment AP English is hard!). But before I go, let me brag for a minute.

Guess who was elected the Class of 2006's "Most Likely To Succeed"? Yes, you guessed it. Dear God, I had no idea it was going to happen. Just think, the guy who will succeed almost had damp pants when he heard his name over the announcements. :)

I'm out and I'm gone.

B.S. Protector, Etc.

It's late tonight, so let me be brief.

PROGRESSIVE BLOG ALLIANCE
Nice name, huh? BlueinVa talked over on his blog that liberal Virginia bloggers should join together like the Conservative bloggers are doing. He got hit pretty hard in the comments section, but I voiced my support, and do again tonight.

We need to work together to get things done. Somebody called it "herding cats," and they're about right (didn't Trent Lott use that as his book title, too?). If not a full fledge PAC then at least a neat little graphic and a section to link to everybody else. What say you? (Or, as I would say in normal conversation, "What say y'all?")

PICTURES OF THE DAY
I found this picture on Swing State Project. Let me preface it by explaining that George W. Bush spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention recently, and this old soldier seems to have the right idea. SSP says his name is Bill Moyer, and he lives in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional district. Let's run him for Congress, as a "mature version of Paul Hackett"!

Now, this cartoon I found over at RaisingKaine. It's a pretty daggone funny thing, and I don't think I really need to explain or preface it.

Okay, I'm gone.

-Neal

Here's A Suggestion

There's been some question as to who will the Democrats field to challenge George Allen in 2006. And it's a pretty darn good question, too. I talked about a few names I had heard (Puckett, Petersen, et al), and I've been thinking about it some more today. So I called back the "source" I have and threw some names at him, and said perhaps he should pass them on (hey, it isn't long distance on my cell phone, so why not?). See what you think.

1-Del. Onzlee Ware (Roanoke); Delegate Ware was elected in 2003 to represent both part of Roanoke City and Roanoke County. I've heard him talk once or twice, and I'm extremely impressed. As an African American, he could shore up support among that base. He seems to be a moderate, while will fly well in Southwest Virginia. We'll see where that goes.

2-Del. Jackie Stump (Honaker); Delegate Stump has represented Buchanan County, and parts of Russell and Tazewell Counties since 1990. He is an extremely affable and likable person, who would be the epitomy of a gentlemanly Southern politician. Why not Senator Stump?

3-Mary Sue Terry (Rishmond); Miss Terry ran against George Allen for Governor in 1993, so she would certainly know what to be expecting. She's currently teaching at the University of Richmond.

And, of course, if our slate of candidates doesn't work out 100% in 2005 the way we hope it does, we'll have a great, battle-tested candidate (I just hope it doesn't come from that source).

I'm gone

-Neal

(A Cautious) Thumbs-Up

I've been reading and studying about President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts, and I've come to a decision on him; It could be worse.

By that I mean this; If I were serving in the U.S. Senate on the Democratic side, I would vote to confirm Judge Roberts, but with a degree of caution.

I don't agree with John Roberts very much at all, but there were several other possible nominees who I disagreed with much much more, and besides that, we can't be picky. Bush isn't going to nominate the ideal candidate for the Democrats to grin about and confirm 100%.

This will be an important vote concerning 2008 Presidential candidates, like Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, and John Kerry. If they all just vote against him because Bush nominated him, it will reflect very poorly on them. We need to look like we're at least willing to compromise.

Okay, that's my legal limit of bipartisanship for the week.

-Neal

Payne Out, Now Who?

I received word today that former Congressman L.F. Payne, the 1997 nominee for Lt. Governor, will not be a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006 against George Allen. So now, the question arises, who will it be?

I got on the phone with my source (yes, I actually have a source) and got four names that have been thrown around by the Democratic leaders in Virginia, and seem to be at least moderatley interested.

The envelope, please...

1-State Delegate Chap Petersen-2005 candidate for Lt. Governor, and made an extremely respectable showing. At 37, Del. Petersen is young and energetic, and would make a great U.S. Senator.

2-Arlington County Board Member Walter Tejada-Mr. Tejada was elected in 2003 to the Arlington County Board, and has been a notable guest on the O'Reilly Factor (coming close to making Bill O'Reilly look like the total baffoon he is).

3-State Senator Phillip Puckett-Sen. Puckett, who lives up the road in Lebanon, is probably the most unlikely candidate on the list. I personally can't see him leaving his wife, children, and job at the bank for the second time in such a short time span to run a statewide race for the U.S. Senate. But, it's my understanding he's thinking about it, and I would certainly support him.

4-James Webb-Former Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, Mr. Webb has been a strong Iraqi War critic, and is definitly a moderate who could also pull miltary support.

Okay, the reason this text is bigger than the rest because I NEED SOME HELP HERE! In my A.P. Government class on Monday, we're having a Gubernatorial "debate" with studesnt taking on the roles of Tim Kaine, Jerry Kilgore, and Russ Potts (the only time Potts and Kilgore will debate, I'm sure). I'm supposed to be a "reporter" and ask each candidate one question. Suggestions? I need an extremely pointed question for the Republican, a moderatley pointed one for the Independent, and a really nice easy question for the Democrat. Drop em in my guest book!

Alright, I'm gone.

Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

-Neal

I'm Baaa-aaack...

Hey everybody! How are we today? We'll I'm alright, thanks. I just started back to school today (senior!), and it went well.

Let me say thanks to Heidi, Kathy, Alice, Maura, Kenton, Colleen, and Justin, all of whom helped make me a little more comfortable in a time when I needed comforting.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get back now to the political reporting that apparently, some people must be reading! :)

VIRGINIA

Congressman Rick Boucher, the Fightin' Ninth's own favorite son, will be running for re-election to a 13th term in 2006, and will be drawing some opposition. Both 2004 nominee Kevin Triplett, the NASCAR executive who moved back after a decade in Florida to challenge the longtime incumbent, and State Delegate Bill Carrico of Independence will be likely challenging Congressman Boucher.

Boucher will be running in a district that President Bush carried with almost 60% (but that Congressman Boucher also won with 60%), and is highly favored for re-election.

It's always fun for me to laugh at the way the GOP tries to make Rick look out of the mainstream with Southwest Virginia values. Protecting jobs, supporting coal miners, and fighting to provide internet service to the rural areas--yep, way out of line with Southwest Virginia.

Let me say, I'm a big supporter of Congressman Boucher and I fully expect him to receive at least 65% of the vote in 2006.

OHIO

Governor Bob Taft, whose approval ratings are already in the toilet (16% last I heard), is getting in deeper trouble. The Ohio Governor has been indicted due to his role in some bribery scandal. Real Republican morals here, folks.

I would write more, but I need sleep, since tomorrow is another big day of exciting school!

Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

-Neal

To Touch the Face of God

At 11:30 pm, on Friday, August 12th, 2005, my grandfather, Newland M. Daugherty, left this world to go home to the next life. He was 84, and died at the James H. Quillen Veterans Administration Hospital, in Johnson City, Tennessee.

We buried my Aunt Faye at 2:00 pm today, and immediatley went to the Veteran's Hospital. At 11:25 pm, I went to the bathroom. My parents had went out at 11:23 pm or so to smoke. Kayla, my sister, didn't want to be left in the waiting room alone, so she walked up the hall, too. At 11:28 pm, I came out of the bathroom, and Kayla was standing beside Papaw's door, and told me she had just looked in to see how he was. She said he didn't look any different than he had when we had last been in. No sooner did we sit down in the waiting room did a nurse, teary eyes and frowning, come to ask us where our parents were. Kayla immediatley burst out crying, and I knew what was happening. We ran without stopping through the hospital until we found them, and we all jogged back to the room (my mom is short and heavy, so it was hard for her to jog, but she did it). I kept Kayla from going in the room. I heard my Mom cry out, and my dad came out the room, teary eyed and said "Your Papaw isn't suffering anymore."

Well, I had promised myself I wouldn't cry, because I had sort of braced myself for it, and I knew he was ready to go. But that promise went out the window then and there. I couldn't hold back the flood gates. My heart has never hurt more in my life.

My sister, mother and father, all crying and holding on to each other, headed up the hall, to sign some papers that needed signing. But I couldn't leave without a final goodbye. I had told him I loved him a few days ago when he was talking, and he said "I love you too, son." And I told him tonight I loved him, and saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes. But I did go in there, and he looked so serene and...out of pain.

I know now he's holding hands with his beloved Wilma (gone ten years next month) and is with his favorite daughter, Faye, and his mother and father, and the rest of his family that he had missed, and he's finally at peace, home.

I love you Papaw.

-Neal

P.S.-My mother is taking all of this harder than anyone, since she had lost both her oldest sister and her father within a week. Please keep her (and all of us), in your prayers.

There's a Better Home Awaiting

R.I.P.
This morning at 11:00 am, my aunt, Faye Daugherty, passed away, due to complications of kidney failure. She died at Clinch Valley Medical Center in Richlands, Virginia. She was only 54 years old.

I loved my Aunt Faye more than any other aunt of uncle I had. I can remember sitting under a shade tree with her when I was 2. I can remember riding in the little wagon she pulled when she drove her lawn tractor. I have fond memories of patting her hair-sprayed hair on Sundays and saying "no haiw spway, no haiw spway." Later, I remember her staying at my bedside when I was eight, and diagnosed with diabetes. She was my mother's best friend, and had been almost like a mother to her for the past ten years.

Words cannot express how much I loved her, and how much I now miss her.

Even in this time of sorrow, there is no rest for the weary. My grandfather's temperature was 104 degrees this morning, and his prognosis is just as grim. I leave now to go to Johnson City to be with him.

I won't be able to post anything until at least Thursday.

Thank you all so much for your prayers for my aunt, and I ask you continue to pray for my Grandfather.

-Neal.

Until Tuesday...

DUKES
Hey everybody! Just went and saw "Dukes of Hazzard" (finally), and let me say, yes, it was just like one giant version of the TV show. Junior Brown, the western swing guitar player, was the balladeer (narrator). And here I was thinking Willie Nelson was the narrator. Oh well. He did do a good job, but not quite as good as Waylon Jennings used to do. Overall, I'd give the movie a C+, because there was a tad too much cussing for my taste.

POLLS
My dad got a call from a polling agency commissioned by WLS-10 fro mRoanoke, asking him about the 2005 Governor's election. He voted "Kaine," "Democrat," No College," Moderate," "Regular Church-Goer," "Pro-life," "Suburban," "Southwest." They were awfully inquizitive people, weren't they? I don't know the results, but I'll let you all know when I do.

HIATUS
Anybody who reads this on a regular basis will remember that my grandfather is 84 years old, and not in good shape. Well, he is back in the hospital with kidney failure and a strange thing showing up in lung x-rays. He's down the road about 30 miles at the veterans' hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, so I won't have time to start my "New Wave" candidate profiles tonight like I planned, so I'll be putting off all new posts until Tuesday, giving me time to be with my grandfaher, and also to go another 40 miles in the other direction to be with my aunt, who is also in kideny failure at the hospital in Richlands, Virginia. Please, everyone who prays, keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

A New Wave

Anybody reading this remember my "Bill Clinton 2.0" series of profiles for P2009 candidates? Oh come now, you know you do (Warner, Edwards, Richardson, et al). Well, now I'm going to begin a new series (stop that groaning and "Oh No"ing, it'll be fun) of candidates profiles for potential Presidents.

I call these the "New Wave" candidates. These people are usually progressive, more liberal than President Clinton was, for the most part, they're not Southerners, and they want to take the Democratic party in a new direction.

The candidates I'll be profiling include (but God knows won't be limited to):
1-Senator Evan Bayh (Indiana)
2-Senator Joe Biden (Delaware)
3-Senator Russ Feingold (Wisconsin)
4-Governor Janet Napolitano (Arizona)
5-Governor Ed Rendell (Pennsylvania)
6-Governor Tom Vilsack (Iowa)

Now, I won't start on it until something like late tonight or tomorrow. So, think about all of those folks and see which one's you would like, and then we'll see what I can come up with to say about them. Yee haw!!!

Goodnight Mrs. Calabah, wherever you are!

-Neal

Just Some Good Ole Boys...

(left to right: Johnny Knoxville as Luke Duke; Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke; Sean William Scott as Bo Duke)


Tonight, I pull away temporarily from politics to talk about one of the few movies I'm looking forward to this year; The Dukes of Hazzard.

This movie has been hyped up for months. And I've been ready to see it for months. The only movie I'm looking more forward to seeing is November's Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash movie.

Dukes stars Johnny Knoxville as Luke Duke, Sean William Scott as Bo Duke, and Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke. Now, I could give greatly lurid details about Jessica Simpson's wardrobe (Google "Jessica Simpson as Daisy Duke" and see for yourself), but I'll pass up the chance. Instead, I'll make mention of the great supporting cast; Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse Duke, and Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg. Heck yeah! The Red-Headed Stranger and The Bandit? Great casting on somebody's part...

Now, I assume the story will revolve around many of the TV story lines. Boss Hogg will try to take Uncle Jesse's farm, and the Duke boys, with the help of Daisy, will save the day.

And, of course, I'll get to hear some great country music along the way; It's my understanding they will use both the originial Waylon Jennings version of "Good Ole Boys", but will also use a new version recorded by Waylon's old friend, (and now Uncle Jesse) Willie Nelson.

I'll get to see it at the first showing at the new Village Theatre in the mall that was just opened--almost two dollars cheaper than the old theatre, free popcorn and pop refills, and big stadiuuum seating! Woo hoo!

POLITICS
I'll be returning to politics tomorrow, possibly discussing John Roberts, John Bolton, and John Kerry. Maybe I'll call it my "Triple J" post?

Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are!

-Neal

From The Highlands Festival

(Senator Russ Potts campaigning in Winchester)


Today me and my Dad (his name is Frank, in case you were curious) went to Abingdon to the Virginia Higlands Festival to meet the independent candidate for Governor of Virginia, Russ Potts.

We arrived just after 12:30pm, and had to park on Valley Street, quite a way from the main festival grounds, across from Barter Theatre. It was at least 90 degrees, and neither of us were too excited about walking in the heat, but we did.

We made it to the main grounds, and wandered around, rather aimlessly, just kind of looking around for Senator Potts. We made it all the way to the very back of the grounds, and still no Russ Potts. We were about to give up, and were heading back toward the front, when we saw a young man, probably in his early 20's, carrying several dozen Potts for Governor brochures and a big roll of stickers. Aha, I thought, perhaps we've found something.

My dad, who is extremely outgoing, grabbed him by the shoulder (reminiscent of the way Lyndon Johnson used to interact with people, if that tells you anything) and shook his hand, then asked where Senator Potts could be found. "Actually, I can't find him either," was his response. He had dropped him off near the food court and went to park the car, and didn't know where he had went. So he gave us stickers (I felt like a turncoat, but figured it was good sportsmanship, since he is helping Tim Kaine in the long run) and we went on our way.

We had made it back to the front of the grounds, to the main street, and there he way. Holding court in a circle of at least 30 folks, listening closely as he lambasted Jerry Kilgore and what he called the "free lunch group" of Republicans, who try to keep everyone happy by saying they will both cut taxes and spending, while increasing funding to certain areas of the state government.

Russ Potts is a small person, probably 5'5" or 5'6", but he commands respect all around him. After the crowd had dispersed, we went up to him and began talking to him. He seemed to be impressed with my dad's buildup, "My son knows all about how politics and the government work and he thinks you're the key to stopping Jerry Kilgore," which I do, and I do. Potts then began explaining how polls now have him at 15% (I haven't seen the poll--possibly just an internal poll) and that "35% is the magic number, not 51%," I agree, Senator Potts.

We talked for about 15 minutes or so, then we got a couple of pictures with him, shook his hand again, he took down my phone number (took it down himself, since he had misplaced all his staff) and vowed he would call sometime and we would discuss politics. He shook hands with my dad and smacked him on the back, we said goodbye, and we parted ways.

Now let me reiterate my strong, strong support for Lt. Governor Tim Kaine and his campaign for Governor. Russ Potts is, however, a great person and an excellent campaigner who does have some good ideas. More important, however, is that he could block Kilgore from winning in November if he continues to rise in the polls (if he's at 15%, I would say 10%-12% came from Kilgore's supporters). I will say this, however. If Tim Kaine couldn't win, I would much rather see Russ Potts as Governor than Jerry Kilgore.

(Note: The above photo was NOT taken today, but when I get my film develpoed, I will upload several pictures to the website.)

I'm out and I'm gone.

-Neal

Republicans Can Levitate!

PENNSYLVANIA

(Note: This is NOT William Scranton, III. This is the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; It's next to impossible to find a photo of Scranton.)

I'm turning away from Virginia politics today to discuss former Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania William Scranton, III. Scranton is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to run in 2006 against incumbent Democrat Ed Rendell. Scranton is also the only candidate who levitates!

According to Politics1 (with a wonderful article on it), Scranton, whose 1986 race for Governor was derailed by the very same problem, is (still) heavily involved in the New Age transcendental meditation movement led by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

The Maharishi supports a "Parliament of World Peace," with he as the universal leader, of course. Also, the Maharishi advocates a world currency (Raam). His most famous teaching, however, is yogic flying, in which he states the "truly enlightened" can levitate through his Vedic teachings. Hey, awesome! I wanna see Bill Scranton fly across the room! (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Now, let me say, there is nothing illegal about Scranton being a transcendentalist. What is wrong is that during his term as Lt. Governor, Scranton put a leader in the Maharishi's movement, Nat Goldhaber, on the state's payroll, briefly serving as State Energy Agency director, focusing on nuclear energy.

The Scranton 2006 campaign denies that Mr. Scranton is involved whatsoever in the movement now, but, according to Politics1, he is still heavily involved. Go to http://www.politics1.com/scranton-maharishi.htm and read the entire story for yourself, as it is far too complicated for me to try to explain, and Mr. Gunzburger over there does an excellent job of it.

(Note: To Danielle, I'm glad you're finally back. I've missed you! Had fun at the bowling alley. It's going to be a good year!)

I'm out, and I'm gone!
-Neal