Category: 5th District (Page 1 of 8)

MCDC Endorses Webb for US Congress

https://www.drcameronwebb.com/

The Madison County Democratic Committee congratulates Dr. B. Cameron Webb on winning the Democratic Primary last Tuesday evening. He now becomes the Democratic candidate for Congress from Virginia’s 5th District. The field of Democratic candidates was very strong, attracting significantly more voters than the Republican convention held two weekends ago. The outcome could not have been more resounding as Dr. Webb won the vote in every city and county in our sprawling district.

Dr. Webb began his Congressional campaign with his motto of “Be There for People.” His first video and later speeches stress his commitment to healthcare for all Virginians. Clearly, it was the voters’ desire for access to affordable healthcare that carried him to the top. Having served in policy roles in both the Obama and Trump Administrations, and with degrees in both law and medicine, Dr. Webb is uniquely positioned to bring better and more affordable healthcare to our district.

Dr. Webb’s roots are in central Virginia. He, his wife, and two children live in Charlottesville. He knows our district. He has the energy to serve one of the nation’s largest Congressional districts, as demonstrated by his dual careers in medicine and public policy.

Every one of our Democratic candidates were better than good. Local voters acted on their belief that Webb was the best. Still, winning the 5th District will be a challenge. We Democrats in Madison County are committed to supporting Dr. Webb’s campaign. We invite others to join us in bringing the doctor’s compassion, leadership, and willingness to represent ALL 5th District residents to Congress on November 3.

Please visit https://www.drcameronwebb.com/ for more information

The Madison County Democratic Committee

Ren LeVally, Chair
Cindy Taylor, Vice Chair

The GOP is No Party For Honest Men

This is the title of an article in the New York Times by columnist Paul Krugman. In it, he argues that Trump and his chief accomplices are lying to Americans about the effects of his proposed tax “reform” plan, which is a thinly-disguised series of tax breaks for the wealthy 1 percent, Wall Street banks and multinational corporations. Appallingly, our very own congressman, Dave Brat, who constantly reminds us that he “is an economist,” is one of the supporters of this package of tax breaks for the rich. You can read the article right here.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Two weeks ago, I said that it seems like every time I write this column, things in this country have gotten worse and worse. They’ve gotten worse. There has been zero progress on curbing gun violence, Trump is lying and flip-flopping on healthcare, he made an asinine decision on the Iran deal against the advice of his national security team and our partners, the humanitarian crisis continues in Puerto Rico, nothing has happened on DACA, there’s no budget, and the Congress is paralyzed by Republican infighting.

Liar-in-chief Donald Trump continues to amaze us every single day, just about every time he exhales, or tweets in the early morning hours from his golden throne. He will say virtually anything to try to distract the American people from the Mueller investigation into Russian collusion and the corruption of our last election. The Washington Post has reported that Trump has made 1,318 false or misleading claims over 263 days since what he termed “the largest inauguration in American history.”

The highlights of just this past week were the simply breathtaking lies that Trump uttered when talking about past Presidents’ respect for our fallen warriors, and even more unbelievable, using our dead Green Berets as political footballs, and lying about that, too. Richard Cohen writes in the Washington Post: “Donald Trump does not possess an ounce of compassion. He is reptilian, knowing only to show his fangs, hiss and attack.” This creature is a moral disgrace.

How does this prepare us for the upcoming election? Trump owns Republicans and they own Trump, from the national level right on down to the local level here in Virginia. You can see it for yourselves in what they’ve done and how they behave. Pence just parrots whatever Trump tells him to do. Sarah Huckabee Sanders covers up the lies with spin, Sessions lies to the Congress, Mnuchin lies to the people, Bannon built his career on lies, and, so it goes down the line.

Ed Gillespie lies by saying that Ralph Northam voted to defend “sanctuary cities” and allow MS 13 gangs back on the streets. There are no sanctuary cities in Virginia to defend. He wants to make Virginia “look more like states to our south.” Seriously? Does he mean states like Alabama, Mississippi, or Louisiana, which is totally broke? Several years ago, he headed the nationwide Republican effort, called REDMAP, to gerrymander the entire country, including North Carolina, where the courts concluded that the state imposed Jim Crow voting restrictions with “surgical precision.”

Jill Vogel wants to “… take back Virginia the way this president is going to take back this country!” That’s more like, backwards, if she gets elected. Vogel heads a law firm that represents some of the nation’s largest right wing super PACs and their related “social welfare” nonprofit organizations, which are allowed to shield their donors. Among them are Americans for Prosperity, part of the “dark money” political network established by the billionaire Koch brothers, and American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by Gillespie and GOP strategist Karl Rove. She was the author of the outrageous transvaginal ultrasound bill.

Aren’t we getting tired of all this lying?

Trump, and his ilk, are trying to divert our attention from the critical issues that are going to destroy our country under his so-called leadership. As well as being a lying, heartless, ignorant, childish, misogynistic, racist, bigoted slob, he’s incredibly cunning, in an incredibly evil way. When Senator John McCain, former Republican Presidential nominee, and Vietnam War hero, slammed “spurious nationalism” in his Liberty Medal speech, Trump retorted that “I’m being very nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point, I fight back, and it won’t be pretty.” Does this sound presidential? It sounds more like a petty gangster to me. Is this the model we want to hold up when rearing our children? Sad.

Make no mistake, America is in trouble. Intelligent citizens capable of critical thinking know that the ballot box is where we decide our communities’ and our country’s futures.

Our last chief executive, speaking in Richmond this past Thursday said, “the most important office in a democracy is not president, not governor, not mayor, it is the office of citizen, because in a democracy, ultimately you decide what kind of politics we have. You decide by what you do and what you don’t do. You decide by whether you are active or whether you are not. You decide whether to use your voice and your franchise to make things better, or whether you succumb to cynicism. The question for you tonight and over the next 19 days is, do you want a politics of division and destruction?—and distraction? Or, do you believe in a better kind of politics, one where we listen to each other and move this country forward?”

Get out and vote on Election Day, November 7th, so that our Republic may reverse the long, downward spiral to mediocrity that will assign us, as John McCain said, “to the ash heap of history.”

Mike McClary  [wp-svg-icons icon=”bullhorn” wrap=”i”]

Editors Note: This article has been reposted with the author’s permission, and originally appeared here.

ACTION ALERT: 5th District Town Hall

On Sunday, Feb. 26, more than 1,200 people attended the People’s Town Hall at the MLK Performing Arts Center.

Our moderators, Saad and Kibiriti, did an incredible job. Dozens of you shared powerful stories and important questions, and we raised more than $3,000 for Amnesty International. We’re very disappointed that Congressman Garrett chose not to attend, but we recorded the whole event for his (and your) viewing pleasure.

Since our event, Rep. Garrett announced that he will be holding a “town hall” in Charlottesville for 135 people on March 31. That is absurdly inadequate, especially in light of the huge response we saw with the People’s Town Hall. We’re asking Rep. Garrett to plan a real town hall at a venue that can accommodate the thousands of concerned citizens who want to meet with him. If he moves forward with his tiny event, we’ll hold a rally to show him what democracy looks like.

We’re going to deliver that message to Tom Garrett directly this Monday, March 6, at 1 p.m.!

Monday is a District Work Day, and Garrett is scheduled to be at his Charlottesville office to meet with constituents. So this week, we’ll be having Monday with Tom, and we know he’ll be there to hear us! Gather outside of the Daily Progress (685 Rio Road West in Charlottesville) at 1 p.m., and we’ll walk over to Garrett’s office (686 Berkmar Circle) together. Bring a poster with your question or concern for the congressman!

[intense_alert margin_bottom=”20″] Call Congressman Tom Garrett (202-225-4711) and ask him to hold a real town hall meeting, not a tiny lecture. We expect our representatives to be responsive to our concerns. Tom Garrett can’t represent us if he doesn’t meet us.  Click here for a script[/intense_alert]

If you are able, please try to park in the surrounding area to make room in the Berkmar lot for those with appointments or others who work in the area. We want to respect the other businesses and not block entrances.

Thank you again for your tremendous support. The People’s Town Hall was a monumental success, but it’s not the end of the road. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re standing indivisible, and we’ve got this!

In solidarity,

Patrick for Indivisible Charlottesville

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The Movement Resisting Donald Trump Has A Name: The (Local) Democratic Party

While outside groups are getting the attention, local Democratic parties nationwide are seeing a surge of interest.

By Ryan Grim , Amanda Terkel
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democratic-party-trump_us_58ac7f3ce4b0c4d5105717e0

The resistance to President Donald Trump has taken a variety of forms, all of them well chronicled by the media. The Women’s March, which saw some 5 million people take to the streets in a single day, helped fuel the growth of Indivisible chapters around the country, and has itself continued organizing meetings and protests since. The groups Swing Left, Flippable and The Sister District Project are routing people to swing districts where they can be most effective.

[intense_alert block=”1″ margin_bottom=”25″]Democrats have already won two special elections in Virginia since November, and the state House and governor’s mansion will be up for grabs this fall.  If Democrats can ride a new wave into power, the gerrymandering of 2010 can be rolled back.  Local officials say they’re focused on creating a positive vision and a constant stream of activities to keep these new activists engaged.[/intense_alert]

Amid it all, observers and participants alike have wondered what the name is for this nascent movement. The Resistance? The Opposition?

But if the swelling ranks of county-level meetings are an indication of things to come, the grassroots movement underway already has a name. It’s called the Democratic Party.

Shocked by the outcome of the election and fearful for the future of the country, people of all ages, some of them Democrats, some independents, some Greens, found the time and location of a local party meeting and showed up.

Here are a few of their stories.

Phoenix Rising?

A new, liberal tea party is forming. Can it last without turning against Democrats?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/a-new-liberal-tea-party-is-forming-can-it-last-without-turning-on-democrats/2017/02/11/94421200-efdf-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html

It’s a well-worn story now about how John A. Boehner, then House minority leader, joined a rising star in his caucus, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, in April 2009 for one of the first major tea party protests in the California Republican’s home town of Bakersfield.

A little more than six years later, after they surfed that wave into power, the movement consumed both of them. Boehner was driven out of the House speaker’s office and McCarthy’s expected succession fell apart, leaving him stuck at the rank of majority leader.

[intense_alert]
The women’s marches that brought millions onto streets across the country the day after Trump’s inauguration — spurred organically through social media — opened Democratic leaders’ eyes to the possibilities.
[/intense_alert]
 
Democrats are well aware of that history as they try to tap the energy of the roiling liberal activists who have staged rallies and marches in the first three weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency.

 

According to data collected by Erica Chenoweth at the University of Denver and Jeremy Pressman at the University of Connecticut, marches held in more than 600 US cities were attended by at least 4.2 million people.

What if they can fuse these protesters, many of whom have never been politically active, into the liberal firmament? What if a new tea party is arising, with the energy and enthusiasm to bring out new voters and make a real difference at the polls, starting with the 2018 midterm elections?

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