All in all, it’s a time to celebrate the success of Health Care Reform in the House. We’re a step closer to making affordable healthcare accessible for Americans.

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3. House Democrats pass stimulus while Republicans play games

When I arrived at the rally location, in front of the registrar’s office near the Virginia Beach courthouse, it was well underway. My rough count was about 50 people. Various news outlets reported on the rally and the connected story: the too close to call race in the 21st District between Democratic Delegate Bobby Mathieson and Republican challenger Ron Villanueva.

Those that rallied were invited into the counting room to observe the treatment of absentee ballots, but it was specifically the 85th district that was being worked on, not Mathieson’s 21st. We received a brief lesson on how the election board operates; however, for the most part we were there as a reminder that the people of Virginia Beach are watching this election closely, and it had better be a fair count of the votes that decides the winner.

While observing, word came in of an injunction being filed to stop the count of absentee ballots in a move to force the whole lot of absentee ballots of be examined and counted in an open and fair manor. The filing of the injunction was a small victory for Democrats as the reconsideration of absentee ballots could mean an increase in votes. It’s hoped that this combined with the results of the count of the provision ballots might mean victory for Bobby Mathieson. It’s certainly very close, and his winning isn’t impossible.

Check out pictures and video from the rally below:

Related posts:

1. Virginia Senate passes no-excuse absentee voting
2. Youth lead the charge toward victory
3. Working toward the primary, and Unity Rally after

On the issue of whether or not this election was a referendum on the Presidency, I do not believe it was. While I do know there were voters who made their decision based on stirred incitement from tea party movement and Fox “News”, I also believe that this group of voters were not in the majority and their decisions at the polls could have been overcome.

No, this election was a referendum on the breakdown of the Democratic Party of Virginia who failed to take real leadership in the election. Democratic primary voters made stupid, misguided, and blinded decisions at the polls in June, fielding a ticket that was not very Democratic-like at all. Voters went for the nice guy, the more moderate guy, the safe choice. The result of those cowardly votes was a gubernatorial candidate who couldn’t even talk about the strengths of his campaign without botching it up, on camera, for Republicans to have a field day with. This candidate, Creigh Deeds, should have never made it out of the starting gate on primary day. He should not have been a serious contender.

On the other hand, some may understand why Deeds won in June. Brian Moran, who was originally favored to win, threw all of his resources at taking down latecomer and national super star Terry McAuliffe. It worked, but not without taking Moran down as well. This left Deeds as the primary winner, primarily because voters didn’t want to chose Terry who was never massively popular with the Virginia electorate and then became more unpopular with each major hit from the Moran campaign, and voters had a foul impression of Brian Moran for playing so dirty. The truth is that both of these candidates were much stronger than Deeds, but again; both had their faults that wouldn’t have made winning a certainty either. Regardless, Democrats were weak following the primary.

Creigh Deeds had the responsibility to charge the Democratic ticket, from the top down, forward to victory, but instead he mounted a weak campaign that was opposite from the praised style during the primary campaign and that failed to shore up the strengths of his campaign. In an attempt to win over conservatives, Deeds seemed to distance himself from President Obama and national politics more than Bob McDonnell and the Republican ticket did. Progressives, like myself, grew tired of supporting a candidate who with every debate was painting himself as less and less of a progressive, and even less of a Democrat. It became obvious that he never fired up his base, and that he was going to lose badly. More horrible than his loss was that his campaign would also bring down great members of the House of Delegates.

Now, Democrats have the opportunity to be the opposition party. They better get this right if there’s any chance at holding on to a Democratic seat in the 2nd District next year. The long night has begun, and now we have to work at restoring the light.

Related posts:

1. PPP: Deeds has lost 25% of the liberal electorate
2. Deeds can win by dropping out
3. Latest PPP: Deeds leads, McAuliffe and Moran stagnant

Here’s the tough news from SurveyUSA

*McDonnell leads Deeds by 17 points, 58%-41%
*Bolling leads Wagner by 14 points, 56%-42%
*Cuccinelli leads Shannon by 16 points, 57%-41%

Now, here’s PPP:

*McDonnell leads Deeds by 15 points, 55%-40%
*Bolling leads Wagner by 12 points, 50%-38%
*Cuccinelli leads Shannon by 16 points, 52%-36%

Related posts:

1. Moran and Wagner lead in latest polling
2. Thoughts heading into tomorrow’s primary
3. The night may be long

While conservatives may hail Reid’s decision as being a win for state’s rights, the losers will be those uninsured in Republican “red” states who will likely have to wait for access to a public option, or be denied access completely by their conservative leaders. It should be noted many of these states have a significantly higher percentage of uninsured people who will likely be blocked from the full benefits of health care reform due to the opt out concession.

Health care reform is not an issue for the states to decide. All people, throughout the nation, should have access to affordable health care. While there are indeed issues which should be decided at the state or local level, health care is not one of them. This congress needs to step it up and start serving the interests of the people, and stop playing political games. It’s time to get things done as the majority and actually lead for a change.

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Though Deeds has spoken in opposition of Obama’s environmental policies, his strategy to improve the economy, and has called into question Obama’s proposed health care reforms; the President seems to have decided to throw Deeds, and Virginia, a bone in an election that has all but been called for Republicans statewide.

Any why not? President Obama was the first Democrat in 44 years to win Virginia in a presidential race, beating Republican John McCain by over 6-points in 2008. Some might also point out that Obama stumped for embattled New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who reportedly jumped to a 9-point lead from a dead heat after Obama’s visit (though, the accuracy of the latest poll is being questioned by many).

Update: Latest Rasmussen poll has Corzine trailing by 3-points.

Deeds currently trails by an average of about 10-points according to various polls. Even if Deeds sees a bump equal to Corzine’s post-Obama polling, Deeds will be in a statistical tie with McDonnell, the Republican candidate who’s maintained the lead and momentum throughout this campaign.

President Obama will be leading a rally today at Old Dominion University’s Constant Convocation Center. Doors open at 2:00 PM, and general admission is first come, first served. Even though the Deeds campaign allowed people to RSVP on their website, most were e-mailed general admission tickets, which do not seem customized in any way. So, if you’re interested in going to the rally, or would like to have a copy of the general admission ticket, click here and print.

Related posts:

1. Barack Obama to Virginia: Support Creigh Deeds for Governor
2. Washington Post: Endorsement of Creigh Deeds comes down to transportation, again
3. Creigh Deeds, his campaign, and the Washington Post

Now this isn’t that big of a problem for Deeds with the liberal voters who are actually planning to show up- he has a 95-4 lead with them. But it is an issue with how many are showing up. Exit polls last year showed them accounting for 21% of the Virginia electorate. They only make up 16% of likely voters this year. That’s almost a 25% drop in their share of the electorate.

People are confused about Deeds’ ideology, and he’s failed to fire up what should be his base of support. I’ve been sitting on a post for the last week, debating whether or not to express publicly my feeling about Creigh Deeds and his campaign. Today, I’ve decided to post why I’m walking away from his campaign. I’ll show up to vote, but I’m not investing anything anything more into his campaign. I’m pretty sure my feelings echoes those who won’t even come out to vote.

Those of us who actually want to move Virginia forward need to work harder for more progressives candidates. Deeds was a compromise “safe” selection in the Democratic primary; and now people aren’t even sure why the Democrat in the race is. It sucks, and it could have been prevented.

Related posts:

1. The night may be long
2. Latest PPP: Deeds leads, McAuliffe and Moran stagnant
3. Deeds gaining ground, Moran and McAuliffe stalled

Creigh Deeds hasn’t kept it together. From the very start of his general campaign, Deeds has continuously missed the mark. His primary win has less to do with him being the strongest Democratic candidate, and more about his opponents beating each other down, allowing Deeds to sail through to victory. I wasn’t prepared for his win, but it wasn’t my job to be prepared. It was the job of Deeds’ campaign to be prepared, and it’s obvious that they weren’t, no matter what they may claim today.

From the primary forward, as indicated by primary and general endorsements from the Washington Post, transportation has been the strength of the Deeds campaign. It was spelled out, in black and white, for Creigh Deeds; but his campaign failed to rally around that strength and build upon it. While Deeds’ honesty about transportation funding is admirable, it didn’t stop Bob McDonnell from continuously holding up a piece of blank paper as a prop to symbolize that Deeds has no specific plan other than the admission of the necessity of raising taxes to boost Virginia’s transportation fund, and figuring out the details by committee after Deeds is elected. While Bob McDonnell’s plan is faulty, there should have been more time, thought, and detail placed into Deeds’ transportation plan, and the presentation of that plan should have been the keystone of the campaign. They couldn’t even get this together, and Deeds very publicly stumbled at explaining the basics of transportation funding. We have never heard a strong, concise, and detailed presentation on transportation from Creigh Deeds himself; it’s been transportation authorities and business leaders who have supported his transportation plan, but that’s not enough to win.

From the very start of Deed’s campaign, beginning in the primary, he has either ignored or taken progressives for granted. His campaign gave progressives no reason to support Deeds other than constantly remind us how horrible Bob McDonnell’s theocratic conservative ideology is. While I disagree with Bob McDonnell on a huge range of issues, Deeds isn’t exactly a beacon of individual liberty either. While Deeds’ may claim to be evolving on social issues, he’s barely a stones throw away from McDonnell in many ways. Let’s not forget that Creigh Deeds supported the Marshall-Newman ballot measure that led to the amending of Virginia’s constitution with discriminatory language that continues to deny equality to all people. While he did campaign against the passage of the measure, after supporting placing the measure on the ballot, anyone worth their political salt should have known what the outcome of the measure would be at that time.

Perhaps the final straw that broke the camel’s back for many progressives was placed last night during the final debate between Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell. On the issue of the public option in health care reform, the public option supported by Democracy for America, CREDO Action, MoveOn.org, and preferred by President Barack Obama; Creigh Deeds agreed with Bob McDonnell that Virginia should consider opting out of the public option if the option is included in national health care reform. Following this statement, he raddled off goals he believes need to be accomplished with health care reform, many of which are reasons why the public option should be made available. It was a clear display of his lack of understanding of the health care debate, and lack of support for progressive causes.

What makes all of this worse is that the strategy of the Deeds campaign is not working. If he clearly had momentum and was leading in the polls, progressive Democrats could tell themselves that his strategy is okay, and all of the above is acceptable because it’s what is leading Deeds to victory. The reality is the exact opposite.

While I continue to endorse Creigh Deeds as the more moderate candidate in the gubernatorial race, I will not contribute any more time to his campaign. I will vote, and nothing more. I am a Democrat because I’m a progressive, and not the other way around. I believe Creigh Deeds has shown that he’s not interested in progressive causes, and because of this; I’m no longer interested in helping him win this election.

Related posts:

1. Deeds WAPO editorial clarifies his transportation plan
2. Washington Post: Endorsement of Creigh Deeds comes down to transportation, again
3. Creigh Deeds, his campaign, and the Washington Post

This is what was heard time and time again as people asked what a group of gay rights activists were doing with flags, signs, and flyers in front of the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library. The group was organized by Virginia Beach Progressives, the Hampton Roads Outreach Center, and the Hampton Roads LGBTS Political Action Team, to demonstrate in front of the library to remind people that even though Thomas Jefferson penned “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence 233 years ago, GLTB people are still treated as unequals under the law.

The group demonstrated outside as library visitors were treated to a rare opportunity to view a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence, one of only 26 known printed copies, inside the library. The response of library visitors to the group was overwhelmingly positive, but that’s not to say that there weren’t a few negative comments and hecklers.

Pictures from the Declaration Demonstration

Flyers were passed out detailing the inequalities that GLBT peoples face under present laws and asking people to contact their congressional representatives to ask that they support the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”,”The Defense of Marriage Act” and support the expansion of hate crimes legislation to protect GLBT people.

I spoke to two young women on tourist visas from Spain, and a US Citizen who originated from France. It was very interesting to hear their views on GLBT rights, and they were somewhat surprised that the United States would discriminate against people because of their sexuality. It is indeed sad that our nation, which is held up by so many as an example of Democracy and freedom, is so far behind so many countries when it comes to issues of equality.

Activists groups like Virginia Beach Progressives will continue to push for equality for all people. It is a foundational doctrine in the development of our nation, and it’s time that GLBT people stand up and demand that the promise of equality become a reality in their lives.

Side note: The Senate voted today to pass legislation including an extension of hate crimes protection to GLBT people! Check out that news over at the Human Rights Campaign.

Related posts:

1. Get Involved: Declaration of Independence GLBT Demonstration
2. For GLBT equality, a coalition must be built
3. Reflecting on the National Equality March

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