Election fever is over. The mail carrier’s load will lighten and the phone will hopefully stop ringing. 

It looks like the Republicans gained the Virginia Senate through tie.  The  Republican Lt. Governor is the tie breaker.  Many of us expect them to over-reach. 

Gov. McDonnell is on Morning Joe to crow.  Let’s see how his leadership pans out. He can cocntinue to reach across the aisle or he can rule with an iron fist.  His choice.

108 Thoughts to “Open Thread……………………………………………………..Wednesday, November 9”

  1. Lafayette

    Really a picture of a squirrel? You were posting this as I sent an email with a picture for the new thread.

  2. Elena

    So, apparently what this election tells us is that no matter how much work you do in the community, no matter what your knowledge or experience may be, the only real factor in your electoral resume is what letter sits next to your name…………

  3. Lafayette

    I can’t wait to see if the in-town folks finally get acknowledged. It would be very wise of Mr. Candland to keep Stirrup’s staff. They have built good working relationships with many residents. It would NOT be wise of Mr. Candland to have some of his “campaign advisors” on staff. Why wouldn’t keep Stirrup’s staff? Stirrup certainly has supported Peter. Just my two cents…

  4. Censored bybvbl

    One good thing about the BOCS meetings is that they’re broadcast so there’s an opportunity to keep a subject such as the rural crescent in the spotlight by commenting at Citizens Time. Also, PWC has so many underwater mortgages that development frenzy will stall for awhile. There is a diminished pool of qualified buyers.

  5. Starryflights

    Author of tough Arizona immigration law loses recall election

    By the CNN Wire Staff
    updated 1:52 AM EST, Wed November 9, 2011

    (CNN) — The state senator who wrote Arizona’s controversial immigration law conceded defeat Tuesday night in a recall election widely seen as a referendum on tough measures against illegal immigrants.

    “I want to thank those people who have stood by me,” said Russell Pearce, who represented a suburban Phoenix district. “It doesn’t look like the numbers are going my direction … and I’m OK with that.”

    The recall petition pitted him against fellow Republican Jerry Lewis, who led with 53.4% of the vote with all precincts reporting. Pearce got 45.3%, election officials said.

    http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/politics/arizona-recall-vote/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

    There is a lesson here.

  6. Roxanne

    @Elena

    or what church you go to. That seems to matter in Prince William.

  7. Elena

    Laf,
    Hey now, I love chipmunks, my FB profile pic is one 😉

  8. Cargosquid

    Well….the GOP squeaked it out in the Senate. 86 votes. Proof that EVERY vote counts.

    Now they have to put their money where their mouth is.

  9. Elena

    Thanks for the update Censored, at least there is some good news today.

  10. Elena

    I hope they remember that VA is made up of differnt political ideology and govern with sensibility.

  11. Lafayette

    @Elena
    Chimpmunks are fine, squirrels of four and two-legged varieties are NOT. 🙂
    Check your email.

  12. Cargosquid

    Hey Moon,

    You got your wish. The GOP has offered to raise taxes.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/republicans-offer-tax-deal-to-break-impasse-over-debt-democratic-aides-call-it-non-starter/2011/11/08/gIQAJ6Xa1M_story.html?hpid=z4

    Of course, the Democrats voted NO.

    Can I call them obstructionists now……?

  13. Elena

    I will look Laf!

  14. Pat.Herve

    @Cargosquid
    cargo – $300 Billion over 10 years – $30 Billion a year – really, $30 Billion a year – and probably stacked to all take effect in the later half of the 10 years – that sounds an awful lot like the cut in spending they did earlier this year, yet none of it takes place yet.

    If they could come out with a real proposal (ie, listen to the elders who are not standing for re-election) – maybe I would listen.

  15. Cargosquid

    @Pat.Herve
    Sure. Why not?

    All the fake spending cuts are supposed to happen in the late years, why not the fake tax raise. Of course, that doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter the last time. What matters is someone is not willing to compromise. One side is saying NO!.

    Or does it matter that this time its the Democrats saying “no” that makes it a non-starter?

    None of these idiots will cut spending. Even the idiotic super committee is going to cut “base line spending.” So all we’ll have is a cut in the increase of spending.

  16. Cargosquid

    Amendment IV
    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall no be violated…”

    Anyone planning to fly for Thanksgiving?

    http://www.redstate.com/tabithahale/2011/11/08/no-tsa-i-will-not-lift-my-skirt-for-you/#comment-2046

  17. Big Dog

    http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/300863

    “Reason, restraint,and long-term vision for the Commnwealth of Virginia”?

    Lord help us moderates with the GOP in complete control of Richmond.

  18. Big Dog

    Maledizion! Now the Italians are causing my 401(k) to fall!

  19. Steve Thomas

    Now that the state election is over (except for the recount in the race that will determine control of the senate), folks can get back to the business at hand: Destroying Herman Cain’s reputation.

  20. Cato the Elder

    Moon, next time opt for Wheaties: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldPVBeU5wr0

  21. Cargosquid

    @Steve Thomas
    No. This is Virginia. We’ll have another election NEXT year…..we always have some sort of election…

    MAKE IT STOP!!!!!

    not really. What would we complain about?

  22. Steve Thomas

    @Cargosquid
    Cargo, I am well aware of this, as I live in a municipality. We will have our city elections next May (Mayor and 3 council positions), which will require a nominations contest (we favor conventions), but this should not distract folks from denying Herman Cain any due process, or journalistic integrity whatsoever.

  23. Big Dog

    May 2012 municipal election in Manassas. The Mayor and three of the six
    council seats are up – all are Republicans.

    Will be interesting to look at the final financial reports. The Tom Gordy campaign
    had raised over 450K by the end of October and he lost! Seeking a
    state House or Senate office has become, in part, a big money game which often
    gives special interest and their “donations” far too much power.

  24. Cargosquid

    @Steve Thomas
    Of course not.

    How does one defend oneself against this? There is not evidence other than hearsay.

  25. Big Dog

    Note that a credible Manassas City Council race can still be conducted for
    under 5K with small individual donations from friends and family the norm.
    Most of us like it that way.

  26. Need to Know

    “Save for the Virginia Senate likely flipping to essential Republican control, the election Tuesday perhaps most critical for business leaders — developers especially — in Northern Virginia was that of Peter Candland to the Board of County Supervisors in Prince William County’s Gainesville District.”

    http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/blog/2011/11/peter-candland-wins-in-gainesville.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_washington+%28Washington+Business+Journal%29

  27. Starryflights

    ..A Banner Night for Democrats as High-Profile Ballot Initiatives Go Blue
    By ALEX ALTMAN | Time.com – 4 hrs ago..

    Setbacks notwithstanding, the night was a rare burst of good news for a beleaguered Democratic Party, and nowhere was the victory sweeter than in Ohio. SB5, which went further than Wisconsin’s controversial union legislation by including police officers and firefighters, sparked a similar outcry, with intense statehouse protests foreshadowing the coordinated effort to roll back the legislation. “The repeal of SB5 is a monumental victory for working families not only in Ohio, but all across the country,” said Michael Sargeant, executive director of Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. The lesson, according to Sargeant? “There is a price to pay for right-wing extremism and partisan overreach.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/banner-night-democrats-high-profile-ballot-initiatives-blue-084500032.html

    What last night really demonstrated is just how out of touch the Republican party is with mainstream America.

  28. Cato the Elder

    pffft who cares about Ohio, Va. Republicans are going to #Occupy the Senate and the Demorrhoids get to choke on it for the next two years 😈

  29. Starryflights

    Cato the Elder :pffft who cares about Ohio, Va. Republicans are going to #Occupy the Senate and the Demorrhoids get to choke on it for the next two years

    You don’t understand Virginia politics. A 50/50 split in the Senate means the committees will be even. Committees are where legislation lives or dies. Whether it’s abortion, immigration, union-busting or whatever legislation the Repugs intend to promote – it a’int going anywhere if it can’t get out of committees, and it can’t without majorities. Your redistricting plans may also suffer consequences. I’d say you’re the ones who will choke.

  30. Steve Thomas

    “A 50/50 split in the Senate means the committees will be even.”

    But the chairs on the committees will be GOP, and will cast any tie breaking votes. You also presume that the incoming Senate will use proportional representation, in deciding the makeup of the committees. The current Democrat Senate Majority leader did not offer this courtesy to the GOP. I don’t know why he would, as minority leader, expect the GOP to do so. This is where party really does matter.

  31. Cato the Elder

    Starryflights :

    Cato the Elder :pffft who cares about Ohio, Va. Republicans are going to #Occupy the Senate and the Demorrhoids get to choke on it for the next two years

    You don’t understand Virginia politics. A 50/50 split in the Senate means the committees will be even. Committees are where legislation lives or dies. Whether it’s abortion, immigration, union-busting or whatever legislation the Repugs intend to promote – it a’int going anywhere if it can’t get out of committees, and it can’t without majorities. Your redistricting plans may also suffer consequences. I’d say you’re the ones who will choke.

    And you don’t understand the difference between Senate rules and precedent. Additionally, what do you think the chances are that one of those blue dogs decides to flip in return for cherry committee assignments?

    I’d practice ankle-grabbing if I were you.

  32. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Wow, so far the Herman Cain accusers are turning out to be completely full of doo-doo!

  33. @Big Dog

    I don’t think moderates have a prayer.

    I suspect, however, there will be lots of end runs on social issues and raiding the VRS to balance the state budget. Maybe even a personhood amendment or 2.

  34. @SlowpokeRodriguez
    And you are basing this upon what, Slowpoke? Were you there in the car with them?

  35. Cato,

    Raise the conversation bar a bit–quite a bit. There will be no more references to ‘demorroids’ here. You must have forgotten yourself and where you were.

  36. Blue Moon

    One of the main lessons to be learned from yesterday’s election is that once again (for abouth the 7th local election in a row) PWC Democrats have proved themselves to be politically irrelevent.

    Some say a good working definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. If so, the leadership of the PWC Democratic committee is, by definition, insane. When will these people learn? When will they start running elections to win the elections instead of running them to try to win an argument?

    Then again, maybe the handful who control the party in PWC got exactly exactly what they wanted: Colgan & Jenkins re-elected. Nothing else seems to matter to them.

    Did Roemmelt learn anything at all from this experience. This one’s on his watch.

    And, btw, many thanks to Brian Moran for the chairman’s race debacle. His fingerprints were all over that one.

  37. @Cargosquid

    what is this 86 squeaking it out in reference to?

  38. Blue Moon, it would be real difficult to argue with what you have said. IN fairness to Bruce, he inherited the chair mid-stream. It is going to take more than Bruce being magic man to pull the democrats out of their malaise. It is going to take all the Democrats or those who might be Democrats to come out swinging…not right before the election but this week, next week, and start preparing for the next election cycle.

    They need to start by finding each other. They have to look at the big picture rather than this like and that like. Some things need to change.

    Dont even get me started on the debacle. I hope you noticed our silence.

  39. On the subject of the Democrats coming out….first off, western Democrats shouldn’t have to trek over to headquarters in Dale City. Secondly, there needs to be more wholeness. For example, when I wanted information on Hilary coming to Manassas, the PW Democrats couldn’t tell me jack. They were all out working on Obama or so I was told. You couldn’t get an Obama sign if you lived on the western end.

    When Mark Warner was running, I had to call his Arlington Campaign office to get a sign. Last supervisor election, I had to call the Headquarters to find out who was running in the Gainesville District. The guy wasn’t even up on the webpage.

    These are not signs of a healthy political party. Sorry but these things need to be said and discussed. I have been sitting on it for a long time.

    Bruce, you are the newly chosen heir apparent and maybe you aren’t even aware of some of thing things that have happened or more importantly, not happened.

    I apologize again but I think this needs to be discussed and I think there needs to be a call to arms. Those with democratic leanings really have no voice in the state now.

  40. What’s the problem with the chipmunk? I like chipmunks.

  41. Cargosquid

    @Moon-howler
    I heard that one Senate race was won by 86 votes.

  42. And now for Mr. Jamie who still wants to be Pete Candland’s pitbull. Get over it Jamie. Learn to not start fights and you won’t get your nose bloodied.

    If you pick a fight and vilify a lady, then you have declared war. Its time to close up that lap top and go back to doing what you do best, whatever that is. Stop the lies, stop whining on behalf of the duster queen, and just get on with it.

    The entire time you blasted Ann, you never once said what it was that Peter looked forward to doing as a new supervisor. Not one mention. Just whine whine whine.

    I am going to say it one more time…for those with the steep learning curve…it is just plain stupid to start a fight with folks who buy ink by the barrel. You may win in the end (pppsssst Elena wasn’t running for office) but you will have to work a lot harder to do so. And winning is just the beginning. Now the real fun begins and we aren’t going away.

    We will be watching and in particular, land use issues. It isn’t just Moonhowlings that will be watching. There is an entire cadre of land use people, D and R who will be holding some feet to the fire.

    Chose your fights wisely, and again, stop the whining.

  43. Cargosquid

    A christmas tree tax. What idiots.
    http://blog.heritage.org/2011/11/08/obama-couldnt-wait-his-new-christmas-tree-tax/

    For one thing, all taxes are supposed to originate in the House. Second…really? a fee to pay for a new government organization to promote christmas trees? Third” Not a tax? Um…its going to the government.

    Well, someone slapped someone upside the head and said “Cut it out! Don’t be stupid!”
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/obama-administration-to-delay-new-15-cent-christmas-tree-fee/

    Actually they can be that stupid. They want to begin a government program to promote their industry. Why can’t they just hire an advertising company?

  44. Censored bybvbl

    The Dems – PWC, state and national – need to start defining issues and stop trying to mollify Republicans. It makes them appear Johnny-come-latelies. The Repubs win because they’re out there creating fear and delivering bumper-sticker messages. Apparently most of this works. I’d rather see more discourse and debate, but when that’s not happening, go for the jugular.

  45. Steve Thomas

    @Moon-howler
    “There will be no more references to ‘demorroids’ here. You must have forgotten yourself and where you were.”

    Point of order Madam Blog-owner! Point of order, please!

    Republicans are frequently referred to as “Repugs”, which is clearly written as a pejorative, without sanction from management. I submit that if one is unacceptable, the other is also. If one is acceptable, than the other should be also.

    1. @ Steve
      Big difference. Location Location Location

  46. Mom

    Well I guess its a good thing I get my Christmas trees from either the I-66 right-of-way or someone’s yard in another neighborhood. Just drive down the road late at night, pull over, grab the chainsaw and 30 seconds later you’re putting a tax-free tree in the back of the pickup.

    Now, the more imporant issue. What other promotional fees are we going to see. A tofu tax to promote healthy eating. A polyester tariff to educate the public on the evils of 100% wool suits. Neither would bother me much. That being said, if these clowns decide to add an additional fee to my potent potables to promote anything, I will personally be leading the armed insurrection that will follow.

  47. Mom

    All, ten point deduction for improper spelling, the correct spelling is Demorrhoid.

    1. Try again. See what happens. Ah…the woman behind the curtain.

  48. Elena

    Slow,
    What was your reaction to Anita Hill or Paula Jones?

  49. Mom

    His reaction to Paula Jones was probably more favorable after she got the nose job.

  50. Cato the Elder

    Moon-howler :
    @ Steve
    Big difference. Location Location Location

    Are you trying to say that you don’t want your “house” turned into the “outhouse?”

    [yes Cato. Precisely!!! M-H]

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