In this week’s show, Shaun Kenney, Brian Kirwin and J.R. bring you the most unique political podcast in Virginia. This week’s show includes the following topics:

• Why J.R. called Obama someone whose policies are communist
• Obama’s injection of race into the campaign
• Mark Warner’s repetition of a change in his energy position mainly because he can
• Kaine’s VP prospects and what it means for Virginia and the Republican Party
• Shaun gives his two-cents on the Cuccinelli-Brownlee dust-up

If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email, or leave a question below, and we’ll bring it up on the next show.

 

 Virginia Politics On-Demand (#34): July 31, 2008. [29:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (325)

To listen to any of the previous podcasts, click here.
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Opening music “Highway Run” by the Charlie Wheeler Band available through Ariel Publicity.

Update (Aug. 1): Lest you think that I am the only one thinking this, check out Investors Business Daily.

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Today on “Blog Bunker”, Sirius 110, I made a statement based off of a quote from Barack Obama from an interview he conducted with the Wall Street Journal.

Here’s the quote:

“Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers,” he said, and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably.

The Journal also reported that a key component of Obama policy is:

The U.S. becoming what he called a “winner-take-all” economy, where the gains from economic growth skew heavily toward the wealthy.

Meaning…he wants to make it more equitable…aka, a redistribution of wealth.

If it was because a terrorist could remotely detonate a bomb or because it caused some interference with radar/flight communications, I could see why a House Panel would vote today to ban cell phones on domestic flights. However, that’s not the reason Democrats gave today.

If you are so inclined, and you have a Sirius radio, I’ll be on “The Blog Bunker” (Indie Talk 110) at 5 p.m.

Preliminary topics include…

• McCain’s new ad with images of Britney Spears & Paris Hilton - are negative attacks on Obama helping or hurting McCain
• McCain vice president possibilities
• The budget deficit is estimated by the Bush administration to be at 490 billion and some are saying it could be as high as 600 billion. McCain once stated he would balance the budget by the end of his first term - is that still possible and does he still believe he can
• Many conservatives still don’t fully support McCain - how can McCain convince people he is the right man for conservatives and the Republican party - or does he even need to because conservatives & Repubs will just vote for McCain because they don’t want to see Obama as President
• How badly will third party candidates, esp. Nader and Barr, affect McCain’s chances & the amount of votes he gets

I’d be shocked if we also didn’t touch upon Obama’s injection of race into the campaign though too.

Speaking of broadcasts, we’ll also be recording Virginia Politics On-Demand tonight. Our topics will include Kaine and the VP — how does it impact Virginia, more on the Brownlee/Cuccinelli dust-up, Mark Warner’s advertising campaign, and much more! If you have a comment for the show, be sure to email us.

The comments Barack Obama made in Missouri don’t need any further explanation; they stand on their own. And Rick Davis of the McCain Campaign was right to issue this simple response:

“Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It’s divisive, negative, shameful and wrong.”

Here’s what Obama said with links to the video:

A breathless fundraising email plops into my in-box today from Mark Warner (why am I on his list? Search me). It boldly claims that:

…one Senator used a procedural tactic to single-handedly block nearly three dozen overwhelmingly popular bills - everything from protecting children from sexual predators to investigating unsolved civil rights murders . The bills were bundled together for Senate authorization this week, and even though the legislation did not cost a dime, it was filibustered.

Good Lord! No one is thinking of the children!

Not so fast there, Hot Lips. What Warner’s copywriters are standing on their chairs about is Tom Coburn’s effort to get the Senate to actually debate the bills that come before it rather than rubber stamp them. Not content to leave well enough alone, Warner’s crack copywriting team adds this howler:

This is really Washington at its worst. The politics of “who got what done when” should never stand in the way of making real progress on the serious issues our country faces.

Real progress, eh? Here’s some of what Mark Warner thinks are among the “serious issues” facing our country, condensed by our friends at Reason Magazine:

Did you happen to read Dana Milbank’s column in the WaPO yesterday? Here it is in summation:

As he marches toward Inauguration Day (Election Day is but a milestone on that path), Obama’s biggest challenger may not be Republican John McCain but rather his own hubris.

Obama’s new-found celebrity status prompted him to say to a room-full or adoring fellow Democratic lawmakers:

“This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for,” adding: “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”

Talk about ego! It’s only one of the things that prompted Milbank to lead his column:

Barack Obama has long been his party’s presumptive nominee. Now he’s becoming its presumptuous nominee.

If Obama picks our Governor as his Veep, life will get a lot tougher for the Virginia GOP. Not only will we have Warner’s massive voter database and canvassing effort but we will face a particularly energized Democrat base.

Had a nice young woman come to our door in the sultry Henrico suburbs this evening. She was canvassing the neighborhood for Mark Warner. After I told her, in rather colorful terms, what I thought of Warner - and Jim Gilmore - we talked a little shop.

But afterwards, something struck me — she said the Warner campaign was reaching out, even into rock-ribbed Republican neighborhoods like mine — to ID voters and maybe change some minds.

In other words, Mark Warner isn’t chasing Democratic voters any longer. They are already his. He’s chasing Republicans now (and has been for some time).

It reminded me of a similar meeting back in 2005, when Mrs. Leahy had a chat with a Kaine canvasser in the front yard (who within a couple of days, sent us a follow-up thank you note). This kind of ground game can move votes. It helped Kaine here in 2005 and it will most likely help Warner, too.

I’m still waiting for the day when a GOP canvasser comes to my neighborhood…just so I can determine whether they really exist.

Congresswoman Drake is one of the original co-sponsors of National Conservation, Environment, and Energy Independence Act, a bipartisan bill to give Americans control over our national economic future.

It ends a federal moratorium on offshore drilling while allowing states to require they be 50 miles offshore. The bill includes provisions for use of woody biomass, alternative or synthetic fuel, and greater use of hybrid and advanced lean burn technology vehicles

The big win was Drake’s victory in securing changes in the revenue map to protect Virginia.

Today’s Virginian-Pilot contains a letter from the Director of Del. Brian Moran’s campaign (better if it was in his own name, but eh?) that almost solves every problem I cited in this post about Moran paying Spruill during the General Assembly session.

Moran will put Spruill on unpaid leave during the ‘09 session and introduce a bill making what Moran and Spruill did illegal.

Well, if it was bad enough for Moran to now think his actions should be against the law, Spruill should return the money Moran paid him during the ‘08 sessions!

Do Ken Cuccinelli’s supporters honestly think he can win with the same coalition of voters as Mark Early and Jerry Kilgore? I certainly don’t.

The simple fact is that if all of our Republican candidates in 2009 do not win the votes, and yes the financial support, of people in the Commonwealth who supported and voted for Warner and Kaine, we are going to lose again.

NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!!!

Qualifications:

• Must have repeatedly failed to implement transportation plans.
• Must have consistently fought for higher taxes.
• Must call special sessions just for the heck of it.
• Must include “International House of Pancakes” as foreign policy experience.
• Must have both Democrats and Republicans opposing you.
• Must answer to the phrase “that guy who served after Mark Warner.”
• Must have blog named after you that then changed it’s name.

Eyebrows are a must!

If interested, contact the offices of Barack Obama for President.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Tom Daschle by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC:

MITCHELL: …let’s talk about tim kaine…

Since Keith Hummel’s unexpected departure from the 1st District congressional race, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1) does not have an announced Democratic opponent. But that isn’t stopping Wittman from doing all the necessary things campaigns should do.

According to his campaign manager, Casey Werderman, Wittman’s campaign now has three headquarters that are fully operational, he’s still campaigning (such as at the Caroline County Fair this past weekend - pictured), and his staff is “geared up and ready to go.”