Wednesday, March 29, 2006 :::
Getting There
Will has an excellent overview of the Governor's wild ride to one of his NoVa townhalls.
Okay, so it wasn't really that wild a ride. Or traffic-choked, either. And Will interjects what many commuters -- but not enough lawmakers -- already know all too well:
Aides seemed disappointed at the lack of traffic, but one thing that is missing in the transportation debate is the impact bad driving has on congestion. It only takes a fender bender on the side of the road, a few cars that don't know how to merge, or people in the left lane chatting on their cell phone while driving too slow to back traffic up. Taxes aren't going to fix that. Apparently, for one day, no idiots mucked up the highways.
Earlier this week, I was caught in a mystery back-up on I-95. Red lights as far as the eye could see. An accident? Economy-crushing congestion? No. People were slowing down to read a VDOT traffic sign telling them to expect delays -- between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. due to construction. Okay -- VDOT's signage is part of the problem, too.
But let's duck onto a side road and head over to Nova Townhall, where Joe attended Kaine's meeting. What did he discover?
On stage with the Governor and in the audience were an assortment of elected officials from both political parties. After Governor Kaine finished his presentation, he invited responses from both Democratic and Republican state senators and delegates.
Let me tell you, there is nothing like living in a democracy: The ensuing dialogue from both sides of the political aisle exhibited a broad range of responses to the Governor's plan, from effusive praise all the way to drooling sycophancy.
Not surprisingly, Russ Potts made an appearance. Is this part of the hazing before he gets his administration job offer?
At least Joe found Kaine to be an exceptional public speaker. He is -- and that is an asset no one should discount in the debate ahead.
::: posted by Norman Leahy at 3/29/2006
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