Warner proposals on transit safety, development incorporated into Senate bill
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) joined colleagues on both sides of the aisle in passing legislation out of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to make improvements to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s public transportation programs.
The legislation included new safety standards championed by Sen. Warner in the wake of a fatal 2009 Metro accident, and incorporates Senator Warner’s legislation authorizing grants for localities to promote transit-oriented development.
The bill passed on Thursday includes critical provisions aimed at establishing minimum performance standards for public transportation systems, strengthening enforcement powers and providing states with resources for training and oversight. It draws on legislation that Senator Warner introduced earlier this Congress with Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Read more
Allen to appear at Staunton breakfast on Friday
U.S. Senate Candidate George Allen will be a guest at a dutch-treat breakfast at Shoney’s in Staunton on Friday at 8:30 a.m.
Those who plan to attend can order from the menu or enjoy their breakfast bar.
The get-together will take place in the private dining room.
Allen raises $1M for Senate campaign in fourth quarter
The George Allen for U.S. Senate campaign announced today a strong fundraising total in the fourth quarter of 2012, raising $1,062,132 in the period beginning Oct. 1 and ending Dec. 31.
The end of the year report will show that the Allen campaign raised over $4.5 million in 2011 and will start 2012 with $2,037,405 cash-on-hand.
“Susan and I are greatly appreciative of the encouragement and support we have seen from people in every region of Virginia. The mission of our campaign is to bring Virginia’s voices and values to the U.S. Senate,” said Allen. Read more
Tea Party group blasts Allen on Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
The Virginia Tea Party Patriots, a coalition of over 40 independent tea party groups in Virginia, issued a press release today challenging George Allen’s assertion that he is a Tea Party conservative focusing on the former senator’s failure to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2005, three years before the 2008 financial crisis.
The release highlighted Allen’s decision in 2005 against backing proposed legislation that would have strengthened oversight of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac government-sponsored enterprises that operate in the mortgage business. Read more
Webb, Warner push Senate to reject efforts to balance budget on backs of federal workers
U.S. Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark R. Warner (D-VA) are urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to “reject any proposals that call for pay freezes or other forms of compensation reduction for federal workers, or significant reductions in the federal workforce” to offset the tax extenders that need to be passed by the end of this year.
Along with Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Carl Levin (D-MI), the senators wrote to the Majority Leader on behalf of federal workers in Virginia who are currently in the middle of a two-year pay freeze.
“To ask these hard-working individuals – the very people who keep our food supply safe, our borders secure and develop life-saving technologies – to make further sacrifices is simply unfair,” the senators wrote. “Federal employees are facing the same challenges as other middle-class families during this difficult economic time. … While we can all agree on the importance of job growth and deficit reduction, we cannot balance the budget on the backs of federal employees who carry out the business of the American people every day.” Read more
Tea Party group endorses Allen
Today George Allen received the endorsement of over more than 100 Tea Party leaders from across Virginia for his candidacy for the United States Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jim Webb.
Allen is a heavy favorite to win the Republican Party nomination to run for the Senate in 2012. He faces a field of challengers that most prominently includes former Virginia Tea Party leader Jamie Radtke.
“Gov. Allen’s belief in Tea Party principles is evident in his desire to cut government spending and bring a greater degree of accountability to Washington,” said Coby Dillard, co-founder of the Hampton Roads Tea Party. “When elected, I believe he will carry our shared beliefs to the halls of the Senate, and continue the fight to leave a more fiscally responsible nation as a gift to future generations.”
“George Allen will restrain this over-reaching federal government and preserve the individual freedoms and rights that our Founders envisioned. He has a proven track record of implementing pro-growth policies that help businesses create jobs, and the experience we need to get it done,” said Laura Alcorn, co-founder of the Richmond Patriots. “George Allen is a true conservative leader who shares our core principles. We know he will fight for our Virginia values and we are proud to fight with him.”
“The reckless policies coming out of Washington are eroding our liberties and bankrupting our future,” said Tea Party activist Carl Tate. “Now, more than ever, we need George Allen’s strong, steady leadership to get our country back on track and help America ascend again. The path we are on leads to crushing debt, high unemployment and a dangerous dependency on the federal government. George Allen is a proven, conservative leader who will fight for our values and we need him back in the U.S. Senate.”
Chris Graham: Could conservatives unify to upset Allen?
Posted by afp on October 24, 2011 · 1 Comment
Allen has been running consistently in the upper 50s to mid to upper 60s in the polls for the Republican nomination and is in a virtual dead heat with Democrat Tim Kaine in polls looking ahead to the 2012 general election. Tea Party stalwart Jamie Radtke has the lead in the race for second, but Radtke hasn’t been able to consistently crack the 10 percent barrier.
But say the rest of the field decides to throw its support to Radtke. It’s not as if she (or another similarly chosen anointed intraparty opposition candidate) would automatically bump up from single digits to somewhere in the 30s overnight. It could very well be that Allen would see his support grow among those GOP primary voters for whom Allen would have been a second choice to their preferred candidate. It could also be that the departure from the race of that preferred candidate could disarm and demobilize that candidate’s supporters, who could just leave the primary altogether.
That having been said, my thinking on this is that the similarities among the challengers to Allen – all of whom are running to the right of the former governor and senator, albeit with nuanced points of individual emphasis issue-wise – could give rise to something of a bona fide challenge to the establishment candidate if those candidates were to decide to coalesce around one from their group. And say it was Radtke, who has demonstrated an ability to raise money in decent amounts for someone running well behind in the polls in a crowded field, well, campaigns are all about organization, message being equal. I could see Radtke eventually getting a bump into the 30s in the polls and seeing her campaign treasury (and thus organizational strength) get a similar bump, but really only if she was to be the lone challenger with the unified support of the hard right and the Tea Party.
To put it in football terms, as Allen, a former UVa. quarterback, so often likes to do, the spread offense being run by the right won’t work nearly as well as a ground attack that runs right into the teeth of the Allen campaign defense.
To the next question: Do I see any of this happening the way I think it would need to happen for Allen to have anything to worry about next spring? No, I don’t.
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