Virginia Tomorrow

1. Deeds’ Best Week

Creigh Deeds has often struggled to get a hearing in the three way Democratic primary, but he may have had his best week since he announced his candidacy.  Late this week, he received the endorsement of The Washington Post despite being the only candidate in the race who does not hail from Northern Virginia. This was followed by a Public Policy Polling survey that had Deeds moving into a tie for second place with Brian Moran, nine points behind Terry McAuliffe. Primary elections are notoriously violatile affairs marked by rapid and unpredictable momentum swings. Deeds has to be happy that insiders are talking about the Post endorsement and his polling numbers, not making wisecracks about his driving prowess.

2. McAuliffe in the Political Crosshairs

The Politico was right on target (if you can excuse the bad pun) when it observed that a new issue has emerged in the Democratic primary that has crowded out all the others: Terry McAuliffe himself.  With McAuliffe ahead in all of the public polls, attempting to bring him down has become a matter of some urgency to the other campaigns. Moran strategist Steve Jarding noted that “his character is his greatest vulnerability… that was the first punch that landed and drew blood and we’re going to punch in the same place.”  No words minced there. For his part, McAuliffe is striving to avoid a tit-for-tat response to the attacks coming his way and hoping to remain on message with his focus on reviving Virginia’s economy.  Yet if Jarding is not feinting (which I do not think he is), the attacks are likely to pick up in intensity over the next 16 days.

3. McDonnell and Bolling Propose “Good Government” Reforms

Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling released a governmental reform package this week that, lo and behold, actually contained a comprehensive set of real changes in the way Virginia would do business. McDonnell reversed his previous opposition to redistricting reform and endorsed a bipartisan commission. The program included strengthened lobbyist disclosure provisions,  the establishment of an independent ethics commission and and a permanent government performance commission that could save taxpayer dollars. It’s a good package that makes, I think, for even better politics. It is way for McDonnell and Bolling to demonstrate that the GOP is not simply the “Party of No” and does so in a manner that will not alienate their conservative base. Expect more out of this in a McDonnell campaign. Be on the lookout for a “Virginians For…” committee that will try to demonstrate support from a broad cross-section of Virginia.

4. The Freedom to Be a Republican

Appears to be the essence of the political rights that students at Liberty University possess. This week the school revoked the college Democrats’ permission to operate as an officially sanctioned club on campus on the grounds that Democratic positions on key issues violate the basic principles of both the school and Christianity in general.  I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time in Lynchburg during the past few years and have been impressed by LU’s growth and development. It attracts students from over all the country and around the globe. It has built strong relationships with a number of Lynchburg areas companies. And it has a major positive economic impact on the community. But almost of this story is going to be lost as Liberty becomes defined by its exclusionary politics. Talk about two steps forward, one step back. Anyone who has been around politics for a while assuredly knows that no party has a monopoly on virtue and morality.

5. What’s Goin’ On (in Colonial Beach)?

Colonial Beach was once the gambling mecca of Virginia. Known as Las Vegas on the Potomac,  people walked out on its piers into what was offically Maryland and played the slots at casinos on the river such as Jackpot.  It  has remained one of the more colorful venues in the Commonwealth, but I’m sure that some of its residents wish that it would not always draw so much attention to itself. A few weeks ago the Colonial Beach Town Council banned the mayor from coming to City Hall without their permission and instructed the town’s attorney to send him a “No Trespassing” letter. This week the Colonial Beach School Board asked the state police to investigate the school system’s finances for the second time in about  a year.

6. What Would Jefferson Say

About proposals to limit out-of-state enrollment at his university? That’s the question U.S. 4th Circuit of Appeals Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson asked at the UVA commencment last weekend. Wilkinson contended that Jefferson would not have been pleased with such proposals that are incompatible with his basic educational philosophy and with his aspirations for the university.  But then again, I’m certain that the northern Virginia legislators who proposed the caps might note that Jefferson never had to deal with an angry NOVA parents wanting to know why their sons and daughters with 4.0 GPAs  didn’t get in to his university.

7. Speaking of the 4th Circuit…

Barack Obama expanded on his criteria for a Supreme Court nominee, saying that he wants someone with “intellectual firepower but also a little bit of the common touch and has a practical sense of how the world operates.”  There’s a man on the 4th Circuit who fits this bill to a tee. He is Judge Roger Gregory and he possesses all of the attributes that Obama has mentioned. I have not heard his name mentioned on any of the short lists for this appointment, but if there is any fairness in the world, he should be seriously considered whenever an opening arises during an Obama administration.