Webb sends letter to HOA in defense of Barfoot

Remember this?  “…we will have to see how many other elected officials rush to the Medal of Honor winner’s defense.”

It didn’t take long.

Less than 24 hours after his counterpart Sen. Mark Warner rushed to the defense of Col. Van T. Barfoot, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has joined the fight. Webb has sent a letter to Karen S. Peterson, of the Sussex Square Homeowners Association in Henrico County to urge “reasonable resolution” to the situation.

His letter comes after Warner and the HOA had agreed to discuss the issue to prevent it from going to court.

The entire release from Webb can be found after the jump:

McDonnell taps Kent for Chief of Staff as appointment process begins

As expected Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell named Martin Kent the current Chief Deputy of Attorney General Bill Mims to become his Chief of Staff when he takes office next month. McDonnell also named a number of other appointments at a press conference this morning. These early round picks are not surprises and won’t shake up any current political establishments in Richmond (namely the State Senate).

Andy Jenks covered the Governor’s press event this morning he will have a full report tonight at 5 & 6 on NBC12.

The full list of appointments can be found after the jump.

Warner weighs in on homeowner’s association squabble

Virginia Senator Mark Warner is jumping into the debate over a World War II veteran and his flag pole, that has caused so much disagreement in a Henrico homeowner’s association, that it could end up in court.

Col. Van Barfoot petitioned the Sussex Square Homeowner’s Association for the right to put up a flagpole in his front yard to fly the American Flag. The HOA turned down the request and told the Veteran he was welcome to fly the flag off the side of his house, but a separate pole in front of the house was not allowed. Col. Barfoot believes flying the American Flag in that manner is offensive and chose to put up the pole and fly the flag appropriately, despite the board’s wishes.

The aftermath has left a bitter squabble between the 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner and the elusive board, that refers all media questions to their attorney. This week they informed Barfoot that if the flag doesn’t come down by Friday they will take him to court.

That is when Mark Warner got involved. Warner, who developed a relationship with Barfoot  during his time as Governor, called the Veteran yesterday and sounded off on the controversy in a two-part tweet, where he called the HOA decision “plain wrong”.  The Senator told Colonel that he plans to write a letter to the HOA board and encourage them to come up with an amicable resolution to this problem. Warner also talked to our Tara Morgan about the controversy Wednesday night and said the following:

“I know that communities ought to have rules, but oh my gosh, if there’s a time to make an exception to the rule for somebody whose served our country Medal of Honor winner for World War II, at a time when our troops are in harm’s way in Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe there’s no legal way for them, but sure as heck convince this subdivision to give this American hero a chance to raise his flag,”

- Sen. Mark Warner (D- Virginia)

There is no question that a sitting United States Senator, who operates at perhaps the highest level of government, could certainly have influence over a Homeowner’s Association which is perhaps the lowest level of government. But even Warner notes that legally there is no action he can take to force them to do so. If the HOA allows the flag to fly, it will be because they chose to reverse an earlier decision in the wake of public pressure. Something that despite an intense barrage of media coverage, they have chosen to not do yet.

So why does Warner choose to get involved in a battle that truly involves a very small number of people? As we mentioned the Senator does have a personal relationship with Col. Barfoot, but he also has a keen sense of which issues to jump on the bandwagon for, and he usually is there before any of his fellow politicians. Warner knew that public support for Col. Barfoot’s case is pretty high (This poll on nbc12.com shows that more than 90% of respondents are on his side) and that many people have a poor view of Homeowner’s Associations.

The question is, will Warner’s influence keep Col. Barfoot out of court? He has been offered free legal assistance by a local law firm and appears prepared to hold his ground. If it goes that far, we will have to see how many other elected officials rush to the Medal of Honor winner’s defense.

**Update**

A Facebook group has started in honor of Col. Barfoot’s effort to fly his flag. It now boasts more than 700 members.

**Update 2**

Senator Warner’s office just released a statement that claims they have reached an agreement with the HOA to come up with a solution to the Barfoot situation. Here is the statement from Warner’s spokesperson Kevin Hall:

“Today, the Sussex Square Homeowner’s Association Board voted unanimously to ask Senator Warner’s office to attempt to reach a reasonable solution in the dispute over a flagpole on property owned by Col. Van T. Barfoot. We intend to get to work right away to try to come up with a solution that’s acceptable to both Col. Barfoot and to the Homeowner’s Association.”
- Kevin Hall, Communications Director
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (Virginia)

See More:

*Tara Morgan’s story on this controversy from Wednesday night

*Andy Jenks’ original report on the controversy.

Kaine to make tour of Commonwealth to kick off smoking ban

By: Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine will make a tour of a series of Restaurants on the day one of his signature legislative accomplishments goes into effect. On December 1st, Kaine will make appearances at a number of different restaurants across Virginia in honor of the first day that  Commonwealth’s ban on smoking in bars and eateries will be enforced. One of his stops will be here in Richmond. The Governor will appear at the Home Team Grill on Main Street in the Fan at 4pm.

Kaine fought years of institutional loyalty to the tobacco industry to push through the ban, that had an overwhelming amount of public support. Despite spending the better part of 4 years fighting to get the measured pass, Kaine will leave the bulk of the enforcement of the new law in the hands of his successor, Bob McDonnell, who publically voiced opposition to the plan. Kaine told me back in February when the bill finally passed, that he wasn’t worried about the new law being enforced.

The brand new atmosphere at Virginia Bars and Restaurants begins on December 1st.

 

McDonnell set to volunteer at Food Bank

Governor-elect Bob McDonnell will spend Monday volunteering at the Central Virginia Foodbank. The Republican will be joined by two of his daughters at the Richmond non-profit.

The Foodbank has often been the beneficiary of McDonnell’s goodwill. During his time as Attorney General, he organized an event called “Statewide Legal Food Frenzy”. The drive was a challenge to law firms throughout the Commonwealth to raise food donations to give to organizations across Virginia.

Details regarding the event can be found below:

*MEDIA ADVISORY*
Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell to Volunteer at the Central Virginia Foodbank in Richmond Tomorrow

Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell, along with two of his daughters, will volunteer with the Central Virginia Foodbank in Richmond tomorrow.

McDonnell is a longtime supporter of and advocate for Virginia’s Food Banks. As Attorney General he helped initiate and chaired the “Statewide Legal Food Frenzy,” a philanthropic competition among Virginia’s legal community benefiting Food Banks statewide.

Warner comes to Richmond to talk Small Business

United States Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) will make a stop this morning (Friday) at the Can-Can restaurant in Carytown to discuss the economy and efforts to improve the climate for small business. Warner will meet with 15 local small business owners and will specifically talk about their frustration to obtain credit.

The details on the event can be found below:

———————–

Senator Mark Warner Meets With Local Small Business Owners:

WHEN: Today, Friday, Nov. 20th
10:00 am – 11:00 am

WHERE: Can-Can
3120 West Cary Street

To learn more about Warner’s efforts to help small businesses during the rough economy click here.

SMCRVA Panel Wrap

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Science Museum of Virginia on Tuesday night for our terrific panel discussion on the use of social media in the campaign for Virginia Governor. The panel was hosted by the Social Media Club of Richmond.

I was very excited because the turnout was a great mix of local social media users, politicos and just interested citizens. It really was one of the main reasons SMCRVA was created.

I had high hopes of writing an in-depth blog post about the evening, but thankfully I don’t have to because Chris Walling of the Right-leaning Project Virginia wrote an excellent (non-partisan) account of the evening. Here is an excerpt:

Tuesday night’s Social Media Club Richmond hosted a panel discussion on the of use social media in the 2009 Virginia elections with members of the McDonnell and Deeds campaign, Virginia bloggers, an Independent candidate for Virginia House of Delegates and a University of Richmond political science professor. The insight offered by the campaign staffers provided valuable information into the intersection of political messaging and social media.

Read their full post here.

I want to offer a special thanks to our panelist who many of which took part as a favor to me. Tucker Martin, Jared Leopold, Dan Palazzolo, Eli Kaplan, Waldo Jaquith, Jason Kenney and Gary Reinhardt all offered excellent insight into the campaign. I hope everyone learned as much as I did.

Palin loves Lieberman

By:  Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Much has been discussed about Sarah Palin’s return to the media spotlight. The former candidate for Vice-President’s new book comes out tomorrow and she is going to be embarking on a book tour that will bring her to Roanoke later this month. The former Governor of Alaska kicked off the media blitz with a highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Palin’s first big moment in the spotlight will be scrutinized in many different places, but I was struck by a question that Winfrey asked about her relationship with Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. Lieberman, who famously broke party ranks to endorse his friend John McCain, was at one point considered to be a contender to be the GOP nominee for Vice President. Of course, just four years earlier, Lieberman had been the Democratic nominee for the same job.

Insider reports claim that McCain really wanted to run with Lieberman, but that his advisors told him that his lukewarm support from social conservatives would turn into an outright revolt, if he went with the Democrat. Instead he picked Palin. The fact that Lieberman was passed over, especially after he had gone out on such a limb would make one believe that he probably wouldn’t be a huge fan of Sarah Palin. Especially when they two sit on opposite ends of the political spectrum on a number of key social issues.

However in her chat with Winfrey, Palin specifically mentioned how kind Lieberman was during her preparations for her debate with Joe Biden. While the McCain debate prep team seemed to be overwhelming her with a deluge of information, Lieberman told her just to “relax’. You can see what Palin had to say about Lieberman on the Oprah website, in a web extra clip that Winfrey calls “The best advice she got on the campaign trail.”

“He gave me the best advice that anybody had on the campaign.” said Palin. “Be yourself, put your faith in God, he is going to see you through this.  Have fun. They were things that seemed so simplistic, but were absolutely real and helpful at the time.”

Interestingly, I spoke to Sen. Lieberman in the moments after that very debate.  The Senator, who was offered by the McCain campaign as a surrogate from the “spin room”, had nothing but high praise for Palin’s performance. A performance that we now know, was in part because of Lieberman’s contribution to the effort.

Here is the entire uncut interview from October 2, 2008:

Lieberman once again finds himself under attack from liberal Democrats who are unhappy with his role in the health care fight. If he was hoping to repair relationships that have been badly damaged since he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President, praise from Palin, probably won’t be very helpful.

SMCRVA Presents- Gubernatorial election post-mortem: Tuesday November 17th

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Now that the arguments have been made and the votes have been cast, what worked and what didn’t? This coming Tuesday, the incredibly popular Social Media Club of Richmond (SMCRVA) presents an interesting election post-mortem featuring some inside players in the campaigns of both Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds.

The event will focus on particular, the role the internet and social media played in a campaign that was one of the most watched races in the country.

SMCRVA takes place Tuesday November 17th at the Science Museum of Virginia and will feature a panel discussion that includes, Tucker Martin the communications director of the McDonnell campaign and Jared Leopold, the press secretary for Creigh Deeds.

In addition to insight from Martin and Deeds, prominent Virginia political bloggers Jason Kenney and Waldo Jaquith will offer their perspective and we will hear from our political analyst Dan Palazzolo and Independent candidate for Delegate Gary Reinhardt.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here and include food and drink and a guaranteed good time.

The full details are below.. follow @SMCRVA on twitter for updates and e-mail me at rnobles@nbc12.com if you need more information.

DON’T WAIT to purchase tickets!! SMCRVA events are very popular and the tickets often sell out quick. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to see behind the curtain of the campaign for Governor of Virginia in 2009.

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SMCRVA November ‘09 Event

Social Media has become an important tool in political campaigns.  This month, we’re going to take a look at how Democrats, Republicans and Independents have used social media, what’s worked and what hasn’t, and what the campaign leaders see as the opportunities for the next election cycle.

On Tuesday, November 17, NBC12’s Ryan Nobles will be moderating a panel discussion.  Our panelists are:

• Tucker Martin (Bob McDonnell Campaign)
• Jared Leopold (Creigh Deeds Campaign)
• Jason Kenney
• Waldo Jaquith
• Gary Reinhardt – Independent candidate for VA’s 63 district
• Dan Palazzolo- University of Richmond Professor and NBC12 Political Analyst

The event will be held at the Science Museum of Virginia in the IMAX Theater with a reception. Light hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine will be served.

Registration and Networking begins at 6:00 pm

The panel discussion begins at 7:00pm

A reception will follow and will go on until 9:00pm

TICKETS PURCHASED HERE

The day after- Election ‘09 winners and losers

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Now that the winner and losers have been officially decided at the ballot box, it is time to dig a bit deeper and see who will benefit (and lose) the most in Virginia politics.

Losers -

Gov. Tim Kaine - It is hard to believe that just a little more than a year ago, Virginia’s current governor was a whisker away from becoming the nominee for vice president of the United States. It seems that since his close friend President Barack Obama turned to the more experienced Joe Biden, Kaine’s fortunes have gone down hill. He was forced into a job he didn’t want (DNC Chair) and as a result had to constantly deal with questions about where he was having dinner each night. Taking on the job also put him at the center of yesterday’s losses not only in Virginia, but in New Jersey too, a state he has little to nothing to do with. Kaine now is left with a little less than two months to define his legacy in the governor’s mansion. A legacy that, regardless of his legislative and governing accomplishments (Smoking Ban, his stewardship in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre), will now be defined by one huge political win (Barack Obama) and one enormous political loss (last night). Kaine, however, still enjoys the trust and friendship of the most powerful man in the world and his political destiny may still be ahead of him.

Jeff Frederick (former Republican Party chair) – Yes, there were Republicans who did not come out ahead last night and Frederick is among them. The feisty leader of the conservative wing of the party was on the precipice of causing a huge rift in the Republican party last spring. But within less than a month he became marginalized by the McDonnell machine and reduced to a few errant tweets that eventually no longer became news. In the days leading up to the campaign, Frederick tweeted about a write-in campaign for his former seat in the House of Delegates, and the formation of a separate Conservative party in Virginia. Frederick, who once held a position so powerful that his off-the-cuff comments about Barack Obama garnered national attention, may now only be remembered as the guy who once held one of the few seats in the House of Delegates that switched to the Democratic party in 2009.

Mike Henry (campaign manager for Terry McAuliffe and Steve Shannon) – Perhaps the most respected mind in Virginia politics, Henry had the distinction of presiding over two losses in one campaign season. The expectations may have been too high for a man who had been almost perfect in Virginia politics. He didn’t appear to have enough time to convince Virginia voters that McAuliffe was one of them and by the time he reached the Shannon campaign, the growing tsunami was already overwhelming. Henry is still incredibly well-respected and I am sure he will be back in the very near future (Terry McAuliffe is already considering a run in 2013).

Winners -

Phil Cox (McDonnell campaign manager) – The man at the top of the Bob McDonnell machine withstood criticism about his ties to controversial conservative groups to become the biggest “behind the scenes” player in Virginia politics. This morning Bob McDonnell named him the head of his transition team and, depending on what his goals are, he may end up with a prominent position in the new administration. Cox managed a fickle and unsettled GOP in the spring and became the first Republican campaign manger to effectively integrate the internet and social media into an overall strategy.  He also helped to guide Team McDonnell through the rough waters of the revelation of the candidate’s master’s thesis to cruise to a landslide victory.

Republican Bloggers/Internet Stars - Up until yesterday, it was just a given that Republicans would lose the war online. It may be too early to declare them victorious in 2009, but the GOP’s presence on the internet grew exponentially in this campaign. From offering right-leaning bloggers better seating at the Republican convention than the media, to gathering more Facebook friends and Twitter followers for Bob McDonnell than any other candidate, Republicans did not just hand the internet over to the Democrats. Sites like Bearing Drift have now become important players that candidates and voters can no longer ignore. They may not be the difference between winning and losing, but they are now having an impact, something they could never say before.

Brian Moran (former Democratic candidate for governor) – He watched as one of his one of his two opponents for the Democratic nomination lost in a landslide and the other already floated the idea of running again and hasn’t said a word. Brian Moran is rumored to be in talks to make a play for the Democratic Party’s chairmanship and could be well positioned to be a prominent and vocal opponent to the McDonnell administration. The former leader of the Democratic House Caucus, Moran is accustomed to the back and forth bickering related to the legislative process and could prove to be a go-to guy for reporters looking for the counterpoint to the McDonnell agenda. The question is, does he want that role? Regardless, Moran looks to have options. Options that weren’t available in early June.