Of course Creigh won't resign- he pledged that he would represent the people of his district and the entire Democratic Party in the Virginia Legislature and unlike Brian he takes that very seriously.

Lets be clear- Brian did this for 2 reasons- 1) he wants to be able to out-fundraise Creigh by getting around the prohibition on raising money during session and 2) he doesn't want to have to be part of making some hard decisions regarding the state budget.

Neither of those is honorable and in fact I think Brian just killed whatever chance he had of being elected Governor. People respect Virginia Democrats because we know how to govern, not because we cower in fear when times get tough.

Easy with the "cower in fear" talk.  

Everyone knows you work for Creigh and that's fine.  While I support Brian, I genuinely like and respect Sen. Deeds.  And I also promise you I wouldn't resort to smearing him if what I really meant to say was I support his opponent.

So please don't assume that you speak for "people" and why they support Democrats.  Whatever the outcome, I intend to support the nominee of the party, and I certainly don't want to have a paper trail of petty insults on my record.

Brian Moran has voted on plenty of tough votes in his time in office.  It's not like the last few sessions were walks in the Park.  He's being honest to step down to campaign and allow his district to be represented by someone who can devote 100% of their time to work for the people, something Brian has done since he was elected.  

Look, we have a fine field of Democratic candidates running for governor. We don't need to be in the business of tearing one down because we favor the one of the others.  

DEMs don't let DEMs act like Republicans.  

One, you have not a single iota of insight into his thinking.  If you don't think he takes representing his constituents seriously, you don't know the first thing about Brian Moran.  

Two, everyone knows you can't serve two masters.  Either you're fully committed to being the next Governor of Virginia or you're not.

Three, you have no basis whatsoever for not taking him at his word, or at least you haven't presented it to anyone.  

Four, your comments are incredibly, incredibly off putting and very unconsidered if your goal is to advocate for Sen. Deeds.  In a single post, and with scant evidence other than your own sophomoric opinion, you have called Brian Moran (implicitly or explicitly): dishonorable, untrustworthy, and  cowardly.    

You'll notice that I managed to avoid attacking your preferred candidate in my response.  Perhaps you could take note and grow up!

Brian is a good man who made a very bad decision.  

How can you conceivably argue that calling the man dishonorable, untrustworthy, and  cowardly doesn't constitute tearing him down?  Give me a break!

1) "Brian did this...Neither of those is honorable" (dishonorable means to act without honor)
2) "Of course Creigh won't resign - he pledged that he would represent the people of his district and the entire Democratic Party in the Virginia Legislature and unlike Brian he takes that very seriously." (i.e. breaking his pledge is akin to saying he is untrustworthy)
3) "...not because we cower in fear when times get tough" (cowardly still means 'to cower in fear' I do believe.)

My BlueCommonwealth post did go a bit too far when I said Brian's decision was the "only" honorable thing for him to do. Obviously, that's not the ONLY honorable option for either Deeds or Moran. Deeds and Moran are two of the most honorable politicians I know, and I do know both very well, and have the highest respect for both. I'll go even further and say they are as honorable as Jim Webb - 100% honest, trustworthy, ethical and honorable is as good as it gets.

I also agree 100% (can't get any higher than 100% agreement either) with RadicalCentrist's  point that saying explicitly or implicitly (you've done both) that the opponent of your candidate is "dishonorable, untrustworthy, and cowardly" just because he is your candidate's opponent, and offering no facts to support your false claims - because no such facts exist.

You may have noticed that I did not reply to your response to my BlueCommonwealth post, and that was for a specific reason: I will honor (there's that "honor" word again, and you need to learn what it means and apply it's meaning)the BC philosophy that we will try our very best to keep the BC blog as civil as we possibly can. That means we will not engage in ANY "Dem. attacking Dem." uncivil discourse.

Some of you RK folks may be old enough to remember the Pogo comic strip. Possibly the most profound statement I ever read in Pogo was this: "We have met the enemy and he is us".
Another way of saying this, and I don't know who first said it, is "when we start behaving like the enemy, we become no better than the enemy (not an exact quote) and we become the enemy"; and as Pogo said, when we do that "we have met the enemy and he is us".

I ask you James, and all of you who have been RK participants, to PLEASE not "behave like the GOP enemies".

I just noticed RC's follow up just below this post, and his response says it better than mine. My college freshman English professor (Clinch Valley College, Wise, VA) taught us a lot about the basic principles of debating, I think the most important being that you will always lose the debate if you say one thing and then contradict yourself when you respond to your debate opponent's rebuttal - my old English professor would have said you just lost the debate.

I'll close with a positive comment: Thank you Lowell for creating RK and for your hard work for and unwavering dedication to Progessive principles. What you have done for all of us will live on at BlueCommonwealth.

                        T.C.

Two, everyone knows you can't serve two masters. Either you're fully committed to being the next Governor of Virginia or you're not.

That's a bit silly, isn't it? Should Tim Kaine have stepped down from his Lt. Gov. seat to run for governor? Should Barack Obama have stepped down from his U.S. Senate seat to run for president?

There might be a good argument to be made that it's logical for Del. Moran to step down from his seat to run for governor, but it's not to be found in this line of thinking.

That was very noble of you.  Oh, wait, you didn't say anything about Mr. Martin's needless attacks.  That's right.

Ummm... hahahaha- I think he was attacking yours buddy :)

That was very noble of you.  Oh, wait, you didn't say anything about Mr. Martin's needless attacks.  That's right.

n/t

the same Tim Kaine who DID step down as Mayor of Richmond to run for LG?  Is that the Tim Kaine you're talking about?  The LG has little to no role in the everyday business of governance (absent tie votes, of which there weren't many in those days) and the fact that you bring that up as an example is an intentional red herring in my view.    

Honestly, once he had the nomination, I do believe President-elect Obama should have stepped down from his Senate seat.  That may not be a popular position and I know it's a heck of a thing to ask of elected officials, but I honestly do believe that Bob Dole did it right.  I'm glad he lost, but I think he made the right choice.  

If you are a member of the House and want to run for the Senate, you don't have a choice.  I think the same should hold for Presidential candidates as well.  We ask so much of our elected officials, but the fact is that being an elected official is a full-time job, officially or otherwise.  There are constant demands on their time that don't abate even though they're also pursuing another office.    

I think it's entirely right and appropriate for the Attorney General to resign and I think Brian Moran made a principled decision.  I don't question the decisions of others; if Terry McAuliffe thought he could run for Governor and run the day to day operations of one of his companies (back when he did that), that would be his decision.  I'd disagree with him, but that would be his decision to make, just like it was Delegate Moran's, just like it is Sen. Deeds' and the Attorney General's.  

However, to get back to my whole point, it's entirely inappropriate to ascribe pernicious motives to those who make a different decision from the one you'd make (or your preferred candidate has made) and it's entirely inappropriate to cast aspersions on one candidate's character as a result of that decision.  I'd hope you'd agree, though you've still remained conspicuously silent on these attacks.  What say you?

this would go away, but all it did was fester and raise my ire every time I thought about it.  From all I've heard Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran are friends and I cannot believe for one moment that Creigh thinks you did him a favor by posting this scurrilous attack on a long time friend and respected colleague.  

You should consider apologizing and retracting this comment.  It is out of line and over the top and does your candidate a disservice.    

Charniele Herring just e-mailed her intention to run.

She is well qualified and will represent the 46th district well.  Here is her bio information:

WHO IS CHARNIELE HERRING?
Chamiele Herring has a lifelong commitment to public service
which began at age 13, when she testified before a committee
serving President Ronald Reagan's White House about the need
for continued health care coverage for military children. She has
a talent for building bipartisan coalitions to find solutions for issues
such as the homelessness of children and protecting the privacy
of domestic violence and sexual assault victims. As a lawyer
and businesswoman, she advised key players on everlthing
from the telecommunications deregulation to two major construction
projects in the District of Columbia. In recognition of her
accomplishments, in 2003 she was named the Business and Professional
Women's Virsinia State Youns Careerist.
Ms. Hening has lived in Northem Virginia area for 27 years,22 of them in the West
End of Alexandria. She is serving her second term as President of the West End Business Association
(WEBA) and is a member of the Alexandria Commission for Women serving as its
Chair for three years. She also serves on the Youth Policy Commission, Landmark Redevelopment
Advisory Committee, lectures for the Hopkins House Parent Leadership Project and
Chairs its Public Policy Committee. She is a fellow of the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership
and has served as the Alexandria Democratic Committee's Deputy Chair of Precinct
Operations-West for two (2) years. While in college, she volunteered for the Alexandria Mental
Health Association as a crisis intervention counselor and trainer.
At the state level, Ms. Herring has been very active in issues affecting the homeless and
children, an issue that has touched her personally after experiencing homelessness as a child.
As a participant with Social Action Linking Together (S.A.L.T.) she received the Monsignor
Geno Baroni Award for Social Justice for her work to expand funding for the Homeless Intervention
Act statewide. She founded and co-chaired the Virginia Privileged Communication
Task Force and was appointed twice by Gov. Tim Kaine to the Council on the Status of
Women. She served as state Co-Chair of Virginia NOW and currently serves on the Board of
Directors of the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness, S.A.L.T., and Virginia NARAL.
Ms. Herring earned a B.A. in Economics from George Mason University and a J.D.
from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. She attended the Jagellonian University
in Cracow, Poland, where she studied Comparative Constitutional Law, International
Trade and Development. After graduating law school, Ms. Herring joined a prestigious Washington,
DC law firm, Leftwich & Ludaway, LLC.
Ms. Herring asks for your support and asks for your vote to send her to the Virginia
House of Delegates to represent you in the 46th District.  

It will be interesting to see who else gets in the race.  I'm sure there are a lot of really great Dems like her in this district who have been waiting for this opportunity for a number of years.  I bet this special election will offer lots of great choices.

I want the readers of Raising Kaine to be among the first to know that the Virginia NOW (National Organization for Women)PAC has endorsed Charniele Herring for the seat held by Brian Moran. She'll be terrific in Richmond! Marj Signer, President, VA NOW PAC

Charniele Herring is a woman of tremendous integrity and deep commitment to improving life for the residents of the 46th District and for all Virginians. As a long-time community advocate for families, women and children, Charniele has demonstrated that she is a problem-solver who works effectively to bring people together.  Charniele has worked with Virginia NOW on state issues and we can say without reservations that she is a tireless champion for  the core principles of Virginia and National NOW, which are ending violence, poverty and racism and promoting Constitutional equality and  human rights."  
By electing Charniele, the voters of the 46th District will be sending a delegate to Richmond who will work for progress not only in their district but also in the entire Commonwealth. The Virginia NOW PAC wholeheartedly endorses Charniele Herring for Delegate in the 46th District.  

Contact: Marj Signer, President, Virginia NOW PAC, email vanowpresident@hotmail.com, cell 202-341-5559  

(Angry Moran supporters: This is a joke.)

Charniele Herring is the real deal. She has lived in Alexandria for 22 years, coming to the area as a teenager after a time when her family was homeless. Because of her early struggles and later success as a lawyer, businesswoman and community leader, Charniele can offer a unique perspective and a fresh new voice in Richmond. Charniele has never lost touch with her community, staying involved in causes such as affordable housing and homeless prevention, education, equality, economic justice, and the needs of working families. She has been appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine twice to the Council on the Status of Women. As a businesswoman, Charniele Herring has been president of the West End Business Association, leading the way to promote the success of small business owners and tackling community challenges such as traffic and transportation.

For all of these reasons, VA NOW recognizes Charniele Herring as the best qualified candidate who is ready right now to represent the people of the 46th District. Charniele Herring will be the fresh new voice in Richmond and the smart choice for Alexandria voters.

Please check out Charniele's website, www.herringfordelegate.com

Remember to vote for Charniele Herring tomorrow, Monday, Dec 15 or Tuesday, Dec 16 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the William Ramsey Recreation Center, 5650 Sanger Avenue, Alexandria, VA.

Why doesn't Bob McDonnell resign to run for Governor?  

Easy answer!  Because he's been using the tax payers money to run for Governor from his office for the past year and a half.  McDonnell has spared no expense, since the taxpayers are paying for it, to fund his campaign!

I hope the RTD or WaPo remembers to report this come time to vote!

Charniele Herring

It was a raucus caucus,    sort of a party atmosphere,

A good job by volunteers who had very little notice of the  caucus.

Also, the republican caucus, at the room next door , only had 49 voters! Pitiful!
( Not that the 243 democratic voters makes me very happy......]

Please check out Charniele's website, www.herringfordelegate.com

Remember to vote for Charniele Herring tomorrow, Monday, Dec 15 or Tuesday, Dec 16 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the William Ramsey Recreation Center, 5650 Sanger Avenue, Alexandria, VA.