Nominees for Election to the VBDC Steering Committee
On Thursday, December 8th, all Democrats in Virginia Beach were invited to participate in a caucus electing members to the 2012-2014 Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. After membership was elected, the nominating committee reported their nominees for officers and directors on the Steering Committee. Nominations from the floor were asked for, but no additional nominations were made. Below is the list of nominees that will be elected on January 9th.
Chair: Tyra Fitch
Vice-Chair: Adrianne Bennett
Secretary: Yvonne Leonard
Treasurer: Alicia Fernandez-Bobulinski
Finance Director: Greg Turpin
Precincts & Elections Director: Joel McDonald
Outreach Director: James Cabiness
Candidate Recruitment Director: Eric Schmudde
Congratulations to the 2012-2014 membership of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and nominees for officers and directors.
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March 1st, 2012 at 3:54 pm
LittleDavid says:
I’m going to post something that I hope is not too far off the topic.
It is my hope that the VBDC is busy canvassing trying to find candidates to run both Senator Wagner and Representative Tata out of office. I have been dismayed by the extremism I have been seeing in Richmond now that Republicans control all the levers of power there.
Let me tell you that I am motivated to vote for ANYBODY the VBDC selects to run against them even if the person nominated is a ticket punching liberal (or progressive) however I would hope they found someone a little more moderate who stood a better chance of success.
You progressives need to just live with being represented by someone who does not agree with you all the time. It just seems like it would be common sense that getting somebody who is moderate and who might agree with you sometimes is better than continuing to live with the likes of Wagner and Tata representing you (us).
Now, if we can’t get anyone other then a liberal to run, well OK, that will be better then nobody at all. I promise I will be motivated to cast my vote for whomever you select. If an election victory is the goal, I think our best chances for success are with someone who is at least moderate. However, we stand absolutely zero chance of success if we allow Wagner and Tata to run unopposed.
March 1st, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I absolutely agree that Democrats should field candidates in all elections and that the extremism of the current Republican General Assembly should be made an issue.
Unfortunately, the deck is stacked against us. Wagner has been a Senator since 2001 and ran unopposed in 2007 and 2011. Tata has been a Delegate since 1984 and ran unopposed in 2011. Since then, the General Assembly has approved redistricting that virtually guarantees incumbent protection for the next decade. They will probably remain in office until they decide to retire.
March 2nd, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Virginia Beach is not that dark red. A moderate Democrat might stand a chance. Moderate Glenn Nye won the U.S. House 2nd district which is comprised largely of Virginia Beach.
One way to guarantee a lack of success is to just not bother to find anyone to run against them. If Republicans had just folded their tent after the spanking they got in 2008, they would not have won control of the US House back in 2010.
Bob Tata always had my vote, that is until I found out how he voted on the Personhood bill. The Republicans are trying to outlaw birth control and Bob Tata voted for it. Democrats proposed an amendment that stated the bill would not outlaw any legal form of contraception, however it was voted down. When the bill got to the Senate, it quickly passed through committee and the floor sent it back to the committee. But the bill is not dead, it has strong support in that committee so while it might not be dealt with this year, it is still alive. (In fairness, Senator Wagner voted to send it back to committee.)
If Democrats are not going to compete in districts where they should be competitive, how can they expect to win back a majority? When Republicans were knocked down, they stood back up and continued the fight. Democratic liberals just need to realize that in some districts, the contender should not be a liberal.
Problem is, that many liberals would prefer to live with ideological purity and minority then compromise and majority. Look at what happened to Glenn Nye. You didn’t need to listen to Rush Limbaugh to find people campaigning against him, all you had to do was visit Blue Virginia.
March 6th, 2012 at 7:27 am
Re-read my comment: “I absolutely agree that Democrats should field candidates in all elections and that the extremism of the current Republican General Assembly should be made an issue.” I agree with you that Democrats should recruit good solid candidates to field in every race. I have have always preferred compromise over ideological purity — as liberal as can be elected, but as moderate as they need to be to get elected.
March 6th, 2012 at 9:04 am
I think that if in some areas, where appropriate, moderate candidates are nominated then the Democratic party is more apt to see moderates in other areas voting for the liberal candidates nominated in the areas where they are more appropriate.
I am not accusing you, David, however some liberals (progressives) campaigned pretty hard against Glenn Nye during that last election. Actually, in some ways at the time I thought that might have done Glenn more good then harm. Too bad he couldn’t get Nancy Pelosi to endorse Scott. Grin.