Support Our Troops Concert in Broadway - July 4th

Click image to enlarge

What: Benefit concert for 276th Engineer Battalion and other armed forces currently serving in Afghanistan

Where: Broadway Presbyterian Church, Broadway, VA

When: July 4, 2:00pm

Who: Local musicians

Donations will go toward items needed such as toiletries and bedding.

More information? Click Here!

Thank you so much!
Dorothy Smith

After you enjoy this great concert for a very worthy cause,
Join us in Harrisonburg for the 4th of July Parade!

Hey gang!
The 4th of July is this Saturday and that means that
Saturday is also the Harrisonburg 4th of July PARADE!!!!!!!!
and that means. . .
we need your help!

We are looking for people to help walk the parade route
to hand out literature and candy and
we're also looking for people to ride on the float!

The parade starts at 5:00pm but be sure to get there early for lineup!

Lineup is in the Municipal Parking Lot
beside the Farmers Market Pavillion,
230 South Liberty Steet,
Harrisonburg, VA

If you can help, please email Katie Hoover as soon as possible!

Thank You!

Katie

New-Vehicle Sales Up 'Notably' In June -JD Power

J.D. Power & Associates said new-vehicle retail sales so far in June have risen "notably" from May, showing signs of "tempered but continued recovery in the market."

"Consumer confidence is improving, and market uncertainty is starting to decline, which has made consumers more willing to take advantage of deals on new vehicles," said Gary Dilts, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power.

Read more

Boss Limbaugh "Supervises" 6th CD Rep. Bob Goodlatte

Energy Stimulus, Round One

The first round of federal stimulus funds designated for energy conservation programs is on the way to Virginia.

Roughly $28 million in stimulus money was released Friday and will go toward jump-starting a variety of programs in the state's energy plan, including rebates to homeowners who make energy efficient upgrades to their residences.

The allocation is part of $70 million the state will receive that will go toward implementing programs to spur investment in residential, commercial and industrial efforts to become more energy efficient.

"We feel like these investments will help carry forward work that we're already doing in Virginia to transition to a new-energy economy," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Friday in a conference call with reporters.

Read more

Most Governors are Easy to Find

GOP Presidential Material?

funny political cartoon #1

funny political cartoon #2

Texas Gov. Rick Perry was raising money at campaign headquarters when an Associated Press reporter called his press staff to ask what he was doing. An hour later, he walked into AP’s statehouse bureau to show he was alive and well and not, say, in South America for a romantic rendezvous.

Most of the nation’s governors were willing — even eager — to prove they were on the job after revelations that South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford ditched his security detail and disappeared for a secret weeklong tryst with a mistress in Argentina.

The day after Sanford admitted his indiscretion at a tearful, rambling press conference, The Associated Press called governors’ offices nationwide to ask: What’s the boss doing right now?

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine was sitting in his office. His staff did not release his calendar, citing privacy and security concerns.

State Republicans have filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking Kaine’s travel record in a flap over trips he’s made as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Kaine refused Friday to provide the documents, saying a 1991 state Supreme Court on gubernatorial phone records provided precedent for the denial.

When a reporter called the office of Gov. Mike Beebe, of Arkansas, staff said he was at the dentist. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was fishing with his 10-year-old son. Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle was flying back from a Washington speaking engagement, while Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was visiting U.S. troops in eastern Europe.

Read the story

Bill may spur energy revolution

Congress has taken its first step toward an energy revolution, with the prospect of profound change for every household, business, industry and farm in the decades ahead.

It was late Friday when the House passed legislation that would, for the first time, require limits on pollution blamed for global warming -- mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Now the Senate has the chance to change the way Americans produce and use energy.

What would the country look like a decade from now if the House-passed bill -- or, more likely, a water-down version -- were to become the law of the land?

Read the analysis

Deeds - Lessons Learned - Every Voter Counts

Tom Jensen (PPP) audio interview on WVTF Va Public Radio:

Lessons Learned:

<> Deeds got 80-90% of undecided votes.

<> Deeds competed everywhere.

<> Deeds focused on 4th quarter game plan. Didn't get sucked into an ad spending battle with McAuliffe, early in campaign. Ran race as a long-distance runner, not a sprinter.

<> Virginia roots matter. "Man of the people" label is a given with Creigh.

<> McDonnell will have a tough sell -- that he can offer any real progressive, positive change in Virginia. The VA GOP has focused on barriers, blockades and bluster to stop any significant legislative progress in the last four years. Party of NO ... to Party of Just Say Yes? Really? NOT!

<> VA GOP personal attack ads against well-regarded Deeds are likely to be ineffective. Virginians know the difference between good guys and bad guys. Good luck with that Bobby McD!

GOP Talking Points: No Healthcare Reform for you...

Valley Transportation Forum - Tonight!

Valley Transportation Forum

Transportation Solutions for the Valley and Beyond

Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009

Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Location: Rockingham County Administration Building

20 East Gay Street,Harrisonburg, VA

Click here for directions

What’s the future of transportation in the Valley?

Is it nothing but more truck lanes on I-81 and road sprawl to rival Northern Virginia?

Or are there other solutions that could help save energy, lessen pollution and create jobs?

Hear three local Democratic candidates’ ideas and share your own at this Valley Candidates Forum on Transportation.

June 25th, 7pm Rockingham County Administration Building
20 East Gay Street, Harrisonburg
More Info: Rachel Fulk or Gene Hart for Delegate

Erik Curren: 20th District, Gene Hart: 26th District, Greg Marrow: 25th District
Candidates' presentations followed by a Q & A session with voters.
Free and open to the Public. Light Refreshments Provided.

More of those Republican "family values" at work

Breaking news from South Carolina where Republican Governor Mark Sanford is confessing to a nearly 6 year affair with an Argentinian woman. In a shocking demonstration of "family values" and "honesty", Sanford (father of 4) admitted that he was not "hiking on the Appalachian Trail" as reported by his aides, but was instead shacking up with his mistress in Buenos Aires.

Sanford announced today that he was resigning as Chair of the Republican Governors Association.

So much for that run for president in 2012.

Now we know why Sanford led a boneheaded effort to reject Federal stimulus money for his dirt poor State - he was too distracted by his problems to worry about the citizens of South Carolina.

With philandering John Ensign (R,NV) and Governor Sanford (R, SC) maybe Republicans can finally put all this holier-than-thou, "we are the party of family values" to rest. It was all just a charade anyway.

Crumbling Infrastructure Cannot Support a Healthy Economy

Top Ten List of Apologies (don't hold your breath)

Top Ten List of:
"Right-Wingers From Whom Conservatives Should Be Demanding Apologies."

10) Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, for falsely claiming a hate-crimes bill that adds gay, lesbian, and transgender Americans to the list of protected groups would also protect those who commit incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality, and a host of other perversions.

9) Fox News' Sean Hannity, for hosting "Internet journalist" Andy Martin, who once called a judge a "crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race."

8) Syndicated radio host Neal Boortz, for describing welfare recipients as "human parasitic garbage lining up to get their applications to loot."

7) Fox News conspiracy-theorist-in-chief Glenn Beck, for describing Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court as, "Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You're empathetic. ... You're in!"

6) MSNBC's resident cranky uncle, Pat Buchanan, for saying prior to Sotomayor's selection that he wanted Obama to pick a Supreme Court justice "who has real stature, impresses people" but thinking instead that Obama would pick "a minority, a woman and/or a Hispanic."

5) Syndicated radio host Jim Quinn, for repeatedly calling NOW the "National Organization of Whores."

4) Cincinnati-based radio host Bill Cunningham, for alleging that "Obama wants to gas the Jews."

3) Michael Savage (née Weiner), the third-highest-rated radio host in America, for saying "Obama hates" and "is raping America."

2) Fox News' irrepressible mega-star Bill O'Reilly, for repeatedly quacking that the legalization of gay marriage could lead to folks marrying ducks.

And No. 1, the conservative movement's de facto leader, Rush Limbaugh, for saying of Obama, "We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles ... because his father was black."

Source article

Can We Save Our Roads?

We have work to do Virginia,
and slogans haven't been getting it done.

Virginia has obligated half of its discretionary federal transportation stimulus funding.

The Federal Highway Administration has accepted the state's list of $287 million in highway and transit projects proposed for stimulus funding, the Virginia Department of Transportation said yesterday.

June 29 was the deadline for the state to nail down how it will spend 50 percent of the $576.6 million in special federal money for transportation.

The 50 percent obligation milestone means that the Commonwealth Transportation Board, VDOT and the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation have been given the green light to begin spending the discretionary funding for transportation projects statewide.

VDOT has advertised $246 million in projects and has awarded $81 million in contracts so far.

Read the story

McDonnell's shiny, happy conservatives

Most Virginians look at VDOT and see an agency so fiscally emaciated that it can't even afford to keep rest areas open or medians mowed.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell looks at the Virginia Department of Transportation and sees ... flab.

He told The Washington Times that if he's elected governor, he'll seek budget cuts for the transportation agency, along with Virginia's chintzy Medicaid program.

McDonnell followed up a pledge to cut two crucial and severely underfunded programs with this bit of positive, happy nonsense:

"I'm trying during this campaign to help to rebrand our party as the party of positive, happy, friendly, conservative leadership that's pro-growth, pro-free enterprise, pro-economic development. And that's really what we stand for."

There's nothing pro-growth about starving Virginia's transportation program -- which is why the Virginia Chamber of Commerce understands the need for "dedicated, stable and permanent revenue sources" to fund transportation, even as McDonnell's party remains reflexively opposed to any solution involving tax increases.

Sadly, McDonnell believes the state GOP's problems are about image, not substance -- and mainly a reflection of the failures of the national party.

"The Republican brand at the federal level has been tarnished six out of the last eight years, or the eight years where the Bush administration had a Republican majority and yet the national debt about doubled. We did not make progress on Social Security and immigration. We had congressmen doing some bad things that landed them in prison. That is not a great brand to create for the Republican Party," McDonnell told The Washington Times.

It's certainly true that the national party has been the root cause of many of its own woes, but the state party hasn't exactly been covering itself with glory.

For instance, in Wednesday's Washington Post, state Republicans had the absolute gall to complain that Virginia was the last state to complete its application for highway funds from the federal stimulus package.

"Of everything Virginia receives in its package, the one item that would stimulate the economy is the money for transportation," Sen. Ryan T. McDougle, R-Hanover, told The Post. "It's difficult to understand why we would not be moving faster."

Really? Is it so difficult? Since he took office, Gov. Tim Kaine has been wrestling with the House GOP over funding for transportation. VDOT has had to slash billions of dollars in projects as its funding has, as predicted, dried up.

In recent months, VDOT has only had money enough for routine maintenance, not new construction. As Bob Chase, executive director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, told The Post, "This delay is [due] in part, to a large degree, that Virginia is failing to adequately fund transportation."

Read more

Healthcare Insurance Monopoly - Fear of Competition!

No Competition in 94% of US Markets

HealthCare '09 We Can't Wait - Rally in DC - June 25th

Fighting to Win: real health care reform

That's the Ticket!

Click the links on the left of the blog page to learn more about
Our Excellent Candidates!
While visiting their page,
try out their ActBlue link
and support their campaign with a small contribution.
(or it could also be a LARGE contribution...)

Congress, don't fail us AGAIN!

Who's side our you on anyways? The People or the Insurance Companies?

We have been called out!

O.K. Folks,

That rascally Riley Murray has issued a challenge and has the temerity to think Democrats in Augusta County will kick in more contributions to Greg Marrow's campaign than we will.

I've pasted his challenge below, read it and then let's show those Augusta County folks who really supports Greg Marrow!

Lowell Fulk

Riley's message:

I say Augusta County donors can raise more money than the folks in Rockingham Co., Albermarle Co. by July 31st!

Donate to Greg's campaign today! I just did!

Donate any amount you can... even $5, $10 or$20 will help us win in November.

GO to ACT BLUE> https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/entity/21972

Dan will report the results.

Bragging rights in the 25th are at stake!

Riley Murray

June 12/13 Dems Central Committee meeting

Just got back from Williamsburg and the VA Dems central committee meeting. 85 degrees, 85% humidity. Yuck. Lots of primary wrap-up news, mostly good-to-excellent. The unexpected highlight of the event was Joe Abbey's talk at the steering committee meeting Friday night. He's Creigh Deed's campaign manager ( who started last December), and told the backstory of the decision in the winter to lay off campaign staffers because Deeds was in 3rd place in the polls, money was drying up, etc. What wasn't generally known is that most of those people stayed on for free (they've all been hired back now, heh) and some of the remaining staffers accepted a salary cut, funds which were diverted to the "laid off" staffers still there. There are echos of the same devotion to Creigh that many felt towards Obama duirng the fall campaign. The tone of the meeting was so incredibly different from that after the Webb/Miller Senate primary 2006. Lots of hurt feelings then, which didn't get resolved till October, some I suspect never did really heal. The primary is done, over, and the talk was about defeating McDonnell, Bolling and Cooch. Loyalty is a lovely thing to behold.

The Central committee meeting ended about 11AM Saturday, with Dick Cranwell re-elected as chair. The Flat Hat News, William and Mary's campus newspaper covered the noon rally, which was cut short because of rain. More stories here, here, and here.

Marrow's Fieldwork Yields Results in 25th

25th HD District Map

Results from June 9th , 2009 Democratic Primary - 25th HoD

Greg Marrow's campaign fieldwork paid off. Results from the June 9th Democratic primary for the nomination of a candidate to run against Delegate Steve Landes for the 25th House of Delegates seat, show that where Marrow and his team focused their modest resources, they got statistically significant results.

Concentrated efforts in several Albermarle precincts, which have been historical supportive of Democrats, resulted in a nearly 80% vote for Marrow. This was followed closely by a 73% results in Waynesboro city, where Marrow's folks had a solid canvassing, phone banking and poll worker effort. Marrow won by narrower margins in Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Some precinct-by-precinct data parsing suggests that there was likely a bit of coin-flipping in the minds of some rural county voters, where results showed a nearly 50-50 split, appearing to be a random event rather than an informed choice. Where there was a significant effort to post yard signs for Marrow, those precincts went more strongly for Marrow.

While the percentage of active voter turn-out was only in the 3 to 7% range (actually pretty decent for a Va. primary), statistical sampling geeks like us, love the "data set". It gives us a little peek, statistically speaking, into the minds of voters - albeit Democratic ones. It does demonstrate that in our little corner of the Shenandoah Valley, hard work pays off.

Marrow's campaign has gained some valuable field experience and political intelligence on the opposition in the 25thHD battle-space, that bodes well for Marrow's looming head-on challenge of the entrenched incumbent Landes, who has had no Democratic challengers since taking office in 1996.

In 2009, difficult local economic conditions and palpable voter unrest -- should make for a spirited campaign in the 25th.

Dr. Greg Marrow interview with NBC29

cross-posted from Blue Ridge Data

GOPocalypse Now

Gallup: Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney Seen as Speaking for GOP

Obama overwhelmingly seen as main person who speaks for Democrats

Asked to name the "main person who speaks for the Republican Party today," Republicans across the country are most likely to name three men: Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Dick Cheney.

Democrats are most likely to say Limbaugh speaks for the GOP, followed by Cheney.

Both Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly say Barack Obama is the main person who speaks for the Democratic Party, although Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to mention Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Read the report

Deeds Leads.... Rasmussen Poll

Newly chosen Democratic gubernatorial nominee R. Creigh Deeds leads his Republican opponent, former Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, by six points in the first poll of Virginia voters released since Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey taken Wednesday night finds Deeds with 47% of the vote and McDonnell with 41%. Two percent (2%) favor of some other candidate and 10% are undecided.

Read the story

Of GOP Genius...

Statement by the new
Chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, Pat Mullins,
regarding our Democratic Party Candidates...
Virginia Republicans...
as if we didn't already know they're out of touch...

“Virginia Democrats have nominated a slate of three candidates that would raise taxes as soon as possible and lead with the people’s checkbook as their weapon. Should they succeed in their mission, these three candidates would increase the financial strain on Virginians and private enterprise, depress economic growth and stifle job creation.

“Republicans are the Party of ‘Yes.’ We will promote energy independence. We will protect our Right-to-Work law and keep Virginia competitive. We will promote education reform through charter schools and performance pay for teachers. We will demand efficiency in spending and eliminate burdensome regulations to make government simpler and more user-friendly. And we will offer innovative solutions to stimulate the economy and promote job growth. At each step of the way, Republicans will say ‘yes!’ to these ideals, while our opponents will say ‘no!’

“Given the dismal voter turnout in their primary election, it is clear that there is little excitement in their party and an even smaller appetite for the kind of expansive government their candidates represent. By contrast, our party is enthusiastically behind our excellent ticket of Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli, as proven by the attendance of over 8,000 Republicans at our recent convention. Everywhere I travel in Virginia, local Republican interest is high, which bodes well for our chances in November.

“In Creigh Deeds, Democrats have selected a candidate for governor who has answered every question government faces by seeking new taxes to hike. He has consistently looked into the pocketbooks of hardworking Virginia families to fund his priorities, including supporting a 30-percent increase in the gasoline tax – even at a time when gas was hovering around $4.00 a gallon. Additionally, he leads a ticket that refuses to oppose Card Check, which damages the economy and kills jobs. As we fight to emerge from a difficult economic period, Virginia simply cannot afford a governor whose first options are to find more of the people’s money to throw around and embrace policies that hurt job creation.

“Jody Wagner brings a record of failed economic and financial policies of the past to the general election. She has supported raising nearly every tax imaginable on Virginia's families and businesses and was the leader of the financial team that created $5 billion in budget deficits. A close ally of Big Labor, she also opposes efforts to expand nuclear power, clean coal and development of Virginia's off shore energy resources, which would create thousands of new jobs.

“Steve Shannon is looking to leave behind his status as a back-bencher in the legislature to continue to promote his belief in higher economic burdens on working families. His record reflects full-voiced support for higher taxes and staunch opposition to tax relief. When Virginians are hurting and are in need of new and better jobs, his view of the taxpayer as an unlimited funding source is the last thing we want.

“Finally, the rejection of Terry McAuliffe indicates that even Democrats are disillusioned about the direction their party and leadership have taken. When a wealthy, insider financed, nationally prominent, personal friend of the Clintons is rebuked in such a manner, it is a clear indicator of a party in disarray from top to bottom. On the Republican side, we are energized and look forward to the road ahead.”

Creigh Deeds: Don't Stop Believing!

Charlottesville - Omni Hotel - Creigh Deeds did it. His fundamental blocking & tackling style of grass-roots politics got the job done. Down-state political pro, Deeds, took the lion's share of the undecided with a going away victory with nearly 50% of votes in the three-way race for the Democratic Governor nomination, leaving 26% for McAuliffe and 24% for Moran (99.8% precincts reporting).

To the delight of supporters, rocking out to Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac, Creigh Deeds lit up the room with his short speech reflecting on his own American success story, another improbable journey, for a kid from modest means. Only in the United States of America. Amazing.

cross-posted from Blue Ridge Data

Deeds at 40% in new PPP polling

Details here: released 6/7 10:15 PM

Raleigh, N.C. – Two days before the election Creigh Deeds has opened up a commanding lead in the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia.
Deeds is now at 40%, followed by Terry McAuliffe at 26% and Brian Moran at 24%. In the last week Deeds has gained 13 points while McAuliffe and Moran have each advanced by just two.

Deeds now leads in every region of the state except Hampton Roads, including a 38-35 lead over Moran in northern Virginia, where just two and a half weeks ago Deeds was polling at only 11%. Deeds is up over 50% in the parts of the state outside Washington DC/Richmond/Hampton Roads.

Three Takes on the Governors Race

The Field 538.c0m and Kos with these poll numbers (published yesterday)

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 6/1-3. Likely voters. MoE 4% (5/18-20 results)

Democratic Primary voters MoE 5%

Creigh Deeds (D) 30 (13)
Brian Moran (D) 27 (22)
Terry McAuliffe (D) 26 (36)
Undecided 17 (29)

Regional numbers, where the numbers in parenthesis are from two weeks ago:

Democratic Primary Voters

NOVA 126 (32%)
REST 274 (68%)

ALL NoVa Rest
Deeds 30 (13) 22 (6) 34 (16)
Moran 27 (22) 42 (37) 20 (15)
McAuliffe 26 (36) 28 (43) 25 (33)
Undecided 17 (29) 8 (14) 21 (36)

John Lesinski: Solutions, not Slogans

Lesinski Offers Solution
to Unemployment Fund Debate

HARRISONBURG - John Lesinski, who's seeking to unseat Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, says he has a way to extend unemployment benefits in Virginia that would end a partisan battle over the state's rejection of $125 million in federal aid.


From the steps of the Page County Courthouse in Luray on Thursday, Lesin-ski proposed that the state offer small businesses a tax credit to pay for their additional costs if the federal money is accepted.


The plan would cost the state about $10 million, said Lesinski, who offered no details on how the state would pay for the program.


Lesinski's proposal would allow businesses that employ fewer than 50 workers to apply for the tax credits.


The businesses could apply for up to 150 percent of the unemployment insurance tax increase to pay for providing unemployment benefits to part-time employees.


Unemployment benefits are paid out of a state fund that includes business contributions.


"As a result, small businesses would see a net reduction in taxes and the commonwealth would receive an additional $125 million to support the unemployed," Lesinski said in a prepared statement released Thursday.


Read the story



Campaign Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/04/2009

Contact:
Camron Gorguinpour
(510) 381-3998
Camron@johnfordelegate.com
http://www.johnfordelegate.com

Solution Found for VA Unemployment Debate

Luray, VA - June 4, 2009 - John Lesinski, Democratic Candidate for Virginia's 15th District House of Delegates, will today present his solution to end the State Assembly's gridlock over Virginia unemployment benefits. The plan incorporates extensive employee-based tax credits for small businesses, but also includes Governor Tim Kaine's proposal to extend unemployment benefits to those who have lost part-time jobs and those in job training programs. Lesinski's plan has been strongly endorsed by Delegate Kenneth Plum, who is currently the ranking Democrat in the House Commerce and Labor Committee and the Chair of the Democratic Caucus. Lesinski will present the details of this plan today at a 4pm press conference, located in front of the Page County Courthouse (116 S. Court St, Luray, VA 22835).

Earlier this year, Republicans in the House of Delegates blocked Governor Kaine's attempt to modernize Virginia's unemployment tax code, which would have provided conditional unemployment benefits to individuals in job training programs and those who have lost part-time jobs. The modernization would enable the Commonwealth to receive an additional $125 million in Federal unemployment funding. Republicans allege that the modest increase in unemployment benefits would stifle job growth and hurt small businesses, while Democrats have claimed that the benefits would bring much-needed financial support to Virginia's unemployed.

"As a small business owner, I am certain that we can have a reasonable policy that shows compassion for the unemployed and is also beneficial for small businesses," said Lesinski.

Lesinski's plan calls for an across-the-board tax credit for all small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, including seasonal and part-time employees. The tax credit amount would equal 150% of the unemployment insurance tax increase incurred by modernizing Virginia's unemployment code, with a prorated tax credit for part-time and seasonal workers. As a result, small businesses would see a net reduction in taxes and the Commonwealth would receive an additional $125 million to support the unemployed.

"John's common sense proposal is the kind of leadership we need to have in Richmond," said Plum. "His proposal is in sharp contrast to the political bickering we have been seeing. I will be encouraging the Governor to pursue this proposal."

Virginia's 15th House of Delegates District includes Page County, which has recently approached nearly 20% unemployment. While seasonal employment has temporarily brought the unemployment rate down to 12%, it is widely expected to rise again after the summer tourism months. In April, Lesinski called on Republicans to reconvene the State Legislature in order to pass the modernization of Virginia's unemployment benefits.

Last month, he called on Governor Kaine to declare an "Economic Crisis" in Page County, which could bring additional financial and programmatic support into the region. A Regional Economic Crisis Strike Force Meeting was subsequently scheduled for June 12.
John Lesinski is a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps and a successful commercial real estate broker. He worked for 16 years in one of the nation's largest commercial real estate brokerage firms. More recently, he established the Leland Group, LLC, which is a small business that focuses on bringing businesses into the Shenandoah Valley. Issues of job creation and economic development are central themes in his campaign.

Learn more about John Lesinski

Vote in Our Governor's Primary Poll

Who will you choose to run for Governor of Virginia?

How will you vote in the primary election to select the Democratic Candidate for Governor of Virginia to be held next Tuesday, June 9th 2009?
	Creigh Deeds
	Terry McAuliffe
	Brian Moran
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Deeds, Signer Visit Harrisonburg

Candidate for Governor Creigh Deeds
Will Visit Voters in Harrisonburg
10am-11am Saturday, June 6, 2009
Outside the Library on South Main Street




Candidate for Lt. Governor Mike Signer
Will Visit Voters in Harrisonburg
Friday, June 5, 2009
12:30pm - 1:30pm at Jess's Quick Lunch on Court Square
1:45pm - 2:15pm press event at Virginia Employment Commission
Behind Valley Mall

Hope you can join Valley Democrats to meet these Candidates!

For information call 540-820-2592

Run Chart - Deeds Rising Fast

Creigh Deeds Leads in Latest Polling!

Public Policy Polling; Raleigh, N.C. – With a week until election day in Virginia’s Democratic primary for Governor all three candidates are within five points of each other, the newest survey from Public Policy Polling finds. Creigh Deeds is at 27%, followed by Terry McAuliffe at 24%, and Brian Moran at 22%. That puts the race well within the margin of error.

He has gone from 11% in northern Virginia to 23%. With 30% of the primary electorate coming from that region that alone accounts for more than half of his jump from 20 to 27%.

There are still big numbers of undecideds (27%) but Creigh Deeds has the highest favorable ratings. Congratulations to the boy from Elkton!

Meet and Greet Rally - Mike Signer - Staunton 6/5

You are cordially invited to join

supporters of Mike Signer

Candidate for Lt. Governor

for a

"Meet and Greet" Rally

with Mike Signer

Irish Alley Pub & Restaurant
(upstairs dining room)
19 West Johnson St
Staunton, VA 24401

Friday, June 5th
6:00 p.m.

cash bar, light snacks provided

RSVP requested, but not required.
Please reply to Riley Murray by June 4th.
ram3.2008@gmail.com