Decision Virginia

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.

I point you this post, from Decision Virginia:

McDonnell pledges to serve his entire term

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

In an exclusive interview on NBC12 First at Four, former Attorney General and current Republican Nominee for Governor of Virginia,  Bob McDonnell told me that he will serve every day of his four year term, if he is elected Governor on November 3rd.

Even though McDonnell has yet to win this race for Governor, pundits in many circles are already speculating that if he were to be successful that he would automatically be propelled into a small group of legitimate contenders for the 2016 or perhaps even 2012 Republican nomination for President.  While it may be premature to consider a man who has yet to even win a Governor’s race as a potential candidate for the nation’s highest office, remember that McDonnell recently stepped down from the Attorney General’s office to run for Governor.

The Republican told me, if elected he will serve his entire term.

Here is the transcript:

Ryan Nobles: Were you to win on November 3rd, you would almost automatically become a prime candidate for the GOP nomination for President. Will you make a commitment right now that you were you to win on November 3rd that you will stay for your entire four year term and not run for President in 2012?

Bob McDonnell: Absolutley, I think those are all pipe dreams down the road. You know there is a number of national political pundits that are paying an exceptional amount of attention to Virginia. I am running to be Governor of Virginia, this is a state that I have lived in virtually my entire life. I love this state we have great opportunities ahead for the state to create more opportunity and prosperity for our citizens, in so many ways, I am fully committed to four years as Virginia’s governor.

Ryan Nobles: You’ll be there from the start right until the end.

Bob McDonnell: Absolutely, we need a full time Governor.

{end of transcript]

Perhaps a little dig at the end toward Governor Tim Kaine, who is currently serving as the Chair of the DNC at the same time as serving as Governor?  Of course Kaine himself was rumored to be a finalist as then Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate in the race for President last year.

McDonnell could potentially run for President, while serving as Governor at the same time, but balancing the two jobs is difficult and Virginia has a history of not looking kindly on their Chief Executive attempting to do both.  If he remains true to this pledge, it won’t be something he has to worry about.

McDonnell also answered questions about his controversial master’s thesis, his plan for transportation and the remarks caught on camera by his prominent supporter Sheila Johnson.

You can see the entire interview below:

While much fodder has been made over a series of polls taken in the race for Governor most of them have been open to skepticism because of their method for gathering the information. Many of these polls were conducted via automated means, which is still widely debated as an appropriate statistical gathering mechanism.

Often times, reputable national mainstream media outlets would report on the polling in the race and would use a caveat when describing the numbers, because of the use of that method. It would lead them back to the last Washington Post poll conducted last month that showed the race as a virtual tie.

That survey will no longer matter, as today the Post released another phone survey, of more than 1,000 Virginia residents that now shows Bob McDonnell and his Republican ticketmates leading by 9 points. In addition to the encouraging news for Republicans in the overall numbers, the insider numbers show McDonnell shrinking the gap he once had with female voters, increasing his lead with independents and running competitively in Northern Virginia. There is very little that could be considered encouraging for the campaign of Creigh Deeds.

This latest poll, now gives McDonnell an 8.5% lead in the new average of public polling data gathered by Real Clear Politics.

However, this by no means indicates the race is over. Deeds, you will recall trailed by similar numbers in the Democratic primary before pulling ahead in the 11th hour and the candidates have two more debates on the docket before the final vote on November 3rd.  Deeds officials continue to say that their internal polling numbers show a race far more competitive than the public polling would indicate.

Here is a breakdown in all three statewide races according to the Washington Post poll:

Governor
Bob McDonnell (R)        53%
Creigh Deeds (D)    44%

Lt. Governor
Bill Bolling (R)                49%
Jody Wagner (D)           40%

Attorney General
Ken Cuccinelli (R)         49%
Steve Shannon (D)       40%

Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell welcomed yet another potential candidate for president to the commonwealth on behalf of his campaign. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is on many GOP short lists as a potential opponent to Barack Obama in 2012.

Pawlenty is spending quite a bit of time in swing states like Virginia and raised the suspicion of presidential candidate handicappers when he decided to pass on the opportunity to run for re-election.

Today in Richmond, Pawlenty raised some money for McDonnell and then was part of a press event that was intended to showcase the republican’s pro-business background. After a few brief remarks by both the candidate and his guest, the press event became dominated by a few reporters on very specific topics and Pawlenty basically became a wallflower.

Fortunately, we were able to catch up with the Governor as he was leaving, to get his take on Wednesday night’s address by President Obama to a joint session of Congress and whether or not he thinks that Obama’s early performance in office could make him vulnerable to a challenge.

For the record on the question of if he plans to run for president:

“I’m focused on finishing out my term as governor, helping out  the Republican Governor’s Association, and also doing things that I think will help my party improve, both in Minnesota and around the country.”

And if you are keeping track of McDonnell’s potential POTUS candidate visitors they are as follows: Jindal, Romney, Huckabee, Guliani and Barbour. And don’t forget, Sarah Palin is still on the table.

In addition to being Mississippi’s  governor,  Haley Barbour is also veteran political strategist. Today in a press event with Virginia republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell he compared 2009 to 1993.

In 1993, Barbour was the Chairman of the Republican National Committee and his party had just suffered a crippling loss of the White House, when Bill Clinton defeated incumbent President George H.W. Bush. Barbour told reporters that at the time, everyone was asking which Republican was going to attempt to oust Clinton from office and help re-build the Republican brand.

Barbour said his advice, was not to look ahead to 1996, but instead focus on 1993 and the gubernatorial campaigns of George Allen in Virginia and Christie Todd Whitman in New Jersey. He said that is exactly what Republicans did. Both Allen and Whitman won and that laid the ground work for the historic 1994 Republican sweep of Congress. (Of course, it was not enough to propel Republicans past Clinton in ‘96)

Fast forward to 2009. Republicans are in similar desperate straights and it is now Haley Barbour who is being asked if he plans to run for President in 2012.  To answer the question over his ambitions, Barbour responded with the same advice he gave his fellow Republicans in 1993.

“I feel exactly the same way today,” said Barbour. “That any Republican that is trying to focus on helping our party and helping his country, needs to focus on the election of 2009, including Virginia and New Jersey and the elections of 2010. After that we can start worrying about 2012. And since I have given that advice to a few thousand people, I’m taking it myself.”

**UPDATE**

The McDonnell campaign reported that the Barbour visit is expected to rake in about $250,000.

An extended clip from Barbour’s remarks,  and the response from the Deeds campaign can be found after the jump..

Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Nobles – bio | email

Huckabee, Jindal, Romney, Guliani and now Barbour. Is there any doubt republicans have a close eye on Virginia? Just about every prominent national Republican seems to be finding every opportunity they can to come to the Commonwealth to stump for Bob McDonnell and make themselves known in the Old Dominion.

Haley Barbour, a favorite of social conservatives and the vice-chair of the Republican Governor’s Association comes to Virginia on Monday to stump for McDonnell and help the GOP nominee raise some cash for his race for Governor.

Aside from his responsibility as RGA vice-chair, Barbour is widely considered to be a mulling a run for President. The Mississippi Governor has made trips to both Iowa and New Hampshire and he is term limited in his current position. That means he will be out of a job in 2011, just in time to mount a campaign in 2012.

Interestingly, this is not the first time, Barbour’s name has come up in the Virginia governor’s race. The lobbying firm that he founded and is now run by his close associate Ed Rodgers hosted a fundraiser for Terry McAuliffe this winter that gave the Macker’s democratic primary opponents plenty of fodder. Although Barbour is no longer associated with firm, it still gave democrats the opportunity to take his name in vain as a way to criticize McAuliffe.

While Barbour is beloved by republican die-hards, he is also a prime democratic target. Expect Bob McDonnell’s political enemies to use the joint appearance as a way to build their case that McDonnell is an arch right winger, not the moderate he has attempted to portray himself.

McDonnell will appear with Barbour in both Virginia Beach and here in Richmond. We will have coverage of his press event in RVA Monday on Decision Virginia and NBC12.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was in Richmond, Friday night to help kickoff the Republican Party of Virginia’s convention and raise some cash for the state organization.

Romney is widely believed to be considering a run for President in 2012 and making a trip to Virginia, a battleground state, only helps to add fuel to that speculation. Romney said that 2012, is too far down the road to begin talk about candidates for president, but did say he will be back to Virginia, to help elect Republicans at all levels, any way he can.

As someone who has already run for president, and may be considering it again, Romney has a vested interest in the Republican party improving its prospects at the ballot box. He said that current Democratic policies are not the direction that he believes most Americans want to go down. Romney pointed to the governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia as opportunities for Republicans and the voting public to prove that. 

Romney is the third potential Republican candidate for president in 2012 to visit the commonwealth after Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

After the jump, I have an extended clip from Romney’s remarks including him being pressed a bit about his intentions for 2012.

**UPDATE** see the Democrat response to the Romney visit after the jump. 

Read the rest of this entry »

 I am sure no one will hold him to it, but when asked directly today by the Times-Dispatch’s Tyler Whitley if he is interested in running for president in 2012, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal flatly said “I’m not”. 

Of course there have been other candidates for president (namely the guy ready to take the job) who issued outright denials and then went on to seek the highest office in the land. Jindal answered no quickly and then went on to talk about how at this point republicans shouldn’t be gearing up for 2012, they should trying to find ways to work with and support President-Elect Obama.

Jindal also talked extensively about how republicans need to find ways to build bridges with the opposing party, as opposed to knocking democrats down. He told us that he believes that at this point people are sick of presidential politics and he believes Americans want to see their leaders govern, not campaign.

Gov. Jindal also spoke very highly of the man he was there to support Attorney General Bob McDonnell. They both talked about McDonnell’s recent trip to Louisiana and Jindal specifically spoke about McDonnell’s commitment to public safety and fiscal responsibility. 

You can see video of Jindal’s visit to Richmond by clicking here. 

Read the rest of this entry »