Category: Politics
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Ed Gillespie’s Trumpian Appeal to the Alt-Right
by Les Schreiber The recent events in Charlottesville to protest the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue morphed into a shocking display of anti-Semitism. The pictures of torch-bearing protesters chanting “Jews will not replace us” resembled 1930s marches in Nuremberg, Germany. The current leader of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, could not bring himself…
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Appreciating L.B.J.
No trip to Austin would be complete without a trip to the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential library. The edifice, designed in a late 60s-era brutalist style of architecture, is massive, impersonal and expresses nothing of the man it honors. But the museum inside brings to life a president who, for all his failings, was one…
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Roanoke, Shenandoah Valley, Southwest, and the 23229 Zip Code Keeping Gillespie in the Race
According to Virginia Public Access Project data, Democratic candidate for governor Ralph Northam has raised 50% more money than Republican Ed Gillespie — and almost 30 times more than Libertarian Cliff Hyra. The map above shows the distribution of in-state dollars by region. (Drill down by region and you can see the contribution count broken…
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Do Utilities and Coal Companies Run Virginia? Hardly.
Vivian Thomson argues that utilities and coal companies dominate Virginia’s energy policy. Her simplistic view ignores the reality that environmentalists wield significant power now. Vivian E. Thomson has a big beef with state government. The University of Virginia environmental sciences professor contends that the political system in the Old Dominion is rigged in favor of…
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Libertarian Hyra Cracks 8% in VCU Poll
The predictable headline of the new Virginia Commonwealth University poll is that Democrat Ralph Northam has a five-point edge, with a five-point margin of error, among likely voters over Republican Ed Gillespie in the gubernatorial race. You can read all about it in the Washington Post article filed this morning. The more interesting story is…
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Hyra’s Ideas on Taxes Deserve a Wide Hearing
I’m glad to see that the Richmond Times-Dispatch actually gave some ink to the official campaign launch of Libertarian Party nominee Cliff Hyra. As far as I can tell from my perusal of the Virginia Public Access Project’s daily VaNews digest, the T-D was the only major newspaper to do so. (However, Richmond Magazine did publish…
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Campaign Contributions and Selective Indignation
Steve Nash, author of “Virginia Climate Fever,” is on a crusade against Dominion Energy, electric utilities, the coal industry and other corporate special interests that donate vast sums of money to Virginia politicians. He has been submitting op-eds to newspapers around the state taking Dominion and Appalachian Power to task for their outsized campaign contributions.…
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A Fourth Force in Virginia Energy Politics
The political economy of energy in Virginia used to be simple. Three main interest groups contended to formulate energy policy in the state: environmentalists, consumers, and electric utilities. Consumers, both homeowners and businesses, pressed for lower electric rates. Environmentalists fought for cleaner air and, more recently, lower CO2 emissions. And utilities — the only parties…
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Ed Gillespie: a Leader with Imaginative Ideas and Meaningful Solutions
by William J. Howell The June 13th Virginia Primary is quickly approaching and it is time to choose a Republican who can offer the kind of responsible, conservative solutions our Commonwealth needs and deserves. Fortunately, we have a candidate in Ed Gillespie who is wholly committed to ideas and policies based on principles of limited,…
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Frank Wagner in the Center Ring
By Steve Haner Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, came to the General Assembly in the 1991 election, as part of a large GOP class that included future Governor Bob McDonnell, future Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice Bill Mims, future U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor and current State Senate Majority Leader Tommy…
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Woo Hoo! Stewart Promises Billions in Toll-Free Projects
Claiming the populist niche in the contest for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, Corey Stewart has given away a semi-automatic rifle as part of a fund-raising effort, defended monuments of Confederate generals, and bashed Dominion Energy for its coal-ash disposal plans. Now he’s added to his rabble-rousing resume by promising voters to meet Virginia’s transportation needs…
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Virginia Voters Back Pipeline by Nearly Two-to-One
Registered voters in Virginia favor construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) by an almost two-to-one margin over those who oppose it, according to a poll released by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) today. Fifty-four percent support the controversial project strongly or somewhat, while 31% oppose it. Eighty-three percent of voters say they consider “energy…
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Ralph Northam’s Plan to Empower Virginia’s Political Class
Under pressure from his rival for accepting money from Dominion, Democratic Party candidate for governor Ralph Northam has called for a cap on campaign donations and a ban on corporate contributions. “Virginia’s campaign finance system is a boondoggle that alienates its citizens and makes them lose faith in government,” Northam said in a statement. “Virginians…
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Yes, Virginia, There Will Be a Third Party Choice this Fall
The major media took absolutely no notice, but over the weekend the Libertarian Party nominated a candidate for governor: Cliff Hyra, a Richmond-area patent attorney. His top three issues are economic growth, criminal justice reform, and adding choice to the education and health-care systems. Rick Sincere, a libertarian blogger, covered Hyra’s nomination for Bearing Drift. Hyra’s…
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A Business-Like Approach to Paying for I-87
Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, is the Republican candidate you’d almost forget was running for governor were it not for the occasional newspaper article like the one in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch. He doesn’t have Ed Gillespie’s financial resources, and he lacks Corey Stewart’s penchant for controversy. But he’s out there, plugging away. As a long-time legislator,…