Time For VA-08 Progressives To Unite Behind Patrick Hope?

I hope you read VA-08 resident Pachacutec's very detailed rundown of the candidates running in his northern Virginia district. Although he found more than one well-qualified candidate, he came to the conclusion that Patrick Hope was the best candidate overall and the best candidate to beat the heavily financed conservative Establishment Democrat, Don Beyer. That was back in April. Today marked 3 weeks out from the election and the race has had time to develop. Polls clearly show the race shaping up to be between Patrick Hope, the progressive oriented towards working families and Don Beyer, the special interests corporate multimillionaire.

Adam Ebbin is often referred to as the third “top tier” candidate, but he polled over 24 points behind Don Beyer in his OWN legislative district in the only public polling. He may be able to get enough votes to throw the election to Beyer, but he has no chance whatsoever to beat Beyer. Demographically and geographically, were Hope to drop out, the majority of his supporters would support Beyer, whereas were Ebbin to drop out the majority of his supporters would support Hope.

In Hope’s legislative district, Hope polled 23 points ahead of Beyer. In fact, Hope is the only candidate to lead Beyer in any locality in the 8th CD. This poll was taken after Beyer had already begun his direct mail program and before Hope had sent a single piece of mail.

This past week Hope has polled ahead of Beyer in three of four straw polls, including the only free straw poll in Fairfax County where Hope finished first.

Most important, voters are searching for what distinguishes the other candidates from Beyer, and Hope has been the only candidate willing to highlight their differences. The base, of course, is that Beyer represents Establishment Democrats. In a recent debate he proclaimed himself to be a “Hillary Clinton Democrat.” In addition to Hope, Ebbin and Levine also come from the Elizabeth Warren Wing of the Democratic Party, and they need to unite behind Hope in order defeat establishment Beyer. It's why Blue America endorsed Hope. Hope has recently scored endorsements from progressive State Delegates Scott Surovell and Kaye Kory, both of whom represent areas in Fairfax County that will be critical to any path to victory for a candidate seeking to best Beyer. And when it's come to discussing issues at the public forums, it's Hope who makes certain voters see the difference between himself as a progressive and Beyer as a shill for the special interests.

On Sunday at Temple Beth El in Alexandria, Beyer refused to respond to a direct question about his own shady record. It was the third public candidates' forum in 4 days and at all three forums, Hope raised serious and substantive questions about Beyer's sleazy role in Virginia's "welfare reform" efforts when he was George Allen's partner and Lt. Governor. On Sunday he focused on an aspect of law that Beyer calls his "crowning achievement." In George Allen's official biography, author Edward Lynch wrote that "the Beyer plan proposed ending welfare benefits after one year, along with a refusal to provide welfare to any children born to participants during the benefit period."  Virginians are still burdened with Beyer's Republican, anti-family approach'' the "family cap"-- today. Although Hope asserted that his plan was "terrible policy" and "politics of a bygone era," Beyer refused to defend his "crowning achievement." Hope:

Politicians too often make deals in order to hold self-congratulatory news conferences and make claims to have solved problems. Looking back 20 years on the welfare reform compromises from 1994 we see that is exactly what happened. Subsidized childcare was promised to help young mothers on welfare return to jobs-- but Don's plan provided no permanent funding source and cuts were made as soon as the budget got tight. Today because of those cuts over 4,000 children sit on waiting lists for subsidized childcare in the localities of the 8th district today while thousands of others have sat on this list over the last 20 years. While the promises to those in need were not kept, the punitive measures in the agreement have all stayed in effect-- including banning mothers from getting additional assistance-- $60 a month-- when they have another child. That's just wrong. With entitlement reform and proposed cuts to our social safety net on the agenda for the next Congress, I believe Beyer’s record highlights a major difference between Don Beyer and myself in the way we approach issues. I ask voters to consider four simple words when making their choice for Congress: "Who do you trust?"

This is a strong blue district and whomever wins the primary in 3 weeks will be going to Congress. The PVI is D+16 and Obama crushed both McCain and Romney by better than two to one. It would be tragic to waste such a strong Democratic district on a corporate shill from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. There are enough multimillionaire fat cats in Congress already without giving a seat to Don Beyer. Patrick Hope can win this race-- unless secondary candidates who can't insist on splitting the vote and allowing the conservative to slip in. If you'd like to help Hope win in VA-08, here's the place.


UPDATE: New Dems Roll Out Five New Garbage Candidates

Although New Dem Vice Chair Allyson Schwartz lost-- and lost HUGELY-- her Pennsylvania gubernatorial run tonight, the New Dems-- basically the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- announced endorsements for 5 more crap candidates for Congress: sleazy little ex-bank lobbyist Pete Aguilar (CA), Emily Cain (ME), Kathleen Rice (NY), Manan Trivedi (PA) and, of course, Beyer.

Everything You Need To Know About The 2014 Virginia Congressional District 8 Candidates

-by Pachacutec

And with that title, I come as a guest writer to launch DWT into the brave new world of explainer blogging. Howie's a long time friend, and asked me to write up the candidates. I live in the district, used to be a blogger elsewhere, and now I just keep pigeons and snark on twitter.

Last week I attended the Virginia eighth district candidate forum sponsored by the NAACP. Of course, all of the opinions expressed below are my own, which translated into English means they are perfect and you should receive them gratefully as sacred, revealed truth.

There are currently 13 candidates in the field. Only 12 attended. Mark Sickles of Fairfax County couldn't make it for whatever reason, and as a result I don't feel obligated to research him. Mark, I'm sure your family loves you, but you're nothing to me now. [Sickles dropped out of the race.- Ed]

Below, I'm going to list each candidate, offer my take on each, and say what I thought was each one's best and worst moment of the evening. I'm listing them as they appeared on the dais, roughly in alphabetical order. At the end, I'll offer my own conclusions. For the tl;dr crowd, feel free to jump down to there. If you want to see video clips and another review of the event, check out Blue Virginia's post.

I also want to shout out huge props to the NAACP and the moderators for managing to run such a great program with such discipline and all those microphone hungry people on the dais. I've never seen it done better.

Topic questions were wide ranging, including: support for workers and rights to organize, should Virginia adopt common core education standards, ex-felon voting rights, DREAM Act support, support for minimum wage hikes, gentrification and affordable housing, the digital divide/access to broadband, high student loan debt and access to higher education, public school achievement gaps, climate change, voter ID laws and ballot access, human trafficking, national immigration policy, high HIV infection rates in the eighth district, and high US incarceration rates. Note that there were no foriegn policy related questions.

Don Beyer (D):

Best Moment: His haircut prior to the event.

Worst Moment: Nothing really. He's very polished and practiced as an establishment Democratic capital-c "Candidate."

What He's About: Don is the candidate most likely to sip ancient scotch with Steny Hoyer. He's by far the best rehearsed issue checklist with ready stats candidate of the bunch. He's oozes wealth, and comfort with the wealthy, more than anyone else on the dais. I have no idea from listening closely to him what he really cares about or what he would fight for, as opposed to "fight" for. There are no holes in his game on the touchstone checklist liberal cultural issues, but there's not a whiff of Elizabeth Warren about him on economics, fighting the power, or calling out the system and whom it rewards. It wouldn't surprise me if he wanted the seat as a platform to get to Virginia governor, which would require him to maintain his viability with big money a la Mark Warner.

Lavern Chatman (D):

Best Moment: In responding to solutions for the high HIV infection rate within the district, she best articulated a comprehensive community based approach involving education, community outreach, health care organizations, government and churches.

Worst Moment: Nothing egregious, but she lacked depth on a lot of issues and poly approaches. Her weakness if her community organizer perspective is applied to everything. So, for example, she minimized the role of regulation in developing new housing in order to ensure the availability of affordable housing and promote mixed, integrated communities, as if developers would just buy in due to community moral suasion. That's not how the world operates.

What's She's About: Ms. Chatman is a local community leader with a genuine passion for women's health, reproductive choice, access to capital for marginalized communities who may want to start businesses, and is against the "extreme tea party agenda." She brings the needed perspective and experience of an African American woman to the party. She cares. On the other hand, she's way behind on depth and breadth of understanding national issues, and offers no critique of our current social, economic and political systems of sustaining existing power structures.

Adam Ebbin (D):

Best Moment: Hard to pick one. He was very disciplined and effective in branding himself as an effective legislator with many specific accomplishments to back it up. Not a flashy presenter, but more of a legislative bulldog.

Worst Moment: No worst moment.

What He's About: I love Adam, and have known him a long time, as has my husband. Adam's most known claim to fame is being the first out gay Virginia state legislator. His is not a charismatic figure or visionary speaker but he is a very hard worker and a bulldog on legislative tactics and strategy. Adam knows how to charge a hill, and he knows details of policy and issues. Does he understand how steep each hill is when it comes to power in America, and which ones to charge to have the greatest systemic impact? I don't know. I didn't hear much of the grand vision thing from him.

Bill Euille (D):

Best Moment: Nothing exceptional.

Worst Moment: Ditto.

What He's About: His resume. Bill's been Mayor of Alexandria for a long time, no mean feat. He talked a lot in generalities about the past, and much less about the future. His personal arc of achievement as one who grew up in the projects is admirable and impressive. His perspective is local and not really national. He speaks in vague generalities about what he would do in the future if elected.

Micah Edmond (R):

Best Moment: Highlighted his support for the minimum wage, and perhaps a rate hike, in spite of opposition within his party.

Worst Moment: "What would you do to support workers rights to organize?" "Argle bargle derp grooper guggle muggah bubba wump wump."

What He's About: African American free market Republican with big business aerospace industry tendencies. If you're reading DWT, you most likely don't want to hear more. Was on the execrable Simpson-Bowles make the old and poor suffer budget commission.

Charniele Herring (D):

Best Moment: Her opening statement with her personal biography of having been a homeless teen, gotten student loans, earned a law degree, all leading her to dedicate herself to being a voice for those left behind. She's real on this, she gives a genuine shit.

Worst Moment: Pretty much any other policy question that required her to show depth of awareness and understanding. Lots of vague aspirational generalities, "congress is broken, etc." ZZzzzzzzz.

What She's About: That pretty much covers it.

Patrick Hope (D):

Best Moment: His shout out to Elizabeth Warren's proposals to cut student loan costs and get the federal government out of the business of making money off these loans, which Howie wrote about last week.

Worst Moment: Nothing, really.

What He's About: Patrick is the founder of the Progressive Caucus in the legislature down in Richmond, and is the candidate who probably most completely understands the systemic issues DWT readers care about when it comes to confronting power and promoting change. He's not the most polished orator but he's not at all bad as a communicator. He's genuine about reaching out to those who are left behind, understanding them and standing up for them. Just one example: when asked about how to combat high HIV infection rates in the district, he's the only one who brought up expanding access to Medicaid, drawing applause. He also talked about legislative protection for the newly diagnosed from catastrophic potential bankruptcy due to the financial costs of the drugs. That shows real understanding of how the disease impacts people and how to use government and systemic change to address the problem.

Derek Hyra (D):

Best Moment: I dunno, maybe describing how we've taken steps backwards on voting rights and ballot access since the Civil Rights Movement.

Worst Moment: In his opening, he went a bit awkwardly out of his way to talk about the friendships he made with black players when he played basketball in college, a contorted "some of my best friends" pander to the NAACP sponsored event. Well meaning in that hapless white dude way but kinda cringe worthy.

What He's About: Seems like a pretty good guy. A bit academic in his approach, talks like a professor (he has Virginia Tech faculty history of some kind). Got under my skin by prefacing nearly every answer with a mini history lecture. Didactic and intellectual in the way of some liberals who are high on education and low on how to build and exercise political power.

Paul Haring (R):

Best Moment: More than one: he made people laugh. However, they were laughing at him in a kind of flabbergasted shock.

Worst Moment: More than one big-red-dome-on-an-old-white-guy rant from his right wing Catholic you're-all-going-to-hell dystopia.

What He's About: One hour of religious education per day in public schools. Full fetal personhood, abortion is murder. Planned Parenthood is evil and black people get so many abortions they are going to make themselves extinct. Wake up, people! Chastity education in the schools to prevent sex outside of man-woman marriage. And so on. Not even kidding about all this. The guy is angry and he's fucking nuts.

Satish Korpe (D):

Best Moment: None.

Worst Moment: Address the achievement gap in public schools by incentiving employers to encourage employees to spend more time with their school aged children. The achievement gap is the parents' responsibility. End of story.

What He's About: Successful businessman born in India with challenges communicating through a heavy accent. Paternalsitic free market pro business generally laissez faire approach to government. Demonstrated no knowledge of national issues or policy from any political ideological perspective.

Mark Levine (D):

Best Moment: He served up a lot of liberal red meat at high volume, so he had a few applause moments. Hard to pick one.

Worst Moment: Getting on such a loud roll at once point that he blew right past the time buzzer and never heard it. Once the moderator caught up to him, he said, in a kind of shock, "I couldn't hear!" People laughed. While it's true that the buzzer had gotten somehow softer later in the evening, the laughter seemed like it was from a recognition that this probably happens to him a lot: being such a loud, breathless shouter must make it hard to hear, well, anyone or anything...

What He's About: Mark calls himself "The Aggressive Progressive," and he is that. He's a radio talk show host, and it shows. Lots of liberal red meat. He's also recently out as gay after a career in and around politics. I don't view that cynically, I came out a little late too, though not as late as he. He gets it on the issues DWT readers care about. And yet. . . something seems off to me about him. I think he lacks a certain amount of filter or judgment. He doesn't come across as someone who is all that socially effective away from a microphone.

Bruce Shuttleworth (D):

Best Moment: When he talked with passion about reorienting budget priorities away from buying unneeded jet military aircraft and toward investing in health and medical research through the NIH. Said diseases are more deadly than terrorism.

Worst Moment: Nothing, really.

What He's About: He's a veteran and former fighter pilot who's pitch is he has the credibility to take on budget priorities and try to cut defense spending to support liberal priorities. He is pretty well informed on the issues, and talks about the management class acting like "pigs at a trough." But what really animates him is cancer research, having lost both of his parents to cancer. This seems like his core animating issue, he really cares about fighting diseases and investing in cures. He generalizes that awareness to a posture of standing up for people left on the outside. I don't hear the more comprehensive understanding of the big national and economic picture that you get from Elizabeth Warren or Alan Grayson, but "Shuttle," as he likes to be called, does want to upset at least one major applecart. That's is more than I can say for Don Beyer.

Conclusion:

There's great diversity among the candidates. We have men, women, people of color and gay folks. This is a district that went 67% for Obama in 2012. It should be the home of a progressive lion who pushes the envelope in the House. The slate is mostly liberal-ish, but the field is crowded and it's going to come down in part to money and in part to how large a base each candidate can claim.

I see Don Beyer as a wealthy, coiffed, and polished avatar of the establishment who is practiced with his talking points and likely hopeful to be a Virginia Governor someday if he can pull off this election. I think he'd be a waste of the seat.

I see a field of others who mostly come from a base in Alexandria, who are likely to split support away from each other. The exception here is the Blue America endorsed Patrick Hope, who comes from Arlington County. The crew from Alexandria is strong in its diversity, and with the exception of Adam Ebbin, light on depth of policy knowledge on the national level.

Hope wants to be a fixture and leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, citing people like Elizabeth Warren, Keith Ellison and Alan Grayson. He seems to get it not only on an issue checklist basis but on a big picture level. I've long trusted Howie's candidate vetting process, but as this is my home district, I had to see these people for myself before deciding.

The field is going to narrow down as people without money bow out, but no one will have Don Beyer's money. With a base in Arlington, I think Patrick Hope can not only compete financially, but he's worth supporting and getting your friends to support, if you believe as I do that this district should send a progressive champion to Congress.

Dirty Hippies in Virginia don't often have a chance to push the envelope in a way that could really matter. Now, however, Jim Moran's seat is open. I just contributed $250 to Patrick Hope through Blue America. If you can, perhaps as your neighbor, I'm asking you to do something-- anything-- too. You can make your own donation here.

I have a ton of notes on people's responses during this forum, so if you have questions about anyone's answers on the questions asked, just let me know. I'll spot your questions most easily on twitter.

The Case For Hope… In Virginia

On January 15, when Jim Moran announced his retirement after serving 12 terms as the congressman from Virginia's 8th congressional district (Arlington and Fairfax counties, Falls Church and Alexandria), he was giving up a solidly blue seat. The PVI is D+16 and Obama took the district with 68% both in 2008 and 2012. Moran himself was reelected in 2012 with 65%. In other words, whoever wins the Democratic primary on June 10, will be the next congressmember from Virginia. There are 11 candidates and many of them are very good, particularly state Senator Adam Ebbin, talk show host Mark Levine and state Delegate Patrick Hope. There are a couple of shady characters running, particularly Nancy Najarian and Lavern Chatman and some corporate Dems (Charniele Herring and William Euille), but, for the most part, it's a pretty decent crop of Democrats… with one especially glaring exception: multimillionaire former conservative Lt Governor, Don Beyer, favorite of the corrupt Establishment and relatively acceptable to mainstream Republicans to boot, who appreciate his efforts to slash the state's social safety net for its poorest residents.

With the wealth of decent progressives running in the primary, our instinct at Blue America is to keep out of it entirely. The problem with that strategy, though, is that it looks entirely plausible that the progressives will divide the vote up among themselves and that Beyer will wind up winning, the worst possible outcome. It looks like if someone breaks 20% in this crowded field, he or she could walk away with the nomination. If that someone is the foreign car dealer with all the car ads-- Beyer-- an opportunity to strengthen and enhance a viable progressive vision in Congress is tragically missed.

The best of the progressives-- and the one with the best chance of stopping Beyer-- is Delegate Patrick Hope, the only candidate from North Arlington, which represents over 28% of the projected Democratic primary vote. Keep in mind that Beyer's turf, Alexandria (22% of the projected Democratic primary vote), is the home turf to 8 of the 11 Democrats in the race, including the mayor, a state senator, and another Delegate… aside from Beyer. This won't be Hope's first tough primary. He first won his seat in 2009 after a grueling 5-way primary. And Hope isn't reluctant to stand up against the Establishment on behalf of progressive values and his constituents. He took on newly elected Governor Terry McAuliffe when McAuliffe joined a pack of right-wing governors clamoring for offshore drilling and he also stood up to McAuliffe when he tried appointing a man who opposes marriage equality for LGBT Virginians as Democratic Party chair (see video above).

So far every single straw poll has either had Hope as number 1-- as he was Wednesday night at the Young Democrats straw poll hosted by Dennis Kucinich-- or as the strongest progressive against Beyer. The founder and co-chair of Virginia’s Progressive Caucus, Patrick has led the fight on issues that are important to Blue America-- not just the social issues that pretty much all Democrats are embracing, but on the economic issues that see conservative Dems selling out on frequently. Patrick:

"I'm running for Congress because we need more progressives in Congress who are unafraid to stand up to the right wing influences-- even when they are within our own party. When I was elected to the state legislature I found out there was not a progressive caucus of members that existed; so I founded it and we have won some major issues despite facing a 2-1 Republican led House. I've led the fight in Virginia to expand Medicaid and I will work in Congress to expand and improve the health care law we passed in 2014. I support comprehensive immigration reform… with no more delays. We can make progress in Washington-- but only if we elect real progressives to Democratic seats like this one."

You can help Patrick Hope win this one here at the Blue America ActBlue Page.

Congress Can Control College Costs-- Guest Post By Mark Levine, VA-08 Congressional Candidate

Mark Levine, former Chief Legislative Counsel to Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, is currently running for Congress himself to represent the 8th Congressional District of Virginia. His nickname is "The Aggressive Progressive" and we asked him to write a guest post explaining his ideas on college affordability and the skyrocketing costs of college as a threat to the American Dream, one of the issues on which he's campaigning in his bid to win the crowded primary to replace Jim Moran in northeastern Virginia.

The millennials may be the first generation in American history to be worse off than their parents. Despite ever-growing improvements in technology and worker productivity, increasing numbers of college graduates in their 20's and 30's are returning home to live with mom and dad. They are drowning in a sea of red ink.

The problem, of course, is college affordability. Although the surest ticket out of poverty remains higher education, higher education itself is placing too many Americans back in poverty. In the last 30 years, the cost of a college education has astoundingly almost tripled even after taking account of inflation. Meanwhile the public subsidy to students has remained stagnant. That means, after taking account of inflation, subsidies to students have been cut in half. Do the math. When I went to college, the Government subsidized almost six times as much of college costs. No wonder today's generation is feeling the pain.

And it's not just tuition. Room and board are skyrocketing, as colleges use these items, plus fees, to pad their payments to administrators. And we have to be clear that's where the money is going. Why a college with the same number of students as 30 years ago needs twice the number of administrators to handle them now is beyond me.

To add insult to injury, the Federal Government profits off the backs of students by charging them an additional 3% to 6% more for student loans than we charge banks. That's a hiked rate of interest on an overcharged principal, amounting to an astonishing $21 billion a year the Government makes off of strapped and vulnerable individuals struggling to live the American Dream. Private industry charges even more.

For those of us astonished by the high increase in the cost of health care over the last three decades, we can feel grimly comfortable knowing that education has grown twice more expensive than even health care in the last generation. That means that as awful as the pre-Affordable Health Care Act status quo was, college costs were at least twice as bad, and that’s not including the Government profit off of students.

So what's the solution? President Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren each have proposals. President Obama's plan would base your financial aid on your grades and base your repayment rate on your income. Senator Warren would lower the student loan interest rate to the rate banks pay, returning the annual $21 billion in interest to students but still do nothing about the principal owed. Both plans are good, Senator Warren's is better, and both are unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But neither does anything to address the ultimate crux of the problem: college costs are still too damned high and increasing fast.

My proposal to solve this problem is refreshingly simple and has the added benefit of being something that everyone (except a college administrator) would love. Instead of increasing Federal aid to colleges that raise their prices-- based on the gap between what a student can pay and what a college costs-- we should increase Federal aid to colleges that lower their prices and sign an agreement with the Federal Government to keep their rate of increase at or slightly above the rate of inflation. We then end all Federal aid to “for-profit” institutions but keep aid to 2-year vocational and technical schools and negotiate those costs down as well.

The genesis for this idea comes from health care. I know that Canada pays only 1/3 of what we pay in prescription drugs because they, unlike us, use their immense Government power to negotiate down these prices. I have long felt we should do the same in Medicare. (Side note: When I worked in Congress, I was astonished that Republicans made it illegal for the Federal Government to act on behalf of the American People to negotiate down lower drug prices. Only the Republican Party could punish Government for acting on behalf of We the People. I guess their Constitution begins “We the Corporations,” but I digress…)

We can do the same thing with higher education that we should do with health care, with an added bipartisan plus. It's true Republicans are likely to fight us on increasing financial aid or subsidizing student loans back to the levels of the prior generation. However, unless Republicans are beholden to Big College-- which somehow I doubt, given the anti-intellectual bent that motivates much of their base – simply allowing the Government to negotiate lower costs for college does not cost the Government a penny more. Sure I think we should pay back the profits we make off the backs of students (which Senator Warren and I both find offensive), but my negotiating proposal without increased subsidies can be scored by the Congressional Budget Office as a net zero taxpayer cost. It would simply be a transfer of wealth back from universities to students. And since colleges have increased their costs threefold in 30 years, I think they'll survive without bankruptcy. After all, they didn't go bankrupt a generation ago. And since we are, in effect, harkening back to yesteryear, how can Republicans oppose that?

The Virginia Establishment Aims To Install One Of Its Own-- Don Beyer

Virginia food stamp slashers George Allen and Don Beyer

When Jim Moran announced his retirement in January, first politician out-of-the-box declaring an intention to run was multimillionaire car dealer and ex-Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer. It's almost as though he knew and was prepared. He's certainly the Establishment choice for the progressive D+16 Arlington and Fairfax counties suburban DC district (Obama 68% in 2008 ands 2012). No one has to be Republican-lite to win in VA-08. But Republican-lite is what Don Beyer is-- and has always been.

Beyer was elected Lt. Gov in 1989 when Doug Wilder was elected Governor. But in 1993 he was reelected when George Allen became governor. That was because the GOP nominee was an extremist religionist freak, Michael Farris and because even mainstream conservatives like GOP Senator John Warner backed Beyer over Farris. Beyer is no fascist but he's conservative enough for any mainstream conservative. He won 54-46% with lots of ticket splitting; George Allen won that day with 58.3%. If George Allen is best known for the welfare "reform" he passed-- which sounds a lot like the pack of lies Paul Ryan has been preaching-- it was Beyer who drafted the legislation and got it through the legislature for him. It was all based on standard GOP claptrap about giving a "hand up," not a handout and was, among other things, a major attack on food stamps program. It was widely called the Beyer Plan. He's still proud of it and recently, when his campaign released a song listing his accomplishments, one of those accomplishments listed was: "he turned takers into givers." it's an obvious and somewhat disturbing insight into how he views the poor.



The kids are made to sing "We've got some issues that need a stronger man; one who knows Virginians view. He's walked our mountains; rode our rivers; turned the TAKERS INTO GIVERS." How progressive was it to send ittle kids out to sing the song and call poor people "takers" without even knowing what they're referring to?

Business interests love Beyer but his Republican attitudes towards poor people crushed him as the Democratic base refused to turn out when he ran for governor in 1997 against right-wing kook Jim Gilmore. Gilmore beat him 56-43% and he subsequently took a series of party hack jobs, including as Finance Chairman for Mark Warner's PAC.

Beyer was accused by a former employee of business finance irregularities and transferring money from his business to his campaign. The lawsuit was over whether he improperly fired the employee when she reported them and the actual finance concerns don't appear to have been addressed or denied by the Beyer camp.

As Chairman of the American International Automobile Dealers Association Beyer personally lobbied for Free Trade fast track negotiating authority for President Bush. "I personally am optimistic-- and maybe I'm wrong-- that despite having a Democratic House and Senate, we in fact may be closer to death-tax reform than we were before."

He's a garden variety Democrat on most social issues and has been trying to pass himself off as far more progressive than his record. A shameless opportunist, he's running in a seat where we can expect a real principled, values-driven leader on tough issues, rather than an economic conservative willing to go along with issues that the women and gays and college students get all worked up over. He's never been willing to go to bat on progressive issues.

Another friend of Beyer's, none other than Jim Moran, expressed frustration that Beyer apparently didn't "follow his own compass" on his gubernatorial race tax-cut plan (which came in response to Jim "No Car Tax" Gilmore picking up support off of his irresponsible pandering), but instead went with something that "sounds more like a consultant's" idea, and which was "reactive" to boot.

Meanwhile, another 1997 Washington Post article quoted Beyer's "longtime friend" Harris Miller (gack!) defending Beyer's flip-flop on taxes in the '97 campaign ("After Beyer began his campaign by raising the possibility of a tax increase to finance more spending on education and transportation, he instead proposed what he believes the people want: a plan that amounts to a cut in the car tax"), with Miller essentially arguing that Beyer did what he felt he had to do to get elected against Jim "No Car Tax" Gilmore. Of course, we know how that one turned out for Beyer...he lost. Badly. Beyer was also excoriated by editorial boards for his "cop-out on the food tax" and for a proposal to eliminate "corporate income taxes on small businesses," which was simply "inviting a brainless tax-cut bidding war with Attorney General Jim Gilmore" (Roanoke Times; 4/11/97). Ouch. For its part, the Washington Post (7/25/97) criticized Beyer for engaging in what it called a "tax-cut derby, with first Mr. Gilmore and now Mr. Beyer trumpeting financially risky plans to redo or undo the personal property tax on most cars and trucks...tantalizing voters with tax-cut talk that overlooks the damage these plans could do to Virginia's budget and to the economic growth that each plan is conditioned on."

Again, this is a district that can easily support a full-throated progressive champion. My fear is that there are so many of them running in the primary, that they'll split the vote up and Beyer, the most conservative running-- and the richest-- will soil into office. It has Blue America leaning heavily in favor of Patrick Hope at this point.


UPDATE: Something I Forgot To Mention About Beyer

When Tom DeLay proposed replacing progressive incoming tax with a regressve sales tax (in which the rich pay much less and the middle class pays much more), Beyer was an enthusiastic proponent-- and used standard-issue, discredited Republican Party trickle-down talking points to push the point:

House Republican Leader Tom DeLay surprised import-brand dealers at their annual legislative conference last week by putting in a plug for a national sales tax.

...Unexpectedly, the concept was endorsed quickly by Don Beyer, an activist Democrat and Subaru-Land Rover-Volvo dealer in northern Virginia.

"It makes eminent sense as public policy," said Beyer, who is scheduled to be AIADA chairman in 2007. He said it would improve capital formation because wealthy individuals and businesses would have more money to invest in new ventures.

There's Hope: Patrick Hope-- Guest Post From A Proud Virginia Progressive

I had a long talk about the crucial issues facing the country with Arlington, Virginia Delegate Patrick Hope. His vision is progressive and his temperament matches his vision. He'd make a great addition to the Congressional Progressive Caucus. I asked him to introduce himself to DWT readers. He just sent this today:

Thank you for this opportunity to write a guest post on Down With Tyranny. I've been a reader for many years-- luckily my voting record always has and always will reflect my strong progressive values, so I’ll be able to avoid being photoshopped into a clown like so many Congressman have been here.

Six weeks ago, my Congressman, Jim Moran, announced his retirement. A little bit of history here-- when Jim was first elected, the 8th district had been drawn to be Republican leaning and ran all the way from Alexandria to Stafford County in Virginia. Jim narrowly won as a "New Democrat," and once elected was drawn into a much safer seat that lost the GOP precincts to the south and picked up all of Arlington County near DC. Jim has moved left over the years on many issues, but this open seat is our first real chance as a solidly Democratic and progressive district to select a new member of Congress. We have never had an opportunity like this before in Northern Virginia. So I decided to step forward and offer the voters an unapologetic, progressive, and pro-government vision for the seat.

In 2009, I was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Once I got to Richmond, I was shocked at what I saw. The Tea Party-led Republicans were as bad as I expected, but the Democratic Party was infiltrated with special interests and lobbyists writing their legislation. That's why I immediately founded the Virginia Progressive Caucus to begin to fight back and reclaim the Democratic Party. I wasn't the first progressive elected to go to Richmond, but many before me were willing to play the game and refused to form a Progressive Caucus so members were not forced to "pick sides." I think this kind of "leadership" is atrocious-- we must stand up for our values in elected office.

When payday lenders took over our state capital by spreading around campaign cash (in Virginia there are no limits)-- I stood up against their efforts to legitimize and expand their industry. Once they were successful in removing Virginia laws that protected consumers, the industry moved on and coerced our legislature into allowing residents of other states to come to Virginia and get these loans-even when their states prohibited it. With a new casino in Maryland opening up in National Harbor next year, car title lenders have exploded just across the Potomac River in our district-- waiting for the chance to take full advantage of desperate, low-income people. Historic Route 1 that leads towards the Mount Vernon estate is being turned into the loan shark capital of the universe-- with over 15 of these "businesses" already in place in a five-mile span on the roadside. In Congress, I want to eliminate this industry entirely-- I’m the only candidate in this race supporting Elizabeth Warren's legislation to have the Postal Service take over small lending in our communities.

Another issue I have taken on in Richmond is prison reform. Solitary confinement was being overused in our prison system. When I went to tour Red Onion, Virginia’s "Supermax" prison, I met one man who had been in solitary for 12 years. 23 hours a day, 7 days a week of total isolation for 12 years. I took on the department of corrections in the legislature and forced them to make reforms to their system. Just a few years later, we have seen a 70% reduction in the use of solitary confinement in prisons in Virginia. I also worked to outlaw the shackling of pregnant inmates while they were giving birth. While it may seem obvious that a woman in labor isn’t a flight risk (you can ask any woman who’s ever given birth-- they’re not going anywhere!), I had reports that the department of corrections was requiring nonviolent women to be shackled while giving birth. I put in a bill that even won the support of the right wing to outlaw this practice. While the Tea Party defeated the bill, I worked through the department to install regulations prohibiting the abhorrent practice. This will never happen again in Virginia.

In Congress, I will be an outspoken opponent to any cuts to our social safety net programs. Cuts include any reductions in future benefits to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. I believe we need to increase the size of these programs, and give those on Social Security a raise-- not cut them back.

I first got involved in politics after serving as Chair of the Arlington County Community Services Board for five years. In Virginia, the CSBs handle the entire support network for those with intellectual and physical disabilities. My top priority in the state budget process has been securing funding to reduce our long waiting lists for the programs our disability community deserves. In Congress, I will work to expand federal funding in this area. I will be a champion in Congress for people with disabilities.

Recently our former state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli came out with a scheme that allows gun owners to pay him $10 a month and they will have a defense attorney on call should they be charged with any gun crime. I believe this is highly unethical-- and plan to introduce legislation making it illegal. We should not have people making payments to an attorney in anticipation of committing a crime with guns. Cuccinelli even highlighted George Zimmerman as the kind of defendant his new firm could help. We must take on this kind of insanity directly and loudly and stand our ground.

Perhaps what I’m best known for in Richmond is being the expert on implementing the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid policy. I’ve spent nearly two decades fighting to expand the coverage and affordability of health care for every American, and led the fight for Medicaid expansion here in Virginia. I believe that the ACA is a great domestic achievement, however, I don’t think it goes nearly far enough. While I recognize that the political winds of 2009 limited what we could pass, we must work towards universal coverage and a single-payer system. Congress has either lost or is losing some of its biggest health care experts like Senator Ted Kennedy and Congressmen Henry Waxman and John Dingell. I hope to be the progressive voice for health care in the Congress and will fight to provide coverage for the more than 20 million Americans who fall into gaps in the ACA and will remain without coverage. Let’s bring every American into the health care system.

I believe it takes more than just voting the right way to be a progressive leader. To me, being a progressive means standing up for our values, no matter the political implications. I am the only candidate in this race of eleven Democrats running to stand up to our Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe when he announced his plans to join a coalition of Republican Governors supporting offshore drilling. I stood up to him again this weekend when he floated the name of a new party chairman in Virginia that opposes marriage equality. We cannot have someone leading the Democratic Party that does not support the fundamental right to marriage and happiness, and if Terry does not back down, I will personally lead supporters to the state central meeting in two weeks in an attempt to block his candidate.

As you can see, I will be a loud and proud progressive in Washington. It’s not enough to only vote the right way in Congress, we must elect leaders that are ready to lead. I will stand up and fight for our shared progressive values in the U.S. House. I founded the Virginia Progressive Caucus, and one day I hope to Chair the same group in Congress. If you want to help elect a new generation of progressive leadership, please visit my website at www.hopeforcongress.com and contribute to my campaign. I appreciate this opportunity to share with you my vision, and I hope you’ll stand with me in this campaign.

Patrick Hope

Hope In Northern Virginia

There are two congressional retirements at the end of this term in Virginia, Jim Moran and Frank Wolf. Wolf's district leans Democratic but still has a PVI of R+2. In 2008 Obama beat McCain 51-48%. In 2012, Romney squeaked by Obama 50-49% The DCCC and testate Democratic Party see the seat as a good pick up opportunity. Due east-- and meeting along Dolley Madison Blvd and Chain Bridge Road in McLean-- is a VA-08, Moran's much bluer seat. The PVI is a healthy D+16. Obama beat McCain and Romney by the same landslide margins-- 68-31%. The district is comprised of the inner DC suburbs. It includes all of Arlington County, Alexandria City and Falls Church City as well as big chunk of Fairfax County. Moran, who represented it for 24 years, was a founder of the corrupt Wall Street-owned New Dems in the 1990s but has moved cautiously left over the last decade in order to stay in office. The district is solidly Democratic and the winner of the Democratic primary will be the next congressman.

The field ranges from liberal Democrats to much more conservative ones. On the left are Virginia Progressive Caucus founder and Co-Chair state Delegate Patrick Hope and the other current Progressive Caucus Co-Chair, state Senator Adam Ebbin. Local progressive radio personality Mark Levine has also announced his campaign.

  Candidates with more questionable progressive credentials include State Delegate Charniele Herring (also state party Chairman under McAuliffe) and Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille. Herring has been an outspoken liberal on social issues, but has been very friendly to "business issues" in Virginia and has cast some questionable votes on that front. Euille has no real track record on many issues as a Mayor, but has been known for being very close with the developer community in Alexandria.

Then there is former Lt. Governor Don Beyer. Beyer has been going to meetings in the district bragging about being the author of Virginia's "welfare reform" efforts of the 1990's that then Governor George Allen praised before signing into law. Beyer noted that his language was used as a model in the rest of the country. You can only imagine his views on other issues if he thinks it is a positive to have written model language on how to undermine programs for the poor in the '90s.

  The most conservative of the serious candidates is state Delegate Mark Sickles. Sickles is a wholly owned subsidiary of the banking industry in Virginia and was appointed by Republicans in the legislature to serve on the commerce and labor committee for many years because of his alliance with them on those issues. He supports payday lenders and has run as a Chamber of Commerce endorsed Democrat in every election since first becoming a state Delegate.

Arlington makes up more of the primary electorate than Alexandria-- and Beyer, Herring, Euille, Levine and Ebbin are all from Alexandria. With Beyer likely to have a larger districtwide base from his days as Lt. Governor, that means the only progressive with a chance to stop him is Delegate Patrick Hope, the only major candidate running from Arlington. I was inspired by Hope this morning. Here's why:

"I'm running for Congress because we need more progressives in Congress who are unafraid to stand up to the right wing influences-- even when they are within our own party. When I was elected to the state legislature I found out there was not a progressive caucus of members that existed; so I founded it and we have won some major issues despite facing a 2-1 Republican led House. I've led the fight in Virginia to expand Medicaid and I will work in Congress to expand and improve the health care law we passed in 2014. I support comprehensive immigration reform… with no more delays. We can make progress in Washington-- but only if we elect real progressives to Democratic seats like this one."