Decision Virginia

Andy Jenks covered today’s press event where Gov. Tim Kaine confirmed that he will be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee.

He filed this report for Decision Virginia:

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In a late afternoon news conference, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine confirmed Sunday’s reports that he’ll be tapped as the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. We learned more about how Kaine sees the role, and how he plans to work effectively for Virginians and President-Elect Obama in 2009.

What the job as chairman means:

-Supervise DNC operations (with phone and e-mail never too far away)
-Raise money
-Promote Obama’s agenda (you’ll see a lot of him on the Sunday talk shows)

What the job as chairman does NOT mean:

-Leaving office
-Full time involvement in 2009
-Money (Kaine will work for no pay this year)

As is well known, in November Kaine rejected the idea of becoming DNC Chairman, saying it was not something he viewed as “consistent” with being governor. But Obama convinced him otherwise a week before Christmas, calling it an “all hands on deck” moment for the country. Of Obama, Kaine said, “He’s a very persuasive guy.”

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Dave Matthews and his band-mate Tim Reynolds came to Richmond today to perform a free concert on behalf of Barack Obama’s campaign. Our reporter Andy Jenks was given the (..ahem) “difficult” assignment of covering the concert for NBC12 and provides this dispatch for Decision Virginia:

What’s in that mug Dave Matthews drinks while onstage? Tea, we’re told. Earlier in the day, it was coffee. These are the things you learn while listening to the all-acoustic Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds show held Sunday night at the Siegel Center. 6,353 people were treated to a free concert entitled, “Last Chance for Change” in support of Sen. Barack Obama.

We already know that Tim is as tall standing up as Dave is sitting down. We know Tim never speaks. We also know many of the acoustic tunes chosen for the night are from Dave’s solo Some Devil album. And we know that Dave loves to make, um, chatter in between songs during these more intimate affairs. So how does he feel about Obama, taxes, leather chairs and a host of other topics?  Thanks for asking. That’s why I’m here.

On free tickets: “Thanks for spending your hard earned nothing-at-all to be here!”

On instruments: “I like to switch guitars because it makes me look professional. Tim doesn’t need to switch guitars because he already looks professional.”

On Obama: “It is my opinion, that if Obama is elected president, you will hear cheers from countries around the world without a microphone.

On the Obama tax plan: “I look very much forward to having my [rear end] taxed off. I’m well compensated for doing what I do. Tax me heavy so somebody can have a little break.”

On his chair: “This chair is too soft. This is the complaint of someone who is too fortunate. [I] should be taxed more. [I] must pay for the police and fire departments!”

On the audience: “Hope everybody’s having a good time. And if you’re not, just quietly sneak out the door because I’m paranoid enough as it is.”

On voting: “Tell your friends, if you’re undecided…just be cool!”

The show lasted about two hours and 45 minutes. See the official setlist here.

-Pictures and post by Andy Jenks (ajenks@nbc12.com)

While this blog has been dominated by the Presidential Race we have not lost sight of the fact that there is a race for Mayor. Tonight the candidates met in a debate that was moderated by my colleague Aaron Gilchrist.

In the very near future our Richmond reporter Rachel DePompa will start a blog specifically dedicated to the race for mayor. Another colleague, Andy Jenks covered the tonight’s event. His report is in our 11pm news and he provided this dispatch for our Decision Virginia blog:

Richmond Mayoral Debate

How do you adequately report the details of a 2 hour Mayoral debate in a 90 second television story? Very carefully, I suppose. I’m certain that if you put 100 reporters in the room at Thomas Jefferson High School, you’d get 100 very different results. There’s simply too much material and too little time. We can, however, begin to see some commonalities.

The candidates focused on several topics, including experience, baseball, the city jail, homelessness, government cooperation, and transportation. Questions were submitted by audience members and the candidates followed the traditional response/rebuttal guidelines. Sometimes, of course, these “debates” seem more like “joint press conferences” in which each candidate simply tries to deliver the best sound bite within the given time frame. However, I found most of the exchanges quite engaging.

As for a personal favorite, I’ll paraphrase the following exchange involving three of the candidates and our own Aaron Gilchrist, who moderated.

PAUL GOLDMAN: “Maybe it’s about time we had somebody in the Mayor’s office, or on City Council who knew how to balance the budget, maybe even pass a budget!”

BILL PANTELE: “Well, Mr. Goldman, maybe if you hadn’t deleted the enforcement language in the charter that used to be there, none of this would’ve happened.”

AARON GILCHRIST (MODERATOR): “Each of you had two go’s at that, so I’m gonna move on.”

DWIGHT JONES: “Can I get a rebuttal?”

AARON GILCHRIST: “Yes, sir.”

DWIGHT JONES: “I give it to Paul.”

And so it went. Mostly, the candidates stuck to the issues, and it’s certainly healthy to have a thorough discussion of the ways to move Richmond forward. Let’s hope for more of that throughout the next two months.