As Virginia students head back to school, Fairfax Delegate Chuck Caputo discusses Democrats’ commitment to fully funding public education and raising teacher salaries in the face of GOP opposition.
Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) joins Coy Barefoot on WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now” to talk about the chances the Democratic ticket can take Virginia, and also gives a response to the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his Republican counterpart.
This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released new figures on poverty in America. Michael Cassidy of the Commonwealth Institute joined Coy Barefoot on WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!” to break down the numbers in Virginia. (Click here for their report)
“Virginia actually saw a significant increase in the poverty rate, increasing from 9.6% to 9.9%,” Cassidy said. That translates to over 740,000 Virginians making below the poverty threshold as defined by the federal government.
Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling joined “Charlottesville Right Now!” with Coy Barefoot to discuss the possibility of offshore drilling, Virginia’s state budget, and Tim Kaine as a possible Vice President running mate for Barack Obama.
Republican incumbent Congressman Virgil H. Goode, Jr. and Democratic Challenger Tom Perriello spoke at a Senior Statesmen of Virginia event held August 13th, 2008 at the Senior Center in Charlottesville. Following opening statements by the candidates, questions were taken from members of the audience. Senior Statesmen board member and treasurer, Bob McAdams, moderated the program.
Congressman Virgil H. Goode, Jr. is a lifelong resident of Franklin County and currently resides in Rocky Mount, Virginia. He is married to the former Lucy D. Dodson and has a daughter named Catherine. Congressman Goode completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond where he received his Bachelors of Arts degree in 1969. While a student at the University of Richmond, Congressman Goode was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies. Following his graduation from the University of Richmond, Congressman Goode attended the University of Virginia School of Law where he received a J.D. in 1973. During that time, he was selected for the Virginia Law Review. In 1973, at age 27, Congressman Goode was elected to the Commonwealth of Virginia Senate. He served as the 20th District Senator in the Virginia General Assembly until 1996 when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives serving the 5th District of Virginia. He was sworn in to office in the 105th, in January 1997, and has served continuously since then.
Congressman Goode now divides his time between serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. and being in the 5th District. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee and the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment and the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development.
Tom Perriello, the youngest of four children of Vito and Linda Perriello, was born and raised in the fifth district and lives in Albemarle County a few miles from where he grew up. Tom is a product of Murray, Meriwether Lewis, Henley and Western Albemarle High School and graduated from St. Anne’s Belfield. From an early age, he was taught that a strong faith is a lived faith. His parents raised him to believe that to whom much is given, much is expected, and those lessons have shaped his lifelong commitment to service. Tom was an Eagle Scout in the Stonewall Jackson Area Council. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University. He is presently a guest lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law. After receiving his law degree from Yale University, Tom accepted an assignment working to end atrocities in the West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, which had suffered long civil wars fueled by blood diamonds. Tom’s work with child soldiers, amputees, and local pro-democracy groups in Sierra Leone played a significant role in the peace and reconciliation process that ended twelve years of violence in that country.
Tom became Special Advisor and spokesperson for the International Prosecutor during the showdown that forced Liberian dictator Charles Taylor from power without firing a shot. After this success, Tom served as a national security analyst for the Century Foundation. He has worked inside Darfur and twice in Afghanistan. He has worked on justice-based security strategies in Afghanistan and Kosovo, prosecuted warlords in Sierra Leone, and developed alternative peace strategies to curb acts of genocide in Darfur. He has been a consultant to the International Center for Transitional Justice and the National Council of Churches of Christ, an analyst for AfghanistanWatch, and a Fellow with The Century Foundation. He is a founding partner of Res Publica, which develops innovative solutions to global justice and security threats. Tom also co-founded Avaaz.org, an international on-line community of 1.5 million members, operating in 12 languages, dedicated to building a global response to “problems without borders,” such as climate change.
Commander Paul Galanti (right) retired from the U.S. Navy after a career that saw him receive many awards and allocations. Now, Galanti is the Chairman of the Virginia Veteran’s for McCain, and is working to elect the Arizona Senator this November. He spent time as a prisoner of war with McCain, and describes what that experience was like.
Chris Graham, founder and publisher of the Augusta Free Press, joins Coy Barefoot on the July 30th edition of WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!” to discuss the possibility of Governor Tim Kaine as Senator Barack Obama’s vice presidential candidate. Graham has also been writing recently about the effects of oil speculation on the high cost of a barrel of crude.
Former Governor and Republican Senate candidate Jim Gilmore joins Coy Barefoot on the July 28 edition of WINA’s “Charlottesville–Right Now!” Gilmore is touring the state as part of his Working Families tour, and will be in Charlottesville at Sam’s Kitchen at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, July 30. He says that people are hurting from high gasoline prices, and that he’ll work to address that issue when he’s Senator. “We’ve got to have more domestic oil production and energy production, we’ve got to drill in ANWR and bring that oil in, and we’ve got drill off-shore,” Gilmore said. He said his opponent, fellow former Governor Mark Warner, won’t support those things.
Senator Jim Webb’s new book is called A Time To Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America and he joined Coy Barefoot on the July 17, 2008 edition of WINA’s Charlottesville–Right Now! with Coy Barefoot. Webb recently took his name out of the running for the vice presidency, because he wants to stay in the Senate. “We’re doing good things and I need to stay here,” Webb said. He also chats with Coy about bipartisan efforts helped get a new G.I. Bill passed, his wish to reform this country’s drug policy, and what to do about the oil crisis.
After 8 long years of partisan politics and endless discussions of a red-state/blue-state divide in this country, many Americans are anxiously awaiting the end of a presidency defined by fringe politics, one that persistently and systematically moved away from the will of the center. According to historian Gil Troy, great American presidents can be defined by their willingness to move away from partisan extremes to the center. Troy’s new book is called Leading from the Center: Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents. He also explains the concept of a ‘muscular moderate.’
“It’s an ability to compromise while also having core values,” Troy said. “If you look at the greats - Lincoln, Washington, the Roosevelts, Reagan, Kennedy, the ones who were effective - they were able to have a certain sense of their core values, their defining principles, their fundamental beliefs. But at the same time they knew that as leaders of a very complicated country… they had to be nimble and they had to adapt.”
