Virginia Tomorrow

1. Wilder’s Politico Buzz

Politico has quickly become on of the most widely read sources among Washington insiders.  It didn’t take long  for Doug Wilder’s article criticizing President Obama’s White House team and suggesting that Tim Kaine is not the best fit for the DNC Chair to be all the buzz on the news, cable and talk radio shows. There was some speculation in the local media about whether Wilder was “still relevant,”  16 years after he left the Governorship. But it appears that Politico, the national networks, the cable shows and CSPAN did not share this concern.

2. McDonnell Pushes Charters, Education Groups Push Back

Bob McDonnell held a press conference this week to highlight the importance that the push for charter school reform holds for his education agenda in Virginia. (Interestingly, Wilder was one of the invitees and speakers at the event). The Governor clearly believes that charters can be a significant part of the answer in improving systems that are still underperforming. A number of education groups held their own press conference, arguing  that they did not want to see local control over charters be diminished and suggesting that there may be serious constitutional hurdles forsome McDonnell proposals. I’m hoping that in the next four years we avoid a situation where the Governor and the major education groups are continually at odds and focus on matters where they must be large areas of agreement. Improving educational opportunity for kids stuck in underperforming schools should be an agenda item that anyone interested in schools can agree upon.

3. Virginia Schools Get a Good Report Card

But everyone interested in education should also recognize that, overall, Virginia’s public schools are performing quite well. This week, a national report noted that Virginia students rate third in the nation on various measures associated with Advanced Placement tests.  There are clearly districts where we can do much better and areas where even the best schools can be improving. But it also important that the reductions in education funding that’ll have to be made this session are developed in ways that provide the best opportunity to maintain Virginia’s comparative performance.

4. Dems Want McDonnell to Be More Specific With Budget Cut Proposals

The Democrats continued to hammer the new Governor this week for not being more specific about his recommendations for the $2 billion in budget cuts that’ll have to be made since he’ll be removing the tax hikes intended to cover this amount that were included in Governor Kaine’s outgoing budget.  A number of media outlets reported that McDonnell has provided general numbers to the money committees (including $700 million in employee/compensation reductions and $700 million in education cuts), but has not offered written specifics that are publicly available. There seems to be a political calculus occurring on both sides. McDonnell has obviously wanted to say what he is for (no new taxes, charters, government reform) before offering a menu of cuts for Democrats to take aim at. And the Democrats in the Senate would prefer to deflect attention away from their own internal division about whether they should be proposing tax increases and focus on a common adversary- the Republican Governor. But I think that most everyone knows what is coming- deep budget cuts- and it is probably to the Governor’s long-term advantage to make certain that the public knows what he is proposing and why. If  I remember my Machiavelli correctly, he noted that it’s always good for a leader to be seen as parsimonious at the beginning of his term.

5. The Politics of Snowmageddon

The new Governor appeared to handle his first weather crisis with seriousness and competence. He was assisted by the fact that the snow was not accompanied by horrifically widespread power outages. I was intrigued by how The Washington Post reported on Snowmageddon, noting how many people were without power in the metropolitan Washington area on an hour by hour basis, and comparing the percentage of Dominion and Pepco customers in the metro area whose power was off.  Dominion came out very well in this comparison. The media has essentially developed a real-time, weather-related scorecard- per cent of primary and secondary roads plowed, per cent of households without power, etc.- that can’t be ignored by either political leaders or utility companies. I like it.

6. Don’t Mess with the Designated Driver

This year’s effort in the General Assembly to enable individuals with concealed carry permits to legally bring their guns into bars and restaurants stipulates that you cannot drink if you’re carrying.  But it will be perfectly legal for designated drivers to carry if the bill that will surely pass the House gets approved by the Senate.

7. “There’s No Political Implication”

Was the quote Terry McAuliffe provided this week to reporters who spoke to him about his bid to purchase the International Paper mill in Franklin and turn it into an alternative energy plant. Of course. But if there’s a better way for McAuliffe to discard the carpetbag his opponents saddled him with in 2009 than by providing  jobs for Virginians in an economically distressed area, I’d like to know what it might be.