A Public Advocate for Working Virginians

Mike responds to the Bolling energy plan:

What a great weekend for a little door knocking! Our Arlington office was buzzing with activity this past weekend, as volunteers hit the pavement to campaign for Mike. Here's a shot of a few volunteers, ready to get at it:

 We will be canvassing every weekend from our Arlington office, leaving Saturdays and Sundays at noon. Email volunteer@michaelsigner.com for more information!

Barack Obama showed the world the power of online organizing when he built a large community of followers and donors on the Internet. New media tools such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have become staples for voter outreach. In today’s political campaigns, you are either online or off the radar – and we are dominating this race online.

We have 6 times as many subscribers to his YouTube page as either of our opponents, and we lead all candidates in followers on Twitter. Our Facebook fan page has over 1000 members – almost double our opponents’ combined total.

This is just one more metric showing Mike in the lead. It’s clear that Mike's message of changing the office of lieutenant governor from a placeholder to a public advocate is resonating with voters and activists across the state, and they are eagerly following this campaign to hear what Mike has to say!

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.  

Make it another win for Mike! Mike was again the crowd favorite at the Richmond Crusade for Voters Debate at the Southside Community Hall last night.

For those of you who didn't see it, here's Mike's closing statement:

Mike had a chance to sit down with the staff at the Richmond Times-Dispatch yesterday, one of the largest papers in the state. Looks like they were impressed! From this morning's paper (emphasis is ours): 

April 22, 2009
Wow. The reaction occurred during a conversation yesterday between the Editorial staff and Mike Signer, candidate for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. The night before, Signer attended the annual action meeting of Richmonders Involved to Strengthen Our Communities (RISC). The commitment manifested by the approximately 1,000 attendees at a Good Shepherd Baptist Church impressed him. A veteran of think-tank conferences drawing a handful of experts and poseurs, Signer applauded a meeting in which real citizens joined community leaders in talking about public policy.

Richmonders often see themselves as parochial and lackluster. An outsider was wowed by the energy and intellect encountered here. The process regarding the downtown plan also reflected significant public engagement, as do hearings on attendance zones and other factors related to the schools.

Signer's comments came up during a discussion of issues of importance to Central Virginia. Signer cited the economy, of course, and agreed that the region lacks the transportation challenges of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. The Good Shepherd meeting, he explained, showed what locals had on their minds. The topics included health care, education, and drug treatment for prisoners. Signer went to the RISC session to see, not to be seen. It is not often that candidates have so passionately described such scenes to us.

Signer has written extensively, and insightfully, on topics relating to defense and foreign policy -- two items that do not rank at the top of the lieutenant governor's job description. Yesterday, Signer cast his global views in the context of domestic policy. He included specific references to Virginia. The Times-Dispatch does not endorse in primaries when the general election promises a competitive race. The winner of the Democratic contest will take on Bill Bolling, the Republican incumbent and front-runner for re-election. Although we plan no endorsement in the Democratic primary, we happily nominate Mike Signer for secretary of state or national security adviser in a Democratic administration.