Perlogik writes:
What political ads did you like, hate, or use as a reason to vote against someone? Example of TV ads would be the crime victims against Camblos ad, the Camblos at the desk ad, The Denise Lunsford “my opponent is unprepared” ad, The Shackleford’s for Ken Boyd ad, the Marcia Joseph “time for a change” ad, and Lindsay Dorrier’s beautiful Albemarle stock footage ad. Or you could rant about the numerous radio ads that descend on the radio like locust for the last two weeks. Extra points for liking an ad of someone you wouldn’t vote for.
Jim Camblos fussed about Crime Victims United of Virginia‘s TV and radio ads during his press conference today.
Didn’t see many (I watch very little teevee), but I did think the ad for Ken Boyd by the husband and wife (were they the Shacklefords?) was an effective ad. Not saying I was persuaded (I wasn’t), or that I agreed (I didn’t), but my guess is that an ad like this played very well with his constituency. The “common sense, long-time county residents”, speaking painly and positively about a man they know – that kind of thing helps to win elections.
And any ad with Camblos’s voice in it made me cringe, just because I’ve seen what an ass he is.
Dorrier, Wyant and Boyd flat out lied about their “efforts” to protect the rural areas in their ads…and it worked for two of them. Had they forgotten they voted against the proposed rural area protection policies? Amazing how integrity goes out the window when it comes time for re-election.
Andrew… In a county like Albemarle where 14,000 people are moving in every decade, I don’t think the home grown rhetoric works as much as it may have in the past.
UVA08: I agree that the region is changing fast, and that candidates won’t be able to play the “lifelong resident” card with such effectiveness in the future, but the old guard Supes know that they can play to – and get votes from – folks who have lived here for all/most of their lives. I don’t have any stats handy, but my guess is that old-school Albemarle residents probably turn out at a higher rate – and are more likely to vote for their own – than newcomers. (Like I said, I don’t agree with them, but…). I think that made a difference for Boyd and Dorrier. (Though not so for Wyant).
I don’t think his bogus campaign ad is why Dorrier won re-election. Dorrier won re-election because unlike Cville and Crozet the Scottsville District hasn’t had it’s population completely overrun by transplants, and unlike other parts of the county (with a few exceptions close to Cville- the areas of the district sacrificed to development) things haven’t changed all that much over the past 20 or so years. Not when compared to many other parts of the county which have seen very visible changes. Scottsville district is still “rural Virginia” the way it was many years ago. Dorrier is a known quantity who’s been around for a long time, and for people who don’t like a lot of change that sits well. That’s why I think he won.
Me I voted for the other guy.
And by the way- is there a map online somewhere that clearly delineates the political district borders within Albemarle county?
ScottsvilleResident: Agreed.
Map: This one’s pretty good:
http://www.albemarle.org/deptforms.asp?section_id=&department=cdmaps
Look for Magisterial_Districts_and_Voting_Precincts.pdf
Thanks. That map was just the thing I was looking for.
Camblos lost on his own merits. He wouldn’t be interviewed by WINA’s Coy Barefoot and wouldn’t take calls when he was interviewed by Jay James. If the commonwealth’s attorney can’t stand up to a talk show host or be accountable to the voters, how can he stand up in court and prosecute the serial rapist, or anybody else.
Now the story is about how Camblos can’t take responsibility and how the press reports opinions of politicians as fact. Denise Lunsford resonated because she responded to the voters.
County Repulican Chairman Keith Drake came to Camblos’ defense by saying he (Drake) had always been treated with respect. Lunsford responded that she didn’t doubt Drake was treated well because of his status. Lunsford promised to treat everyone with respect.
I’m a Cville native resident and conservative. So I can tell you people are treated differently based on who they are. I’m known for criticizing Democrats and Republicans based on the issue of eminent domain. Time will tell if Lunsford=Camblos and the campaign rhetoric was just that– rhetoric.
ScottsvilleResident
I agree that the scottsville district hasn’t changed as much as some parts of the county. However, in Dorrier’s TV ad he clearly takes credit for this. However, he has voted AGAINST the proposed policies that would have had some serious teeth in protecting Albemarle’s rural character and natural resources.
If Boyd and Dorrier were really being honest in their ads, they would have shown suburban housing developments and traffic (both were responsible for approving thousands of new houses), instead of the beautiful scenery that they used. Their ads were disingenuous, if not dishonest.
why did you delete my comment?
Why don’t you read before jumping to conclusions?
Ok since nobody else is as vexed or just dealing with election fatigue.
Lunsford: her ad made her seem a little harsh and little in your face. While this is not a good idea for a lot of offices it nearly pitch perfect for a female challenger taking on a long time incumbent. People want someone tough that will put criminal away but values the victim. Perhaps the most effective of all the ads.
Camblos: behind the desk was about being confident and calm. Nice images but lacking in response to a direct challenge. He was getting more direct hits than any candidate in recent memory. It’s tough to decide who hit him harder, Waldo or the Victim’s group.
Crime Victim’s spot: this spot kind of confused me with its lack of context. Knowing what I read about this case the multiple cuts and different people made it hard to follow. All I got was “Camblos bad”, perhaps that was enough.
Marcia Joseph: I liked the energy and her cheery voice but the last head turn made it look disjointed. I liked it but at the end I was left with one question. “What are you going to do?”
Ken Boyd: simple, direct but it looked odd when they went from the couple to Boyd. Kinda of like a hyper speed cut. And contrary to what’s been written here, it was truthful and seemed it.
Lindsay Dorrier: the most attractive ad that said almost nothing. Seem to be made with the knowledge that he couldn’t lose to a challenger that had no money and went after his medical condition.
The people I know(both parties) voted against Camblos because we became focused on getting rid of him in the wake of the “smoke bombers” case. I think that people will vote for someone who is not of their party when they feel their children have been threatened. Remember the prayer vigils for one of the accused “bombers”? I wonder how many of those folks voted against a Republican for the first time last Tuesday? Camblos, and the AC police, had an opportunity to quietly protect the community by getting one very troubled kid into the system where he might not continue into a downward, possibly dangerous, spiral. Instead the CA and police chose to create a drama,perhaps with this election in mind, and it backfired. And if Camblos post-election can’t see that, it just does not matter now. I hope that this outcome will promote more careful thinking by authorities in the future.
Gail, I heard from many gun owners who were republicans that voted against Camblos for the law about shooting near the house. I did here about the bomber case as well. I think his problems were much more than being a republican (despite his press conference)
re: Scottsville, the district and its nature. Looking at that map, the big developments on Avon are in Scottsville district. Didn’t I read at least half the district lived there?
The 3 large districts, Sam Miller, White Hall and Scottsville, wow they’re big, but they gotta have a lot of people bunched up somewhere. They’re approx. the same area size. White Hall has Crozet, Scottsv. has the town of Scottsv. and Avon St., but Sam Miller has what, I guess Ivy. Rd., Ivy, Country Green, etc. add up. Or maybe I’m not thinking in 2000 census population terms. White Hall and Scottsville (Avon St.) have grown fast since then, maybe faster than Sam Miller, the 2 urban districts, and Rivanna?
Camblos is a sore looser and a cry baby…. CYA !!!!!
Colfer… You know I wonder what the district lines will look like in 2011 after the new census. Do they change those lines (local BOS districts) as well? Also, come 2010 Albemarle and Charlottesville will probably have a combined population of 140,000 people. If the state of Virginia has a population of about 8 million then that would mean each House of Delegate district will contain something around 80K residents. That would give Albemarle-Charlottesville 1.75 HOD seats. I wonder if that means they will have to draw the lines in a little closer on Bell’s district? Greene should be at about 20,000 residents by then and Fluvanna should be approaching 30,000. I would think something would have to give.
C wrote:
I fully understand that which is why in my prior post I wrote: “I don’t think his bogus campaign ad is why Dorrier won re-election.” emphasis placed on the word “Bogus”.
As for development in the Scottsville district it has been contained/limited to the areas closer to Charlottesville. Those area’s were (in my opinion) “sacrificed” to growth and development because by allowing development there the rest of the district is left alone and allowed to maintain it’s original character. Besides those parts of the district more people generally think of as “Charlottesville” anyway and as long as they aren’t trying to turn the town of Scottsville and surrounding area into the next Crozet, most of the people I know (closer to Scottsville) are okay with it.
The Scottsville district has the Town of Scottsville, Glenmore, the Avon St developments (Mill Creek?) and will have Biscuit Run (at least part of it?) which will certainly affect the voting base. Then there has been some “by right” building scattered through the district away from the more regularly traveled roads, so perhaps not as readily noticeable.
Cvillelaw had a good post on his site “Democratic Central” called “Observations from Red Virginia” where he wrote about the nature of the rural voter. While he was specifically talking about the Buckingham County, Cumberland, and Appomattox areas and their races much of what he wrote I think is true of the rural voter in far southern areas of Albemarle County.
Dorrier does get points with me when you frame the arguments against rural protection as “Why should a bunch of recently arrived transplants who are specifically benefiting from the same despoilment of land that they claim to hate, why should those transplants be allowed to tell someone who’s been here all their life what they can or cannot do with their property- just because they want to make sure they get to keep their pretty views.” It smacks of a “we know better than you do” snobbishness that rubs people the wrong way. I think it is one of the reasons he was “able to play the “lifelong resident” card with such effectiveness.
Perlogik,
I heard from a lot of Republicans as well about the gun thing. As I’m sure you’ve seen, I’ve been beating Camblos over the head with that for the last year or so since he suggested the new law. Lots of County Republicans and Republicans from around the state told me that they were furious with him for that.
Since the readership of my blog (rule-303.blogspot.com) is probably 70% Republicans despite my being a Democrat, I’d like to think that hitting him on it again right on election day made a difference of some kind. I also emailed a lot of Albemarle Republicans that I know on the morning of election day and reminded them of Camblos’ proposed gun restriction. EVERY SINGLE ONE who was eligible to vote told me that he or she was voting to throw Camblos out.
I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one out there hitting Camblos on this issue. If I picked up on this then certainly other people in Albemarle did as well and were telling their friends and family who own firearms not to vote for him either.
Albemarle County is probably about 50/50 now in terms of Democrats versus Republicans. So if a guy like Jim Camblos opens himself up to an attack from the right (as was the case here), it makes it pretty easy to take him down. It’s not hard to carve off a few points from the right wing over a wedge issue like firearms. You just need a credible opponent with no major vulnerabilities of his or her own, which we had in Denise Lunsford.
Jackson you might have the only blog I’ve ever seen with reasonable political comments about Albemarle and a salient discussion of the proper firearms for the dispatching of zombies.
So funny that Camblos still blames everyone for his loss but himself. Does he not get it yet that he lost due to his poor record and that few people have confidence in him anymore? It has nothing to do with the political climate of today. Wake up Jim and look in the mirror and face reality!!!!!
Wait a minute Scottsville Resident . . . You said — Dorrier does get points with me when you frame the arguments against rural protection as
“Why should a bunch of recently arrived transplants who are specifically benefiting from the same despoilment of land that they claim to hate, why should those transplants be allowed to tell someone who’s been here all their life what they can or cannot do with their property- just because they want to make sure they get to keep their pretty views.” It smacks of a “we know better than you do” snobbishness that rubs people the wrong way.”
The transplants have had little to do with pushing rural area protection. That was started by long-time residents and has been part of the Comprehensive Plan agenda for 25 years. Dennis Rooker and Sally Thomas are the current front men for that effort.
What most transplants here are pushing for is — if the Growth Areas are being used to preserve the Rural Areas, then !@#$^#$% pass some ordinances to accomplish that, or quit pushing all this development into the Growth Areas. Rural Protection around here is a myth. Sacrificing the Growth Areas and the quality of life for transplants isn’t.
People who move here certainly have a better perspective on how the Comp Plan’s strategy isn’t working. Most of them happen to live in Growth Areas because that’s where the housing is. So what views are they protecting? A view of the Giant on Pantops? Hollymead Town Center? All the car dealerships on 29 north and 250 east? The only Growth Area with a view is Crozet and they’re just 4,000 of the 45,000 folks who live in Growth Areas.
The transplants with views are the ones who live in McMansions on minimum 21-acre lots in the Rural Areas and get Land Use taxation treatment.
BTW, your assessment of the Scottsville District is right on. The Growth Areas are near Cville and isolated from most of the folks in the District. Their ox isn’t being gored. When it finally is, and that will be in the form of really high property taxes, they’ll scream like stuck pigs.
The transplants have had little to do with pushing rural area protection.
You need to see the BOD for Charlottesville Tomorrow, almost all are transplants. Many are rich and live in houses much larger in than McMansions. The transplants have been financing this fight and it ridiculous to pretend otherwise. That is not to say they don’t have the right or that what happened in White Hall was anything but democracy in action. To say that transplants aren’t a driving force is just not accurate.
Of course, how long do you have to live in a place before that changes? Is it a percentage of life, as soon as your an adult, or must you be born there.
We need a common definition for “transplants” in this discussion. For some folks a long-term resident has been here 5 years, for some a long-term resident is someone whose grandparents were born here.
Dave, that is so true. Poor Mr. Camblos does not know how to “go quietly into the night”, apparently. I’m still having trouble linking the War in Iraq to Mr. Camblos’ loss, particularly since other Republicans won. Perhaps I should send him some information on Gen. MacArthur and his old soldiers fading away, gig.
I wrote:
That’s just one way I’ve heard the argument “against” framed. Accurate or not (and I’m not really up to debating whether it is or not) – accurate or not the perception is that rural protection is being driven by transplants.
I don’t like developers any better than the next guy. But the “pro” rural protection people have to get much better at getting out the details of “how” rural protection doesn’t hurt the average private landholder. Because rural people don’t think “Gee I only have a quarter of an acre or an acre this won’t affect me.” No, they think “Well what if I had that ginormous farm/estate I always dreamed of…”
When property taxes went up the recently in the County of Albemarle, the Town of Scottsville saw an increase of 31.87%. The Scottsville District saw an increase of 31.08% (numbers courtesy of Jim Duncan). That’s enough of an increase to say “ouch.”
What happens to property taxes after rural protection is implemented? Eventually they’ll run out of land and that scarcity will cause rural property owners to get hit even harder. Because when real estate is scarce and expensive how much space (square footage and acreage) a person has becomes a measure of wealth.
I see what you mean, and you make a good point. It’s all relative (pun intended).
If you’re parents came from somewhere else but you were born here, your parents are transplants, you are not.
I’d be willing to allow a transplant who arrived during the 1970’s and still lives here, to allow him/her to be considered an honorary native.
I would be a “Dorrier Native” (my own phrase for it, and not one I’m terribly fond of either) since my Grandparents and their parents before them hailed from Virginia (and as far as I know several generations before them were from VA too).
In Scottsville I am “a transplant” because I didn’t grow up in Scottsville. And in Scottsville you’re not a native unless your family has been around Scottsville for at least a generation. If you can trace your linage in the area to several of the “founding families” (my name for them- they’re usually surnames one finds when Scottsville looks back to it’s glory days two centuries ago- which it does frequently) well then you’re Scottsville Royalty. The irony of course is that it was the transplants that generated whatever renaissance Scottsville has in recent years enjoyed.
And to get back on topic since I’ve strayed. I Didn’t see many political ads, and I don’t make my decisions based on them. But I loved the Victims United ad against Camblos ad. I personally don’t think that anyone who saw it should’ve been able to vote in favor of him. I got a big chunk of my candidate info from the “Charlottesville Tomorrow” and “Charlottesville Podcasting Network” podcasts which I subscribe to via I-tunes. I can’t actually go to the meetings but I can find the time to listen to them.