Roemmelt Highlight's Marshall's Lack of Effectiveness in the 13th

A great article in today's Gainesville Times highlighted the candidacy of Bruce Roemmelt of Haymarket, who is running a strong grassroots campaign against Delegate Robert Marshall in the 13th.

In the article, Roemmelt highlights one of the most important reasons to replace Marshall -- he is so focused on divisive social and fringe pet issues, he is ineffective at promoting legislation that serves his constituents:

"I think the transportation issues need to be dealt with," he said. "We need to stop trying to divert people's attention with all of these divisive social issues."

Marshall, a conservative Republican, is best known for introducing bills to fight abortion, homosexuality and stem cell research. He did not return calls for comment.

Roemmelt pointed to Marshall's lack of success in getting his bills passed. This year, only seven of Marshall's 36 bills -- about 19 percent -- were approved by the legislature. In contrast, Manassas Del. Harry Parrish (R) won approval on almost 48 percent of his bills.

"It's about putting out the fire -- it's not just about spraying water," Roemmelt said of Marshall.

Roemmelt also does a great job of illustrating why focusing on issues such as transportation demonstrates the Democrats are the party that truly cares about family values:

"I'm a Democrat. I kind of bristle when people say we don't have family values. Family values are things that are important to families and kids," he said, adding that if residents spend less time stuck in traffic, they'll have more time to spend with their families.

"Most of the issues that we talk about -- crime and how kids do in school and how we raise our kids -- most of these have to do with time," he said, adding that quality time together is the most important family value.

It's so great to finally hear Democrats like Bruce talking about the importance of time with families being the foundation of standing up for "family values".  The rise of the 50-70 hour workweek, the decline of unions, the loss of weekends -- all of these have contributed to the erosion of community and the end of many marriages. 

Fighting for sound transportation policies that allow people to spend more time with their spouses and their children are ways that elected leaders can protect marriage, not by writing discrimination into the Virginia constitution, as Marshall spends his time trying to do.  Roemmelt continues to impress voters with his common-sense focus on the needs of ordinary Virginia families.

Comments

[Annie]

It's SO GREAT to finally have someone running against Robert Marshall. I confess I havne't been as involved in state politics as I should be, but when I went into the voting booth in 2003 and didn't see anyone running against this nutjob, I was furious. I wrote myself in rather than checking the box for Marshall.

What Marshall did in the Hugh Finn case was disgusting. He's completely obsessed with abortion and does NOTHING for regular people here in Prince William. If he wants to go work full time on opposing abortion, that's fine. But that's not appropriate for a Delegate --- there are other important things that we need here and he's totally obsessed with his "pro-life" agenda, not on what we actually need.

Thanks to Bruce, we'll have a choice this time. And you bet we're going to take it.

[kathy]

Great strategy. We OWN the issues that really impact families--beiing able to find a job and making a decent wage, having access to healthcare, and not spending our lives stuck in traffic (Note to NoVAns: if you move to richmond, you can avoid the traffic and buy a house much much cheaper...)

[Jason Bradfield]

I am glad to see a Democrat seriously addressing the issue of America's time poverty. Some progressives have already addressed this issue in an activist, non-political manner: http://www.simpleliving.net/timeday/default.asp

Democrats should make ending America's time poverty a centerpiece of their agenda.