SCANDAL! AN ELECTED OFFICIAL’S ADVISOR TALKED ABOUT DRAWING DISTRICT LINES WITH THE GOVERNOR’S STAFF!
Now that’s pretty unshocking.
How long have we been drawing district lines in America? 240 years or so? How long have elected officials been trying to get the lines drawn in a way to their advantage. Does one Elbridge Gerry ring a bell?
Today, on the John Fredericks Show, Scott Taylor leveled the accusation that Rep. Randy Forbes was trying to be drawn into the Second District (yeah…and?). Then, Fredericks, using The Bull Elephant as a platform, wrote up a salacious piece (get your own link). He then used his radio email list to volley the hit piece to his audience. Mere seconds later, the Taylor campaign sends out a release that is virtually verbatim of Frederick’s email.
Talk about sloppy.
If you’re going to coordinate, at least make it a little less obvious.
But let’s be realistic about this “accusation”: it’s stupid and pointless; only politicians (and apparently me on a snowy afternoon) care about this stuff.
The only reason I’m really writing about it is 1) to point out the obvious coordination and 2) to wonder how far Taylor, Fredericks and, perhaps, The Bull Elephant are wiling to take this. Frankly, if they wanted it to have any staying power, wouldn’t the hit have been better used towards the end of the campaign?
It’s Friday afternoon. In February.
That said, well done Virginian-Pilot. Glad you basically repeated everything told to you by the Taylor campaign with no reference to the Forbes campaign at the time of my posting. Not even “we attempted to reach the Forbes’ office but were unable to.”
This is why I blog, folks. We need alternatives to the stuff we get fed sometimes.
UPDATE: “Patently false”
From the Forbes’ campaign:
“The outrageous and irresponsible accusations that Randy Forbes attempted to cut a deal with the Governor are patently false – Congressman Forbes never sent an emissary to talk to the Governor or his staff – nor has he ever spoken to the Governor or his staff about it. This is just the latest in a series of deceitful ploys used by a politician desperately seeking relevance. Over one and a half million people have had their congressional districts changed by the actions of two liberal judges and a California law professor. Those actions are currently under review by the United States Supreme Court. Congressman Forbes’ involvement in that case has been and continues to be as one member of the collective Virginia Republican congressional delegation.”
Tom Davis acting independently
The Daily Press reports that it was former Congressman Tom Davis who made a pitch without much luck to the governor.
Tom Davis, a lobbyist who represented a Northern Virginia district for 14 years, said he went on his own initiative to ask if Gov. Terry McAuliffe would be open to a tweak to a court-ordered redistricting to move Rep. Randy Forbes’ hometown, Chesapeake, into the 2nd district.
Davis said his pitch was that Forbes could drop his lawsuit challenging a redistricting that moved 300,000 Richmond area people into the 4th district that Forbes now represents.
Davis said he did not talk with Forbes about the idea, either changing district lines or dropping the suit.
He said he went to the governor right after 2nd district incumbent Scott Rigell announced he would not seek re-election, several weeks before Forbes announced he would seek the 2nd district seat.
Rumor Mill
A trusted source tells me Taylor’s not going to see this through. That he is a distraction to harm Forbes while Del. Chris Stolle gets his campaign together during the General Assembly session.
