Bacon's Rebellion

Inviting the Man Without a Plan

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by

James A. Bacon
in

The Washington Post reports that a group of former Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Chairmen are urging that Russ Potts be included in the Chamber debate on September 13th.

Michael G. Anzilotti, one of the former chairmen who helped organize the writing of the letter, said some of the region’s business executives are dismayed by what they see as inadequate transportation proposals by Kaine and Kilgore.

Memo to Mr. Anzilotti: at least both Kaine and Kilgore have transportation proposals. Right now Russ Potts has only promised one sometime after Labor Day.

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  1. Norman Avatar
    Norman

    Plans are for c-o-w-a-r-d-s Will. What this race needs is more theater, not white papers.

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Politically a brilliant move on the part of the Pott’s campaign, one of the first signs of intelligent life so far this summer. A friend of mine recently noted that if you look through the headlines on the daily clipping services, Potts name is dominant most days. Now he may dominate the coverage of this major debate just as much as if he were on stage.

    Will, if you think the statements provided by Kaine and Kilgore qualify as transportation “plans” you are pretty easy to satisfy. At best they are statements of philosophy and lists of pre-conditions. Potts may or may not produce more meat, and they may do so before November. There is political danger in too much detail. But right now the two major party candidates are providing fairly thin soup.

  3. TheModerate Avatar
    TheModerate

    I have said it once and I will say it again – no matter what Kaine & Kilgore do in regards to letting Potts in the debates it is a win-win situation for Potts.

    If they let him in he gets to debate them on the same stage. If they don’t let him in he is once again a martyr.

  4. Not Larry Sabato Avatar
    Not Larry Sabato

    When Governor Potts is elected, I hope he will select Will Vehrs as his Sec. of Finance.

  5. Will Vehrs Avatar
    Will Vehrs

    I will not seek, nor will I accept, and appointment as Secretary of Finance for a Governor Potts.

    Right now, the Chamber is being portrayed as the bad guy. If they don’t cave, Kaine actually may be hurt by the “let Potts in” din unless he heroically refuses to debate without Potts. Then Kilgore would become the target.

    If the Chamber caves, then Kilgore must agree to Potts or potentially be hurt.

    Norm is right–we need drama, not positions, proposals, or white papers. Who has time for the problems of Virginia when there are good stories of nonny-nonny boo-boo epithets being hurled?

    Anonymous, I find Potts’ vague plans to hatch a plan and to raise taxes an unspecified amount to finance unspecified things to be a less than hearty gruel.

  6. Bob Griendling Avatar
    Bob Griendling

    Exactly who signed the letter? Here’s a list of possibilities.

    Support from these type folks can push Potts easily into the 15% range. The question is who will it hurt most?

  7. Will Vehrs Avatar
    Will Vehrs

    Bob, your comment reminds me of the old “how many divisions does the Pope command?” I think we’ve seen all too often that the business guys who want to raise taxes to support infrastructure that benefits them seldom win at the ballot box.

    The debate furor, egged on by the media, might end up helping Potts and hurting Kaine and/or Kilgore.

    Of course, if Kaine and Kilgore took Potts on, it might end this saga early.

    Thanks for the list.

  8. Charley Tuna Avatar
    Charley Tuna

    Bravo, Will.

    “These type folks” (minus Todd Stottlemyer), known as Citizens for Better Transportation in 2002, spent $2.1 million to convince 45% of Northern Virginians to raise their own taxes, when 55% of the region had voted for Mark Warner based on his promise to allow them to raise their own taxes.

    There’s not enough money in the world that will allow them to increase Russ’s numbers from 3% to 15% in Northern Virginia.

  9. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Kilgore should include Potts in the
    debate and expose Potts’ many flip-
    flops, which make John Kerry look
    like an amateur.

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I don’t understand what’s so wrong with allowing Potts, who has run for office more times than Kilgore and Kaine combined, to stand on a stage and receive fair consideration by the people of this Commonwealth.

    With all due respect to the bloggers here who show a clear disdain for Potts, it strikes me as decidedly undemocratic for organizations who claim to have the public’s best interests at heart to proactively block Potts from debates.

    As an undecided voter, the whole thing makes me feel patronized. The minutae of transportation plans matters less to me than the broader question of who among the three candidates is most likely to continue Virginia’s tradition of governors who inspire respect by telling people what’s needed, not what they want to hear.

    In that respect, I continue to weigh Potts as a serious, reasonable alternative to the other candidates.

    An Undecided Voter

  11. Will Vehrs Avatar
    Will Vehrs

    Undecided, Russ Potts may have run for election in his district more times than Kaine and Kilgore combined have run, but Kaine and Kilgore each have run for state-wide office more times than Potts.

    Did we have any clue in 2004 that Potts was mulling a run for Governor in 2005? We all knew in 2001 that Kaine and Kilgore would. Their every action in the past 3 1/2 years was scrutinized in terms of their pending gubernatorial run. No one but the people in his district were looking at Potts and those that were barely gave him a primary win in 2003. Kaine and Kilgore have worked hard to gain their high poll ratings. Potts has come to the party late and demanded valet parking. I don’t see why it is unreasonable to expect someone to work hard to gain 15% support in the polls before he or she is considered a serious candidate. Let Potts in at 5% or less and all you do are encourage spoilers to enter our political system.

    If you don’t like Kaine or Kilgore, you can cast your protest vote for Potts. You know all you are ever going to know about him.

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