Bacon's Rebellion

Splitting the Vote

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by

James A. Bacon
in

The Virginia Progressive

is the latest Democratic organ that’s all excited about Sen. Russ Potts’ candidacy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.

Some Republican blogs, when they are not trashing Potts, are trying to convince themselves that he’ll take votes from Kaine, not Kilgore. Of course, the “bring back the car tax” demographic may not have much of a voting track record.

Potts has said he only needs 34% of the vote in a three-way race. My questions are these: assuming Potts gets on the ballot (a big if, in my opinion), do we want a Governor who only got 34% of the vote? Do we want a Governor who doesn’t get 50%? Would a Governor without a majority alter the balance of power with the General Assembly?

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  1. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Considering that Potts is running to the left of Kaine, I suppose he would govern similar to Kaine.

    The Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision today that could have ramifications on this campaign:

    The Supreme Court invalidates capital punishment for juveniles.

  2. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    Noteworthy news flash: Russ Potts has been planning the run since the summer of 2004 with Gov. Mark Warner’s assistance. And there’s nothing in the VA newspapers about it!

    According to the Connecticut News: The match-makers for D’Amore and Potts were two neighbors in Alexandria, Va. – Weicker and Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat precluded by term limits from seeking re-election.

    Warner introduced Potts to Weicker, and Weicker introduced D’Amore to Potts, telling him that Potts was trying to make up his mind about running for governor as a Republican or an independent.

    “I came down here last summer and met him. He’s a delightful guy,” D’Amore said in a telephone interview from Richmond. “He came to Connecticut last summer and fall. I helped him agonize his way through this decision process.”

    Read more about it, according to the Connecticut News, courant.com:

    http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-damore0225.artfeb25,0,6215623.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

    Another news flash! The Kaine campaign has a gag order on comments about Potts.

    A Republican handler wrote to the Blue Dog “Russ Potts message is the left of Kaine, not to the right of Kaine which I found intriguing and surprising.”

    Another said, “Senator Potts’ strategy is to replicate the one former-Republican-turned-Independent Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker used to win the top prize in that state’s government: run up the middle. If this were Connecticut, Potts might well be considered a moderate. But this ain’t Connecticut, and Potts ain’t no moderate by Virginia standards. He’s a high-tax social and fiscal liberal”

    According to the Washington Post, “He (Potts) also promised to advance a plan to modernize an ‘antique 1930 Model T’ transportation network and said he would not shy from talking about how to pay for it, including possible taxes.”

    Oh boy! In a Virginia field of political dreams:

    So far, the Blue Dog impressed with wild flower, George Fitch.

    After all, Kilgore is acting like a dandylion, Kaine is nothing more than Warner’s wallflower and Russ Potts is poison ivy to taxpayers.

  3. Will Vehrs Avatar
    Will Vehrs

    Ah, Blue Dog, we’ve got more conspiracies than CIA agents who live bad Prince William County settlement patterns.

    My real interest with the post was to wonder if a three-way race that led to a Governor with less than 50% of the popular vote would matter. Winner take all and take a mandate, no matter what the plurality?

    Paul, the court decision is interesting. It’s hard to tell how it might cut, but I found a comment on NPR intriguing–this court lets a juvenile have an abortion, but worries that a juvenile killer might not have his thought processes well-formed.

    If the court was going to overturn executing juveniles, I wish they didn’t use a case where the perpetrator bragged he would beat the needle because he was a juvenile.

  4. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    Conspiracies?

    I say the Potts/Warner connection is front page news, but back to your post …

    Blue Dog’s facts: Potts needs only 33.4-percent of the vote to win. Former U.S. senator Harry Byrd won twice as an independent, and don’t forget about Henry Howell’s populist winning independent campaign for lieutenant governor in 1970.

    According to RaisingKaine.com, a recent Emerson College poll found that Kilgore is leading Kaine in a two-way race by the slim margin of 33 percent to 26 percent. With 41 percent of Virginia voters still undecided, I say Potts’ chances are not looking too bad at this point.

    Russ Potts is a favorite with the Virginia’s teacher associations, the chamber of commerce and the pro-tax business political-action committees. As a state senator, Potts has supported tax increases for education and transportation.

    Virginian’s environmental community knows that Potts is the original – yo’ homey, home-slice, partner, buddy and the genuine cool one for Northern Virginia’s pro-road constructors and cookie-cutter developers and the powerful real estate broker PACs as well.

    It’s obvious to the Blue Dog why candidate Russ Potts calls himself a middle-of-the-road.

    The Associated Press wrote that Potts joked when asked about this campaign plans, saying, “There’ll be a little vinegar out there this year.”

    And we all know Virginia’s high-tax lobbyists love vinegar-flavored barbecue pork barrel.

    Read more about Potts’ panacea candidacy: http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$32083

  5. John K. Avatar
    John K.

    Paul & Will, one high-profile example of an immediate impact on Virginia as a result of the USSC’s decision today is that convicted murderer Lee Boyd Malvo won’t be getting the death penalty. This may focus more attention on the death penalty issue since Malvo apparently has signaled an interest in talking about the case against his accomplice, case against his accomplice, John Allen Mohammed. Undoubtedly, the candidates will be asked about what sentence is appropriate for Mohammed.

  6. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Did you all see tonight’s news? Thousands of minors committed brutal murders today. See, they heard about the Supreme Court ruling and realized they’d better get their murders in before they turned 18.

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