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Update: Because the panel is comprised of blogger-journalists, Virginia’s NBC affiliate looks forward to a spirited forum:
It has the potential to be the most interesting debate of democratic primary. . . .
While some of these bloggers have leanings in favor of one candidate or another, by in large their allegiances are to their readers. Unlike some of us in the MSM, they probably aren’t as interested in decorum and won’t be afraid to lob tough questions and force these candidates on the record.
Many of these bloggers have already used their online forums, which are all heavily read, to ask questions about sensitive issues, like energy, gay marriage, job creation and the backgrounds and associations of the candidates. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the moderators force the candidates to answer the questions and not dance around some of the topics.
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Let it rip, Jane!
Go get em Jane!! Blue Virginia…once a dream…becoming a reality.
High speeders feel free to tell us what’s going on please.
we’re here
introducing the candidates now
McAuliffe speaking. “New, big, bold ideas . . . shaking it up . . . moving forward.”
Creigh Deeds calls us “BlueDogLake” — I think it was Jane who said, “Close enough.”
twitter #vagov
Good question about the gun show loophole. Deeds says it’s gonna take a guy like him from a part of the country that understands guns to close the gun-show loophole.
Terry says there’s nothing more important than closing the gun-show loophole.
I regret to report that I am having a viscerally baaaaad reaction to McAuliffe. Have never heard him speak. Big, bold ideas, yadda yadda. Ooops. I’m editorializing. (Clamps hand over own mouth.)
This non-Virginian declares Moran the winner.
Brian Moran was a bartender, supports the second amendment, and would support closing the gun-show loophole.
Trifecta!
Terry finds unity on the gun-show loophole; pivots to point out that they all differ with the GOP candidate.
Oh my… I am still laughing out loud. 707! w/tears
Nico: Where do you differ from Tim Kaine.
Terry: Estate tax (?)
Brian: Death penalty (I support it)
Deeds: On-farm sales of local produce
“Incentivize?”
Jane’s question: Right now, police and firemen can’t organize. Twitter question: would you support collective bargaining for public employees.
Moran: Yes, and I have supported candidates who do so as well.
Deeds: Gov’s duty is to protect the public; I always voted for “meet & confer” legislation. Support and will sign as gov.
Terry: We all agree! Plus: Lots of unions have endorsed me.
Firefighters think Terry has the best equipment.
OT — Obama presser on the flu starting now.
Terry: We are the greatest Democracy in the World! I was head of the DNC after Bush won!
Also OT, sorry — Could FDL send a Twitter Tweet every time a new post goes up?
Terry: This is a democracy! Mike Huckabee sez you gotta let air out of Democrats’ tires!
Moran: I have traveled 200,000 miles to elect democrats to the House of Delegates. If Terry wants to be judged by his leadership at the DNC: quotes numbers of losses in Senate, House, and the Presidency.
Wow.
Ewww!
Terry: Brian, you are running a negative campaign. I raised lots of money for the DNC.
McAuliffe makes my skin crawl
RSS feed?
Looks to me like he’s using a teleprompter.
Deeds: Terry, you turned me down as head of the DNC, we lost 13 seats in Virginia. Thanks!
Yep – Terry is creepy.
Jane is asking a factory farm question about swine flu; have you taken $ from smithfield employees, their pac. What would you do to ensure the state protects Virginians from what happened in La Gloria?
Naw, that’s different — you gotta go look at those, dontcha? Twitter just pops up when a msg comes in.
Well, I’m watching on radio. /g
congratulations for hooking up uStream to provide this broadcast. Once again FDL leads the way in making use of technology for greater outreach. Ustream can be used around the country to get information to the community, and it’s free! Obama used uStream last year and Chris Dodd used it once or twice, but city councils and local democratic parties that progressive have taken over could use it for outreach.
It looked like Jane’s question about firemen came to her via twitter which seems like another demonstration of how to use free tech for outreach.
And on Jane’s question about Smithfield… one of it’s most popular products is Smithfield Ham Spread which suggests that the flu should be called Smithfield Ham Spread Flu.
gets sputtering reply from Creigh Deeds
McAuliffe pivots to chicken waste but is prepared
Moran goes to a Chesapeake Bay answer
Deeds: I don’t know if I’ve taken any money from Smithfield Foods. Been in the legislature for 18 years. Hard to remember, served on lots of resource and agriculture committees. (So, you’ve probably taken money from them?)
Terry: No, I haven’t received any checks. We have to get serious about chicken waste. It leaches into rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. We should deploy waste-to-energy technology.
Wow, look at Terry’s top three individual donors:
Haim Saban
Total Donations: $276,064.70
Stephen Bing
Total Donations: $250,000
Randal J. Kirk
Total Donations: $206,218.42
That’s almost three-quarters of a million dollars from three people out of 1.6m collected.
And Number One is tied to Jane Harman’s wiretapping scandal.
To be fair, it probably would have been reasonable to interpret the question as referring to donations to his gubernatorial campaign, but since Deeds didn’t do that, he probably honestly doesn’t know whether he’s ever gotten a contribution from them in his career.
Terry has certainly mastered the debate skill of answering the question he wished had been asked instead of the one that actually was asked. Not well enough to keep it from being obvious and annoying, though.
Obvious & annoying are Terry’s most apparent personality traits.
slick
Brian Moran’s third-grader won a poetry contest.
If you want more detailed donation info than the Post provides, the Virginia Public Access Project provides complete access. Though it’s not necessarily definitive for individual donations on the low end, because I think that as with federal donations, below a certain level they don’t have to tally them individually — for example, Brian Moran has no donations below $100 listed, and I know he’s gotten some.
Moran blames Terry for the 3am ad against Barack Obama, Terry sez he wasn’t responsible for the ads in Hillary’s campaign. Fight time!
Moran: “sanctimonious rhetoric that I’m Mr Positive”
Terry has 130 big ideas! Crowd, and Moran, don’t buy it that Terry’s never said anything negative about another Democrat.
Jane asks: You and your staffs are all twitter-y; how will Virginia’s government use web tech to communicate with and help Virginians?
I don’t think Terry did very well with that. “I haven’t personally said anything negative in this campaign (I’ve left the sliming to my staff)” is such obvious BS, and “I’ve never said anything negative about another Democrat” is just asking for a YouTube compilation.
Nico asks for more specificity from Creigh and Brian; says Terry’s supporters aren’t sure they can believe him that he can beat all 49 of the other governors.
Terry’s gonna get out of bed every day ready to go!
Brian Moran sez he wants to birth and grow small businesses, not bring in a bunch of big companies that will leave Virginians high and dry next time things go bad.
Creigh wants a new research triangle.
Jane asks if Eric Cantor is a stimulus queen!
Did the feed die during Jane’s question, or is it just me?
Closing statements.
Gosh, all these guys are pretty hot for teevee, especially when Barack Obama is on the other side of the room on my television, Mr Cool.
Creigh Deeds’ greatest qualification to be governor is that his wife works fulltime.
Terry laughs at his own line about running a very positive campaign. Big, bold ideas. We all would be better than Bob McDonnell.
Terry is going to call President Obama every 30 minutes.
Moran says Creigh and I could learn something from Terry about negative campaigning. Then talks about Global Crossing, Terry’s role in it. Any Democratic nominee will have sufficient resources.
Brian makes the populist close.
1,ooo tweets during this debate!
I can see Terry schmoozing Jane now.
Ooooh, unexpected open mic time! Listen closely!
Jane’s question: Right now, police and firemen can’t organize. Twitter question: would you support collective bargaining for public employees.
Moran: Yes, and I have supported candidates who do so as well.
Deeds: Gov’s duty is to protect the public; I always voted for “meet & confer” legislation. Support and will sign as gov.
Terry: We all agree! Plus: Lots of unions have endorsed me.
OH PULEEEEEZ. I have met with Deeds on a number of ocassions as a former union organizer for public sector. He never endorsed meet and confer as didn’t both Warner and Kaine. The VA AFL-CIO and other unions dumped millions of dollars into all of their campaigns for the promise of meet and confer. One can only hope that the AFL and VA unions won’t be so STUPID as to dump any money into the Virginia gubanatorial race this year.
COME ON. A Virginia governor isn’t going to stand up for public sector workers. Not now, not ever in a right to work for less state. Hell, can’t even get Warner, Webb or Kaine to endorse EFCA. The campaign money needs to be CUT OFF. Deeds and Moron are too entrenched in Richmond to stand up, Terry may have the cahonnes to stand up for state workers, I don’t know.