Guest Column

Blue Dog Tales


 

Here's Timmaayyy!

 

Gov.-Elect Tim Kaine has taken his transportation show on the road. The Blue Dog dishes the dirt on who said what in the Staunton hearing.


 

The Blue Dog had an interesting Thursday evening last week. After reading The Washington Post's fair and balanced "rave reviews" along with pundit Gordon Morse's foaming-at-the-mouth taxation column concerning Gov.-elect Tim Kaine's Moving Virginia Forward town-hall meeting, out of curiosity, I had to attend the event of the fall season.

 

Yes, the front burners are on with the "Grow Right, Get There Faster" statewide theme, which is the Kaine transportation mission statement. The raising Kaine citizen meetings have been sold-out affairs in Manassas, Roanoke, Henrico, Newport News, Fredericksburg, Leesburg and Danville. Gathered at this town-hall meeting in Staunton were Dems and 'Pubs, parents and their children, social activists and environmentalists, leftists and tree huggers, gays and lesbians, former candidates and elected officials, dynamic talk-radio DJs and TV-3's wet-behind-the-ear reporters, and of course, the local dino-newspapers reporters and a few Internet bloggers were in attendance.

 

Kaine had a nice crowd in the Stonewall Jackson Hotel ballroom, which was standing-room-only. Notables were recognized by the Governor-elect, which included the mayor of Staunton, John Avoli, along with local House of Delegates members Ben Cline and Chris Saxman. However, our esteemed state senator, Emmett Hanger, was AWOL.

 

While addressing the town hall, Avoli bent over backwards to express his undying gratitude for Gov. Mark Warner's personal assistance and his state funding that assisted with the renovation of the hotel -- as the local elected Republicans in the crowd rolled their teary eyes!

 

In addition, the Blue Dog spied several members of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors and the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors who are steadfast members of the local Republican Party fawning over Gov.-elect Kaine and his handlers. No doubt, this yet another sickening display for supplementary state funding for future county pet projects, such as an expensive loop road and pricey infrastructure for their business corridors and much more.

 

"No mas, mo mas, Timmaayyyy!" - because power and greed corrupts the heart and soul of our local politicians in the Central Shenandoah Valley

 

Believe it or not: The Blue Dog overheard from across the crowded room an Augusta County elected Republican say boldly he voted for Democrat Tim Kaine and not that other guy. What an apple polisher! Local Democrats gleefully expressed their enduring gratitude for his vote.

 

Holy RINO, Batman! Better contact the Virginia Club for Growth and use the Grover Norquist hotline!

 

After hearing this blasphemy, the Blue Dog sarcastically questioned the conservative twosome, Delegates Saxman and Cline, about the possibility of supporting a Kaine gas-tax increase. Not wanting to stir the pot, both Cline and Saxman politely said, "No."

 

Just double-checking there, boys! After all, Tim "The Choir Boy" Kaine expressed sincere appreciation for the cooperation at the town hall.

 

As I chatted with Del. Cline, I noticed two of his former Democratic opponents, Mimi Elrod and David Cox, glaring and whispering sweet little nothings on the front row. The Blue Dog's ears were a-burning!

 

The Blue Dog provided Cline some advice to stay clear of The News-Leader reporters as well - as the staff there has rather mean-spiritedly nicknamed Congressman Bob Goodlatte's former legislative assistant Ben Clone in their editorials. After warning Gentle Ben about the Lexington one-two punch, a few seconds later, Cline graciously went over to shake their hands.

 

Cline is a good politician and Virginia gentleman, but I'm still waiting for his brand of conservative legislation to materialize in Richmond. If you need some solid ideas, buddy, I'm just a phone call away.

 

Roadie Toadies

 

His Excellency-elect, Tim Kaine, waltzed into the ballroom 15 minutes late for his own flipping town-hall meeting! Kaine's mentor, the esteemed Gov. Mollycoddle, can't tell time either. He's consistently late.

 

Oh yeah, Timmy did take a second look at the Blue Dog when entering the room, and he might have actually cracked a half-smile when he saw me on the front row. Yes, Virginia politics are so addictive because it's so personal.

 

Our governor-elect quickly laid out his three transportation principles ...

 

- Urgency with the issue of Virginia transportation and funding.

 

- Accountability with the Virginia Department of Transportation and road-construction projects.

 

- Accountability with land-planning and transportation needs.

 

And err, wait a second, folks, because there's another principle. Perhaps our governor-elect meant to say there are four principles?

 

- Choices with private partnerships along with mass and alternative transportation processes.

 

For the record, the Blue Dog says mass transit is the only solution to the transportation challenges of congested regions in the Commonwealth such as Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. In the first place, there's no room to build the roads. Second, planners need to alleviate secondary and local traffic to free up major transportation routes. It's not rocket science, because there's no justifiable reasoning to building more and more roads. It's not an answer to the problem. It's time for a common-sense approach for our transportation challenges.

 

Kaine set the ground rules for the town hall: Keep the questions brief, no applause or booing, either. Kaine mainly listened and made few comments.

 

The first questioner from Lynchburg broke the rules with his commentary. I'm guessing this Lynchburg native is a lifelong Democrat because he stroked Kaine's ego excessively about his gubernatorial victory and how pleased and happy he was about that fact. Then he finally commented how the governor needs to legislatively direct the reinstatement of toll roads throughout Virginia.

 

Earth to Lynchburg, Earth to Lynchburg ... Please wake up and smell the hot asphalt, because nobody, and I mean nobody, in the Shenandoah Valley wants toll roads!

 

During the meeting, Democrat and Republican alike stood up and expressed their distain and displeasure for legislation that would institute toll roads and the Star Solutions project. Halfway through the meeting, Gov.-elect Kaine asked for a show of hand of residents who supported a rail alternative for I-81 or represented the rail-advocacy organization, Rail Solution. Wow! It had to be 90 percent of the people in the room raising their hands as supporters of a rail alternative.

 

More to the point, our elected officials attending the meeting said "No!" to the clowns at Star Solutions and "Yes!" to a rail alternative for the Shenandoah Valley

 

When addressing the governor-elect, Augusta County Board of Supervisors member Tracey Pyles made some excellent points about state funding of secondary roadways and lessening the standards for road construction in rural areas. The same for former state senator Frank Nolen concerning a rail solution. Frank Nolen never seems to grow older.

 

However, the citizens attending the town hall from the Peoples Republic of Charlottesville were noticeably out of place and a tad bizarre with their left-wing questions and superficial commentary concerning transportation. Maybe it's the water across the mountain?

 

Case in point: First off, a Virginia Organizing Project member said state taxes were regressive. He obviously forgot the VOP supported Warner's tax increases in 2004. And then he sternly requested that the governor-elect curtail law enforcement practice of racial profiling with ethnicity on our Interstates and roadways. Oh, please! Who drives slow enough to notice race or ethnicity or sex?

 

Later that evening, the Blue Dog chatted with Kaine's campaign media director Delacey Skinner and congratulated her as well as the entire Kaine campaign on a hard-fought victory. A stunning victory, I must admit.

 

For the record, the Blue Dog is attempting to mend a few broken fences. See you on the road and ... Happy trails to Gov.-elect Timmaayyyy!

 

-- December 12, 2005

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Sisson is a fiscally conservative, Mountain-Valley Democrat, party activist, columnist and serious amateur genealogist. His work is published in the Augusta Free Press  

His e-mail address is:

ValleyBlueDog@aol.com

 

Read his profile and back columns here.