Home The Agenda | Wednesday, Aug. 5
Region/State

The Agenda | Wednesday, Aug. 5

Chris Graham

Still waiting to hear from the Creigh Deeds campaign on when the Deeds Country Tour will hit my part of the Valley.
Still haven’t heard from anybody in the campaign about scheduling a Waynesboro event for the Tour. Still assuming I’ll catch the tour in Staunton when it comes this way.
Elsewhere …

– Still hoping to meet or hear from or whatever else I can get from Steve Shannon. T-minus 91 days ’til Election Day, and I’m still ohfer-the-campaign with Shannon to date.

– The Pat Mullins thingie that the Deeds and DPVA folks were hoping would blow up on the Republicans hasn’t yet, to our consternation. “It’s been 24 hours, and still no apology from Bob McDonnell,” state Democratic Party chair Dickie Cranwell said in a statement in a press release on Tuesday.

You might remember that Cranwell and Deeds on Monday raised issue with a statement from Mullins in Highland County last month to the effect that unemployed Virginians would rather be on welfare than find work. Which of course was a stupid thing to say, as it is a stupid thing for our side to keep begging Bobby Mac to apologize for it.

– Interesting tidbit: The DPVA on Tuesday filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking information on Republican State Del. Phil Hamilton’s contact with Old Dominion University regarding his budget amendment funding the new ODU Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership and its subsequent hiring of Hamilton.

In 2007, Hamilton pushed for an annual $500,000 grant for the Center in the state budget. He was later hired as an independent contractor at the Center.

Both Hamilton and Old Dominion University deny a conflict of interest and claim that Hamilton’s role as a budget negotiator did not factor into his hiring.

“If Del. Hamilton doesn’t have anything to hide, this shouldn’t be a problem,” said Democratic Party of Virginia executive director Leigh Anne Collier. “We’re just trying to get the facts.”

 

– Column by Chris Graham

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Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

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