VB Dems

From Vivian Paige comes a horrible story of Democrats gone haywire.

Pictured above is one Norfolk Councilman Randy Wright – on the left wearing a McCain/Palin sticker and standing with Norfolk GOP Chairwoman Pam Brown, and on the right grinning with Sen. Mark Warner who is hosting a fundraiser for Wright on March 19.

The pic on the left is from a Pilot article entitled “McAuliffe’s Man. “”Yup, I was there,” Wright said when I asked him about the picture in my files. “I voted for McCain-Palin. And I love Sarah Palin… she knew how to talk to regular people.”

Seven months later Wright becomes “McDonnell’s Man” and he’s rumored to be supporting Scott Rigell for Congress. Yet all the constitutional officers in Norfolk call themselves “Democrats” and all have endorsed Randy Wright. Egads!

As Vivian writes “a close reading of the Virginia Democratic Party Plan shows that the section which deals with ousting of party members when they support another candidate (Sec. 10.8) only comes into play if the candidate is the party nominee”. Norfolk’s races are non-partisan thus there isn’t a party nominee on the ballot. “This loophole needs to be closed”, she writes. “The Party Plan should treat endorsees just like nominees”.

What a mess, especially considering a really great Democrat, Tommy Smiegel, is also running for that Ward 5 seat. And WTF is Mark Warner’s problem???

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The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee issued a petition calling for the Virginia Beach City Council to pick a “highly qualified minority” to replace Ron Villanueva. They argued that such a large city as Virginia Beach should be inclusive and therefore reflective of the city’s rich diversity.

The VBDC writes: “According to 2008 US Census Bureau statistics, more than 87,000 of Virginia Beach’s citizens, or 20% of the population, is African American. Virginia Beach’s 26,000 Latino residents comprise 6% of our population, and Asian Americans make up over 5% of Virginia Beach’s citizenry. The total minority population in Virginia Beach, including people who classify themselves as being of mixed racial heritage, is 39%, or more than 173,000 people.”

I refused to sign this petition. Calling for such a quota of minority representation does a disservice to the cause. At every juncture in our democratic process, minorities have been given the same opportunity as non-minorities to run for and/or be appointed to Virginia Beach City Council.

Raising an awareness to the need for inclusiveness is fine and certainly if City Council representation stayed all white through multiple elections, we’d have a problem in need of a solution and then perhaps a call for a quota.

The appointment process as opposed to the election process is a little different. It was the Mayor’s and Council’s pick as opposed to the people’s pick. And Council picked a candidate (Rita Sweet Belito) that the people had picked in a previous election (at large School Board).

It’s interesting now to see the VBDC’s reaction to this pick. Is Rita Sweet Bellitto indeed a minority? Did Council satisfy the VBDC’s petition? In her interview, she mentioned that her Puerto Rican grandmother taught her, “there’s no substitute like hard work.” With that statement, Councilman Glenn Davis then surmissed that she was therefore of Puerto Rican descent. Kudos then to Mr. Davis for recognizing Puerto Rican as a race and allowing City Council to check off the Democrats as therefore being satisfied with their pick.

Can you see now the comedy of errors this petition set off?

The issue for Beach Democrats is not the recruitment of good minority candidates. Andrew Jackson and Georgia Allen stand out in my mind as good examples. The problem is our organization that can’t get any Democratic candidate – black, white, red or purple – elected.

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As J. Tyler Ballance points out in post comments, “[i]n just two weeks, Dr. Fleming was able to mobilize over two thousand voters to vote for him. His Republican opponent, Mr. McWaters, who is a retired health insurance gatekeeper, had to spend nearly a million dollars to muster 8,051 votes, the LOWEST turn-out for a Republican in the Eighth District in over thirty years!” Worth mentioning is how over $450,000 of that near $ million was personal loans McMoneybags made to his own campaign.

Less than 9% of district voters turned out at the polls yesterday. McWaters can talk “landslide” all he wants but he’s an idiot if he thinks he was sent a mandate. The fact that he had an opponent there to ruin Christmas for him is evidence alone that McWaters owes his election to a very tiny set of supporters, which in no way represents the larger interests and diversity of the 8th district. “Make no mistake, I am a conservative republican but my door will be open to all, republican, democrat or independent,” he writes. Considering the disgracefully insulting way he slammed on liberals during the campaign, that door may be open but the office empty for us.

“All Virginians should thank Dr. Bill Fleming for carrying the Democratic banner in this special election and for him providing the citizens of Virginia Beach a choice; a choice of continued hope and change for moving Virginia back onto the road to prosperity”, writes Ballance. Fine words, indeed.

Thank you, Bill, for stepping up and carrying the progressive Democratic mantle in Virginia Beach. It is such a thrill to know that we can instantly invigorate over 2,000 folks to the polls on a cold January day. With new leadership at the helm of the VBDC, let’s quickly make that 4,000 folks. Let’s do the outreach to the other half of Virginia Beach (the 7th Senate district) and have 8,000 folks supporting our new progressive wave here in Virginia Beach. See what you started, Bill?! I’m so proud of you and so proud to be a Virginia Beach Democrat! Our time will come thanks to brilliant leaders such as yourself!

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With nearly 130 of the VBDC active voting members crammed into a little room at Bayside Library, Democrats came out in force to elect its 2010-2012 officers. Of the competitive races, Joel McDonald beat Louis Stadlin for VBDC Treasurer and Susan Mariner beat Sylvia Ellis for VBDC Chairman.

Susan was the DNC regional organizer for the Hampton Roads area from 2007 to July 2008. After that she was assigned by the DNC to the Obama campaign where she directed constituency outreach. Susan didn’t list it on her profile handout, but in early 2009 she was employed by Terry McAuliffe in his primary campaign for governor. It was perhaps not list because she knows she regrettably practiced in some hurtful divisive politics. She has hopefully learned the errors of her ways as she now takes over the helm of the VBDC.

Congrats, Susan! I look forward to working with you on the things I love most… communications and issues advocacy.

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On Wednesday, January 6, 7pm at Bayside Library, the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee will be holding elections for its officers. We here at VB Dems have invited each of the candidates for contested office to submit a profile of themselves for posting here.

The complete list of nominees is here. Individuals eligible to vote are current with their 2010 dues and voted in as a new member at the Dec. 9, 2009 VBDC meeting.

Our candidate profiles include:
For Chairman: Sylvia Ellis and Susan Mariner
For Treasurer: Joel McDonald and Louis Stadlin

Please pose questions to any one candidate in the comments section of their individual profile posts. The candidates have been instructed to check their posts periodically and post answers to your questions.

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Hi.

My name is Lou Stadlin and I am running for Treasurer of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee. The election will be held on Wednesday January 6 at 7PM sharp at the Bayside Public Library on Independence Blvd.

I am running because I want to make the VBDC a greater force in politics in Virginia Beach and as far out as we can reach.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I joined the Navy in 1947 and spent 5 years as a sailor. The Navy gave me my career as a Electronic Technician.

I was in business for 30 years in selling and servicing Marine Electronic equipment to the offshore fishing fleets in Hampton Roads and the East coast.

I am a widower. I was married for 36 years. I have 4 children- a girl, a boy and a set of twin boys.

I am a life long Democrat. I only strayed twice – Eisenhower and Senator John Warner.

I have a computer and know how to operate a spread sheet and usually can add one and one and not get 3.

I am asking for your vote so I can do what I can to move the VBDC forward.

Lou Stadlin

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Happy New Year!

As we’re winding down our holiday season, we now look forward to January 6th and the election of the members of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee Steering Committee. Every nominee for your consideration brings a wealth of experience, varied talents, and strengths to the table. I am confident that the new leadership of the committee will make us a stronger and more competitive party locally.

Many of you I’ve met, and some I’ve not yet had the opportunity to meet. In this email, with the election just a few days away, I wanted to share a little about myself with you.

(more…)

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It’s posts like this that make me want to shelve the Democratic Party of Virginia. Egads! Is this the best we can do? Really? If it wasn’t for my consideration of the source, I’d almost want to give up political blogging as well.

It wasn’t until I moved to Virginia Beach four years ago that I became a lot more focused on what exactly it is that the DPVA does (or doesn’t do). My Loudoun County Democratic Committee operated superbly and we relied on the DPVA very little. In VB, I’ve always looked to the DPVA as ideally one to counsel the barely breathing local committee. It’s turned out to be a blind-leading-the-blind situation. (more…)

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The Virginia Beach Democratic Committee’s Steering Committee recently met and nominated the following candidates with a term of office from January 2010 to December 2011:

Chair: Sylvia Ellis and Susan Mariner

Vice Chair: Paul Baker

Secretary: Bill Fleming

Treasurer: Lou Stadlin and Joel McDonald

Outreach: Geraldine Hunt

Precincts and Elections: Carol Shrader

Fundraising and Events: Marcy Fromberg

Candidate Recruitment: Eric Schmudde

Election of Officers will take place at Bayside Library on January 6, 2010 at 7:00 PM. Only members in good standing who have paid their 2010 dues by December 9, 2009 are qualified to vote.

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