I’m convinced that the Republican and Democratic candidates in the 2nd Congressional District are competing to see which of them can alienate the most people.
First we have Democratic incumbent Glenn Nye releasing a campaign ad in which he purports to be an “independent voice,” brags that he has voted against health care reform and against the Wall Street bailout. I’m sure that will endear him to Democrats. Yes, he needs independents in order to win. But he also needs Democrats.
And then we have Republican challenger Scott Rigell signing a Tea Party pledge. Later, he tweeted about hashtags for independents and conservative Dems. Why? Are moderates – of any stripe – going to support him, in light of this pledge? And what was to be gained by signing the pledge? Does he really think the Tea Party members are going to support him?
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that voter turnout in the 2nd will be the lowest it has been in years. Both Republicans and Democrats have reason to stay at home.
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The next 2nd CD debate forum will be held this Thursday, September 2, at Second Calvary Baptist Church (2940 Corprew Avenue, Norfolk) at 7pm. If we have internet access, I’ll broadcast the debate forum live on my UStreamTV channel as I did the first debate. If no WiFi, I may try it over Bluetooth. Otherwise, I’ll record it for posting later.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Especially without a Presidential or Senatorial candidate on the ballot, yeah, this was already going to be the lowest turnout election of the decade, but it seems like neither Rigell nor Nye will be satisfied unless they break some sort of record.
If he’d been better-organized around a month or so back and had a little money in his campaign account, Golden might have been able to identify a base to mobilize and stolen this one; it’s not going to take a lot of votes to win this particular election. Unfortunately for him, Labor Day’s just around the corner, and no matter how much money you’ve raised, time is the only resource a campaign can’t purchase.
It certainly is going to be tough for Golden.
I think Rigell wins handily. The Tea Party is mainly about out of control government spending, which along with jobs are the top two issues this election cycle. Nye just doesn’t have much to run on, he voted for a stimulus bill he never read that has turned out to be an albatross. This election is a grade on this Congress, I don’t believe it will be a good one for the incumbents. Too bad, because Nye is a decent person who had the misfortune to be in a party where the leaders ignored the sentiment of the majority.
This far out, I think it’s a toss up.
Let me get this straight, jobs (or lack thereof) is a major issue. Nye votes for the ARRA that has saved or created at least 3 million jobs and this is an albatross? Far from it, its only problem was it needed to be 50% greater.
Obama and the Democrats stopped the republican great recession from turning into the second republican great depression and you are complaining? Instead of bleeding 8 million jobs under the failed economic policies of bush and company, private sector jobs have been added for 8 straight months.
Yea, that makes sense.
None of the events that the candidates have appeared at are debates. The events planned so far and the one at 2nd calvary are forums. Is there a reason everyone keeps calling forums debates? I think so. Rigell will not participate in a debate with Golden but he will participate with Nye in a debate. In order for the events to draw Rigell they MUST abide by his rules and NOT DEBATE. Rigell will only attend events with his opponents if they are organized ad forums. So, Vivian, May I ask you if you think you can ask Scott Rigell A) why won’t he attend a DEBATE with his independent opponent yet he wanto to debate with Nye and B) why do his staff and volunteers keep falsely telling people that Scott won a debate when there have not been any debates since early on during the primary when he attended only one debate with Kenny Golden?
Thank you 🙂
You are right – these are joint appearances, not debates. As for my asking Rigell – um, what makes you think I can reach Rigell?
Tell him it’s a candidate forum, and apparently he will be happy to answer your questions.
If the ARRA (stimulus) plan has been such a success, then Nye should have that as a centerpiece of his campaign, as should every other pol who voted for it. Let’s see what happens as these campaigns unfold.