Democrats and political experts have been saying for months that gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds has a message problem: He doesn’t have one. Apparently that criticism got garbled in translation, and now Deeds is worried that he’s been too clear with voters.
That’s the most charitable explanation for ludicrous radio and TV ads the Democrat released Friday warning that his Republican opponent, Bob McDonnell, is a serial tax-increaser. The alternative explanation, one that’s far more distressing, is that Deeds has deliberately concocted disingenuous and deceitful ads because he thinks voters are too stupid to know better.
Much of the ad is based on legislation in 2002 that permitted Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia to hold referendums on a proposed sales tax increase to fund major road projects, including widening U.S. 460 and Interstate 64 on the Peninsula and Southside.
McDonnell helped draft the bill that put the referendum on the ballot but then turned his back on the effort and refused to publicly support the plan. Many other lawmakers in the region followed his example, and the referendum failed. As a direct result of that failure, this region still has no money to build the roads it so desperately needs.
But Deeds isn’t criticizing McDonnell for quitting, or for still not having a credible plan to pay for roads. Deeds is criticizing the Republican for those few weeks in 2002 when McDonnell gave his Virginia Beach constituents a glimmer of what he could do for his region if he had the guts to stand up to anti-tax absolutists.
In other words, Deeds is bashing McDonnell for a time that the Republican tried to be a force for progress in Hampton Roads.
Deeds has voted many times for gas tax increases, so he understands the push-back lawmakers get when they make a tough vote. It’s sad to see that he’s now chosen to become part of the problem.
The ads raise questions about whether Deeds even wants to be part of a solution. The Democrat has said he will work to build support for a transportation plan if he’s elected governor. He’s been unwilling to say how he’d pay for road improvements, but Deeds did commit to signing a package that includes taxes as long as it has bipartisan support.
This commercial — and the attendant blitz — puts that assertion in doubt, and it should lead many voters to question whether Deeds has any intention of making the hard decisions necessary to undo a generation of fiscal mismanagement in Richmond.
Deeds has spent the summer telling voters why they shouldn’t vote for McDonnell, but precious little time explaining why they should vote for him. Deeds has spent a month trying to scare Virginians about McDonnell’s past as a cultural conservative, but too little explaining his own vision for Virginia’s future.
The current crop of commercials does help Hampton Roads voters size Deeds up, but not in any way that will help his cause.
Are voters supposed to take the Deeds ads at face value and assume he’s given up on passing a transportation plan two months before the election? Or are they supposed to recognize the ads as a big dodge (wink, wink)? If Deeds shipped secret decoder rings to the region, they must have gotten stuck in traffic, because nobody’s laughing.
Hampton Roads desperately needs a leader with the vision to recognize the region’s most pressing needs and the courage to solve them. Deeds has suggested that he wants to be that leader, but right now he looks like just another politician who cares more about winning than about solutions.
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Acceptance of Incompetence
Yes, it really does amaze me that so many posters herein and on other forums are willing to ignore the reality presented to us everyday about the deterioration of our quality of life because of our transportation system. Businesses are passing on millions of dollars to consumers because of the loss of productivity. Workers face longer and longer commutes and less time with family. Visitors arrive at area hotels with tales of getting stuck at choke points coming into the region. There are only a few other functions of state government more important than transportation, yet defenders herein of the status quo are simply willing to accept, no applaud, the failure of our Delegates to conserve our resources, to sustain our transportation system, and to provide for a system that works. Like I said, it truly amazes me how citizens can accept such incompetence on the part of our Delegates.
Blinded by arrogance
Mike, what you reuse to admit is that the citizens have rejected YOUR "6 pack" plan of special interest highways and expensive bridge tunnels for the Port. You want to try to calim that the majority of citizens who reject your list of pork projects are advocating to do nothing. That is fasle and you know it. You and I attended a lot of public hearings. We both heard the public. A lot of great suggestions were brought froth from the public. But you and your group of friends in the local business lobby want your plan - or nothing at all. It has been your "My way or no highway" attitude that has resulted in the inability for the rest of use to have real needs addressed. You and the Future Hampton Roads gang are more concerned about creating unaccountable regional government you can control then you are about reducing traffic gridlock.
Well, Pierre you know better
Well, Pierre you know better than that. The all of the woes of Virginia are the fault of the Virginia Republican House of Delegates. That's because our own master of spin Mike Barrett says so. There is no other reason in the world that could cause all of the gloom and doom in Virginia. They are probably at fault for the radar dispute in Virginia Beach, the cause of the excessive rain on August 12th, and the flooding it caused at Spartan Village in Norfolk. It's their fault. The Republicans especially.
We should all just roll over and hand over our wallets to the tax man, be thankful for him allowing us to do so, agree to a $2.00 a gallon gas tax, build whatever road projects Mike wants to build, and then change the name of Tidewater to Barrettville. You just have to get used to the fact that our master of spin thinks we have the brains of a bowl of oatmeal and just don't understand whats good for us, the community, and in the develo... sorry the public interest.
Problem
The problem is that the MPO hijacked the road plan to use for their own benefit. They didn't listen to the voters becasue they were not accountable to the voters. That's the problem with regional authorities. Look at SPSA, does anyone think that they are a success?
Time for voters to take back their rights and let's get rid of all of these special interest authorities!
What is wrong with this picture
Yes, McDonnell releases a transportation based upon stealing resources from education and public safety, and Deeds says he supports transportation but fails to lead the way toward a solution. We Virginians certainly deserve better. The broad electorate knows that we must invest in transportation infrastructure; they see every day closed bridges, rest stops, and maintenance facilities, they witness endless delays at tunnels and bridges, they sit in traffic and fume, business people exit one side of Hampton Roads or the other because of the unreliability of service, we witness the growing list of cancelled projects because our Delegates lack the courage of their convictions. How bad do conditions need to get? At this point, we Virginians contribute more to building roads in Iraq and Afghanistan than we do here in Virginia. And our two candidates for Governor won't engage in reasonable discussion of this issue? What is wrong with this picture?
We already invest - the business lobbies push wrong priorities
What is wrong with this picture is that the unelected and all appointed MPO/regional structure has been hyjacked by self serving special interests and they keep pushing the wrong projects. Business lobbies keep fighting a Constitutional amemndment to protect the transportation trust fund from endless raids over countless decades. VDOT is mismanaged and wasteful - and fails to properly manage their contractors. What is wrong is too much misuse of our transportation funds on pir-in-the-sky TOD light rail and bike path boondoggles and not enough new lane capacity for drivers. What is wrong is the PORT of VA trying to force Tidewater to pay for the state-owned PORT's $4B bridge tunnel, instead of the PORT paying their own way. Mr. Barrett claims Bob McDonnell proposes to "steal resources from education and public safety". Not true. The plan to use future increased PORT revenue to pay for PORT roads doesn't "steal" anything. That is a red herring.
Agreed
Barrett is the king of red herrings, spin, half-truths etc.
Really?!
So it is ok for McDonnell to bash Deeds for raising taxes(for good reasons) BUT not ok for Deeds to bash McDonnell for raising taxes(also for good reasons)?
And, you are saying Deeds doesn't have a road plan-well Kaine had one and look what the crew in Richmond did to it-crushed it. Even better-McDonnell's "road plan" is based on offshore drilling-not allowed by Congress and where no infrastructure exists. So let's return to reality here, Pilot editors, at least Deeds understands that true leadership sometimes involves letting those responsible for the task get it done
Two pitiful choices for
Two pitiful choices for Virginians. We deserve better. The political views of neither man represents the majority of Virginians.
"Progress?" SB668 & HB 3202? Are you kidding or spinning?
The Pilot writes "In other words, Deeds is bashing McDonnell for a time that the Republican tried to be a force for progress in Hampton Roads." -and- "...the referendum failed. As a direct result of that failure, this region still has no money to build the roads it so desperately needs." Nice try to rewrite history Pilot, but the horrible Port bailout plan your paper keeps backing is neither "progress" or "desperately needed roads". The 6 MPO/Yes Campaign projects are the wrong projects and the voters wisely rejected them - not because Bob McDonnell turned his back on the YES Campaign, but becuase voters understood the pig-in-a-poke scam the regional business lobby was trying to sell to them - and our region's voters were wise enough to reject their bad plan, and even worse regional taxing schemes.