Weekly Blog Roundup 3/9/09

Welcome to the second installment of the McAuliffe for Governor weekly blog roundup. This past week, bloggers talked about the fight against offshore oil drilling in Virginia, a blogger dinner held at our campaign headquarters, and Terry’s interesting encounters along the campaign trail.

Last week, Terry hosted a handful of local and national bloggers at our campaign headquarters to talk about running a grassroots campaign. Chris Guy at Fred2Blue took away some positive observations from the meeting.

One person in attendance pointed out that a lot of candidates for office make a big deal about courting the netroots during the campaign, but once they get elected your emails don’t get returned the way they used to. Terry promised that, if elected Governor, he’ll try and make these get-togethers a regular occurrence. Considering how much he likes talking to people, I tend to believe him… so far McAuliffe has the best campaign, hands down.

At Article XI, Lowell posted a video from the blogger meeting, which features Terry talking about energy and the environment.

Read more.

Rush Limbaugh

At a time when we desperately need to come together as a nation, Rush Limbaugh's gone out of his way to sabotage our President - announcing publicly that he wants Barack Obama to fail.

This kind of rhetoric does nothing but pollute our political process. That's why after Rush reiterated his remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference this weekend, I called on Bob McDonnell to condemn them. But so far, Bob's refused to say anything that might offend the GOP's ringleader.

Now we need your help to apply some public pressure in order to make it happen.

Read more.

McAuliffe Wraps Up Economic Roundtables, Prepares to Unveil Business Plan for Virginia

After weeks of listening to Virginians' ideas on how to get our economy back on track, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe yesterday held his final roundtable in Roanoke. The event was the final in a series of eight roundtables held across the Commonwealth on topics ranging from job creation and support for small businesses to education and workforce training. Ideas for converting agricultural waste to energy, improving infrastructure, and encouraging university research were also discussed throughout the course of the roundtable series.

"When I started this campaign, I said that the best ideas don't always come from Richmond," said McAuliffe. "These roundtables have shown that Virginians are full of good ideas and I plan on bringing these good ideas with me to the governor's office. Together, we're going to get our economy back on track."

Read more.

Terry McAuliffe meets with Valley and City business and civic reps at Roanoke’s Higher Ed Center this morning

March 4th, 2009
Star City Harbinger
by Hank Bostwick

Primary candidate for the Democratic governor’s nomination Terry McAuliffe is visiting with members of the local business, labor and nonprofit communities this morning at Roanoke’s Higher Education Center.

McAuliffe seemed in his element discussing his plans for Virginia’s economic future and reminding onlookers and roundtable participants that he led the National Democratic Party out of debt after the Clinton years in Washington.

Concerned about the possibiility that the Commonwealth will lose precious green jobs and technological development to West Virginia, Terry “I love chicken waste” McAuliffe promised to make his point about the importance of clean and renewable energy if he “has to park that [chicken waste] machine” on the steps of the General Assembly.

Read more.

McAuliffe, area business leaders meet

March 5th, 2009
Roanoke Times
Mason Adams

Nearly a dozen of the Roanoke Valley's business leaders met with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Wednesday to pitch ideas to fix the state's economy.

"We've got to think outside the box," McAuliffe said as he repeated one of his campaign's main themes. "We need some big ideas."

The meeting was his eighth state "roundtable" to collect ideas that will eventually become his economic platform, to be unveiled in the next two weeks. He's previously met with regional representatives in Norfolk, Martinsville, Harrisonburg, Richmond, Charlottesville, Lebanon and Hampton.

Read more.

McAuliffe Makes Campaign Stop in Lebanon

March 4th, 2009
Bristol Herald Courier
Debra McCown

LEBANON, Va. – To bring more jobs here, Virginia needs to be more competitive with other states to attract industry, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe told Russell County leaders during a visit Tuesday.

“Those should’ve been our jobs,” McAuliffe said of recently announced energy projects that will be located in Mississippi and Tennessee. “We need to be aggressive about bringing business in.”

A Democrat and Northern Virginia businessman, McAuliffe said, in what he called an economic roundtable, that he’s not satisfied with the prospect of budget cuts or tax increases. His solution to the state’s recent economic troubles is simple, he said: Grow the economy.

Read more.

Va. Needs New Ag Technology

Va. Needs New Ag Technology
By Terry McAuliffe, Harrisonburg Daily News Record
March 4, 2009

LIKE MOST FARMERS here in the Valley, Buff Showalter pays close attention to fertilizer prices and heating bills, the extra costs that can make or break a harvest. He uses his own chicken litter as a primary fertilizer. But last year Buff had to spend about $5,000 on commercial fertilizer for his corn and hay crops. He also spent $12,000 on gasoline to heat his broiler house.

That's part of the reason why he and his business partner, Oren Heatwole, a former farmer himself, jumped at the opportunity to test a new machine that converts chicken litter into two things that Buff could really use: a high-quality fertilizer and a high-energy fuel.

Read more.

McAuliffe asks Republican to condemn Limbaugh remarks

March 3rd, 2009
CNN Political Ticker

WASHINGTON (CNN) – As national Democrats eagerly point to Rush Limbaugh’s influence among Republicans, one Virginia Democrat is looking to make the radio host a flash point in this year’s governor’s race.

Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman now seeking his party's nomination for governor, sent a letter Tuesday to the de facto Republican nominee, former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell, asking him to reject Limbaugh’s recent statement that he wants President Obama to fail.

“I know that you and I disagree on many issues, but I'm hoping that we can agree on this: hoping for failure isn't the right way to get our economy back on track,” McAuliffe wrote in the letter. “That's why I'm asking you to join me in condemning the remarks Rush Limbaugh made wishing for the President to fail.”

Read more.

Terry McAuliffe Releases Letter Calling on Bob McDonnell to Condemn Rush Limbaugh's Remarks

Today, Terry McAuliffe sent the following letter to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, calling on him to condemn Rush Limbaugh's remarks regarding the Obama administration:

Dear Bob,

I know that you and I disagree on many issues, but I'm hoping that we can agree on this: hoping for failure isn't the right way to get our economy back on track.

That's why I'm asking you to join me in condemning the remarks Rush Limbaugh made wishing for the President to fail.

I'm sure that you are hearing the same things from Virginians that I am - they are nervous about their future; they're struggling to hold onto their homes and their jobs; they want us to stay focused on getting results for them.

Read more.

Statement from Terry McAuliffe Regarding the End of the Legislative Session

Today, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe released the following statement regarding the end of the legislative session. McAuliffe cited the passage of several renewable energy bills, including legislation that would encourage energy efficiency, create economic incentives for biofuels, and promote the production of electric energy from waste [SB 1248; SB1186; HB2001; HB2576].

"This session, I was heartened to see Republicans and Democrats work together to pass several measures that will help Virginia move ahead on developing our renewable energy sector. Providing economic incentives for biofuels, encouraging increased energy efficiency, and promoting the conversion of solid waste to electricity will help develop this critical industry. While I believe that we need a mandatory renewable energy standard, these bills were a step in the right direction to make Virginia a national leader in renewable energy and create green jobs in the Commonwealth."

Read more.