Charlottesville Podcasting Network

On Saturday, April 19th, Senator Creigh Deeds addressed a small crowd at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Democratic Breakfast, and reviewed the recent General Assembly, the one-day veto session scheduled for April 23rd, as well as a possible special session on transportation. Deeds is in his 17th year in the legislature, and has announced he will seek the Democratic nomination in next year’s race to succeed Tim Kaine as Virginia’s Governor. Deeds began his talk by saying that the legislative process can be frustrating.

One of the hottest clean political stories of the year is the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator Barack Obama currently has a slight lead over Senator Hillary Clinton in the delegate count. But, how does the process really work?

That was the general topic of the Charlottesville / Albemarle Democratic breakfast for March 2008. Fred Hudson, Democratic Party chair for Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District, explains the process by which local folks can try to become delegates to the national convention in Denver. Jim Heilman, former Albemarle County Voter Registrar and current international consultant on elections, will review the fairness and intent of various nominating methods – primaries, caucuses and backroom dealing. And a political scientist will review the history and politics of the nominating process1

The state of Virginia recognizes eight Indian tribes, six of whom are seeking federal recognition so they can have more self-governance and self-reliance.  On January 19, 2008, Chief Kenneth Adams of the Upper Mattaponi updated a crowd assembled at the monthly breakfast of the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Democrats on the status of pending legislation to grant federal status to the six tribes. Adams was the first Indian in Virginia to graduate from a public high school.

The Orphanage and School at Grison-Garde, Haiti

Haiti is the topic for the March 2007 Charlottesville-Albemarle Democratic Breakfast.Several doctors routinely travel to the island nation to work at the Tovar Clinic in the rural community of Grison-Garde. There’s also an orphanage there, administered by Dr. Ray Ford. Ford’s son Mike spoke about the region, and was followed by Dr. Mike Dickens, a Charlottesville pediatrician who describes the conditions of many of the patients served by the clinic.    Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Are electronic voting machines vulnerable to computer hackers? That’s the topic of the January Charlottesville Albemarle Democratic Breakfast. A panel of speakers discuss serious software issues as well as recent controversies. Errors in counting, confusing displays and lack of documentation, and discuss possible paths forward.

The moderator is Jim Heilman, a former registrar in Albemarle County. Panelists include David Evans of the U.Va Computer Science Department, Charlottesville Electoral Board Secretary Rick Sincere and Will Harvey, Secretary of the Albemarle County Electoral Board. The event is introduced by Russ Linden, the co-chair of the Charlottesville City Democratic Committee.

If you’re organizing an event for the public and you’d like to have it recorded for posterity and podcast, we’re always looking for more events to post. Please contact us to be considered for inclusion.

On September 16th, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Democratic Breakfast featured a discussion of the Implications of the Marshall / Newman “Marriage” Amendment.

The event was moderated by Katherine McNamara of the online journal archipelago, and the panel includes Mark Usry of Equality Virginia, Anne Coughlin from the U.Va School of Law, Claire Kaplan of Sexual and Domestic Violence Services at U.Va, and Delegate David Toscano.

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Political reporter Bob Gibson of the Charlottesville Daily Progress was the guest at the July 15 Democratic Breakfast. He spoke candidly about his long tenure at the paper, the news business, and the upcoming election. This may be a long podcast, but listening will give you great insight into what’s happening in the Democratic party as it seeks to turn around recent political fortunes. Bob talks for the first fifteen minutes and then opens it up to questions.

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CPN is an aggregator of podcasts from in and around Charlottesville. We post about a dozen or so pieces a week, from everything from public lectures to call-in shows like WINA’s Charlottesville–Right Now. To make sure you don’t miss anything, subscribe to the show for free in iTunes. This will automatically download everything posted here into your iTunes folder. Listen on your computer, or take CPN with you on the road.

This past Saturday, the two Democratic candidates for the Charlottesville City Council faced questions from their peers at the party’s monthly breakfast. Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro are the only two declared Democrats vying for the two open council seats. Charlottesville Tomorrow recorded the event, which we present here. Visit Charlottesville Tomorrow’s blog entry on the topic for a run-down.

Could this be the year that the Democratic party can beat Virgil Goode in the Fifth Congressional District? He was elected to the seat twice as a Democrat before becoming an independent in 2000 and switching parties in 2002. Ever since, Democrats have been looking for a way to knock him off.

This year, two candidates are vying for the right to challenge Goode in the general election. Goode defeated Al Weed in 2004 by a 64 to 36 percent margin, but Weed says he has learned valuable lessons. Bern Ewert is the former city manager of Roanoke and county executive of Prince William County, and says his economic development skills and name recognition in Southside will help win voters. The two met for the first time in debate at a Democratic breakfast on January 21, 2006. The Charlottesville Podcasting Network is the exclusive media provider of this debate, which is provided as a public service.

(00:00 - 02:00) - introductions and ground rules from moderator Tim Heaphey
(02:01 - 07:30) - opening statement from Al Weed
(07:31 - 13:21) - opening statement from Bern Ewert
(13:21 - 17:28) - Moderator Question 1: Do you have specific plans to attract jobs to the region, especially in the Southside
(17:28 - 21:46) - MQ2: What would you do to reform lobbyists in Congress?
(21:46 - 25:41) - MQ3: Directed to Al Weed: How would Weed pay for a single-payer health care system?
(25:42 - 29:12) - MQ4: Directed to Bern Ewert: How would Ewert pay for his proposed teacher education plan, which cover the costs of teachers who sought a master’s degree in their field?
(29:13 - 34:24) - Audience Question 1: What would you do to reverse the trend towards dismantling of environmental regulations, and how would you promote environmental stewardship?
(34:24 - 38:48) - AQ2: Would you propose extricating our troops from Iraq, and what do you do as a Congressman?
(38:48 - 44:03) - AQ3: What will you do to spur development in the Southside, and how can you help Central Virginians assist their neighbors to the south? How will you get Southside voters to vote for you?
(44:03 - 48:00) - AQ4: What do you see as the role of government in addressing poverty and income disparity? How do you feel about raising the minimum wage and the “Living Wage” movement?
(48:00 - 51:45) - AQ5: What is your opinion on tax cuts for the wealthy, specifically estate tax cuts?
(51:45 - 54:48) - AQ6: How would you vote on the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage?
(54:48 - 59:30) - AQ7: What lessons has Al Weed learned from his last campaign in 2004, and how can Virgil Goode’s popularity in the Southside be overcome?
(59:30 - 1:04:01) - AQ8: What should the Democratic party stand for? How would the candidate try to attract Republican voters?
(1:04:01 - 1:07:11) - AQ9: How much money will you need to raise in order to be competitive in the general election?
(1:07:11 - 1:07:40) - AQ10: Will you support the nominee if you are defeated?
(1:07:40 - 1:11:48) - Each candidate asks the other a quick question. Ewert asks Weed what he will do to increase jobs over the next five years, and Weed asks Ewert how he will pay attention to rural areas given that most of his work experience is in urban management.
(1:11:48 - 1:16:13) - Members of the audience stand up to ask questions. The first one concerns civil rights as it appeals the prison population.
(1:16:13 - 1:19:24) - Question for Ewert to clarify his stance on the proposed pull-out of troops from Iraq.
(1:19:24 - 1:22:03) - How will you prepare for a tough fight against a Republican incumbent?
(1:22:03 - 1:25:09) - A follow-up question on the incarceration question, would you vote to restore voting rights for felons who have served their time?
(1:25:09 - 1:28:04) - What should Congress do to investigate the N.S.A. wiretapping project?
(1:28:04 - 1:29:34) - Bern Ewert’s closing statement
(1:29:35 - 1:32:00) - Al Weed’s closing statement

This program has been edited for time and continuity. Three questions from the event were edited due to technical error.