Fan-in-chief Obama draws popular basketball coach for Virginia rally
President Barack Obama’s big re-election campaign rally in Virginia on Saturday will feature a speaker who could be the most popular man in the battleground state.
It’s not a politician, like Tim Kaine, the former governor now running for the U.S. Senate, who will also be at Virginia Commonwealth University for the event. Two other Democratic Virginia politicians, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb, will not be there.
It is Shaka Smart, VCU’s basketball coach, who will host the rally before Obama speaks.
Smart is likely to be the event’s biggest draw – after the president and first lady Michelle Obama. The charismatic coach is hugely popular for leading the VCU Rams to unexpected success on the basketball court, and for staying at the school when bigger programs came calling. Smart, who is making $1.2 million a year at VCU, earlier this year turned down a $2.6 million a year contract to coach at the University of Illinois — incidentally in Obama’s home state.
Obama is a huge basketball fan who cheers for his hometown Chicago Bulls and took British Prime Minister David Cameron to the NCAA college basketball tournament in March.
Obama also releases his own bracket of picks every year for the 64-team college championship tournament — although his picks have not reflected a great deal of faith in Smart’s team.
Romney casts “Virginia” Gingrich as Lucille Ball
Republican White House hopeful Newt Gingrich has termed his failure to make it onto the presidential primary ballot in Virginia, the state where he lives and is leading in the polls, in pretty grandiose terms, comparing the weekend events to Pearl Harbor. That allowed rival Mitt Romney to get off a zinger on Monday as he prepared to leave the friendly confines of New Hampshire for three days of tough campaigning in Iowa.
On Saturday, Gingrich’s national campaign director Michael Krull put out a statement after his candidate was knocked off the Virginia ballot for failing to garner enough verifiable signatures from residents: “Newt and I agreed that the analogy is December 1941: We have experienced an unexpected setback, but we will re-group and re-focus with increased determination, commitment and positive action,” Krull said on Facebook.
Campaigning at a lobster-and-chowder shack in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Romney was asked about Gingrich’s ballot woes. “I think he compared that to Pearl Harbor. It’s more like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory,” Romney said to laughter, evoking a classic scene from U.S. television history. The 1952 episode of “I Love Lucy” had the red-headed comedian and her BFF Ethel trying to hold down jobs at a candy factory while their husbands subbed in to do the housework. Ineptitude, and hilarity, ensues.
Mitt Romney addresses supporters during a rally held outside of Geno’s Chowder & Sandwich Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, December 27, 2011. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
The former Massachusetts governor now flies to Iowa for three days of campaigning in his spacious Romnibus. Locked in a three-way tussle for the caucuses with Gingrich and Texas Representative Ron Paul, Romney dutifully declined to make any forecasts in a state where he has made few appearances this year but has helped unleash a torrent of negative advertising against the former U.S. House speaker.
“I’m really not going to get into the prognostications business,” Romney said while pushing through a mob of fans and media toward the sanctuary of his black SUV. “I don’t think there’s any one state you need to win…I want to win in a lot of states. I’m hoping to do well enough to get the 1,150 delegates.”
“If I were to get elected,” he said, “there would be an immediate buoyancy to the economy.”
“Romney also promised that if he was elected everyone would get a free puppy and every Friday at work would be Margarita Happy Hour Day.”
Keep dreaming. Maybe he should promise us $2/gallon gas too while he’s at it.
Webb’s retirement could loosen Democratic grip on U.S. Senate
Things just got a lot harder for Democrats.
First-term Senator James Webb announced on Wednesday he will not run for re-election in Virginia next year, making Republicans the early favorite to recapture the seat the Democrat narrowly won in 2006.
The decision by Webb, an author and a former secretary of the Navy, set off a celebration among Senate Republicans and a scramble to find a replacement among Democrats with no clear good options.
The name most frequently mentioned was former Governor Tim Kaine, head of the Democratic National Committee, who says he has no interest in the seat. Other possibilities among Democrats include former Congressman Tom Periello, who lost in November after one term, former Congressman Rick Boucher and former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe.
Republicans were gleeful at the turn of events. Former Senator George Allen, who lost a close battle with Webb in 2006 after his famous “macaca” moment, already has signed up for another shot. Other Republicans are expected to enter the race as well.
Democrats, meanwhile, face a potential free-for-all.
“Democrats will have great difficulty finding an electable candidate for this open seat,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the Republican Senate campaign committee. “We can only hope that Democrats succeed in recruiting President Obama’s number one cheerleader in Washington — Tim Kaine.”
Former Senator Allen trying for a comeback, but he’s got competition
Former Republican Senator George Allen is trying for a comeback for the Senate seat from Virginia that he narrowly lost to Democrat Jim Webb in 2006, following comments that critics said were racist.
“Friends, it’s time for an American comeback,” Allen said in a video on his website. “Today, I’m announcing my candidacy for the U.S. Senate. You know me as someone willing to fight for the people of Virginia and I would like the responsibility to fight for you again.”
He promised a campaign for the 2012 election based on “foundational” principles that included reining in government spending and creating jobs.
Allen won’t have a clear field to the Republican nomination. Tea Party leader Jamie Radtke, for one, has announced she will seek the party’s nod for the Virginia Senate seat.
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson on RedState.com endorsed Radtke. “Once someone has been beaten, I tend to think we need not run them again for the same seat,” he wrote.
Allen had been favored to win the 2006 Senate race over Webb, but his campaign took a hit when he called a young man of Indian descent who was affiliated with his opponent “macaca,” a word for monkey. Allen denied he had intended an offense but critics said that and remarks he had made when younger were racist.
Democrats have already gone on the attack.
Traffic complaint? You travel by motorcade!
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine was surprised on his “Ask the Governor” monthly radio show on Tuesday when caller “Barry from DC” turned out to be a particularly well-known “Barry” from Washington, D.C. — U.S. President Barack Obama, not a listener he was told was telephoning to complain about traffic, a laughable suggestion given the president cuts through Washington’s notorious gridlock with the assistance of a multi-vehicle motorcade and heavily armed security detail.
The president’s call to Kaine had been arranged in advance as a surprise to the governor, who is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to mark his last time on the show, which airs on Washington radio station WTOP. Virginia’s constitution limits its governors to one four-year term in office and Kaine will be succeeded next month by Republican Bob McDonnell.
“Governor Kaine, this is actually the president of the United States calling,” Obama said and congratulated Kaine on his service as governor. With Kaine’s help, Obama won the state of Virginia in the 2008 presidential election, becoming the first Democratic presidential candidate to take the state since 1964.
“OK, get back to your calls,” Obama instructed Kaine as their chat ended, delaying by two minutes the station’s trademark “traffic and weather on the eights,” which promises listeners those reports at 8, 18, 28, 38, 48 and 58 minutes after each hour.
Then-Senator Barack Obama (R) applauds on stage with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (L) during an election rally in Bristol, Virginia, on June 5, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Reed
The First Draft: off-year election day could spell trouble for Obama
It’s been a year since Americans have gone to the polls, but as they do on Tuesday President Barack Obama may be less excited than he was last year, particularly in Virginia and New Jersey where his fellow Democrats are facing trouble.
Republicans are hoping to capture the governors’ mansions in those two states to rebuild some momentum after being trounced by Democrats last year. They also are trying to make it a referendum against Obama’s agenda to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system and financial regulatory structure as well as his plans to address climate change.
In Virginia where Obama won narrowly in 2008, Republican Bob McDonnell has built a sizable lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds while in traditionally Democratic-leaning New Jersey Republican Chris Christie is neck and neck with Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine.
Obama has campaigned for both of his fellow Democrats but that may not be enough for them to win.
While Republicans are salivating at their prospects in those two races, Democrats are eyeing a congressional race in upstate New York to replace a Republican lawmaker who became Obama’s Army secretary. Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was barely ahead of Democrat Bill Owens in the traditionally Republican district.
After tremendous infighting, the Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, withdrew from the race and endorsed the Democrat, highlighting the rift between moderates and the conservatives of the Republican party.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee begins a two-day meeting this morning to discuss interest rate policy and whether the U.S. economy is starting to build its own momentum towards a recovery.
So far in Virginia it is a wipeout for the democrats. Gov, Lt Gov and Attorney General are over 63 percent for the Republican.
Stay tuned for more…
The First Draft: Preparing for a fall?
Are Democrats trying to soften the blow for President Barack Obama if the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, Creigh Deeds, loses in the November elections?
The Washington Post thinks so. It says in a front page story that top Democrats sense that Deeds is likely to lose in the key swing state so they’re trying to distance Obama from him.
The article cites senior administration officials who are frustrated with the way Deeds has handled his campaign, saying he refused some strategic advice. They also say he did not reach out to some key constituencies that helped Obama win Virginia in the 2008 presidential race — the first time in decades that a Democrat won in that state.
A senior administration official said Deeds badly erred on several fronts, including not doing a better job of coordinating with the White House. “I understood in the beginning why there was some reluctance to run all around the state with Barack Obama,” said the official, who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about the race. “You don’t do that in Virginia. But when you consider the African American turnout that they need, and then when you consider as well they’ve got a huge problem with surge voters, younger voters, we were just a natural for them.”
So will this prep work help shield Obama from any fallout if the Democrat does not win the Virginia governorship?
For more Reuters political news, click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama campaigns with Deeds)
The First Draft: Showdown in Virginia
No major events are on the calendar today in the Federal City, but on the other side of the Potomac River there’s plenty to chew over.
Virginia Democrats on Tuesday night picked State Sen. Creigh Deeds, an unpolished moderate from the rural Shenandoah Valley, over better-funded rivals in the state’s gubernatorial primary.
This normally wouldn’t be big news, but the Virginia governor’s race is sure to get lots of national scrutiny as one of only two major electoral contests this year (along with the New Jersey governor’s race).
Virginia, long a bastion of conservative politics, has turned blue this decade. The state has elected two Democratic governors in a row, backed Obama in last year’s presidential race, and is now represented by two Democrats in the Senate.
Much of this shift has been driven by rapid population growth in the affluent Washington suburbs, where voters have more in common with liberal New Yorkers than conservative Southerners. Thus it’s interesting to note that Deeds, who hails from a sparsely populated, conservative area, defeated two better-funded, more liberal candidates who call Northern Virginia home — former Democratic party (and Clinton ally) Terry McAuliffe and state Delegate Brian Moran.
Deeds will face Republican Robert McDonnell in the November election. The two have faced off before: McDonnell beat Deeds by a mere 323 votes in the attorney general’s race four years ago.
The First Draft: Reading tea leaves in Virginia
The year after a presidential election, there’s typically few electoral contests on the calendar as politicians focus on getting some work done so they’ll have something to brag about to voters during the next election.
The few races that do occur tend to be heavily scrutinized as pundits look for something to chew over in the slow period before next year’s congressional midterms.
Today, Democrats in Virginia go to the polls to pick a candidate for the governor’s mansion, as incumbent Tim Kaine is constitutionally limited to one term. On the Republican side, Robert McDonnell faces no opposition for his party’s nomination.
Virginia, formerly solid red, is now a swing state that has elected successive Democratic governors and backed Democrat Barack Obama in last year’s presidential race.
All eyes are on Terry McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman who headed Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential bid last year.
McAuliffe has deep pockets and a high national profile and has emphasized economic issues. But he has not played a role in state politics before, and his ties to Clinton could actually be a detriment — Obama beat her in the state’s bruising February 2009 presidential primary.
The other two candidates are less known nationally but have deeper roots in the state.
Paint Texas blue? Kaine won’t guarantee it
WASHINGTON – New Democratic Party head Tim Kaine wants to continue to win territory from Republicans, but he’s not ready to guarantee victory in George W. Bush’s home state.
As he took control of the Democratic National Committee from outgoing chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday, Kaine said he would continue Dean’s “50 State Strategy” to win votes in conservative places like Idaho and Utah.
“We will never again be a party that writes off states or regions or people,” Kaine said. “The 50 state strategy is now and forever what Democrats do.”
Kaine noted that was among the strategy’s first beneficiaries when he ran for Virginia governor in 2005.
But he declined to match Dean’s prediction that President Barack Obama will carry Texas when he runs for re-election in 2012. Obama lost Texas to Republican John McCain by 11 percentage points in the November election.
“I’m kind of more of the say-you’re-an-underdog-everywhere-and-sneak-up-on-people (school), rather than tell them you’re going to win, but I will say this: the trends in Texas are very positive,” Kaine told reporters.
Dean’s party-building in conservative areas helped Democrats win sweeping victories in 2006 and 2008, even though some Democrats – including Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel – viewed the strategy as a waste of money.
Eric H. You are right about Johnson but he knew he would not be re-elected. Either way he did not serve past his one term. The Great Society and Vietnam (now there is a conflict/war that was a true waste of our precious resources) conflict.
BTW, just a side point, I don’t disagree with many of your points about what you would like to see. Your ideas of what you would like to see in the world are not necessarily middle of the road viewpoints. However I part ways with you on abortion for ethical/moral reasons (please don’t read into it any deeper than that and try not to categorize me again. It is just a simple difference of opinion).
It is also a matter of opinion of what a strong military entails. You might think it is overgrown, whereas I don’t think it is strong enough. I happen to have a lot of experience in this area. Let’s just say we differ here too. Nothing personal at all.
I am not sure I see your point about climate change and sending money to the Saudis as anything more than comparing apples to oranges. However, I am a strong believer we should heavily invest in solar and wind energy as a way to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. In the meantime, we do what we have to do as a nation. Change takes time.
I am 100 percent with you on owning guns. The government better leave my right to own a gun alone. That is one way the democrats may try to overextend and it will prove fatal to their cause. There are plenty of conservative and blue blood democrats who agree with the right to own guns.
As for Bush. Yes, I happen to believe he did the best he could and I agree with him on a lot of things (not everything, just a lot of things). He wasn’t the worst president ever and history through the test of time will show this to be true. Even Obama is continuing many of Bush’s policies. We can split hairs on this, but he doesn’t deserve the bum rap he has been given since the first day he took office. All I know is I have been safe and free since 9/11 and I thank Bush for making it happen. Just my humble opinion.
As for Obama. I don’t have anything against him, I really don’t. However, the cult status he has doesn’t add up to his election victory with only 52 percent of the vote. The frenzy is undeserved (it is something you would expect had he won with 80-90 percent of the vote, then I would see the logic). However, there are still nearly 50 percent of the voters who did not vote for him. For all the money he spent to be elected, he could only muster 52 percent of the vote? Something is wrong with the picture. Only time will tell.
Also, for as bad as McCain/Palin were supposed to be, they got nearly 50 percent of the vote with hardly any money and the media telling us how bad they were. Again, the Obama frenzy just doesn’t add up.
Bottom line, we aren’t as far apart as you think. I just happen to believe Bush got a bum rap for his entire presidency and Obama gets undeserved adulation. Either way, it is undeserved for both of them.
@imacracker: Cracker, your statement sounded incorrect, so I checked the facts. Richmond is 69% white, and 19% black. VCU–with over 32,000 students–is 56% white and 17% black (10% Asian, etc). All VCU presidents have been white, including the current one, Michael Rao. (His father is of subcontinental Indian heritage.) Most likely President Obama is visiting the state capital of Richmond because it’s the seat of state government, and is easy to access, being more centrally located in the state, and over 80% of its students live in Va. Meanwhile, Northern Va. (NOVA) is already plenty aware of all of DC politics (in that most of the fed’l gov’t lives there), with its population having ample means and easy access to attend any governmental event. An urban university as large as VCU provides an excellent GOTV opportunity to inspire Va’s borderline voters and to push for voter outreach, esp. since it’s a state university that draws students from throughout the state. Perhaps you were thinking of Virginia STATE University, in Petersburg, which IS largely and traditionally an Af-Am university (initially devoted primarily to agricultural degrees). But VCU is a very different university, with its arts and humanities on an academic campus in a historic neighorhood, while its vast medical, hospital and research campus sits right across from the state government buildings. Thus, it actually does provide the ideal opportunity for any political candidate or visiting dignitaries, which is why many have made the urban university a necessary stop.