The (former) Richmond Democrat

After watching the Democratic Party's lackluster performance in addressing the needs of ordinary people during this financial crisis, I have elected to leave the Democratic Party. Many of you know how passionately I have volunteered on behalf of Democratic politicians. I have decided to stop volunteering on behalf of the Democratic Party or identifying myself as a Democrat.

Message to Democratic leaders: if you have lost me, you are in trouble.

Another Republican "leader" self-destructs in spectacular fashion

This is simply comical.

I can hardly wait to see who gets caught next week.

The end of the Republican Party

There's no escape for the GOP. From Republican commentator Mike Murphy:

I say this because I've made a career out of counting votes, and the numbers tell a clear story; the demographics of America are changing in a way that is deadly for the Republican Party as it exists today. A GOP ice age is on the way.

Demographic change is irritating to politicos, since it works on elections much as rigged dice do on a Las Vegas craps table: it is a game changer. For years, Republicans won elections because the country was chock-full of white middle-class voters who mostly pulled the GOP lever on Election Day. Today, however, that formula is no longer enough.

Murphy knows what he's talking about. The GOP has lost the latino vote and the youth vote, and is controlled by the very people who alienated these groups.

Right wing terrorist attacks Holocaust Museum; murders African-American guard

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Congratulations Senator Deeds!

Just a brief post to congratulate Senator Creigh Deeds on his victory in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Senator Deeds, I look forward to addressing you as Governor-elect Deeds in November.

A good time to retire from political blogging

Well, I think it's about time to retire this site. I tried to sign off a couple of years ago and it didn't quite stick. I think I'll have more luck this time.

It's been an interesting ride. I've met most of the goals I've set for myself doing this. I've had a couple of top-rated recommended posts on Daily Kos. All in all, it's been a fun and interesting experience.

I no longer feel as strongly motivated to blog several times a day. There are several reasons for this. The mainstream media has recovered a lot of its objectivity. There are literally thousands of other Democratic and Liberal bloggers to carry the standard now. Barack Obama may be the most talented politician since Franklin D. Roosevelt: he doesn't need me to stand up for him anymore.

I will keep my membership on certain group blogs, and perhaps you may hear from me from time to time. As for this blog, sometime this afternoon it will become a private archive. I will not delete it, but it will no longer be visible to the public.

Best . . . The Richmond Democrat.

The McCain campaign kneecaps Eric Cantor

Let's keep this short and sweet: Eric Cantor is a liar. The McCain campaign says so. From Rolling Stone magazine:

“The notion that Eric Cantor was somehow a high profile candidate for vice president is a complete and total joke,” a source close the top former leadership of the McCain campaign told me. “ He was never on the short list. Never vetted. But if you read the press today you would believe that Eric Cantor ever so close to being vice president. This was created by Cantor’s PR people. He’s got a ton of them.”

Cantor’s shameless self promotion is the source of bitter jokes among McCain veterans. “They just laugh about it,” says the source, who has long been a close observer of Cantor’s career. “When Cantor’s asked about it, he won’t comment directly about the vetting. He just hints and struts. It’s very revealing. Its’ the old politics: You get ahead by courting the spotlight without doing anything necessarily different or interesting. There’s nothing there."

That's what key Republican activists are saying about Eric Cantor. We Democrats are just shaking our heads at the fact that this empty suit has somehow maneuvered himself into the leadership of the Republican Party. Oh well, it's not like he's a threat to the Democratic majority, so if the Republicans want Cantor to lead their party, they are welcome to him.

New Poll: Southern Republicans less patriotic

I guess we all kind of knew this already. The Republican Party's embrace of the neo-confederate movement is just one of many factors that turned the GOP into a southern regional party.

Cantor's phony meeting nailed

Yesterday Eric Cantor staged a photo op for his new Republican faction, the National Council for a New America. Bradley Herring of Where's Eric Cantor? nails it:

Now here’s my favorite part. Cantor, in the release announcing the formation of the National Council for a New America, labels the group as “a forward-looking, grassroots caucus.” Note the word “grassroots.” (We’ll set aside the fact that he calls it “non-ideological” which is laughable.) I don’t think “grassroots” means what Eric Cantor thinks it means. It doesn’t mean a think tank put together by long-time Republican insiders to advance a policy agenda. This isn’t even astroturfing. It’s beyond that. It’s as insider as it gets. It’s the party’s presidential nominee, another failed presidential nominee, two Republican house leaders, the Senate Minority leader, and the former president’s brother. They even invited Sarah Palin.

Cantor is as phony as a three dollar bill.

Fake Virginia has a great suggestion about where Cantor should hold his next photo op.

Now here's a look at the real Republican Party of Virginia, with special focus on Eric Cantor:

R.I.P., Jack Kemp

The Republican Party has lost an important and independent voice. Rest in peace, Jack Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009).