Mike Signer may be entering the race for the Democratic nomination for LG, Tim Craig writes in the Post. I interviewed Mike a few years ago, back when he was thinking about running for Sen. Creigh Deeds’ seat (if Creigh had been elected to AG). I’ve got no interesting thoughts on this right now, but Lloyd Snook has a few things to say about the possibility.
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Signer’s a solid fellow. I don’t know that that makes him a compelling LG candidate, but I’d certainly give him an ear to find out what else there is.
(Also, Lloyd? C’mon, that Dr. objection is just dumb. In the Arlingtonian tradition that I just made up, I would like you to refer to me as Dr. MB from now on.)
I think this is exciting news! I met Mike when he was exploring a run for Creigh’s seat. I was really impressed with not only how smart he is, but how much he understands that most voters are not political junkies, rather, regular people who are mostly focused on living their regular lives. When we met, he asked me what issues were important to me as a voter and citizen, and I demurred, saying I didn’t know much about Virginia politics (as I really didn’t back then). He pressed on, even more eager to hear what a “regular person” (my phrase) thought about the issues, and what my concerns were. From that first meeting, whenever I’ve interacted with Mike, I’ve found him to be thoughtful, incredibly smart but totally accessible, creative, energetic, pragmatic, visionary, and yet very down to earth. I’m excited that he’s thrown his hat into the ring for LG!
I was baffled by Lloyd Snook’s blog essay. So what if the other candidates can apply one or two word labels to themselves (“finance person,” “businessman,” etc.) Why are they great candidates for LG? What exactly do they plan to DO if they become LG? I heard Mike Signer talking a few days ago about his plans for what he’d do as LG, and he’s got some innovative ideas to turn that office into a more substantial office. LG seems to be whatever the officeholder makes of it. So let’s hear from all the candidates what, precisely, that would be. This is turning out to be an interesting race!
I see Mike as a young, energetic, progressive candidate with great ideas, and even more importantly, someone who really seems to understand that the greatest ideas for government come from the “average people.” He actually listens. Not in a ‘blowing the way the wind blows’ sort of way, but, it seems to me anyway, from a philosophical position that government should be open and ideas should come not only from the halls of power but from the people in the streets, houses, apartments, farms and so on. That’s exciting stuff! He reminds me of Perriello. He reminds me of Obama. And what I say his ideas are progressive, I don’t mean he’s a knee-jerk liberal, but rather that he’s a forward-thinking and innovative Democrat. (Not that there’s anything at all wrong with uber-liberals, in fact, I often wish that our candidates would be MORE to the left, as I am on many issues…) but we need candidates in Virginia who are progressive enough to be worth supporting and centrist enough to garner bipartisan support in general elections, and win. Mike Signer is that kind of candidate! To me, he’s a candidate worth getting excited about.
I don’t have anything against the others, but I probably wasn’t going to be particularly jazzed about the LG race before. But now that Mike Signer has entered the race, I’m energized to get involved.
Totally agree about Signer! Really exciting. Met him while I was volunteering for Perriello. He is really enthusiastic, genuine with a lot of good ideas and a hard worker. And he is super smart but also seemed down to earth. I think it’s exciting that he is entering and I look forward to learning more about him. I was never intrigued or excited at all by Jody Wagner. What is interesting or inspiring about her? I may want to ride the winds of CHANGE!
Looks like Mike found his staff.
Hee! MB, that would be fun to work for the campaign, but alas, my being a “regular person” these days means being a stay at home mom of two young kids, with a partner who works reeeeeallly long hours. So, I’ll be volunteering where and when I can, with kids in tow (when they’re not napping, etc.) But I’ll definitely help out as much as I can. My four year old canvassed with me for Obama and Perriello, and it was a great experience for both of us.