Brent Finnegan -- April 1st, 2008
Some quick video interviews I shot with 6th District Democratic candidates Drew Richardson and Sam Rasoul after their debate in Harrisonburg earlier this evening.
Rasoul and Richardson are running against each other this spring for the Democratic Party nomination to run against Rep. Bob Goodlatte in November.
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Friendly City Food Co-Op, Harrisonburg’s consumer-owned grocery, invites the community to come see its new destination for natural, organic and locally-produced products at the store’s grand opening 11 a.m.-5 p.m. July 9 at 150 East Wolfe Street. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. with Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Matt Lohr, Harrisonburg Mayor [...]
HARRISONBURG, VA — Friendly City Food Co-op, slated to open this month in Harrisonburg, Va., has become the newest member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), a business services cooperative serving 120 consumer-owned food co-ops nationwide. NCGA helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately [...]
May 2: Harrisonburg was honored when the League of American Bicyclists announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designations over the weekend to kick off May as National Bike Month. Out of the 45 new applicants that the program received, 21 communities received awards. Harrisonburg was given a bronze‐level Bicycle Friendly Community designation. [...]
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Interesting stuff in that twitter:
I looked for the part where Drew, in the same or similar spirit, rejected and denounced the “closet Republican” smear of Sam put forth by Dr. Richardson’s surrogate, Rick Howell, which was based on a blog posting by Zak Moore, (who is an UNCLOSETED Republican and was reportedly involved with the “lightning bolt” matter in the George Allen campaign, as well as other…unpleasantries…during his tenure as chair of the JMU College Republicans), but I couldn’t find it.
They must have been out of the room or something.
All the “SurgeBob” and horse jockey etc. jabs at Goodlatte on Cobalt6 come from ME. They have nothing to do with Sam, but rather, with Goodlatte. I don’t work for Sam, nor do I hold a position with his campaign. Sam’s never paid me a dime. He’s never so much as bought me a beer.
Howell, however?
On Drew’s payroll, as I understand it.
So I guess it’s okay to use paid surrogates to attack another Democrat, yet when an independent blogger attacks the Republican opponent, you use that independent blogger’s support of your opponent to attack him?
I don’t get that at all.
Oh, by “independent blogger”, I mean, “independent of any campaign”, not “independent” as opposed to “Democrat.”
For a Democrat I am, ya know…:)
Sam did mention being called a “closet Republican” while he was talking about the ability the Internet gives to the common man to voice his opinions. If I had been able to type instead of text, my notes would have been a lot more thorough. Sorry.
Let me say this about the immigration question: in the debate, neither were very specific other than both wanting a “virtual fence”. I really wonder where they’re getting the information they base their opinions on.
In the video clip, Richardson seems to have a better understanding of the issues, which is kind of surprising since Rasoul’s parents are immigrants. On health care, though, I tend to agree with Rasoul. It’s still something of a toss-up for who I think would represent my views best.
Ok, Sam mentioned the Howell smear, but what (I’d love to know) did Howell’s employer have to say about it?
There was very little allowance for rebuttal, and it really seemed like a non-issue at the debate anyway. I did talk to Adam Sharp, an old friend of mine and Richardson’s campaign manager, to tell him I was disappointed with the negative tone so far in the blogosphere, but as the other thread points out the blogosphere is not the biggest constituency in the 6th district race.
I thought it was pretty clear – Richardson is running directly against Goodlatte and expecting that 99% of caucus Democrats have no clue about what rages on in the blogs…a not altogether risky strategy. After all, Goodlatte stands with President28% on illegal wiretapping, war in Iraq, trade policy, and stone-walling health care reform. Goodlatte votes ideology over his constituents. He is a ripe target in an election cycle focused on change.
Just checking to see if my posts are getting through yet.
We should have the entire debate on youtube today, will post up a link when I upload it.
Just checking to see if my posts are yet getting through.