Politics behind abortion ultrasound bill reveals Dem divisions

Perhaps lost in the focus on the Republican-run Virginia Senate's passage of a bill requiring women to get an ultrasound before an abortion is the amount of fight oppositional Democrats offered.

An excerpt from Thursday's Pilot story (see below) on the legislation's approval suggest Democrats were internally divided on how to proceed.

According to a party source, those who favored Norfolk Sen. Ralph Northam's amendment to make ultrasounds optional, not mandatory, were overruled by caucus leaders who prefered to let it pass unchanged.

The thinking was the House of Delegates and Gov. Bob McDonnell wouldn't be receptive to a weakened bill. So Democrats decided it might be to their advantage to use the ultrasound bill in political fights to come.

Action on the bill was delayed Tuesday as Democrats crafted an amendment that would have made the ultrasound optional, but Republicans denied a request for a second postponement the following day.

When asked whether politics influenced strategy on the bill, caucus Chairman Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County, rejected that notion. He said many caucus members simply opposed voting for legislation requiring an ultrasound, even if it was softened.

-- Julian Walker

Va. investigating Gingrich claims of petition fraud

At the request of state election officials, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's office has initiated a probe into alleged irregularities on petitions submitted on behalf Newt Gingrich in his failed bid to qualify for the state's March 6 presidential primary.

A spokesman for Cuccinelli confirmed the investigation Tuesday, but didn't elaborate.

Only former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul met the filing requirements of 10,000 valid voter signatures by the December deadline, prompting several Republican presidential hopefuls to sue over state ballot rules.

Two contenders involved in that unsuccessful litigation, Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, also submitted Virginia petitions, but the state Republican Party said they didn't qualify for the contest.

As frustration about candidate disqualification mounted, Cuccinelli entered the fray when he called for emergency legislation to allow more Republican presidential candidates on Virginia’s primary ballot.

He reversed himself a day later, saying he wouldn't support efforts to change the law for this year's presidential election.

Around the same time, Gingrich reportedly told an Iowa voter that his Virginia petition-gathering effort was undermined by a worker who submitted 1,500 false signatures. That alleged fraud formed the basis for the State Board of Elections request for a probe.

As for Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker remains in the GOP presidential field that's shrunk since the petition brouhaha grabbed Virginia headlines in late December.

-- Julian Walker

Big Sky governor to headline Va. Dems gala

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is the featured guest at Virginia Democrats' annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner, a $200 per plate party event scheduled next month in Richmond.

Other luminaries on the party fundraiser marquee are U.S. Sen. Jim Webb and the man seeking to replace him, former Gov. Tim Kaine; U.S. Sen. Mark Warner; and U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Bobby Scott, and Gerry Connolly.

Schweitzer is known as a folksy two-term Democratic governor in a traditionally Republican state. Virginia votes may recall that he made a campaign stop in the state for Terry McAuliffe during the 2009 gubernatorial primary race.

In a statement about the upcoming event, Virginia Democratic Party chairman Brian Moran called Schweitzer "one of the most successful governors in the country and one of the most exciting and engaging public speakers in our party."

"Don't miss your chance to hear from him and all of our outstanding Virginia Democratic leaders, and to spend an evening with more than 1,000 fellow Democrats from all over the Commonwealth," Moran added.

-- Julian Walker

Former Sen. Quayle picked for Va. Parole Board

It turns out Fred Quayle’s separation from state government service will be short-lived.

Gov. Bob McDonnell has named the former state senator from Suffolk to the Virginia Parole Board, an appointment with a four-year term and a $52,000 annual salary.

Quayle’s 20-year career in the Senate recently ended after he declined to seek re-election last November. He made that decision after he and a fellow Republican senator, Chesapeake’s Harry Blevins, were drawn together in Democrats’ redistricting plan.

Quayle, 75, is the newest addition to the five-member Parole Board, which can grant, deny or revoke parole and detain parole violators. It also has the power to give early release to geriatric inmates.

Out of the roughly 30,500 Virginia prison inmates, about 4,800 remain eligible for parole because they were incarcerated before the state abolished it in 1995.

McDonnell named four other board members last February; Quayle’s term begins next month.

Reached Friday, Quayle said he he’s looking forward to the position after years in the legislature dealing with laws involving parole and punishment.

He sponsored a 2004 law to give financial restitution to people wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for serious crimes and has been an advocate for legislation to relax punishment for technical parole violators.

One of his more recent legislative accomplishments was a 2010 law to exempt Virginians from individual insurance mandates, a cornerstone of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s challenge to the federal health care act widely despised by Republicans.

While that was a red meat bill to the GOP base, the moderate Quayle last spring lamented what he sees as an increasingly partisan atmosphere in politics as he looked back at his legislative career.

An attorney by trade, Quayle hasn’t practiced law in several years. He's taught government and political courses over the years at Old Dominion University, but said he isn’t teaching this semester.

-- Julian Walker

Obama team to open Va. campaign hub

Another piece of President Barack Obama's Virginia re-election infrastructure will go live Saturday when his campaign opens its state headquarters in downtown Richmond.

The plan for a third Virginia office opening in the past two months -- locations in Newport News and Fairfax County went operational last month, with another in Petersburg coming soon -- is a clear sign team Obama thinks the state will again be a presidential election battleground.

Newport News U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott and Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones, both Democrats, are scheduled to attend the Richmond opening Saturday. It's set for 11:30 that morning at 408 E. Main St.

Obama's Organizing for America has been active in Virginia since 2009, and has reached out to more than 300,000 Virginia so far this cycle, according to the campaign, which already has paid staff in the state Obama carried in 2008 en route to victory.

Presumptive Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney hasn't opened offices in Virginia, though supporters of another GOP contender, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, recently launched his state campaign headquarters in Norfolk.

Only Romney and Paul qualified for Virginia's March 6 primary. Several other Republican hopefuls unsuccessfully sued to get on the ballot.

-- Julian Walker

Senate approves bill to reduce third grade testing subjects

Third grade students' standardized test load would effectively be cut in half if a bill approved by the Senate Tuesday becomes law.

Legislation submitted by Newport News Sen. John Miller would eliminate required history and science testing in the third grade to place greater emphasis on math and reading standardized tests.

The Democrat said improving third graders' reading scores is critical because their performance at that age is a key predictor of future educational success, or failure.

He said the history and science elements would be part of the tests students take later in their educational careers.

Miller's bill -- the Senate approved it on a 33-7 vote Tuesday -- follows a report by Virginia's legislative watchdog agency on strategies to improve the third grade reading performance.

Released in September, the study noted that while third grade pass rates on the reading test have increased in the past decade, Virginia still falls short of its statewide goal of a 95 percent pass rate.

-- Julian Walker

Group says poll results reflect support for conservative agenda

The socially conservative Family Foundation Tuesday touted new polls results they say show Virginians support their legislative priorities to limit abortion, restrict adoptions by gays and promote school choice measures.

Among the bills the group is backing this winter are measures to codify the rights of faith-based agencies to deny child placement to would-be gay parents.

Gay rights advocates oppose those bills, saying the state shouldn't sanction discrimination by organizations with state contracts to place children.

Statewide, the Mason-Dixon poll sponsored by the group found 54 percent of registered voters oppose forcing faith-based groups to adopt children to prospective parents in violation of their beliefs.

Also sampled in the survey were public attitudes on requiring clinics to offer an ultrasound image to women before abortions, something abortion rights groups oppose.

On education, poll respondents were asked whether home school students should be allowed to participate in public school athletics, and about their feelings on a proposed state tax credit for companies that contribute towards private school scholarships for needy kids.

The Mason-Dixon poll of 625 registered voters was conducted Jan. 16-18. It has a 4 percent margin of error. The results and crosstabs are below.

-- Julian Walker

2012-1-20 VA Fam Found Polling Results

Senate approves bill to curb teen drivers' cell phone use

Teen drivers who use cell phones while operating a vehicle can now be ticketed for that behavior if police stop them for another offense.

A bill that cleared the Virginia Senate today would tighten the restriction on cell phone use by provisional license holders, meaning authorities could stop them simply for using their phone while operating a vehicle.

Speaking in support of the measure, Fairfax County Democratic Sen. George Barker called his SB 210 a good way to protect teen drivers and improve overall road safety.

The cell phone prohibition in his proposal would apply to teen drivers younger than 18 with provisional licenses.

Barker's legislation was approved by the Senate on a 30-10 vote. Similar legislation from Barker has previously cleared that body only to fail in the House of Delegates.

One lawmaker who expressed concerns about it was Sen. Charles "Bill" Carrico, a former state trooper who questioned how police officers would visually determine a driver's age when deciding whether to stop them for cell phone use.

-- Julian Walker

Judge fight halts Senate action, threatens to shutdown legislature

Partisan gridlock over appointing two former legislators to state courts halted action in the Senate Tuesday and left the General Assembly in limbo over whether it could conduct business in the coming days.

While the issue hinged on a self-imposed deadline and arcane legislative procedures, the judge flap is the latest sign of ongoing friction between Democrats and the Republican majority in the Senate split 20-20 between the parties.

Lawmakers planned to vote today on reappointing a slate of judges to benches around the state

But Democrats moved to block that because the list includes two candidate who aren't sitting judges, former Dels. Clifford "Clay" Athey, R-Front Royal, and Clarence "Bud" Phillips, D-Dickenson County.

Although both have the seal of approval of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, Democrats said they were working on the notion they had an agreement with Republicans to vote only on reappointments now, leaving the election of new judges for later.

The stalemate left the Senate, and possibly the House of Delegates, unable to take up other affairs because the chambers are under a continuing order preventing other action until the judge impasse is settled.

And since the election of judges isn't something Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling can use his tiebreaking vote to settle, business in the legislature could remain on hold for days if lawmakers don't reach compromise.

As the debate wore on Tuesday, leaders from both parties faulted the other side for the situation.

Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City County, accused Democrats of "partisan political extortion," saying they are willing to shut down the Senate and harm judges' careers to demonstrate their might.

His Democratic counterpart, Sen. Richard Saslaw of Fairfax County, argued the opposite, suggesting Republican rigidity is to blame.

"We're not holidng it up," he said. "Their refusal, just for two names, they're willing to shut the entire Genral Assembly down."

-- Julian Walker

Republican ad attacking Obama economic record airs in Norfolk

Ahead of Tuesday evening's State of the Union address, the Republican National Committee has launched a new television ad critical of President Barack Obama's economic stewardship that's airing in Norfolk and other media markets.

It highlights the 13 million Americans out of work and 49 million living in poverty to drive home the message that Obama hasn't fixed an economy still wobbly after the Great Recession. The ad can be viewed below.

“Barack Obama has a lot of a explaining to do in tonight’s State of the Union Address,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement about the ad. “One year ago, he stood before the American people and promised he would tackle the housing crisis, rampant joblessness and get our economy back on track. But one year later, it’s more than clear that his sole priority is getting reelected.”

Obama is expected to offer ideas for strengthening the middle class in his Tuesday night speech to the nation.

The Republican spot is also on the airwaves in the Washington D.C.; Charlotte, NC; and Grand Rapids, MI markets.

It comes about one week after the debut of an Obama re-election campaign spot highlighting his clean energy record and follows the release Monday of a new digital ad (see below) touting private sector job growth on his watch.

UPDATE: Responding to a request for comment, a national Democratic Party official Tuesday dismissed the GOP ad as a distortion of Obama's words and records.

"The RNC is doing what it does best -- misleading voters on the President's record to keep from talking about the GOP's plans to reinstate the same failed policies that drove this economy into recession," Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell said in a statement.

Democrats say Obama save 1.4 million American jobs through the auto bailout, noting the private sector has added 3.1 million jobs over 22 consecutive months while manufacturers added 334,000 jobs in the past two years, the first time industry employment has risen since 1997.

"The President has shown us what change is by steering this economy in the right direction -- the RNC doesn't want to talk about that because the failed GOP policies of the past nearly drove us off a cliff," Roussell added.

-- Julian Walker