Politicl_Animal's blog

Final Update: I've e-mailed Trent Armitage and asked him to leave a comment with all of the winners of all of the caucuses. They didn't have to pre-file, so I couldn't get their names (Dom kept things moving fairly quickly).

The Banquet was excellent - the JMU YD's did a fantastic job. Dave "Mudcat" Saunders gave us a great insider's perspective on the 2008 Democratic primaries and was very, um, clear about what he thought of certain Republicans and their constituency groups. Great Q&A session as well - it's time to tell the "metropolitan opera house wing of the Democratic Party" that rural voters and issues matter!

The resolution granting Lowell Fulk the honor of "Young Democrat for Life" was perfect, and when the JMU YDs put on the green "Fulk for Delegate: The Credible Fulk" t-shirts everyone cheered. A great moment.

OK, OK - the news you've all been waiting for - the winners of the Blogger of the Year awards!

Update: VAYD Presidential preference results here.

I would like to say a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who voted in the first annual VAYD Blogger of the Year award contest. This began as an itch in my brain back in December, and became a great way to showcase young Democratic blogging talent.

The judges are now making their final selections, and the winners will be announced Saturday night. So unless you're patient enough to wait until I get around to posting the winners here, I look forward to seeing you Saturday at Convention!

Here are the finalists for the VAYD Blogger of the Year Awards! Click on the category title to vote! (For a refresher on the rules, click here.) Voting ends March 25!

Kenton Ngo
Johnny Camacho

College Category:

Nate de la Piedra
James Martin
The Ditzy Democrats

Young Adult Category:

Waldo Jaquith
Brian Patton
Shawn Becker

If you haven't seen, heard, or read John Edwards' excellent speech from Friday's DNC Winter Meeting, Bryan Scrafford has the video and text. Check it out.

Also, Edwards announced his plan for universal health care today. James Martin has more information.

Lowell Feld of Raising Kaine said of Edwards' speech:

Hands down, the winner today was John Edwards. His speech was powerful, passionate, eloquent, and elicited a huge response from the audience. I heard more than one person say that his speech sent chills up and down their spines. Basically, Edwards had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

Kenton Ngo of 750 Volts had this to say:

Haha, trick question: ain't nobody gonna replace Dom.

But we will be electing a new VAYD president this year in Harrisonburg. This is now the official rumor thread for the presidential race, covering who is running, who might run, who's supporting who, etc. I'll reveal my endorsment decision after the jump.

First of all, to answer the question that has no doubt leapt to the front of your mind, I'm not running - unless I get a new job, I'll be working between 50-60 hours/week once spring/summer production starts in two weeks, and you can't lead the VAYD with that much time unavailable. (Of course, not having time doesn't stop people from running for other offices and then not doing jack squat, but that's another issue for convention.)

I'm not a wonk - the thought of sifting through economic analyses and impact statements makes my eyes glaze over, and then my brain starts thinking of other glazed things, like Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and I'm out the door faster than a Virginia Republican says something bigoted.

Thankfully, Virginia has a lot of wonks and journalists who do all the heavy reading and summarize things for me, allowing me to figure out how to promote or defeat a bill or a candidate. Today I'd like to recognize Chris Graham, Executive Editor of The New Dominion, a news magazine out of Augusta County, for his succinct crystallization of the Republican transportation plan:

So to summarize, we’re going to mortgate our future to pay part of the bill, force local politicians to bite the bullet to pay another part - and hope that the economy continues to be strong so that we can use budget surpluses to do the rest?

And this is supposed to be a breakthrough in the transportation stalemate that has defined Virginia politics for the past several years … how, again?

Another perspective on the transportation compromise

Thanks to Chris, I can say that I oppose a plan that uses my generation as a credit card, will increase local taxes (which are usually regressive and hurt lower income residents), and ignores the realities of business cycles. And that's all you need to know about the Republican transportation plan.

We need a Democrat from Hanover County, from House District 55, to challenge Delegate Frank Hargrove. If you don't know why, you live under a rock - but I've provided the necessary information below.

If there is a YD willing to challenge this museum piece, contact me immediately. There are only four states that have elections this year - and this story already went national (H/T, Waldo). In other words, there are going to be a lot of people all across the country willing to give money to get rid of this guy. There's no sense in letting the money go to waste in Kentucky.

To recap: if you live in one of these precincts, and you want to put a piece of Virginia's past in the history books, contact me. The future doesn't deserve to be burdened with this type of thinking.

Full story after the jump ...

(Disclaimer: I'm supporting John Edwards for the Democratic nomination for president.)

Former Senator John Edwards (NC) announcing that he is a candidate for president of the United States. If you listen closely, there's hints of a familiar message that I remember fondly from 2003 ...

Update: Good interview on NPR Thursday. Also, James Martin is supporting Edwards! You should too.

Are you hip? Are you down with the latest trends? Are you "with it"?

Or, more specifically, are you as "with it" as Mark Warner?

Probably not - I know I'm not. But I have friends who are, and as long as they keep me updated about the word on the virtual streets of Second Life, I'm content.

But I thought I'd let the rest of you know about a crisis going on the virtual world that's raising all sorts of, well, political questions. After all, as Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu said in Sunday's Washington Post, "In time, virtual campaigning will be an essential part of any successful campaign, and 'gaming outreach coordinators' may be a hot commodity for the 2008 candidates." Interested now? Good!