VEA Endorses Kaine

I walked out of my office this afternoon and found a press conference being held by the Virginia Education Association (VEA).  I learned the VEA is announcing their endorsement of Tim Kaine for Governor in a series of media events across the Commonwealth this week.  In this picture, VEA President Princess Moss is being interviewed by the news media (incl. Sean Tubbs with cvillepodcasting, check there soon for audio coverage).  In the second picture, you can see the VEA "Gubernatorial Report Card" of Tim Kaine (straight As) and Jerry Kilgore's (3 Fs and an incomplete).  The media release is not yet available on the VEA website, but once it is I'll provide a link and you can assess their endorsement. Ms. Moss emphasized in her remarks that the VEA was non-partisan and had endorsed a number of Republicans and Democrats in this election cycle.  Brian

Comments

[Diane Reiser]

I think the VEA should refrain from attempting to influence voters. It is up to each voter to educate themselves on issues and not the place of the VEA to back any candidate based strictly on one single issue. Politics involves a much broader spectrum of issues.

[Jeff Douglas]

If the VEA should refrain from influencing voters, then corporate PAC's, phony "senior" groups funded by the pharmaceutical industry, and the Rev. Falwell should stay out of politics too.

[bawheeler]

Nice to see some comments! I think issue-oriented groups like this have an important role to play. For example, at the local level, I think the non-partisan Coalition for a Responsible School Board does a very important service by asking candidates to complete a lengthy questionnaire on school issues. Then the local Albemarle Education Association (AEA) PAC uses that data to make their assessment of the candidates prior to selecting ones for endorsement.

When a voter is not following the campaigns, or doesn't have children in the schools, a candidate being endorsed by the local teachers' professional organization is a helpful indicator that the candidate has been vetted by individuals with substantial knowledge of education matters.

As you move up the ballot, a voter may look at multiple interest groups (organized at state and federal levels) and assess their opinions of the candidates on issues related to specific values (tax issues, open government, environment, transportation, death penalty, choice, etc.). It all adds up to be helpful information on which one can make an informed vote. In this case, the VEA represents one set of issues... public education. The voters have to do their homework on the other issues as well.

It is also great the transparency available with public access to the donation database at Virginia Public Access Project. Brian