Congresswoman Thelma Drake (R-2nd) held another tele-townhall meeting Monday evening. This one was with her Norfolk constituents. The part of the second that falls in Norfolk is fairly small, so it’s not surprising that I recognized some of the participants on the call. I don’t know what time the call actually started as it was already in progress when my phone rang at 7:38pm. Over the next 55 minutes, Drake fielded some 15 calls on a wide variety of topics, including Iraq, veterans’ care, illegal immigration, the deficit and same sex marriage. While the participants were all polite, there were some that obviously disagreed with her positions on various issues. Drake, as always, was unflappable in her responses.
If there was a theme to Drake’s responses, it was her views on America. She sees the government’s role to be to “provide for security, protect our people, and defend this nation.” I think if you understand this about Drake, it is pretty easy to determine where she stands on most issues. Agree or disagree, at least you know where she’s coming from. It is only natural, then, that she would mention the need for the US to remain competitive and that we need to “keep our economy strong, keep taxes low, and reduce wasteful spending” on different occasions throughout the call.
There must be a rule in politician’s school that says you take credit for the accomplishments of the other guys when it benefits you and blame them when it doesn’t 🙂 On the question of veterans’ care, Drake mentioned that last year’s appropriation to the Veteran’s Administration was the largest increase to that agency in history. She also mentioned the passage of the Wounded Warriors bill that Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) co-sponsored. The fact that it took a Democratically-controlled Congress to get this done wasn’t lost on me. Yet on the issue of illegal immigration, she said that the Republicans can’t “move the bill” without the help of the Democrats. Um, the Republicans were in charge for a long time and didn’t move the immigration bills, so I think it’s a bit disingenuous to blame the Democrats for this one.
But there is hope for common ground. Time ran out before I had the chance to ask a question. Had I been provided the opportunity, it would have been to ask a followup question about universal health care. One of the questions that came up was about the fact that the US is the only industrialized nation to be without a national health care plan. Drake said that health insurance is a huge issue in Washington right now and that there will be a “healthy debate” about private sector versus government-run health insurance. (Unless I missed it, I’m not aware of any of the candidates calling for government-run, single payer health insurance.) She indicated that she is not in favor of that kind of plan but she did say that we need to have health insurance that was affordable, accessible, and provides choice and portability. Both of the Democratic candidate’s plans provide these things (and again, unless I missed it, John McCain’s does not) , so the next time I get a chance to chat with her, I want to know if she supports the Democratic plans for universal health care 😉
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Gee Vivian, that must have been a painful way to spend the hour. I wish you could have asked the question about health care.
I would have loved to ask her WHY she voted against the mental health parity bill (which many in the GOP supported) and WHY she voted against making waterboarding torture.
She seems to operate in a “bubble” and doesn’t seem to care that she votes party line only. There is NO compromising in her rationale- it’s her way or the highway. Period.
Glenn Nye gives me hope. I pray that she will be cleaning out her office in January ’09.
“Gee Vivian, that must have been a painful way to spend the hour.”
I agree with this statement.
I also think it’s funny that Thelma’s theme of the night was “Government is here to protect people” unless of course we’re talking about health care and the financial crisis this country is in right now thanks to Republicans.
Actually, it wasn’t painful. It moved along fairly quickly – 15 questions in 55 minutes plus the one she was answering when I was connected to the call. Plus, don’t forget how engaging Drake is. People genuinely like her – and it was evident on the call. Heck, I like her, even if we don’t agree.
As for questions you might have – hang on to them. I’m planning to do live blogs this fall with the candidates in the 2nd. I’ve already gotten commitments from both Drake and Nye.