• Sunday thru Thursday 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
• Friday & Saturday 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM

There will be three volunteer shifts per day from open at 10:00 am to 2:00 PM, 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM, and 6:00 PM to close.  Each person signing up to help will be given a ticket to get into the fair FREE for the day.  Please contact Maggie Sacra* if you are interested in volunteering (you will be contacted to answer questions and confirm the date and time to volunteer).

It would great if other Democratic committees could “adopt a day” as many had done last year, committing as a group to take a day (or most of a day) to staff the booth (please plan to have at least three volunteers for each shift on weekdays and six volunteers for each shift on Friday and weekends).

*Maggie Sacra, Chairperson Caroline County Democratic Committee: (804) 901-1453, chairperson@carolinedems.com.

• Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
• Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Steering Committee, Friday September 10th 7:30 pm
Central Committee, Saturday September 11th 10:00 am

Fredericksburg Expo Conference
2371 Carl D Silver Parkway
Fredericksburg, VA 22401

Monday August 23, 2010 
5:00 pm Sponsors Reception 
5:30 pm General Reception 

At the home of Ray and Shaista Mahmood (4290 Neitzy Place, Alexandria, VA 22309; click for map). RSVP by Monday, August 16 to Allison Jones at 804-644-1966 ext. 239 or Allison@VADemocrats.org. To RSVP online, click here. 

All funds for this event are being solicited by the Democratic Party of Virginia, and not by Senator Mark R. Warner. 

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic Party of Virginia, www.VADemocrats.org. 

VirginiaECards.com – paid for and authorized by the Democratic Party of Virginia, VADemocrats.org.

Virginia “Pixie” Bell is one of the most well-known and  strongest Democrats in Northern Virginia. Governors, Senators, and Congressman call her their friend. Pixie has served in numerous offices in the Democratic Party, and currently is First Vice Chair of the 8th Congressional District Democratic Committee.

Notably, she served four 4-year terms as Secretary of the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA), and recently at the quarterly meeting of the DPVA in Charlottesville she was honored for this service.

On June 11th DPVA Chairman, Dickie Cranwell, presented Pixie with a plaque honoring that remarkable service.

Through your leadership as a member of the Steering Committee, the Democratic Party of Virginia has grown and achieved incredible successes. Virginia Democrats thank you for you years of exemplary service and continued work on the Central Committee. 

In the first 100 days of Republican rule:

• Governor McDonnell sought hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to education and healthcare that would have eliminated tens of thousands of jobs;
• Callously declared a month of Confederate history with no consideration for the shameful legacy of slavery;
• A new barrier to rights restoration dredged up painful memories of Virginia’s voter-suppression tactics of the early and mid-20^th century;
• Attorney General Cuccinelli embarked on numerous wasteful and futile lawsuits against the federal government; and,
• Republican officials focused on misplaced priorities that move Virginia backward.

Budget Cuts:

Governor McDonnell failed for weeks to present the $4 billion in budget cuts that he required, prompting the Roanoke Times to declare the new Governor "budget-shy" because of his "extraordinary sloughing of responsibility." After weeks of pressure from Democrats, Governor McDonnell finally presented a budget plan that revealed his true priorities: corporate welfare over schools and the needy. Among his proposed cuts, Governor McDonnell sought:

• $731 million in cuts to K-12 education
• Eliminated state support for school breakfast programs for needy children
• Nearly $20 million in cuts to college tuition assistance
• $5 million from the health care safety net
• Eliminated funding for consumer-based care, a move that would have caused 14,000 job losses.
• Closing of five state parks
• Eliminating support for public broadcasting

These cuts were avoided and mitigated in the Democratic controlled Senate which prioritized education, maintenance of the health care safety net, and protecting jobs.

But for Governor McDonnell and his Republican allies, it was never about creating a good budget. On February 17, the Washington Post reported that "Republicans praise McDonnell for being politically savvy enough to not publicly attach his name to the cuts." 

Lawsuits:

Governor McDonnell sat by, and in some cases, cheered on his Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, as he embarked on wasteful and frivolous lawsuits against the federal government.

On February 16, Attorney General Cuccinelli filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency based on a talk-radio conspiracy of supposedly inaccurate climate change data. When the EPA signed regulations to save Virginians thousands of dollars through increased fuel efficiency in vehicles, the Attorney General doubled-down and sued again.

Finally, The Washington Post reported on March 23 that the Attorney General, with the endorsement of Governor McDonnell, embarked on a crusade against the federal government over the recently passed health care reform legislation. No credible legal expert feels this lawsuit will do anything but waste taxpayers’ time and money. The legislation signed by President Obama will increase coverage and lower costs for thousands of small businesses and uninsured Virginians, but the Attorney General is doing all he can to prevent these important reforms.

On March 23, the Democratic Party of Virginia launched a petition, signed by over 14,000 Virginians, to tell Attorney General Cuccinelli to focus on the issues facing Virginians instead of abusing his office to bankroll personal, political battles. When the DPVA asked the Attorney General to reveal how much time and money he was wasting on his frivolous lawsuit over healthcare, his office refused to provide any information.

Anti-Discrimination Polices

Governor McDonnell reversed the state’s nondiscrimination policies that had served the state workforce well for nearly a decade under Democratic governors.

He pointedly left the door open for discrimination based on sexual orientation, sat silently while House Republicans killed legislation to protect state workers, then concurred with the Attorney General’s advice to colleges that they could not protect gay employees.

Once he realized he had ignited a national firestorm, Governor McDonnell issued a nonbinding "executive directive" on discrimination, offering no legal protections or recourse for victims of discrimination, and boldly declared, "I believe that takes care of it." (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 3/13/10)

Playing to his Base

Governor McDonnell decided to appeal to a small segment of the radical right wing by declaring April to be "Confederate History Month," a month where we should reflect on "the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens." The Governor callously ignored the role of slavery in the conflict in his initial proclamation and told the Washington Post on April 7 that he only included the aspects of the war that "were most significant for Virginia." Apparently slavery did not reach the Governor’s standard of significance.

Once Governor McDonnell realized he had cast a negative national light on the Commonwealth with his divisive proclamation, he quickly backpedaled, apologized, and revised the proclamation.

This begged the question, what was Governor McDonnell trying to accomplish with his proclamation?  On April 8, Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney offered one possible explanation:

"I’m sad to say that the most likely explanation is that McDonnell and his advisers knew exactly what they were doing and only reversed course when they realized that they’d blown it."

Transportation

Governor McDonnell is quickly realizing that delivering results is considerably more difficult than delivering campaign sound bites. After pledging in December to fix transportation "at some point during his first year," McDonnell quickly backtracked in January.

"Despite making transportation a top priority during last year’s campaign, Gov.-elect Robert F. McDonnell (R) said Thursday that he will not propose a fix during this year’s legislative session," the Washington Post reported on January 15.

Governor McDonnell now says he will work to build consensus before calling a special session to enact transportation solutions. But on the campaign trail he criticized his opponent’s plan to do just that.  As the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported McDonnell saying on Aug 5. 2009, "His plan is ‘elect me’" and that he will call a special session and work with the legislature, McDonnell said. "That’s not leadership. That’s not a plan."

Obstacles to the restoration of rights:

In the last 100 days, Governor McDonnell instituted a new essay requirement for the restoration of voting rights. When the new requirement was reported by the Washington Post, Governor McDonnell’s Secretary of the Commonwealth trumpeted the requirement as "an opportunity, not an obstacle." When public opinion soured on the Governor’s new impediment to voting, his office claimed it was just a "draft policy proposal," even though several hundred applicants had received notification of the new policy. The administration claimed "the letter was sent without approval by a well-meaning staffer."

This second divisive and ill-advised policy prompted the Roanoke Times editorial page to declare that the "Governor is batting .000 on race issues."

In addition to these stumbles, Governor McDonnell:

• Wanted his Secretary of Commerce and Trade to remain on the payrolls of corporations
• Censored the State Police in policy development
• Attempted to weaken new ethics rules
• Held fundraisers at the Governor’s Mansion

cross-posted from VADemocrats.org, April 23

The Democratic Party of Virginia is excited to announce that we have expanded our Jefferson-Jackson Weekend this year. During the weekend, Democrats from across the commonwealth will gather to build for Virginia’s future in 2010 and beyond.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) will be our keynote speaker. First elected in 2006, Senator Klobuchar has been described as “a rising star” by The Washington Post and Politico calls her “bring-down-the-house funny.” She has been a strong ally to President Obama and is a leader in the Senate in the areas of consumer-protection, law enforcement and veteran’s affairs.

“Building for Virginia’s Future”
2010 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner 
Saturday, March 20th
Greater Richmond Convention Center (403 N 3rd St, Richmond, VA 23219; map, click here)

Click here to find all of the important information for the Jefferson-Jackson weekend as well as purchase your tickets. This year we are excited to offer new events, such as the Chairman’s Reception on Friday night, as well as a full day of Grassroots and Candidate Training on Sunday.  We look forward to seeing you in Richmond.

• Tickets and Sponsorships
• Weekend Schedule of Events
• Grassroots and Candidate Trainings
• Directions and Parking
• Hotel and Shuttle Information
• Registration and Important Information

Tickets for the event are on sale now. Table sponsorships are also available for the event. Interested parties should contact David Mills ( 804-644-1966, x260 or david@vademocrats.org).

JJ Weekend 2010 Schedule

• Friday, March 19, 2010
  • 7:30pm: DPVA Steering Committee Meeting (Richmond Marriott)
  • 9:00pm: DPVA Welcome Reception Hosted by Chairman Cranwell (Richmond Marriott)
• Saturday, March 20, 2010
  • 8:00am: Women’s Caucus Breakfast, tickets / details, click here (Richmond Hilton Garden Inn)
  • 10:00am: DPVA Central Committee Meeting (Richmond Convention Center)
  • 12:30pm: DPVA Grassroots Awards Luncheon (Richmond Convention Center)
  • 6:00pm: Jefferson-Jackson General Reception (Greater Richmond Convention Center)
  • 7:00pm: Jefferson-Jackson Dinner Begins (Richmond Convention Center – Exhibit Hall A)
• Sunday, March 21, 2010
  • 10:00am: DPVA Grassroots and Candidate Training Session 1 (Richmond Marriott)
  • 11:30am: Breakout Groups (Richmond Marriott)
  • 12:30pm: Lunch Break
  • 2:30pm: DPVA Grassroots and Candidate Training Session 2 (Richmond Marriott)
  • 4:30pm: DPVA Grassroots and Candidate Training Concludes

Please note – this is a tentative schedule.  As event details are finalized, they will be added to this schedule, so please check back (click here) for the most up to date information about the JJ Weekend 2010.

For those of you who have reserved hotel rooms already, you need to call the Marriott at 804-643-3400 to either cancel or reschedule. If you do not notify the hotel of a change, then you will be billed for Friday night. 

Back from Williamsburg after attending the DPVA Steering Committee (Friday night), DPVA State Central Committee (Saturday am), Unity Rally (Saturday noon), and Democratic Black Caucus Juneteenth Dinner (Saturday night).  I’ve never seen Virginia Democrats so united behind their ticket.  50% of Democratic voters had Creigh Deeds as their first choice for governor – - at least 45% had him as their second choice, and that makes it very easy to unify behind Creigh.  He is an experienced, moderate, enthusiastic, and innovative leader who will be a great governor.  Likewise Jody Wagner (Lt. Gov.) and Steve Shannon (Attorney Gen.) have overwhelming support among Virginia Democrats – sometimes statewide tickets have had some tension among the candidates – not this time.  Jody and Steve will help Creigh win and govern.  The State Central Committee featured officer elections, with only one contest, and all with a positive spirit.  (See below.)

Officer elections:  The State Central Committee reelected as Chair the Hon. Richard Cranwell, Vice Chair for Organization the Hon. Jennifer McClellan, Vice Chair for Finance Jim Turpin, Vice Chair for Outreach the Hon. Donald McEachin.  Craig Fifer replaced Justin Wilson as Vice Chair for Technology and Communications (although we expect to see more great things from Justin in the future).  Barbara Klear took over as Treasurer from Abbi Easter, although Abbi remains on the Steering Committee as 7th Congressional District Chair and will continue to provide leadership.  Beloved Secretary Pixie Bell retired after 16 years, and was succeeded by Steve Bunn, who will do a terrific job; Pixie, who was first elected to Central Committee in 1972, will remain on the committee (thank goodness).  I have been serving as both Vice Chair for Rules and DNC member for the past year, but am happy to turn over the Rules position to Fred Hudson, who will do an excellent job.

Latino Caucus:  The Democratic Latino Caucus of Virginia elected enough members to the Central Committee to be recognized as a caucus.  Congratulations to Alfonso Lopez and the other leaders of the organization. Si se puede!

Resolutions:  The Central Committee endorsed the proposed resolutions.  See Post.  In addition, we passed a memorial resolution honoring the late Sue Bidderman of Fairfax and a resolution pledging support for the Deeds-Wagner-Shannon-ticket.  The Central Committee elected three at large members of the Resolutions Committee – Linda Brooks (Newport News), E.J. Scott (Manassas/Manassas Park), and me.

Unity Rally:  Despite threatening skies, which did result in rain (an old Italian sign of good luck), the party held an invigorating unity rally, featuring the Deeds-Wagner-Shannon, Gov. Kaine, Sen. Warner, Sen. Webb, Cong. Scott, State Sen. Saslaw, and Chairman Cranwell.  Virginians have a clear choice this fall and will chose to continue with the progress made by the Warner-Kaine administrations.

Black Caucus Juneteenth Dinner:  This excellent fundraising dinner was the third such event put on by the Black Caucus of the DPVA, Speakers included Chair Evelyn Morris-Harris and other Black Caucus leaders, Cong. Robert Scott, Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, Steven Shannon, Richard Cranwell, and Jon Bowerbank.  Members of the General Assembly black caucus and other legislators including Ward Armstrong and Bob Brink (my delegate) also attended.  Recipients of the Josephine Marshall award included 8th CD members Terron Sims and John Chapman.  The event demonstrated the commitment of the African American leadership to the Democratic ticket.  Thanks to Elizabeth Palmer Johnson of the 8th CD for her work on the dinner.

The Weekend also provided opportunities to meet the new Organizing for America Virginia staff (more later), see old friends, drink a great many Blue Moons, and visit Historic Colonial Williamsburg.

Next Meeting:  September 11-12, 2009.

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