Bill Bolling defeats Jody Wagner and is re-elected Lieutenant Governor

Here is the Washington Post story about the Lieutenant Governor's race:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/03/AR2009110303937.html?hpid=todays-paper

How much will Jody Wagner be tied to Creigh Deeds tomorrow?

If you follow politics in America, you'd know that the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election day. The most popular elections are when we are electing a President. Less popular elections -called "midterms" - come in between the Presidential elections and are when all the Representatives and 1/3rd of the Senators are elected. And then there are the completely off-year elections like Virginia's gubernatorial election where turnout is ridiculously low.

According to most polling, Creigh Deeds chances of winning on Election Day are low: http://www.pollster.com/polls/va/09-va-gov-ge-mvd.php?xml=http://www.pollster.com/flashcharts/content/xml/09VAGovGEMvD.xml&choices=McDonnell,Deeds&phone=&ivr=&internet=&mail=&smoothing=&from_date=&to_date=&min_pct=&max_pct=&grid=&points=1&lines=1&colors=McDonnell-BF0014,Deeds-2247AF

But how much exactly will Jody Wagner's race against Bill Bolling be tied to Creigh Deed's race against Bob McDonnell? When I canvassed in Arlington last Sunday I was doing it apart of a "coordinated campaign" for the entire Democratic ticket. The doorknockers mentioned all three Democratic candidates. I even was wearing a sticker with all three names: Deeds, Wagner, and Shannon (who is running for Attorney General). I don't think this bodes well for Jody Wagner, even though she is still a far superior candidate to Bill Bolling.

Good Luck, Jody!

A Real Problem Solver with Experience

Jody Wagner received the endorsement of The Washington Post for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia last week.

The tagline of the Post's article is "In Virginia, a problem-solver is better than a pol." Jody's resume demonstrates that she is a problem-solver, and voters in Virginia can be confident that if elected, she will continue to use her skills to solve the problems that face Virginians.

The article notes: "Unlike the usual run of officeholders in Richmond, she is more pragmatist and problem solver than partisan political warrior. As the only one of the six statewide candidates to have had hands-on experience with the state's budget, she would be uniquely well placed to serve as a resource for whichever candidate is elected."

The economy is one of the biggest issues facing voters next Tuesday. The Washington Post's endorsement demonstrates that Jody has the experience to be a valuable asset to the Commonwealth as Lieutenant Governor. As the lone statewide candidate to have real experience with Virginia's budget, Jody clearly stands above her opponent.

The Washington Post endorsement can be found here:

Clips from Jody Wagner vs. Bill Bolling Debate

From their first and only debate. Bolling used the phrase "that was a meaningless platitude about nothing" to describe something that Jody Wagner said. Personally, I like my politicians to by more articulate than that. He also accused her of running a "dishonest, deceitful, hypocritical campaign." Real mature.

If I find the whole debate online I will post the link. I bet some of the other bloggers have things to say about what may be the most important event in this Virginia Lieutenant Governor election.

Jody Wagner's campaign narrative: Bill Bolling is a no-show

Take a look at this video from the Jody Wagner campaign:



The video features Vietnam veteran and Virginia Delegate Bob Brink. The Lieutenant Governor of Virginia sits on an advisory board important to veterans' issues. Apparently Bill Bolling never showed up to any of the board meetings, essentially meaning that Bill Bolling doesn't care about veterans. This is just another example to reinforce the narrative coming out of the Jody Wagner campaign: Bill Bolling is a lazy no-show who doesn't care enough about his job or Virginia to ever show up. Whatever the Commonwealth is paying Bill Bolling to pretend to be Lieutenant Governor, it is far too much.

If I were working for the Jody Wagner campaign I would be repeating this narrative every chance I got. Messaging works because of repetition and truth. The truth seems to be that Bill Bolling doesn't take his job seriously enough to show up to work. Now the Wagner campaign just needs to loudly keep repeating that truth until election day.

Jody vs. Bill on the Environment

Young people tend to care more about environmental issues than older folks. As a young voter I think its necessary to look into the respective positions of Jody Wagner and Bill Bolling when it comes to the environment. Both of the candidates have sections related to the environment and energy on their websites:

Jodi Wagner: http://www.jodyforva.com/files/wagner_energy_environment.pdf

Bill Bolling: http://www.billbolling.com/issues/environment

http://www.billbolling.com/issues/energy

Now it’s hard to tell if Bill Bolling actually denies the science of climate change, but its resoundingly clear from his platform that he doesn’t think it’s a problem. He wants to drill for oil off of Virginia’s shores – a plan that isn’t going to make the price of gas go down, will ruin the ocean views in some of Virginia’s most popular tourist locales, and put beaches at the risk of devastating oil spills. Bolling also believes in the magic unicorn of global warming solutions: clean coal. He mentions clean coal on his energy page as if it were a viable technology. He fails to mention if he is talking about coal that doesn’t make as much smog or coal that doesn’t emit greenhouse gases (there's a huuuuuuge difference).

His belief in the drill-baby-drill fantasy and the mythology of clean coal doesn’t suggest he understands other environmental issues very well. On the other hand, Jody Wagner has a detailed plan for creating green jobs in the renewable energy and efficiency sectors. In fact, conservation groups in Virginia have caught onto this and have made endorsements accordingly.

The Virginia League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Jodi Wagner over Bill Bolling: http://www.valcv.org/majority/endorsement_list.html#statewide

The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club also endorsed Jodi Wagner:

http://votegreenva.com/