The three candidates are executive director Charlie Judd, former LG John Hager and RPVB chairman Chuck Smith. The latter two were at the Blogs United conference and spoke briefly. Smith is running hard for this position, passing out cards to everyone, even to folks like me who are not Republicans!
In case you missed it, Smith and Hager were on BTR last Sunday with Jim Hoeft and Brian Kirwin. I listened in. It seems that Smith is running on two things (well, three, because he did mention leadership but then who doesn’t?). First, he speaks Spanish fluently and believes that will help recruit Hispanics to the party. Um, OK.
But it was the other thing that Smith said over and over that got to me. He said he believed that because he’s black, he could increase the number of blacks voting for Republican candidates to 25%! I guess he missed this:
From the NAACP GOP Presidential Candidate Forum
via Frameshop:
The resulting photo of Tancredo–standing on a stage of empty podiums–sums up the Republican party’s commitment to civil rights in America: the only Republican interested is the guy running to deny immigrant workers their rights.
(h/t RK)
Chuck, let me give you a little tip: stop listening to what Brian Kirwin tells you to say.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
It’s amazing what passes for minority outreach in the republican party, but at least someone in the GOP is interested in it. Crying shame for them that none of their candidates or policy makers are, though.
Chuck wants to be a judge in Va Beach and since the Repubs run the GA, he wants to be a BIG Repub. Typical self-motivated political activity. Why else would a black Virginian suppport the Republican Party?
Vivian – Wow. Great post. I had not seen that photo before now – it says it all.
I have been saving that photo for just the right post. I think this was it 😉
Does it really matter who chair is For the gop, nov, will bring a big sea change in VA.
Let’s see, after 40 years voting constitently and exclusively for Democrats what do blacks in this country have to show for that support.
Do they have the best school systems?
Do they have the safe communities?
Do they have summer employment opportunities for their youth?
Do they have adequate investment in business and infrastructure?
The answer to these questions is NO. Black voters need to wkae up and demand improvements in their communities before continuing to vote for these do nothing Democrats.
It’s a little bit ridiculous to read a criticism about how little we invest in predominantly black school systems, neighborhoods and businesses from a commenter using the handle “LowTax.” I want to see democrats continue to do more to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to achieve the American dream, and I was going to write about that, but come on, man. You want better schools, safer communities, summer employment opportunities for your youths (by the way, what the heck are you talking about??) and more business for black-owned enterprises, but not paying taxes is your overriding concern here?
What does low taxes have to do with adequately and properly investing communities of color. I believe that the government receives enough funds into the system from all sources already. But, my moniker does not change the fact that the Democrats have a very poor record of addressing the issues that plague the black community for all the support that they receive at the polls. So stop diverting and such. If you want to comment on the issue then comment. Why do we not see any if these pet projects of our Congressmen and Senators aimed at the black community.
In answer to your initial question, it has to do with the fact that teachers and police officers still don’t work for skittles, no matter how nicely we ask. Teachers in Virginia make below the national average for their profession, and Virginia Beach (like many communities in Virginia) has a hard time recruiting police officers in part because of funding reasons. Likewise giving preferntial treatment to any business (whether we’re talking about a black-owned enterprise or Haliburton) costs more money than simply going with the lowest bidder. So unless you’re somehow combining anti-tax rhetoric with class or racial warfare by saying that we basically should be putting someone else’s money into your pockets, you’ll continue to leave me flabbergasted.
Be that as it may, I do believe and agree that democrats should do more to step up to the plate when it comes to creating equal access to opportunity in America. I could understand why some blacks might feel like democrats only really care about blacks when they need their votes. On the other hand, I can’t see why blacks would want to work with anyone other than democrats when we consider that every GOP candidate save the Colorado Nutter couldn’t be bothered even to pay something like lip service to interested black voters.
(By the way, Congressman Bobby Scott has quite a few pet projects for black businesses and schools that you’d quite probably hate because it takes money to run them).
What the H*ll are you talking about? You can rant and rave all you want, that still does not change the fact that the some of the worst schools are in the black communities, the high crime neighborhoods are in the black communities and high unemployment exists in the black communities. Black communities also finds themselves without some of the needed businesses, such as banks, supermarkets with fresh produce and meats, black communitities find themselves without useable parks and playgrounds for their children. These are the realities of life in the black community. Raising all the taxes in the world will not change this problem if the political leaders continue to not give a D***. I would like to see some of the tax revenue (investment) steered into these communities so that children can have decent school buildings and decent parks and playgrounds to play in. But that does not happen. Does it? The only time things start or begin to change in the black community is when the problems began spill over into the white neighborhoods. Then you will see all kinds of actions and studies and the like to fix the problem.
I think it is a shame that the Republican candidates did not show up and it saddens me. I personally would never vote for a Democrat because they have not shown we anything. As a child and young adult gowing up , my neighborhood was in bad shape for all the years that I lived there. I was represented by a Democrat. Today, my neighborhood is in great shape and I have access to all the services that I need. I am currently represented by a Republican.
Finally, one more time on the low tax moniker. I believe that this government receives enough revenue (Investment) under the current tax system. I do not believe that we need to raise taxes on hard working people to solve any of the problems this country currently faces. You may believe otherwise and that is fine. Like I always say to democrats, if you believe that the government needs more taxes then you pay more. And you know what happens, they stop talking and they never pay more. Why is that?
Let’s look at a few facts, shall we?
For 2003-2004, Virginia was #24 in average teacher salary, just above the median. We were #12 in total students, but #10 in the number of teachers. That puts us at #48 for student-teacher ratio — there were only three states with lower ratios!
Despite that, our per-pupil expenditures were well below the median ($7622) — we were #44 at $6441.
While our per-pupil expenditures were low, our SAT scores were only two points below average for the United States, 1024 vs 1022.
Comparing these documents, we can see that there is no relationship between money and outcome.
Furthermore, by comparing the Tidewater cities, we can see that there is NO relationship between per-pupil spending and the student’s reading and math proficiency. (Click on each city to get the per-pupil info.) However, there is some correlation between economic disadvantage and the student’s reading and math.
The point of all this is that throwing money at the schools is not going to solve the problem. If it could, DC would have the best schools in the country. (Taking states only, New York should be the best, but their SAT scores are 19 points below average.)
was this subject about gop chair? lowtax save it for the voters box and hope to god dems. do
not get controll of the va. gen. ass. if they do than you can really cry.
That depends on the Dems, Jack. Virginia Dems have been traditionally conservative. Doug Wilder was the most fiscally conservative governor in the nation. Chuck Robb was a similarly conservative governor.
As long as they stay away from the social issues, I do not have a great problem with Democrats in the state and local governments. That is where things like education, libraries, health & human services, etc. are supposed to be dealt with. It is at the federal level that I really have a problem with the democrats, because they try to assume federal control over the things that the States are supposed to handle.