Tim Kaine Screwed Up.

Governor Tim Kaine on Wednesday endorsed Fairfax County Chairman Gerry Connolly in the Democratic primary for Congress in the 11th district over Leslie Byrne.

Mistake.

I have a lot of respect for Governor Kaine, and I worked hard for his election in 2005, but I feel the urge to call him out on this bad decision. I don't have any direct connections to Leslie Byrne's Congressional campaign (clearing that up before someone attacks me for being a tool of her campaign), but I strongly support her candidacy. She's a progressive Democrat who opposed the war from the outset, and she'll be a strong voice on Capitol Hill for the residents of Northern Virginia, and Virginia in general.

I'm not going to get into the reasons I'm against Gerry Connolly (if you want to read about reasons not to vote for him, NLS has over 60 reasons why he sucks). I realize that the support of a blog with extremely low readership, stationed out of Southwest Virginia will have no impact in this fight at all, but after this extremely disappointed endorsement from Governor Kaine, I felt moved to throw my thoughts out there.

-Neal

Why the Republicans in Congress Should be Shaking in Their Boots

Probably the biggest story to come out of Tuesdays elections was not Hillary Clinton's blowout win in West Virginia (which was not a surprise). It was the election of Travis Childers of Mississippi to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Roger Wicker, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Trent Lott (geez, what a mouth full).

Counting Childers' win, the Democrats have now won three straight special elections for Congressional seats previously held by Republicans (the first two being Bill Foster's election to Dennis Hastert's seat in Illinois, and Don Cazayoux's election to Richard Baker's seat in Louisiana). These victories come in places where Democrats aren't supposed to win. This backs up Barack Obama's argument that this coming election is like no previous election. The RNC tried to nationalize the special election by running an ad connecting Childers to Obama and Jeremiah Wright. This was to no avail, however. But why?

There's a simple answer. People are hungry for change, and, even though the Republicans are in the minority in the House, they are still seen as part of the problem. The fate of the Republican members of Congress, by and large, are tied to the failed policies of the Bush administration and the disastrous Iraq war.

Barack Obama will be carried into office for the same reasons. John McCain represents the past and is seen as an extension of George W. Bush (contrary to the people who argue that he's a "maverick." He's no maverick, people). That sucking sound you hear every time Barack Obama utters the phrase "George Bush's third term," is some more potential McCain voters going down the toilet.

A Vice President for Barack Obama

Now that Barack Obama is our presumptive nominee for president, it's time to begin thinking in earnest about his vice presidential choices. I've seen probably thirty different names floated around. Some of them are really good choices and some are just silly. The way I look at it, there are really only a few excellent choices.

Joe Biden (Delaware senator) - Senator Biden has over thirty years of experience and knows foreign policy like the back of his hand. He's the only major presidential candidate on our side who hasn't endorsed anyone, so it wouldn't look like Obama is drafting players from his own farm team. And anyone who has seen him get riled up on C-Span knows that Biden could also act as the attack dog (He could be the bad cop to Obama's good cop, if you prefer) and go after the GOP ticket and allow Obama to continue to look good.

Bill Richardson (New Mexico governor) - I really like Bill Richardson, and I think he would bring some great things to the ticket. He has all kinds of experience on the national level and in an executive role (and in the legislative branch), and he could help shore up support for Obama among Latinos. I do worry, however, that some in rural America would be unwilling to accept a ticket with a African American and an Hispanic American. Another potential problem (as with Biden) is his consistent foot-in-mouth disease.

Sam Nunn (former Georgia senator) - Sam Nunn has oodles and oodles of foreign policy experience (Nunn-Lugar), and people would see him as an experienced advisor to Senator Obama. He's a moderate southerner, and he could help Obama with the rural voters he's previously had trouble with. If the GOP nominee were anyone else, I would say that Nunn's age (70) could be a problem, but in this election, I don't think it would be.

Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas governor) - Governor Sebelius has shown that a Democrat can win in a bright red Republican state. She doesn't have much foreign policy experience (which could be a strike against her), but she has executive experience, which I think will be important to counter McCain's vice presidential nominee. She really wouldn't add much geographically to the ticket, but she could help hold on to Hillary Clinton's female voters.

Jim Webb (Virginia senator) - Here in Virginia, the cool thing to do is push Jim Webb for vice president. And why not? Unlike other people in other states who push their favorite son, Webb could add much to the ticket. He's a solid progressive. His championship of the new GI Bill will endear him even more to veterans. He could be invalauable to Obama in rural America (the places Webb talks about in Born Fighting), and he, like Biden, could attack the Republican ticket very successfully. I would love to see the Vice Presidential debate in October between Jim Webb and the joker that John McCain picks for veep (Lindsey Graham? Tim Pawlenty? John Thune? Really?).

There are lots and lots of other potential candidates (Christopher Dodd, Tom Daschle, Bill Bradley, Tim Kaine, Ted Strickland, Wesley Clark, and some female senator from New York named Clifton or Clayton or something like that), but I really think Biden, Richardson, Nunn, Sebelius, and Webb bring the most to the ticket.

Thoughts?

-Neal

Me

Since my last regular posting, much has changed in my life. For one thing, I'm 20 years old now (for some reason, people tend to get older as time goes by). I've also found the right place for myself religion-wise, and I am now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I admit that I've been digging for excuses not to make a return to the world of blogging. I'm too busy with college. I'm too busy with church. My ideas aren't as relevant as they once were. Every time I thought I had a good, solid excuse, I ended up shooting it down.

So here we are. I'm back to writing, and I hope I have something good to offer.

We'll see what happens.

-Neal.

Have I Made a Return?

Yesterday, I went to Mark Warner's campaign kick-off event in Abingdon. In attendance were Mark Warner (of course), Congressman Rick Boucher, State Senator Phillip Puckett, Delegates Joe Johnson, Bud Phillips, and Dan Bowling, and several other local officeholders and maybe some future statewide officeholders.

I also ran into Lowell Feld of Raising Kaine fame. This was the first time I've actually met Lowell. We talked about the fact that I wandered away from blogging in late 2006/early 2007. I realized that I didn't have a really good reason (only a few halfway excuses). So it is with a degree of trepidation that today I'm starting back on the road of blogging.

There are so many things I've missed. There's some president thing going on. Gas prices are up. The president is still an idiot.

Much has also happened in my life. Expect a post later today catching everyone up on what's been going on, and then watch out for new posts actually concerning politics.

-Neal

Update Your Blogrolls!

The new blog can be found at http://neal2028.wordpress.com/, so update any links to me you might have.

(Thanks for linking to me, by the way)

-Neal

Okay, We're Ready!!

Alright. Are you ready for the big surprise?! Then go right here.

I'll be leaving all my old posts here on this site, so if you're looking for something old I wrote, it'll be here.

Also, everybody update their links to me (if you're linked to me, that is).

-Neal

We're Not Ready Yet...

I said I would be ready with big news and a new look on August 1st. Well, we're here, and I'm not ready. Check back on August 3rd, and everything will be in working order.

-Neal

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You...

I've been laying off of the blogging for quite a while, and I'll continue to do so for a few more days (big project I'm working on here at the house). I'll be back on August 1st with a new look, some new posts, and one post in particular guaranteed to get some folks ticked off, and get some folks shouting "amen." It's basically going to be an all-new "Neal 2028" with a writing style and format a bit different.

Until I'm back with a new style of political writing, I've added a poll completely unrelated to politics - concerning the Washington Nationals. Vote in it.

Keep an eye out for the "new" "Neal 2028" on August 1st!

-Neal

W A S H I N G T O N N A T I O N A L S

Who do you believe is the best person to manage the Nats in 2007? Frank Robinson (current WSH manager) Davey Johnson (with the WSH org) Lou Pinella (former NYY manager) Davey Lopes (former MIL manager) Mitchell Page (WSH hitting coach) Terry Pendelton (ATL hitting coach) Eric Wedge (CLE manager) Jack McKeon (former FLA maanger) Felipe Alou (SF manager) Ozzie Smith (former STL SS) Other (Specify in comments) Current Results

Would You Vote For...

I'd like to try to guage what Virginia Democrats (or any kind of Democrats) think about different 2008 presidential candidates. This is not whether you would vote for them in the general election over the Republican, but rather in the primaries. You can answer yes to as many as you want, even if you don't intend to vote for them, just if you would (follow me?). So, after I list these folks, copy-paste them to the comments section with a yes, no, or maybe beside their name (if you've never heard of them, put "say who?" or something like that), and then any amout of explaination you may want to give. I'll do a "reporting" post on it in a day or two.

I've went ahead and put my preliminary answers down.

John Kerry - Yes
Hillary Clinton - No
Mark Warner - Yes
Joe Biden - Yes
Tom Vilsack - Maybe
John Edwards -Yes
Wesley Clark - Yes
Evan Bayh - Maybe
Chris Dodd - Yes
Russ Feingold - No
Bill Richardson - Maybe
Mike Gravel - No
Ben Nelson - No
Tom Daschle - Maybe
Dennis Kucinich - Maybe


-Neal

Will Wampler Have An Opponent?

My state Senator, William Wampler, Jr., is up for re-election next year, and all signs indicate he's going to run again for what, as my count gives me, will be a sixth term in the General Assembly.

But will he even have an opponent?

I certainly hope so.

District-wide in 2003, only 24 voteswere for some one other than Wampler, and those were write-ins. In 1999, it was 39 write-in votes. So what is the problem here, folks?

A long-time incumbent Republican hasn't faced a serious opponent in years. I honestly couldn't name you one thing that William Wampler has done in the past 18 years for this district.

I am calling on the Democratic party to field a viable candidate to oppose Senator Wampler. There is no excuse to not field a challenger. Mark Warner won in 2001, Tim Kaine won in 2005. We're on a roll. We're on track to take back the General Assembly in a couple of cycles.

To take back the General Assembly, we have to start in areas not only that are high-profile, swing-districts, but in places where an incumbent GOPer is out of practice and rusty at campaigning, and doesn't have a whole lot to tout in respect to successes.

Starting Monday, I'm going to be asking around to see if anyone is going to run against William Wampler. Just because his dad was in Congress and he's been in the General Assembly a few years, that doesn't mean he should get a free pass every time he's up for re-election.

Let's take the first step to take back the General Assembly by defeating William Wampler in 2007!

-Neal

What My "Band" Plays...

Yesterday, I read on Virginia Centrist that the proprietor of that blog is now involved with a cover band, and listed the songs they'll be working on.

Well, I can't say as I've ever heard any of the songs, since they appear to all be rock, but I'm sure they'll do a great job at it.

I play a little bit of music myself. I wouldn't call what we do a "band" per se, but we do have a set list of songs we usually play, and we have played three or four little appearances (although, since we didn't get paid, I don't call it a "band").

I usually sing lead (baritone), play the rhythm guitar, with an occasional break on it. My dad plays the fiddle, sings harmony, and also some lead (and then, of course, I sing harmony). A retired bus driver plays base fiddle for us, my second cousin plays banjo, my uncle sometimes plays mandolin, and one of my dad's old band members plays lead guitar.

Here's our "setlist":
I Gotta Travel On - Bill Monroe
Kiss An Angel Good Morning - Charley Pride
Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn
I Saw the Light - Hank Williams
Precious Jewel - Roy Acuff
Wreck of the Old 97 - traditional
Keep On the Sunny Side - Carter Family
I'm Movin' On - Hank Snow
Still Doin' Time - George Jones
If There Ain't, There Oughta Be - Marty Stuart
Freeborn Man - Jimmy Martin
Ida Red - traditional
Boy Named Sue - George Jones
Her Name Is - George Jones
Six Pack To Go - Hank Thompson
Honky Tonk Blues - Hank Williams
Border Line - Jim & Jesse (This is an instrumental, so I don't do much on it)
I've Always Been Crazy - Waylon Jennings
The Ghost of Hank Williams - David Allan Coe
Tennessee Whiskey - George Jones
What Is Truth? - Johnny Cash
How High Did You Go? - John Conlee
And we always close with...
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? - Carter Family

So there ya go. We're available for dinners, birthdays, concerts, etc. (if you want a good laugh).

-Neal

Lieberman v. Lamont, My Pick.

I watched the debate on MSNBC between Senator Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont, in its entirety, earlier tonight.

I hadn't really formed an opinion before this debate (although I was leaning Lamont), but after seeing this, I can say one thing with certainty:

It is in the best interest of our party if Joe Lieberman wins this primary.

Granted, I don't agree with his positions on Iraq or free trade, but I do agree with his positions in a lot of other places.

1-I agree with his support of embryonic stem cell research.
2-I agree with his December, 2005 vote not to reauthorize the Patriot Act.
3-I agree with his support of a raise to the minimum wage to make it more fair.
4-I agree with his support for the repeal of the Bush tax cut on the wealthiest 2%.
5-I agree with his support for educating teenage girls about contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

I believe Ned Lamont would make a good Senator, but I believe he'll have to face more issues in a six year term than the Iraq War, and I doubt he'll be able to make much progress on other things, since he seems fairly unwilling to work with the other side (and before you say, "Well, all Republicans are against us," look at Orrin Hatch's and Arlen Specter's work [as well as the late Strom Thurmond] in support of stem cell research).

I believe that Joe Lieberman is a great Senator, and deserves six more years.

If we are to remain the "big tent party" we talk about being, I believe we must support moderates on their merits, not drive them all out of the party on one or two divisive wedge issues.

-Neal

He's a Great Guy, But...

For the love of God, please lose the sunglasses and hat.

It looks like Jim Webb is in hiding from the camera guys that George Allen has tailing him. It seems offputting to me, for one, that Webb looks like he's avoiding people seeing him, or looking people in the eye.

I don't know about you all, but when someone asks for my vote, I would like to be able to pick them out of a lineup at a later date.

So, again, if the Webb campaign is reading this, please lose the sunglasses and hat. It doesn't do anything for your candidate.

-Neal

Jesse McReynolds And Ralph Stanley? I Lucked Up!

Here are some pictures from the Coeburn concert with Jesse McReynolds on the 1st. Not only was Jesse McReynolds there, but Ralph Stanley II did a full set, and Dr. Ralph Stanley himself even made a brief appearance. I, of course, got autographs from Jesse McReynolds, and from Ralph Stanley (not his son though, since I wasn't willing to wait in line).

Jesse McReynolds did two sets; one at 7:00 and one at 8:00. He played until about 9:00. He did songs like "Wabash Cannonball," "Maybelline," "America on Bended Knee," "You'll Find Her Name Written There," "Border Ride," and many others. He did a great job, as always.

Ralph Stanley wasn't feeling well, so he only sang one song, "O Death," by himself. He played a banjo tune clawhammer-style on a banjo he bought for his grandson, sang "The Lonesome River" with Jesse McReynolds (the first time they had ever sang any song together, Jesse said), and "Rank Stranger" with Ralph Stanley II.

Ralph Stanley II did several songs, most of which I didn't know, and a few I did, like "Mountain Dew," "Kady Hill," and "Carrying On."

I really enjoyed the concert. Below, you'll find two pictures I took. The first is Jesse McReynolds playing "Poor Boy On the Line." In the second, you'll see Jesse and Dr. Ralph Stanley singing their duet.

(I won't post tomorrow, as I'll be in Charleston, West Virginia on a little road trip. I'm going to drop by the capitol building, so expect pictures soon.)

-Neal

When Young Democrats Get Together...

Yesterday, I went to the first-ever meeting of the new Southwest Virginia Young Democrats, a group of folks under 35 who believe in the principles of the Democratic party and are eager to change things.

I would say there was somewhere between 15-20 people there, including a couple of guests.

We elected officers (Tabitha Peace was elected President, Brian Patton was elected Vice President, Sara Sword was elected Secretary and Joseph Puckett was elected Treasurer), and decided upon a meeting date and location for next time (first Sunday in August at 6:00 pm, at McAdo's (I probably didn't spell that right) in Marion.

I'm really excited about this group. I think that, as a rule, younger Democrats are more willing to get out and evangelize to non-Democrats. And, when you get almost 20 of us together, only good things can happen.

I'm going to try to get two or three friends to come with me to the next meeting, and, if you're reading this, and you're under 35 (or over, too), and you live in the 9th congressional district, I expect to see you at the next meeting, too.

-Neal

Bluegrass in the Mountains

I'm heading off right now to Coeburn to see Jesse McReynolds play at his annual 4th of July picnic. Mr. McReynolds is a bluegrass legend, and I look forward to hearing him play. This will be my fourth trip to the event, and he gets better and better every time. I suggest you got to Amazon.com and buy The Jim and Jesse Story: 24 Greatest Hits to hear some of Mr. McReynolds's classic work with his brother Jim.

I'll be heading to the SWVA Young Democrats' 1st meeting tomorrow, and I'll let you know how that goes.

-Neal

I'm Back! Yay! Okay, Anyway...

I'm back from my little post-primary vacation, did you miss me?

Anyway, Jim Webb is working hard now to be elected our next senator. I have full confidence in him and his campaigning abilities, but I have serious reservations about his staff. They couldn't really combat Harris Miller's attacks, and just got over the finish line by the seats of their pants. Harris Miller ran a good campaign, and his attack ads were second to none. Except, that is, second to what we'll see from George Allen's attack machine.

Dick Wadhams is an even better dirty campaigner than Scott Howell was, and he'll do everything he can to beat Jim Webb.

Everybody is saying, "Oh, you can't swift-boat Jim Webb. He's a hero." Well, yes, but does that matter? Not really. Once it's out in the media, no amount of the Webb folks calling for retractions or apologies will get it out of the swing voters' heads. We need to take the campaign to George Allen. We need to hit him from every possible angle. Get Mark Warner back from Iowa and New Hampshire for a couple weeks around, say, late October, to barnstorm Southwest Virginia for Webb. Get Tim Kaine on the campaign trail this summer in Northern Virginia swing areas like Loudon and Prince William Counties. See if Doug Wilder will speak for Webb in the black neighborhoods. And, while all of that is going on, get Jim Webb into every big city, midsized town, and rural wide spot in the road that his schedules can.

Like Webb and Mudcat Saunders have both said, this race will be won in the 6th, 5th, and 9th districts. Well, let's get Webb out of Fairfax and Alexandria and down here. Sure, it's fun to campaign in areas where you'll get 500 people screaming for you in the streets, but they're already voting for you. Go to the places where people don't know your name, and are impressionable. Don't preach to the choir, they're already saved.

So, in closing, I hope to get to meet and talk to Jim Webb soon. I hope to see him here, in Southwest Virginia, preaching to the people who aren't in the choir just yet.

-Neal

(I'll try to write something Tuesday--tomorrow I have to be up at the high school to pick up our [ridiculously late] yearbooks.)

Webb Wins!

With 99.88% precincts reporting (including my own, which we phoned in at 7:15), Jim Webb defeats Harris Miller with 53% of the vote, to Miller's 47%.

Here in Bristol, Webb won 55%-45%. In my precinct, however, Miller received 53% of the vote (28 votes), as opposed to Webb's 47% (24 votes).

I'll have a full opinion tomorrow, but right now, I've been up since 4:15 a.m., and I'm tired.

Congratulations to Jim Webb and all the Webb folks. Good night.

9th CD Convention & Why I'm Voting for Webb

I won't be posting part six of my "Why I'm Voting for Webb" series tonight, since I'm not feeling the best and the drive to Marion didn't help me.

Look for Part Six tomorrow and Part Seven on Monday (not only can I get some extra sleep, I think it would be nifty to end my little series the day before the election). I'll go ahead and let you know that the subject will be economic policy.

I went to the 9th District Democratic Convention today. I won't do a full rundown of it (once again, I don't feel good) until tomorrow. But I will do a quick grade of speeches (not in any real order):
Delegate Dan Bowling - Pretty good. A little short, but still good.
Senator Phillip Puckett - A lady behind me said "He's such a good speaker and a good person. I hope he runs again in 2009." I believe that said it all.
Senator Creigh Deeds - Creigh Deeds electrifies any room he talks to, and he certainly didn't diappoint. A great job.
Senator John Edwards - I really enjoyed John Edwards's speech. He hit the Bush administration hard, and I think we all apprecitated it.
Senator Roscoe Reynolds - I always like to hear Senator Reynolds. He did great.
Congressman Rick Boucher - Rick Boucher is, as was demonstrated today, a rock star among SWVA Democrats. He gave one of the best speeches I've heard him give. He also introduced his new wife, who is a very nice lady. An excellent speech.

And, last but certainly not least...
Brian Patton - Brian gave the seconding speech to nominate Rick Boucher. He had folks all around the hall talking about him. A very good job. I can see him, like Rick Boucher said, serving Dickenson County or a greater portion of the state at some point later on.

Okay, the whole rundown of the convention, and my "Why I'm Voting for Webb" will be up tomorrow.

-Neal