Exclusive: Video Interview w/ 2nd District Candidate Kenny Golden
By D.J. Spiker | Saturday, January 9th, 2010 | Multimedia, Politics, VideosOn Wednesday afternoon I had the opportunity to sit down with 2nd District Congressional candidate and former Virginia Beach Republican Party chair Kenny Golden at his home. In an extensive interview (almost an hour) we touched on numerous topics. Obviously, a one hour video clip is tough to sit and watch in one sitting, so it’s been broken down more easily into questions. Still working on rendering and crunching the rest of the video, but here is Part I &II. Enjoy.
Quest 1 re: Why run for Congress
Question 2 re: Moving Carrier to Mayport
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Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...entrenched on the right as a member of the Establishment, proudly tattooed member of the Republican Party, bartender by trade serving both sides the libations needed to continue the debate and discourse. College student, ten years late, majoring in Public Policy and Administration with an eye to serving the conservative and Republican movement in the public or private sector. ducit amor patriae You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com. You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com.
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20 Responses to "Exclusive: Video Interview w/ 2nd District Candidate Kenny Golden"
I know I am going against the “drift”, but Kenny is by far the best candidate for this position. As a Veteran of the USAF, we are in a war against terrorism my friends and we need to stop having an island mentality. Kenny has the best experience to fight terrorism. We have Jeff McWaters for bringing jobs to Virginia and we need Kenny for our National Security.
I am from Blackstone VA & know Kenny from his youth. He is absolutely straight up, honorable & damn serious about the problems in this country.
The 2d CD is lucky to have him.
I had the pleasure of meeting Kenny last Labor Day at an Eastern Shore political rally. He is a very intelligent man and his military career is proof that he is a born leader. One who rolls his sleeves up to get the job done.
He is a no nonsense man with a deep understanding of the problems we face.
There are a lot of good people running in this race and I will admit that, living in Richmond, I am not as familiar with all of them as I am with Kenny.
I told him at the Republican Advance in December that I am really glad he has decided to run.
Electing Kenny Golden will allow us all to check off the Second as being in good, Conservative hands. One we will not need to worry about.
[...] view the videos over at Bearing Drift and see what I mean about Kenny [...]
I talked to Kenny at last night’s Republican send-off dinner and he is a wonderful example of Conservative leadership. I also talked to Admiral Giffin who was sitting at Loyola’s table and Kenny came over and Loyola, Kenny and the Admiral starting talking Navy talk (sea stories) which were incredibly amusing. Something about Golden and Loyola serving under Adm. Giffin and Loyola and Giffin being Naval Academy graduates. A really tight knit group and the best to both Kenny and Ben.
We are not electing an Admiral from the Second District – David Ashe tried that against Thelma in 2004 and got his butt whipped 55-45.
We should be electing somoene with strong community ties, a proven record of creating private sector jobs and a long history of supporting local GOP candidates.
Many of these GOP candidates are good people and a couple of them just flat out egomaniacs. But frankly, as far as having an avility to get something done and becoming effective in DC, only Scott Rigell has the kind of background that shows promise in Washington.
Ron, who do you think the primary demographic is in the Second District – Rigell Freedom Ford auto buyers? Rigell was surrounded by his paid posse last night, and I didn’t see him once come over to talk to Kenny, Ben or Scott Taylor. Rigell is no Thelma, and doesn’t have a clue when it comes to the needs of the broad Government contractor business base or our active and retired military members. Kenny, Scott Taylor and Ben were working the floor last night, and Rigell sat there like a cardboard cutout waiting for folks to come to him. His is the anointed one, but right now after looking at his positions on the website and listening to his speeches, he doesn’t have a chance against Nye.
Ron? chuckle
Everyone overestimates the importance of the “candidate with military experience.” I have news for you – tens of thousands of voters who will swing this election one way or another don’t give a damn about military experience. Obama damn near won VA-2 and he doesn’t know the difference between a F-22 and a F-35 or between a private and a seaman.
If you want to pick on Scott because he wasn’t “working the room” go ahead. But next year he will be giving the keynote sppech at the Legislative Send-Off as Congressman Rigell.
I like how Spiker thinks that a Captain (ie. Golden) trumps a General (ie. Mizusawa). Not that Golden isn’t a good candidate, but if Spiker is going to make such a statement he should have his information straight. He makes me wonder if he is trying to downplay Mizusawa or if he is to lazy to do full research on the subject.
Nemo,
It’s just a piece on each candidate, not a shot at anyone. DJ may or may not have a preference in this race, but I have full faith that he will keep up the posts on all the candidates and do so without bias.
Ron, so the next send-off is going to have a cardboard mannequin standing up with Thelma doing a ventriloquist act with her hand up Rigell’s back? And I have news for you… there are “tens of thousands of us” who have loved ones, relatives, neighbors and acquaintances in the Military in the 2nd district who DO care about candidate positions on our security, how our military is equipped, and how do we maintain the military industrial based in the 2nd district.
The management, budget and political skills that a Senior Military Officer brings to the table, along with success in a small business connect them directly to the voters of the district. Golden, Loyola and Taylor have those skills because they have ‘been’ those managers as well as voters.
Go ahead, you and the Rigell campaign can blow off the military and large business such as SAIC, Northrup Grumman, CapStone, Cubic Systems, and many others which have thousands of employees and offices in the 2nd district. The people who work for these companies are very interested in who is covering their backs.
By the way, Rigell has been classified as an “establishment favorite” in an article published in “The Hill” yesterday, and Loyola and Taylor are considered “insurgent primary candidates”.
In the same Hill article about the Diaz endorsement of Loyola: “Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said GOP members are exercising their independence. “Just like primary voters, House Republican members have the freedom to choose who they feel is the best candidate to take on Democrats in these races,” Lindsay said.
Golden is a Navy Commodore with 31 years of active duty time. Bert only has maybe 8 active duty, the rest are in the reserves which is totally different. You can make general in the reserves just by showing up for 20 years. Obviously Bert has done far more than that, but the point is that 31 years active duty is far more experience than 20 years in the reserves like Loyola and Bert. He flew for 18 years and 5,000 hours in helicopters of aircraft carriers before becoming a ship commanding officer. He commanded the first night vision equipped squadron in the Navy and was the CO of the fist squadron deployed to Iraq during desert storm.
Second, Kenny has had 4 at sea commands, 2 of them were major task forces; one was the largest to leave San Diego since the Korean War; 7 ships, 10,000 sailors and marines. Commanding a fleet that large during Iraqi freedom is in and of itself more leadership and budget experience than Rigell, Loyola, and Bert have combined. His other task force rescued over 4,000 people from the Albanian crisis. The first ship he commanded was the lead ship in the first amphibious exercise with the Russian Navy since WWII. This, along with the first Navy Fellowship at Oxford, gives him more foreign policy experience than the other candidates combined.
He was in charge of Legislative Affairs and procurement for the entire fleet of carrier based helicopters at the pentagon; he managed a bigger budget than the city of Chesapeake. Before that he served in the policy coordination office for congressional testimony.
He is far and away the best qualified candidate in the race. When he was Chairman of the VB party they won 10 out of 10 races. Everyone in the party who has been around knows he was the hardest working chairman in the state. He even pulled of a win for McCain in 08 when the whole state went for Obama.
When you look at the candidates resumes, none of them come close to the experience Kenny has. He is the only candidate that can beat Glenn Nye and he is the only candidate that can stand up to the democrats in Washington and the spineless leadership in our own party.
First, let me say that I’m thankful for Kenny’s tremendous service to our country.
Tim J, your antagonistic comments are simply untrue. At the dinner you were referring to Rigell was with his family and campaign manager and was absolutely working the room. Are you sure you were there? You and I both know the picture you paint of him seated the entire night with a “paid posse” isn’t the truth.
In another comment you alluded to Rigell being dismissive of the military. This, again, could not be further from the truth. You are really showing your desperation and gross ignorance of Rigell as a person and a candidate.
The truth always prevails Tim J. People know Scott Rigell is a man of strong character with solid business experience who is running for the right reasons and has the ability to defeat Glenn Nye.
Reid, obviously you didn’t read my post above, where I was observing a conversation with Adm. Giffin, Loyola and Golden. Scott Taylor, Golden and Loyola are a Conservative dream team, considering that the NRCC has considered Rigell the “establishment candidate”. We Tea Party Conservatives won’t vote for and don’t believe that “establishment candidates” will win against Nye. We want true and loyal Founding Father oriented Conservatives who aren’t playing both ends against the middle. Are you part of Rigell’s paid posse?
If you spent any amount of time at all getting to know Rigell you would see that he is exactly the kind of man you just described– “True and loyal founding father oriented conservatives who aren’t playing both ends agianst the middle.” I don’t think this will go any further so I’ll leave it at that.
Gotcha, Reid. As the political season heats up, and new revelations come out about the establishment candidates, they will have to prove that they can beat the incumbant Democrat. We don’t need a RINO situation in the Second District.
Tim J – you are a nut. I didnt say Rigell doesn’t care about the military. I just said your obsession with it is wholly ridiculous.
Furthermore, your attempt to try to make Rigell Thelma’s puppet is absurd. Besides, please describe for all of us exactly what Thelma did wrong as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, or as a Member of Congress for that matter. She was a rock for the conservative movement in Washington. Anything you say to the contrary will only illustrate how ignorant you really are. How about Randy Forbes, with no military experience, what’s wrong with his record.
Once again, this fake test of military experience is self-serving for the candidates with the experience. It is completely irrelevant to being an excellent, effective congressman.
Collini, out!
Ron, you are obviously a part of Rigell’s paid attack posse, and now joining Nancy Peolsi in calling us Tea Party members names. You are giving us more and more reasons to work and vote against Rigell since you are apparently representing the Rigell campaign’s attitudes and opinions. And now you call us ignorant… Thelma got beaten for the wrongs she did in Congress, and Nye did a good job of reminding us. We love Randy Forbes who is a wonderful conservative and has a proven track record on security, military and the economy. Keep on denigrating the military and calling us names because it serves us well. Thanks!
Kenny Golden is a no non-sense bonafide conservative who, despite a brilliant military career, has not forgotten where he was born and raised. He is not like so many today who achieve success and forget their roots and values. He comes from a very good, hardworking family. I am Mayor of the town of Blackstone and am a little younger (41) than Kenny. I am an independent who is very conservative–probably to the right of many in the GOP. Kenny is the right man for the right time. And let’s not forget this “war on terror thing.” Kenny understands that evil exists and must be fought head-on…I urge Virginia Beach Republicans to look at Kenny’s record and not just focus on who MAY be the frontrunner…This country needs a wake-up call and Kenny is the man to help issue it in the halls of Congress.
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