I Agree With This Ad. The Only Problem Is...

A moderate Democrat's take on the progressive pounding of Nye... (0.00 / 0)

I completely agree with you in that this ad isn't the most effective way to attack the Republican Scott Rigell. That, in my opinion, is a mistake by the DCCC. While we're on the topic of this race, there are some things I need to get off my chest about how liberals are treating this campaign.

Lets get real:
1. Not everyone falls under the category of far left or far right. This IS Virginia, after all. If you want a more progressive representative, move to San Francisco.
2. With that said, lets be realistic. The 2nd district will never have a progressive Democrat as their representative. It's the breeding ground of Pat Robertson's insanity, and hosts a large population of moderately conservative military families and veterans.
3. Glenn Nye is the only kind of Democrat who stands a chance of winning and successfully staying in office in this district.
4. Nye has done a good job pleasing the majority of his constituents, who (and this may come as a shock) INCLUDE Republicans, moderates, independents, democrats, tea partiers, and progressives. And wait, isn't that his JOB?
5. If you want to stay home on Election Day, fine. But I hope you'll be happy with Scott Rigell: The Pat Robertson praising, Ken Cuccinelli clone who will vote with the Republican Party 100% of the time. Not to mention become the new beck and call boy of Eric Cantor.

Personally, i'm pleased with Nye. He has proven to be a fiscally responsible representative during these hard times, and an advocate for equality and social issues. My wife and I saw him at the debates, and he was obviously the most intelligent and level headed candidate on stage. I believe he still needs some time in office to develop into a great Virginia leader, but he's on the right path. Lets not run the train off the tracks here in the 2nd and elect Scott Rigell.  

---

by: jrRoberts @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 16:23:58 PM UTC

How is it "fiscally responsible" to increase (0.00 / 0)

the debt by $1 trillion in order to shower millionaires and billionaires with tax breaks they don't need?

Follow me on Twitter.

---

by: lowkell @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 16:26:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Brief responses to your points. (0.00 / 0)

1. We're all well aware of that.
2. Disagree. We have no idea if a progressive Democrat can win in that district. This is the same argument progressives here all the time, and I don't buy it.
3. Disagree. See #2.
4. We'll see what the voters say in a few weeks.
5. Rigell's awful, no doubt about it. I hope he loses.

Follow me on Twitter.

---

by: lowkell @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 16:34:42 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

We can agree to disagree. (0.00 / 0)

I don't think right now is the time to be raising taxes. I am in favor of a compromise in which business owners and middle/upper class families get cuts. I also agree with you though, that the billionaires can handle the tax increases. I feel there is a reasonable solution out there somewhere, not that either party would get off their rumps and compromise with the other.

---

by: jrRoberts @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 17:51:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I can agree with you on the timing... (0.00 / 0)

...but ultimately, if we want to get the debt under control, we HAVE TO let the Bush tax cuts expire. Certainly, we cannot afford to let them continue for millionaires and billionaires. We're talking $4 TRILLION for all the Bush tax cuts over the next decade, $3 TRILLION if we don't continue them for the top 2%.  How do we pay for this?!?

Follow me on Twitter.

---

by: lowkell @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 17:57:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Phil Kellam Would Be Running For a Second Term (0.00 / 0)

if he had taken a progressive stance on something, anything, like say, the wars. Without that, he never distinguished himself from Thelma. Sometimes being on the right side of the issues pays dividends, even if it is the progressive side, even in the 2nd District. Nye is making the same mistake.

---

by: Dan Sullivan @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 19:15:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

No another D could win in the 2nd. Its only a R+5 distirct (0.00 / 0)

If you're happy with him, great but my time and effort goes to Perriello who's also in a R+5 district and is far more aggressive in pursuing the interests of the middle class and not the rich and powerful like Nye.

---

by: martinlomasney @ Wed Sep 22, 2010 at 19:24:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Unfortunately... (0.00 / 0)

Voters don't have a choice of a progressive or Glenn Nye or Scott Rigell in the 2nd. We have two choices in the 2nd, either Scott Rigell or Glenn Nye. If enough Democrats decide to go the political suicide route all over the country, then we will be looking at Republican control of the House. What does that gain?

That very attitude is the one the Tea Baggers are taking: Either they get ideological purity or they don't care if the other party wins. I strongly disagree.

We have a REPRESENTATIVE democracy. If Glenn Nye represents the view of people in the 2nd, then who am I to tell them they shouldn't have that? That would be like telling the people in the 9th that they shouldn't have Rick Boucher because he's not "progressive" enough. I may think that, but I don't live and vote in the 9th...or the 2nd.

(I agree with you that Tome Perriello is more aggressive in representing the interests of the middle class.)

---

by: Elaine in Roanoke @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 00:23:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

You are aware we're talking about Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore right? (0.00 / 0)

You know it isn't Northern Virginia, right? lowkell, have you ever been there?  If you really think a progressive Democrat can win in that area, why don't you go down there and run?  Moreover, why hasn't any progressive Democrat ever won?  Care to tell me that mystery?

Dan Sullivan, were those really Phil Kellam's only mistakes?  Besides, does Glenn Nye really need to prove he's progressive enough?  Why else would Scott Rigell keep telling people he's voted with Pelosi 8 of 10 times?

And martin... how's that Perriello effort going?

---

by: The Question @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 06:08:58 AM UTC

Nye Ran As Progressive Lite (0.00 / 0)

So, yes, a progressive can win there. Maybe you missed him standing at the gas station with a sign protesting prices.

He will lose posing as Republican lite.

Did I say those were the only mistakes of the Kellam campaign? But those were really critical.  

---

by: Dan Sullivan @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 11:46:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Nye ran in 2008 as a foreign policy wonk. (0.00 / 0)

He really soft-pedaled domestic issues, preferring to let Obama's and Warner's coattails take care of him there. He didn't have to frame himself as "progressive lite"; he just had to be "better than Thelma", which didn't take much.

My real sense of Nye is that, more and more, he's positioning himself as a clone of Owen Pickett, the last Dem to hold the 2nd CD seat. Pickett was a defense hawk conservative whose most progressive position was that he was generally pro-choice (and even there, he voted at least once for a partial birth abortion ban).

Maybe a progressive can win in the 2nd; personally I think most of the people here are far too optimistic about the prospect. If so, it's going to take a candidate who soft-pedals his/her progressivism and focuses sharply on local issues. That does leave room for a strong environmentalist, but first and foremost it takes obsessive attention to defense issues.

---

by: Randy Klear @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 12:31:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm not necessarily optimistic about it (0.00 / 0)

but I find many people to be far too PESSIMISTIC about the idea of electing progressives anywhere, anytime.

Follow me on Twitter.

---

by: lowkell @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 14:05:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You don't think I'm trying to put words in your mouth, do you? (0.00 / 0)

Because what I'm asking(and I'll rephrase), what other reasons did Phil Kellam lose in 2006 other than his not taking a progressive stance?

And are you sure Nye ran as "Progressive Lite"?  Didn't he kept trying to convince people he's a "independent Democrat" that whole election?  Isn't that what he's doing now?  Who did people think they were voting for anyway?  Barney Frank?

And who didn't protest gas prices in 2006?

---

by: The Question @ Thu Sep 23, 2010 at 21:40:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My Concern Isn't The Other Reasons (0.00 / 0)

It seems to be yours. Many of them lead back to his failure to distinguish himself from Thelma, which would have been accomplished if he'd demonstrated a hint of progressivism. Is it that you have some particular bone to pick that you want to divulge?

Nye ran as a Democrat riding the Obama progressive wake. The independent Democrat thing was a quaint appeal to Republicans angry at themselves.

And, no; not many of us grandstanded by standing on a street corner with a sign in our hands in protest of gas prices.

---

by: Dan Sullivan @ Fri Sep 24, 2010 at 10:09:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]