Christian's blog

Today, the Mike Signer for Lieutenant Governor campaign sent letters to the campaign managers of Jody Wagner and Jon Bowerbank proposing a genuine “Lincoln-Douglas style” debate on the issues. 

Yesterday, in response to questions about why Jody Wagner skipped not only the historic 2008 Democratic primary, but also the 2004 and 2005 primaries, the Wagner campaign said, “voters deserve to hear about important issues.”

Mike Signer couldn’t agree more that voters deserve to hear from the candidates on all the critical issues facing our Commonwealth. That’s why Mike Signer was the first and only candidate with a comprehensive jobs plan and the first with a specific environmental plan. Today, Mike Signer’s response to the Wagner campaign is, “Let’s
take it to the next level.”
 
“I’ve led the way in this campaign on the critical issues at every turn, and I’d be delighted to debate Jody Wagner and every candidate on our ideas – anytime, anywhere,” Signer said.  “We’re all good people, but there are clear differences. On June 9th, voters should pick the strongest candidate to defeat Bill Bolling, and they have a right to hear directly from us on the issues in a true debate format.”
 
To date, the three candidates for Lieutenant Governor have participated in three forums, but none of the formats required exchange between candidates on policy and ideas.  Mike Signer is looking forward to such a debate and anticipates that the other candidates will welcome the opportunity. 
 

In the letter below, which was sent to the Wagner and Bowerbank campaigns proposing a genuine, “Lincoln-Douglas style” debate, the Signer campaign proposed that the date and location be mutually agreed upon by the managers of the three campaigns, and suggested Richmond as a neutral, convenient location for all the campaigns. 

Today, Mike Signer announced his 5 point strategy for our environment, "Green Energy and a Clean Environment."   Greening our energy is a win-win proposition for Virginia.   Mike's plan will create new, good green jobs while also protecting our natural resources.  

In advance of tonight’s debate sponsored by the Richmond Crusade for Voters, I wanted to share with you a few lessons I learned at an extraordinary event last night in Richmond.  Let me set the scene for you…at a church in downtown Richmond, I watched as 1,000 people from over a dozen congregations gathered to share ideas on three critical public policy areas:  recidivism in Richmond’s prison system, the high school drop-out rate and the lack of primary-care doctors for many Richmonders.

You heard that right – 1,000 people were there.  It was amazing.  They were of all races and denominations, all classes and neighborhoods, and they were there on a Monday night for a serious discussion of how to help people.  The ministers, reverends and rabbis who presented offered strong and serious ideas in these three areas.  They convinced Mayor Dwight Jones (who was present) to commit to funding an evidence-based substance abuse program in the jails to help solve the problems of recidivism by drug users. 

They addressed the shocking rates of drop-out and suspension in the Richmond City schools.  Out of 24,000 students, 6,891 were suspended, most for non-serious and non-violent offenses – starting a slippery slope to these kids dropping out of school.

And they focused on the terrible problem of the 13,100 adults in Richmond who lack health insurance – most of whom are working and poor and rely on emergency rooms for their treatment.  Emergency rooms are 10 times more expensive than doctors, but 72% of the emergency room visits are made by the uninsured.  On stage was Sheryl Garland, Vice President for Community Outreach of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, who agreed to undertake more aggressive steps to make health care easier for members of Virginia Community Care.

It was an amazing outpouring of compassion, serious thought about important issues, and action by these community organizers.  To paraphrase one of the pastors, who said we should be “about more than just lip service.”  He continued:  “It’s good to talk about it.  It’s better to be about it.”

Amen!
 

In Mike's latest Coffee Break, he talks about Bill Bolling and the $125 million in federal funding for unemployment benefits that Republicans rejected.  Unemployment is skyrocketing in Virginia and we need someone who will fight for Virginia's working families.  Six weeks after the announcement, Mike is still the only canididate with a jobs plan.  He will fight to create jobs and will keep federal funds in Virginia. 

Mike stopped by Richmond on his week-long barnstorm of Virginia.  First he visited the State Capitol Building:

While on the Capitol grounds, Mike took a moment to honor those who fought for social justice and civil rights in Virginia:

Mike stopped in at Fred's Restaurant in Franklin to get a cup of $.99 coffee and a delicious lunch.

On the road to the next stop, Mike reflects on the time he spent in the Franklin area working on the Jerry Flowers campaign back in 2000:

Mike recently published a diary on Huffington Post, the most widely trafficked blog in the country.  In his diary, Mike wrote about the future of democracy in the Commonwealth.  Specifically, he addressed the disenfranchisement of felons after they have paid their debt to society.  These laws currently disenfranchise 25% of African American men in Virginia.  Mike handled a number of these cases when he served as Deputy Counselor to Mark Warner and feels very strongly that restrictive laws like this are a part of the "Old Virginny."  Visit Mike's diary and share your feedback!

"Taking Our Democracy to the Next Level" by Mike Signer.