Nye quietly building a record – and a war chest
By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 | PoliticsWhile six Second District Republicans attempt to differentiate themselves from one another in a long primary campaign, over the past two years, the opponent they would like to challenge in the November General Election, freshman Rep. Glenn Nye, has been steadily building a solid record on veterans’ issues and raking in the campaign cash.
Nye is not the foolish, young, naive representative that many have painted him out to be in Republican circles. Rather, Nye is a very shrewd and disciplined politician who already knows what it takes to win.
Nye’s victory over Rep. Thelma Drake in 2008 wasn’t merely because the Obama wave engulfed Virginia Beach and Norfolk. His campaign stayed on message, didn’t antagonize, played the victim card brilliantly, and, perhaps most importantly, claimed that he would be the better champion for veterans in Congress than Drake.
Since being elected, the only thing truly disagreeable that Nye can be criticized individually by Republicans is his voting for Speaker Nancy Pelosi and caucusing with the Democrats.
Sure, Nye’s handling of the QDR report regarding the movement of an aircraft carrier to Mayport, Fla. will garner its fair share of rightfully deserved criticism, but as we saw this past Friday from the Virginian-Pilot, both they and the Democrats will attempt to show that Republicans Forbes and Wittman also have culpability.
Much to the chagrin of progressives, Nye voted against the current health care bill, against cap-and-trade, against the president’s budget (although he did vote for the original stimulus bill), all the while also being exceptionally strong on veterans’ issues.
Even a cursory look today at Nye’s press releases shows what I’m talking about…
- Nye Calls for Answers after DOD Suddenly Ends Military Spouse Education Program
- Nye: $750 a Month is Too Much, Too Fast -Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to ease the burden on local veterans
- Post 9/11 GI Bill: Nye Asks Shinseki for Emergency Assistance for Veterans
- Glenn Nye Calls for Higher Pay Raise for Troops
- Nye Asks VA Secretary to Help Fight Contract Fraud
And the list goes on.
You then combine that record with his fundraising report from Dec. 31, you’d have to be an idiot to think Nye is a paper tiger.
Nye has raised over a million dollars and has over $850K on hand.
Nye’s closest opponent is Scott Rigell with over $500K on hand, but much of that will certainly be spent during the primary against other well-funded candidates such as Bert Mizusawa and Ben Loyola.
The year is still young, and Republicans can be optimistic that they’ll learn a lot about their candidate and should be reasonably united from June to November.
But if they think it’s going to be a walk in the park, they have another thing coming.
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About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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21 Responses to "Nye quietly building a record – and a war chest"
Nye also voted against the Stupak Amendment and thus supports taxpayer funding for abortion. Don’t think that issue won’t play out with social conservatives this fall.
Nye very first vote was to make Pelosi Speaker; a vote that will come back to haunt him.
There are several 2nd district Republican candidates that have previous history supporting abortion as well supporting Democrats which calls into question their Conservative credentials. As the incumbant, Nye has a strong, independent voting record he can stand on in contrast to all of the Republican candidates.
If the 2nd District Republican candidate has a “Conservative Deficit”, then Nye has the resources and the record to tear a weak Republican candidate to shreds and nationally embarrass the 2nd District Republican party in this, the year of the “Conservative”.
@ Tim J. – What candidates have supported abortion rights? And please cite whatever proof you have, such as a pointing to a position on a website, etc. Thanks.
LC, there you go again, trying to bait a smear on someone. I am not a campaign spokesman for any campaign and will not identify any specific candidate personal vulnerabilities on abortion or any other issue.
You called me out on the specific issue I identified with Rigell’s campaign relative to bogus endorsement that was on his website from Admiral Jack Cavanaugh, which was then removed after Adm. Cavanaugh found out and complained.
Questions about Conservative principles which include social, religious, fiscal and other core issues should be handled in a debate forum, not here, where hit and run allegations aren’t fair to the candidates including Glenn Nye.
Go do a little research on each of the candidate’s campaign websites on Right to Life and abortion, attend a debate or call in to a talk show when they are on to ask them to explain their position or lack of a position published on their website and you will get an inkling of who may be vulnerable.
“Bait and smear”? “Hit and run”? When you – or anyone else – makes a comment on a candidate’s position, I expect that you can back it up. I assume that any information you have about a candidate’s views or – in this case – “previous history” (which is redundant) is supported by publicly available information. If it’s public information, no candidate would mind having it publicized. Therefore, I merely ask that you supply it. I haven’t seen pro-choice rhetoric on any candidate’s website, nor have I heard it at any of the several debates I’ve attended. I can’t call in to a radio show during the day since I work for a living. If you can point me to the information showing that a particular candidate is pro-choice, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
LC, I have made no such allegations relative to any specific candidate or their position on life, and I am under no obligation to discuss any information that is not available to you via publically available sources.
As I mentioned before, instead of looking for public information about “pro-choice” which no current Republican candidate in their right mind will post publically, look for a lack of a strong position on “pro-life”.
There are few politicians I cannot stand, and Glenn Nye is one of them. He’s a reason I can’t stand the democratic party.
Is this a Republican blog or a Glenn Nye Lovefest Blog?
Fact, Glenn Nye supports federal funding of abortion.
Fact, Glenn Nye supports the radical homosexual agenda.
These facts might surprise you, but they don’t surprise those of us who are familiar with Nye’s rejection of family values in his own lifestyle.
“Lovefest”? It’s more like a warning.
Regarding you’re “facts” – I don’t dispute them, but “facts” are generally backed up with some sort of link or bill or speech, etc.
Please provide.
Your facts could, perhaps, be useful to this web site later.
In looking at Nye’s voting record, it is more aligned with Wittman and Forbes than it is with Bobby Scott. Nye has also made inroads with some of the huge Government service contractors who are large employers and has been seen standing next to Forbes on high technology programs and projects in Modelling and Simulation and cyber security which span both districts.
He just had an amendment that passed unanimously in the House for the Government Accountability Office to study which cybersecurity practices have worked, and which haven’t. A new world class Municipal Cyber Lab is being set up in Hampton that will support current national security initiatives in cyberterrorism and is providing new jobs and training opportunities in the district. JR has listed above other accomplishments and examples of where Nye has focused on Veterans and National Defense.
Any Republican that is thinking about running against Nye had better have a resume that stacks up against these and his other accomplishments. Surfing the wave of anti-incumbency and low congressional polls or being the darling choice of the Republican party won’t cut it against this man. The Republican candidate had better have some real substance on real issues and real experience to frame some powerful discriminators of why exactly Glenn Nye shouldn’t be re-elected.
What does Nye need a warchest for? He’s been using taxpayer dollars to send me full-color glossy multi-page political ads for over a year.
Amen, Brian.
Not offering affirmative or negative commentary here, merely pointing out that Phil Kellam accused Rep. Thelma Drake of using the same service in 2006, and most Republicans dismissed it as an issue.
JR: Good post. You took a realistic look at the issue. Some of the commenters are blinded by partisan desire. Nye is beatable in 2010 because it’s a tough year to be a Democrat. But, as you noted, he’s done a good job of insulating himself on some of flashpoint issues and raising money. I think it’s interesting that some of the commenters think looking at the facts constitutes disloyalty to the party.
I also do not wish to appear “disloyal”, but I have always found Nye’s office to be extremely helpful on the issues that I’ve brought them. Nye is not outspoken on the controversial issues. He does a great job of appearing reasonable.
However, for all of his not-so-bad qualities, I have to disagree that he’s going to be a great force to be reckoned with. First, as Steve says, the tide is against the Democrats right now. They’re where we were in 2006, and Thelma barely pulled off a win in a supposedly Republican district. Secondly, it’s a mid-term election, and Nye, a freshman, has no coat-tails to ride. It’s just him at the top of the ticket. He hasn’t had time to build a strong reputation or following, he’s only been in office two years, my contention is he isn’t strong enough to get people out to vote. Turnout is low at mid-term elections anyway. And finally, he’s in the worst possible position because he’s not progressive enough to galvanize his base with the Dems, but the Rs are never going to vote for him. How much can he pull from the swing vote in a mid-term election when the tide is against him? Probably not enough to win.
GG: That’s a reasonable position. You could well be right that Nye’s faillure to excite the Dem base hurts him. On the other hand, Dems have a history of being a little more pragmatic about their candidates than Republicans, not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I do think Nye’s got an uphill fight. I think he’s the Dems’ most vulnerable Congressman.
Facts about Glenn Nye-
He voted AGAINST the Stupak Amendment to block federal funding of abortion in the Pelosi health care bill.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll884.xml
I don’t know of anything that Nye has done that is pro-life.
FACT, Glenn Nye is supporting the radical homosexual agenda. Including H.R. 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (See liberal praise here: http://www.bluevirginia.us/2010/02/great-move-by-glenn-nye.html)
The truth about ENDA: http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/National/2009/H.R.3017/default.asp
Nye also supports H.R. 4530, the Student Nondiscrimination Act of 2010, offered by the openly homosexual Congressman Polis of Colorado. The bill would grant special rights to openly homosexual students in taxpayer funded schools. How soon until schools are forced to spend taxpayer money on gay proms and transgendered locker rooms?
When people talk about Nye being outspoken on controversial issues, it’s because he’s done everything possible to hide from his constituents and avoid the public eye. Nye is the worst sort of Democrat because he’s silently liberal, supporting radical pieces of legislation in the dark free from the public.
Nye’s aide didn’t respond to my phone call in December about sending clothes to a chaplain in Afghanistan for distribution among the people. I figured there was some way for him to have it go along on an airlift, perhaps, or something. No call back, despite the aide’s sounding excited to help.
I think the “Anti-Nye” will have to have a vag1na. (Please laugh, Mr. Hoeft!)
So Not Andy, “don’t ask, don’t tell” for publically funded schools?
I am moving to the Eastern Shore of Virginia this summer. I would like to fund a conservative Republican (tea party endorsed if possible). Is Rigell the right guy? I want to FIRE NANCY PELOSI and don’t care how conservative a record Nye has. All bluedogs must go!
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