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Joe Biden: Creigh Deeds A “Turkey” Of A Candidate?
By Greg L | 3 October 2009 | Virginia Politics | 4 Comments
Vice President Joe Biden’s latest strange remark that he had been campaigning on behalf of some “turkeys” — Democratic candidates who clearly aren’t up to the job they’re campaigning for — has really gotten a lot in the media wondering who he was actually referring to. Biden was actually trying to help three congressional campaigns when he made the stunning statement that while Nye, Connolly and Perriello were “smart” and “independent-minded”, others he had campaigned for were “turkeys.” Just who had Joe Biden been campaigning for in Virginia that might qualify here? The list is pretty short as far as I can tell. Really short. The only candidate Joe Biden has come out for in Virginia seems to be Creigh Deeds.
The Post and Courier has the details (with thanks to NLS for flagging this):
According to The Washington Post, the vice president lived up to his reputation for verbal gaffes during a fundraiser in McLean, Va. Addressing approximately 100 people who had paid $1,000 each to attend the event in the open-air pool house at the mansion of former Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb, Mr. Biden hailed three freshman Democratic House members from Virginia (Glenn Nye, Gerry Connolly and Tom Perriello) as “independent minded” and “smart.”
He then added: “Some of the guys Chuck and I have campaigned for are turkeys. Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are.”
That confession of campaigning for Democratic “turkeys” cast doubt on how sincere the vice president was in praising that trio of rookie congressmen.
Democrats are really becoming their own worst enemies. While the Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is trashing DNC Chairman and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for lagging behind every other state in using the stimulus funds Congress has appropriated, and highlighting just how little Virginia Democrats actually care about transportation, the head of the Democratic Governors Association is saying a month out that Democrats are going to lose the governorship. Now the Vice-President is weighing in, saying that on the whole Republican candidates are better than Democrats and some of the few he’s been out stumping for are real turkeys.
Democrats were so cocky just a couple of months ago. They were going to usher in decades at least of one-party rule, sweep massive policy changes through Congress, and demonstrate just how tremendous “progressive” leadership was supposed to be. Now they’re utterly imploding, confused, disorganized and unable to accomplish much of anything. It really reminds me of the Carter era.
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Oh, c’mon, Greg! You’ve got to ask tougher questions than this!
The answer is obviously “Yes!”
RPV weighs in with this today:
Jet-Setting Kaine Ignored Warning from Congress on Roads
- Part-Time Governor Abandoned Duties in Preference of DNC Job -
RICHMOND – Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, likely weary and jet-lagged, evidently devoted more attention to his duties as the partisan-in-chief at the expense of the commuters of Virginia, despite a clear warning from Congress that Virginia was falling behind other states in expending funds specifically dedicated to transportation. Kaine this week received a stunning written reprimand from Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, blasting the governor for dragging Virginia into 51st place for spending federal transportation funds behind all other states and the District of Columbia.
Kaine Was Warned in August That Virginia Was Lagging
“In August 2009, almost six months after enactment of the Recovery Act, I sent letters to the best and worst performers in putting to work Recovery Act highway funds,” wrote Rep. Oberstar to Kaine on October 1st. “Since then, we have watched many states move aggressively to create and sustain family-wage jobs, contribute to our nation’s long-term economic growth, and help the United States recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.
“Regrettably, Virginia is not among these States.”
Kaine’s Self-Defense: Weak, at Best
In his own defense, Kaine blamed the flagging economy, saying it caused Virginia to lack a “wish list” for transportation projects.
The lack of a “wish list” did not prevent Kaine from appearing at a partisan media event with his chief political patron, President Obama, in February in Fairfax to boast of “shovel ready” projects such as the Fairfax County Parkway that would be aided by the very federal funding now at issue.
Kaine: Hope He Gets Frequent Flyer Miles
While blissfully ignoring dire August warnings from his own party in Congress, Kaine spent much of his time in the weeks that followed doing the bidding of the power brokers of his national political party. Kaine was nearly everywhere, except in the Governor’s Mansion looking over road plans that Virginians desperately crave.
Kaine’s itinerary:
August 1-2: Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts
August 20: New Jersey
August 27-29: Louisville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama
September 2: Burlington and Norwich, Vermont
September 9: Dallas and Brownsville, Texas
September 10: Brownsville and Austin, Texas
September 11: Austin, Texas
September 12: Austin, Texas
September 21: New York City, Greenwich, Connecticut
September 22: New York
“Is there really any more doubt that Tim Kaine has checked out as our chief executive here in Virginia?” asked Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins. “I mean, people say looking into government is akin to seeing how sausage is made – and you don’t want to do it. But, now that the layers of this onion have been peeled back, it’s pretty clear that Tim Kaine is an absentee governor and it is costing the people of Virginia dearly.
“Creigh Deeds is running for governor saying he wants to continue Tim Kaine’s legacy. I say, let him have at it.”
Man, you know things are getting tough in this economy if the Governor of Virginia has to get a second job just to make ends meet.
Here are a few more trips on behalf of the DNC to add to the list.
• May 2 - Durham, NC - Saturday
• May 8 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Friday
• May 20 - Dallas, TX - Wednesday
• May 30 - Miami, FL - Saturday
• June 11 - Chicago, IL - Thursday
• June 18 - Cincinnati, OH — Thursday
• June 19 - Kansas City, MO - Friday
• June 24 - Philadelphia, PA - Wednesday
• June 29 - New York, NY - Monday
http://www.rpv.org/news_media/detail/post-nails-kaine-dnc-travel-primarily-on-weekdays
Perhaps when he was closing rest stops he axed his go-to-guy on transportation?
So the good governor could not just dust off that wish list from the 2007 “unconstitutional” transportation funding bill - VA hb 3202?
How about the six-year improvement program adopted this past June?
http://syip.virginiadot.org/docs/FY10-FINAL-SYIP.pdf
http://www.thenextright.com/soren-dayton/virginia-argues-that-they-dont-need-to-send-out-military-absentee-ballots-in-time-to-vo