5th District candidate for the GOP congressional nomination, Ken Boyd, does not seem to want to commit. On at least two separate occasions the possibility of making some sort of pledge has come up but Ken does not seem to be interested in the idea. At a recent meeting in Charlotte County Boyd, said “I am not going to make any pledges.” Followed by something like you never know what may come up.
Now I can understand not pledging to do certain things because of how circumstances can change over time, but there are many things I could imagine that Ken could take a pledge on. How about never voting for any bill that would provide government funding of abortions, or pledging to serve a given number of terms, pledging to forgo special health care insurance that only senators and congressman can get. How about pledging to vote against any bill that increases discretionary spending more then the rate of inflation. Considering the way government spending has ballooned he should pledge to vote against any bill that doesn’t decrease spending. Of course there are second amendment rights that he could pledge to uphold and if I spent more then five minutes I could probably come up with a half dozen more things that Ken could take a pledge on.
I guess because Ken does have experience as a politician he knows better then to make promises. After all he might have to keep them. This is just what this country needs more politicians that know better than to take a firm stance on issues. At least that way they don’t have to go back on their word.
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Were you at the Charlotte county meeting ?
The 2 occasions you mention… what were the specific pledges that he refused to take?
Ken Boyd refuses to pander to any group that demands a “pledge”.
What do you know? Boyd earns two points for that stance.
I personally asked Sen Warner, Webb and Rep Perriello to pledge not to vote for the HC bill unless the bill was available to the public for viewing at least 48 hours prior to the vote. They all stated they didn’t make pledges. That irked me. This irks me. I would appreciate a candidate making a “binding promise or agreement” of what they will and will not do should they get elected to office. The only reason I see that as a problem is if you have no intention of keeping your pledge. Hence why I am more interested in a candidate that isn’t a career politician.
+1 internet point for Paige!
Your whisper campaign seems light on facts but I like how Vierga is using you to attack Boyd via twitter- very sneaky. I would like it if you said what pledge, who ask to sign it, the pledge itself- you know the pesky fact that will help us all decide if this means anything at all
i don’t get it. this blogger doesn’t like Hurt, now doesn’t like Boyd. who else has a chance?
Maybe true conservatives like Morton, McPadden and Verga.
BRG were you at the Charlotte county meeting ?
What about Ken Boyd doesn’t make him a true conservative? Are you saying true conservative sign pledges or talk about what they would do because they can’t talk about what they have done? I know Morton is a conservative as well as Boyd but the others I only know what they have told me, never heard of either of them till the announced their runs for Congress.
You still haven’t said what pledge, if you are going to accuse someone have the decency of telling us what is is he hasn’t done. The tea party is about getting the facts in the open and giving the people the real story. Or have I got that wrong?
Kelley, BRG’s main goal right now is to tear down everyone else that threatens Verga. Hurt is an obvious target, and Boyd only slightly less so. He says “Maybe true conservatives like Morton, McPadden…”, but what he means is “Morton or McPadden until they too might beat Verga for the nomination. Then they’re next.”
All the way until the actual nomination. Then he’ll tepidly support whomever we select.
Kelly, If Tom Perriello changed parties and became a Republican would you support him too? It seems he would meet your litmus test: career politician, Republican, has shown he can win.
Since when does being in office for 11 months make one a career politician?
Mr. Boyd was on the Joe Thomas radio show about a week or so ago and stated there also that “He was not going to take any kind of pledges.” He said also that “you never know what may come up.” The most troubling comment he made though was “some conservatives may not always be happy with how I vote.” I would be uncomfortable with anyone who gives you warnings before he is even choosen as the Republican candidate. There are other Republican candidates that seem to be much more committed and serious about taking this country back from the content-free Representatives and Senators occupying these seats in Washington today.
BTW- I also consider Robert Hurt as content-free. How will he run on a platform of low taxes and less government when he himself voted for the largest tax increase in Virginia’s history. At that time, there was a surplus in the budget, and the total tax package was higher than then Gov. Warner requested. He also voted for a confiscatory transportation tax that was later deemed to be unconstitutional by the supreme court. His conservative bonafides are highly questionable.
I can’t speak for anyones goal but my own. That said, what is the obsession with getting a career politician in the va5th congressional seat. Maybe I was at different Tea parties than everyone else… I thought we were interested in real people… who understood what we need government to be involved in and what we don’t. To end the corruption and have people willing to serve the public, upholding the constitution.
To date I have met 4 of the candidates. Hurt is a politician thru and thru… Under no circumstances will I vote for him. If he gets elected, I fear he will never leave (term limits… important issue for me). I am not impressed with Morton and do not appreciate that she assumed she should be able to use the Constitution Day TEA Party as a platform for her to campaign and give a speech. That event was not about that and she felt entitled. Because she was late for the meeting on Saturday, she tried to rush around and half heartedly introduce herself to the people that were there after the primary vote and did nothing for me. I have met Verga and he has shown an interest in finding out what I want out of my candidate as has McPadden. I am impressed with both of them and would like to know more about them. They aren’t career politicians and both have attributes that I find important to serving the people of the 5th District.
For anyone on here to assume that because BRG is pointing out specific issues with the candidates is somehow wrong, I say start your own blog. He has been forthcoming in who he supports and who he would consider supporting. If anyone here is simply interested in getting the seat filled by an “R”, then you don’t really want the best person for the job.
I have to agree with Paige again. When I meet Mr. Hurt, I’ll ask him if he will limit himself to X terms. That is a huge issue for me. Agreeing to self-limit is an indication of one’s motives. If you are hoping for a one-way trip to DC I am assuming you will behave differently (worse) than if you expect to return after a “tour of duty”.
Well I happen to have been at the Charlotte county meeting. Boyd,Ferrin,McPadden and Verga were all there.They were each given 10 minutes to talk then they all answered questions for about 25 minutes. I never heard anyone mention anything about signing any pledge and I was there for the entire time.In my opinion they all did a great job explaining their positions and how they planned to win the election.Before the meeting I was leaning more towards Mike McPadden and now I am sure he is who I will support in the primary.With that said I could support any of the other candidates at the meeting if they were to win the primary.These are the type of candidate we need in office all true conservatives.
Paige, defeating Perriello is critical for me. It is impt to many people in the 5th District (& many across our country, too).
Because I am a Hurt supporter, I mention positive things about him. Belittling the other candidates for the nomination do not move us closer to ousting Perriello.
rather than attack each other, why don’t we all attack Perriello? goodness, we can sure find some complaints against him.
I’m not sure why people who favor Rob Hurt here seem so down on Perriello. At least Tom has taken consistent and principled stands on issues. I may completely disagree with his principles, but he has the courage to stand on them. Hurt, on the contrary, sent a newsletter to his constituents blasting a massive tax increase, then turned around and voted in favor of it.
Personally, I’d rather have a principled Congressman I disagree with, that I can work to defeat from within my own party, than one whose principles are highly questionable IN my party. Remember Reagan’s words: “Bold colors, not pale pastels.” In a district that went so heavily for McDonnell, just a month and a half ago, why should we be forced to settle for anyone less than the MOST conservative.
4 out of the 7 candidates can beat Perriello. (No, I don’t number Hurt among them.)
We as Americans need to better define what a Conservative is. I just heard Dick Morris call himself a Conservative. Who is a Conservative and how can we really know? Philosophy!
Mike McPadden has a philosophy, it’s actually quite simple and he has “pledged” to follow it. What is Mike McPadden’s philosophy? Mike McPadden believes in the principles of our Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. He will measure each Bill before him and determine if it gives more or less Liberty to us. To many Politicians on both sides of the isle have forgotten the Constitution. They are more likely to use it as a backdrop but despise it limitations. As for Bob Hurt and Ken Boyd; compared with Tommy-boy they are both more conservative than our current Congressman but is it enough Conservatism? I don’t think so.
G.W. Bush called himself a compassionate conservative, it took less than a year in office when I didn’t like that label. G.W. Bush created TSA & HSA, both are a huge expansions of the Federal Government which wasn’t truly needed IMHO.
I don’t think the BRG is tearing down Candidates, as much as he is educating and sharing his opinion concerning them. It is interesting how people support Candidates no matter what, no matter the facts, no matter the costs. I will never forget the true message Joe the Plumber gave us, but most of the media and democrats tore him a new one dropping the truth in the toilet in the process. If you never heard: Joe the Plumber was asked by the Presidential Candidate for a question. Joe then asked BO if he believed in the American Dream? BO gave Joe the Plumber a Marxist answer about redistribution of wealth!
With Bob Hurt being the RPV pick, we need to learn about each Candidate and make our own pick! The advantage Bob Hurt has is frustrating to many folks here in the 5th District. Bob Hurt’s voting record should be looked at and We should all understand that Tommy-Boy will use his record against him.
Someone like Mike McPadden is not new to Politics. Mike McPadden couldn’t involve himself in Politics except at the grassroots level until after he retired from the Navy Reserve serving his Country. For those not aware, Military folks are unable to to hold elected office or certain Party offices under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).
We all need to learn about the Candidates and as Americans make the right choice to represent us. I’ve made my choice, Mike McPadden is it.