Virginia Tomorrow

1. You Give Love a Bad Name

Is my favorite Bon Jovi song.  Well, Governor Mark Sanford did all that and more this week with his Argentinian hijinks, his remarkable press conference about “that sparking thing,” and his extraordinary Cabinet meeting when he compared himself to King David. I won’t even discuss what he’s done to the notion of “hiking the Appalachian Trail.”  Remarkably, Sanford managed, at least in the short term, to complicate matters for both Bob McDonnell and Tim Kaine.

2.  Brand Damage

While Sanford’s behaviors are by no means limited to Republican Governors (remember Eliot Spitzer) , the last thing Bob McDonnell needs is any more damage to the Republican brand. Sanford was a high profile Governor, chairing the national Republican Governors’ Association and, along with Bobby Jindal, leading the charge against Obama’s stimulus package. Democrats are, of course, hoping that Sanford keeps one pledge that he has recently taken- to remain as Governor of South Carolina. The Dems see this as a gift that, if Sanford stays in office, could keep on giving. You can already see the ad linking McDonnell and Sanford in opposing stimulus dollars coming to their states.

3. Man Bites Dog: The Media Joins Forces with the Republicans

To protest Tim Kaine’s refusal to turn over his out of state travel records for the work he is performing in his second job as head of the Democratic National Committee. Jeff Schapiro obtained this quote from Megan Rhyne, Executive Director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. “We have the perfect example of why it is important for people to know where a Governor is traveling, and its right down the road in South Carolina.”  It’s doubtful that the issue will go away anytime soon. Some reporters obviously feel that they’ve been snookered and they’ll be keeping pressure on the Governor’s office to be more transparent about his political travel schedule.  Ultimately, this could be more troublesome to the Governor than the objections from the state GOP.

4. Smart Virginia

That’s what the Virginia Business Higher Education Council wants the state to be known as. The Council announced a bipartisan initiative that would aim to significantly increase the number of Virginians holding college degrees in order to even more favorably position the state in a global economy.   All kinds of questions about what it would cost and how it would be implemented have yet to be fully aired. Still, I like the idea of a statewide higher education policy goal that could actually be understood by the public- it’s far better that “Base Adequacy” or “Institutional Performance Measures.”

5. No Texts, No Tweets, No Email

While driving in Virginia after July 1. But the actual law indicates the kind of compromises that had to be made to get it on the books in the first place. The fine for a first offense is $20, it is a secondary violation, and law enforcement officers must have another reason to stop the vehicle before writing anyone up for texting or tweeting.

6. Liberty Compromise

Liberty University came up with an acceptable compromise that ended the firestorm that began when it revoked the status of the College Democrats as an official univesity club.  LU has now said that neither the College Republicans or the College Democrats will be an “official” student organization, but will retain rights to use campus facilities and use the Liberty name. Governor Kaine praised the compromise as a very good solution to the problem. Liberty has made a substantial contribution to the Lynchburg area in recent years and it was good to see an answer that doesn’t represent a step backwards for an institution that has experienced substantial growth.

7. Recession Continues to Hit the House

Delegate Kris Amundsen is the latest member of the Virginia House of Delegates to announce a recession-induced retirement. Amundsen noted that it would be impossible for her to campaign for office and keep her communication firm going. She joins Clarke Hogan and William Fralin on the Republican side in citing buisness obligations as the reason for not running for re-election. Amundsen’s departure is one more indication that the toll of this recession is felt just about everywhere.