The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
A week from now he may be in for a bumpy ride, but for one evening at least, Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell was able to bask in the warm embrace of the region that launched his political career.
About 400 local supporters turned out for McDonnell's Hampton Roads Inaugural Ball at the Chrysler Museum on Sunday, six days before he takes the oath of office as Virginia's 71st governor at a time of extraordinary economic hardship for the state and its residents.
McDonnell, who was first elected to political office as a state delegate from Virginia Beach in 1991, will be the state's first governor from the resort city and the first from Hampton Roads since the late Mills Godwin of Suffolk left office in 1978.
He knows the time for celebration will be short, however.
"I've got some tough decisions ahead," he told reporters moments before he and his wife, Maureen, descended the stairs of the museum's indoor courtyard to address the crowd. "I've got a budget that's $2 billion out of whack."
Moreover, McDonnell, a Republican, has promised voters he will balance the budget without increasing taxes.
Exactly how he plans to do that is not yet clear. In the lighthearted spirit of the inaugural bash, he was content to make a joke about the state's fiscal woes at his own expense.
"Really, it's not so bad," he told the crowd. "Every time I look at the budget, I sleep like a baby. I wake up every two hours crying."
He said he has told every Cabinet secretary he has hired: "I want you to do more with less." Virginia's residents are having to make hard choices, he said, "and they expect the government to do the same."
His first priority as governor, he said, will be to bring more jobs to Virginia by creating a "level playing field" that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of the state's businessmen and women.
The tuxedo- and evening-gown-clad crowd was a mix of Republican officeholders past, present and potential, together with grassroots party workers who helped McDonnell to his convincing victory over Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds in November.
There also was a heavy military presence. The Hampton Roads gala, one in a series of inaugural bashes around the state, was styled as a salute to Virginia's veterans.
The evening even had a smattering of bipartisan flavor. In the crowd was not only Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms, a Republican, but also Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, a Democrat.
Sessoms said he has been a McDonnell backer since the governor-elect first sought office two decades ago. "He's a bright guy. I'm betting on him," Sessoms said. "You need a guy with a good mind to get us through what we've got to get through."
The partisan gloves may come off later, but now is the time for a united front, said Fraim: "We're all Virginians. We all want Bob to be the best governor possible.
"Besides, he was nice enough to give me a couple of tickets."
Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com
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And Celebrate He Should
He bamboozled the majority of Virginians who voted in the last election into thinking he was a moderate who was going to run the state on consensus. Meanwhile he's filled his cabinet and staff with lobbyists, party hacks and ultra-right-wing reactionaries. The Chesapeake Bay, Virginia's coastlines and mountaintop coal mines are now for sale to the highest bidder. What we do in the privacy of our bedrooms is now the govenment's business. Criminals will be warehoused, public schools shut down in favor of homeschooling or private schools, religious and ethnic diversity are to be discouraged and local governments bankrupted because they won't be able to pay for essential services. And we'll slve all of our budget woes by selling ABC stores. Welcome to the Middle Ages, Virginia.
To the Highest Bidder
Sounds good to me.
Criminals warehoused? Right on.
Public schools shut down? Well, if they can't teach...
Religious and ethnic diversity discouraged? The government should be neutral in these matters.
Local governments bankrupted? Only the ones run by Democrats.
It wasn't your money!
Hate to tell you this, but it wasn't your money that was spent. The Inaugural Ball was paid for by the people who attended it. Those who attended are the same people who run programs to help the homeless and feed the poor. They're the same ones who back the Opera and other civic events, and there's nothing wrong with them getting together to celebrate. Get over the class envy; we pay our own way, and at times we pay all of your way, too.
Envy Not as bad as Greed
Unless you can show us all the bills we paid by private funds, then I will assume all the police present were dancing security.
You rich people are so quick to judge. Wrongly.
uninformed posters
First of all the money for the event was donated funds from supporters and second of all the budget crisis was not caused by the republicans. It was caused by 911 and not only hurt Virginia's economy but the economy of the entire nation. Just remember we have had eight years of Democratic leadership and we are still in the hole. Kaine has neglected this state to further his political career and we are paying the price.The car tax needed to go. The majority of Virginians hated it. Most states do not use such a tax and it was a good thing that an attempt was made to give us some relief from this oppressive tax. It was killing the auto sales industry as many people balked at buying a new car because the would be paying a thousand dollars a year just to be able to own a vehicle. Most people were keeping there cars forever or buying older used cars. I am thankful for the tax relief.
Full Circle
The budget mess, created by former republican governors, has come back to haunt Bob. Will he get rid of the car tax? Or just continue the sham that we have now, with our state taxes paying our car taxes.
Dance tonight for tomorrow you get your hands dirty.
this is amazing, the people
this is amazing, the people of Va are having funds cut from projects left and right, including such projects as roads, where is that money going to I have asked myself, well I guess I now know, to the ball, you idiots. It would seem that even when times are rough that the politicians are still going to live high,oh don't worry about that pothole and pass the punch. The money that was spent ( and don't give us the "oh that is repulican or democratic money set aside excuse)could have provided shelter and food for homeless,it could have helped with those properties damaged by storms ( you know those places that the cities won't help)and even transportation to doctors for the elderly. When are the politicians going to realize that at some point the people that voted them into office are going to get tired of scraping and scrounging while they party and vote themselves another raise or go on vacation
Tax money does not pay for this
Besides, did any of Obama's disciples complain about the MUCH larger, MUCH costlier party he threw.... The silence is deafening...
Fraim is right,
Virginians need the best that McDonnell can do and though I didn't vote for him I wanted the very best person for the job. The financial catastrophe that has been giving Virginia, the USA and the world body-blows has roots in the Reagan/HW Bush/Clinton eras that were exacerbated by W Bush's war adventures in a non-Al Qaeda Iraq; they were the abrogation of regulatory restraints that allowed financial entrepreneurs to gut sound finance by removing checks at the expense of stability and additionally the refusal of Conservatives to fund Bush's War, allowing that weight to be absorbed by the economy through the Vietnam War's gimmick, that is, printing more money without additional revenue sources to balance it. The Energy sector too was unmonitored, allowing looting of taxpayers and investors by unrealistic and actually illegal profiteering swindles along with managements' and Boards' undue enrichment that was part of this disintegration of American Business. McDonnell's Republican rap isn't different from the mantra that drove us into this mess and I am not encouraged.