At this weekend’s Sorensen Institute session, two speakers of particular note were Senator Mark Obenshain and former Secretary of Transportation Whit Clement. Sen. Obenshain’s talk, about gang violence and methamphetamines, was pretty interesting, but Whit Clement’s talk about the process of funding transportation in Virginia was just fascinating. Everybody learned a great from his talk, and it gave us a great deal to talk about that evening. (“Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” was the phrase that we kept using to describe the total loss of road maintenance funding come 2019, and the apparent unwillingness by anybody in power to do anything about it.)
I was impressed, too, by Democratic candidate for delegate Lowell Fulk, who’s running for the seat vacated by Sen. Glenn Weatherholtz. Lowell didn’t come to speak or campaign, but just to watch, which is telling; there’s a lot to be said for representatives who spend more time listening than talking. We talked briefly, and I found him every bit as affable and intelligent as I’ve heard.
Big ups — as the kids say — to all three for being there.
While I have no respect for Senator Obenshain and his willingness to do whatever necessary to win an election (i.e., the 2003 ECP dust-up at JMU), Lowell Fulk is a great man who should have no trouble winning the 26th District race as long as the Republicans resist the temptation to fight dirty and slander an honest man. Which is to say, the election will be very tough. He is the next thing in Virginia politics and “Not Larry Sabato” was right to call him “the best Democratic candidate in Virginia.”
In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Sharp is a 2-race Fulk staffer. Thanks for the disenterested commentary.
VTech ’05 and PC ’05… Congrats to both of us!
Yeah Adam – you could have at least made up a name.
For the interest of disclosure, La Orilla is a Republican promoting Lohr.
In the interests of full disclosure (something so patently unfamiliar to Republicans I laugh at the source of this accusation), I have never worked on a Fulk campaign. In 2003 I originally supported Dave Mills, and, while I voted for Fulk in November, I didn’t think he had a chance. He proved me wrong, of course, and as I learned to know him my respect for him has grown.
While I have worked with the Fulk campaign from time to time in my roles as publicity chair for the Harrisonburg Democrats and the VAYD 6th District chair, and I have waved a sign at a Fulk rally, I have not and will not be working for Fulk in any official or unofficial capacity. He has my personal support and my support as a Democrat, but I don’t take orders and I’m not anyone’s spokesman.
So take your Republican lies back to that cesspool you call a blog. Thanks for making my original post prophetic; the only way you can win is through character assasination. I won’t put up with this crap, and neither will Valley Democrats. Your reign of terror is over.
You guys….I have my problems with Mark too but I’m for anything that stops a woman from MURDERING her innocent baby. Just because she wants to get hammered one night doesn’t mean someone should have to die.
Republitarian,
I am pro-life, so let’s not start barking up the wrong tree. While I am tempted to take up the chivalrous gauntlet you’ve thrown down, we’ll leave that for another day.
Senator Obenshain’s respect deficit is a result of the fact (this is a new concept to some Republicans, these things called facts) that he sat on the JMU Board of Visitors for 8 years; the fact that he did not call for a ban on Emergency Contraception Pills (ECPs) until his next-to-last-meeting; the fact that this meeting occurred during a close primary contest where Senator Obenshain’s commitment to the far-right anti-abortion stance was questioned repeatedly, and the fact that previous to his call to ban ECPs he had not raised the issue at a BOV meeting.
So what was I to do but question Senator Obenshain’s true motives for the ban, and question whether he actually possesses any conviction other than the belief that he must get elected by any means necessary?
If you want to have a discussion about abortion, put it on your blog and invite me to it. We’ll have a grand old time. Right now, we are talking about Senator Obenshain’s ethicical shortcomings. Oh, and debunking La Orilla’s lies. That too.
hey guys. i totally just started a new blog. blessed be.
“moonbeam,” if you’re going to troll, you’ve got to be plausible. The guy playing the role of “Pastor John” was plausible. But “moonbeam”? I mean, even the name is an immediate troll tipoff.
1 for effort. -2 for form. You lose.
Waldo. It’s the same guy.
Could be, but the ISP is totally different.
Ah. In any case, they’re extremely similar in content and style, and a radical left-winger blog would be the logical choice. Oh well.
Wow, this Pastor John/Moonbeam guy really needs to get a job. Somebody, hire him fast!! :)
Whit Clement is a class act. Well worth listening to. I wish him well now that he’s back in private practice.at