Thoughts?

I got a phone recording telling me Flanary was Bill Clinton's personal trainer. I also attended a candidate forum where he apologized to the crowd because he had to leave early to take care of his sick bulldog. Not impressed.

Sounds like he has a plan But I don't think I'm in his area.

In the steaming pile that is the teaocracy party, Flanary stands apart. Kind of like a kernel of used corn amongst raw sewage that is republicans

Flanary is a phony. His word, or promise, means nothing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/in-fairfax-senate-race-partisan-politics-just-below-the-surface/2011/10/13/gIQAyxyumL_story.html

It doesn't look like this race is in play. The WashPost called Flanary out on his double talk with taxes and no articles even mention the race as a targeted senate race which makes sense given the abysmal fundraising effort from Flanary.

This guy is an embarrassment. Marines don't brag about being marines.

By Victoria Ross
Tuesday, October 18, 2011


The third debate between Republican Jason Flanary and Incumbent Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37), which took place Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church, began politely. The candidates shook hands, and the audience gave a round of applause when Marsden announced that it was his wife Julia’s birthday.

But what started with a whimper ended with a bang when simmering tensions and allusions about ethical breaches spilled over into the candidates’ closing comments.

Since September, the Marsden campaign has floated questions about Flanary’s ethics. One charge is an allegation of plagiarism when the 32-year-old was a campaign consultant for a number of Virginia House Republicans in the 2003 elections, which Flanary hotly denied during the debate.

The second charge is that Flanary, a pro-business lobbyist endorsed by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, signed Grover Norquist’s American Tax Reform (ATR) Pledge, vowing not to support any tax increases.

In two separate interviews with The Connection, Flanary maintained he did not sign the pledge. He did acknowledge sending a letter to ATR on Aug. 19, promising to hold the line on taxes by opposing any efforts to increase taxes that are not “revenue-neutral.”

On Aug. 21, his name appeared on the ATR website in a news item stating that he was a signatory along with his primary opponent Steve Hunt (R).

“I would not sign the pledge because I need the flexibility, the maneuverability to reform the tax structure as a legislator,” he said at the debate Sunday.

“In the primary, Jason Flanary wanted to take the pledge quickly,” said Grover Norquist, president of ATR, in a phone interview on Monday afternoon. “The letter he sent is verbatim my pledge, and my chief of staff told him ‘OK, we’ll put you down as a pledge taker.’ I don’t understand how he is parsing this.”

Norquist said some candidates want to be certain that the pledge does not get in the way of “revenue-neutral” tax reform. “It’s my understanding that’s what he thought his challenge was, but once that was cleared up in his mind, he signed the pledge.”

The ATR pledge, which has become a rallying cry in some conservative circles, asks candidates and incumbents to sign a pledge stating: “I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”

On Monday, Flanary provided The Connection with an electronic copy of the letter he sent to ATR on Aug. 19. It reads:

“Throughout my campaign, I have promised the taxpayers of the 37th Senate District, and all the people of Virginia, that I will oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes that are not revenue neutral. As your State Senator, I will continue this promise while working to keep our taxes low, reducing wasteful government spending and ensuring our tax dollars are being spent in an effective and efficient way.”

Flanary said he felt pressured to send the letter to fend off attacks from the ATR during the primary campaign.

"My response is the same no matter how many times I am asked, no, I did not sign the pledge. Over the summer, ATR asked me sign their tax pledge and I declined. They attacked me with phone calls saying I refused to sign the pledge. After that, I provided them my position on keeping taxes low, spending tax dollars wisely and restructuring the tax code to help businesses and families throughout the Commonwealth."
He said his letter was never intended to constitute support of the pledge.

“There is a difference between a promise and signing the pledge,” Flanary said.

“This reminds me of the Clintonian definition on sex. He’s being too clever by half, and it will remind voters of what they don’t like about politicians,” said Jeremy Mayer, an associate professor at George Mason University’s School of Public Policy, when asked Monday what he thought of Flanary’s letter and the ATR Pledge.

“It’s like saying, ‘Hey, I said I wouldn’t raise taxes, not that I wouldn’t raise revenue,’ or ‘ I was for the bill before I was against it,’ which is what got John Kerry in so much trouble,” Mayer said.

After the debate Sunday, Marsden said he thinks that Flanary is trying to wriggle out of his pledge because the voters in the 37th District, a swing district with a blend of Republicans and Democrats, would be against it.

“I don’t know how you can say you will pay for all these transportation projects, and then sign the pledge. … I think Jason lives in a gray world,” Marsden said.

Del. Tim Hugo (R-40), who did sign the pledge, hired Flanary to run his 2003 campaign. He said on Monday he believes Flanary did not sign the pledge.

“He said he did not sign it, and I respect that. He’s a Marine, and his only pledge is to the United States Constitution,” Hugo said. “What I see is Dave Marsden attacking him on [the pledge issue], and that says to me that Marsden will continue to raise taxes, and Jason will hold the line on taxes,” Hugo said. “I think it’s sad what Dave Marsden will say about a decorated Marine to get elected.”

Marsden and Flanary both prodded each other with elliptical references to ethics throughout the two-hour debate. But the antagonism was held in check until the final comments.

“This is all about qualifications, experience and results, which is something I will continue to bring to Richmond,” Marsden said in his final comments. “You’re not going to solve problems by pie-in-the-sky platitudes, or using someone else’s ideas.”

“This is going to sound like a silly question, but bear with me for a minute,” Flanary said in his closing statements. “How many people here have heard of Bernie Madoff? Does he have any integrity? My opponent is taking the word of someone who threatened to kill his wife over me, a decorated Marine.”

The cryptic comments seemed to baffle some audience members, who approached the candidates at the end of the debate for clarification.

Flanary said he was responding to Marsden’s references that Flanary plagiarized an ad in the 2003 campaign of Morgan Morris, a Republican candidate for the 6th District seat in the House of Delegates.

At the time, Flanary said he was working as a campaign consultant for 17 Republican candidates in the General Assembly and had nothing to do with the radio ad.

In a Oct. 31 Roanoke Times article, Morris, who was convicted in 1989 in Pulaski County Circuit Court for making a threatening call to his estranged wife, publicly accused Flanary of copying an ad created by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, and said he fired Flanary.

“Look, Morgan Morris needed somebody out of his home base to blame, so he blamed me. And this is a person convicted of threatening to kills his wife, so I don’t understand why Marsden would take his word over mine,” Flanary said to several people who asked him about him his closing comments.

“What we are doing is taking the word of a credible news source,” said Kiel Brunner, Marsden’s campaign manager, on Monday.

“I’ve been running my campaign in an ethical way. I’m going to continue to work hard, and I’m not going to try to smear someone,” Flanary said. “I want to make Fairfax County a better place tomorrow than yesterday.

Marsden said he thinks his on-the-ground legislative experience, 30 years work in the state’s juvenile justice system and bipartisan style would sway voters to vote for him.

"Pledging or promising ones vote to an out-of-state special interest group is a real problem,” said Marsden. “We know that a great deal of the gridlock in politics is caused by these pledges and promises. My 40 years of public service drive my decision making process, Jason needs to take a hard look at himself and determine who makes his decisions."

While Marsden raised significantly more money than Flanary — with $264,576 as of the Aug. 31 reporting period, compared to $85,724 for Flanary — both candidates are low on funds in the homestretch. According VPAP reports filed September 30, Dave Marsden has $28,613 and Jason Flanary has $30,611.

To read more about the ATR pledge, go to www.atr.org.

Wow, who let flanary agree to debates? This is embarrassing. He admits to caving to special interests? I can't vote for this guy.

So is Flanary saying he IS going to raise our taxes? Somebody needs to get this guys foot out of his mouth-he's choking big time.

well he's got a hot blonde and bruenette in his video he has my vote. and hes not an illegal.

Three votes for Flanary from my house. It's not for him, more like against Marsden, who is just too desperate to keep this seat.

Phony Flanary seems like the one who is desperate. He's got no money, no depth on the issues and questionable ethics. His own party by way of americans for tax reform/grover norquist are calling him a liar. And that bernie Madoff rant the other night at the debate was just plain weird. This wasn't ever a race beyond the primary. Game over.

Jason Flanary and his surrogates need to lay off the "I am a marine" bit. Its offensive. The guy has been accused of multiple "ethical wrongdoings". At some point everyone else isn't lying and you're not telling the truth just because you're a marine. Leave the service out of it.

Do the Va. state Senators' have to pay for the state cars they drive around in? Just wondering, because Marsden's wife is driving his- all the time.

Funny how the Wash Post ignores Marsden's mischief - he did not even live in the district when he first ran, he claimed to live in a basement of a house in the district, yet still mostly stayed with his wife and family in his out of the district home. Talk about cheating politicians.

How dare you question marsden's ethics. He's a decorated marine!

Jason Flanary "There is a difference between a promise and signing the pledge."

Pledge- a solemn promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something.

Promise- a commitment by someone to do or not do something.

Lie- to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive.

Any questions?

I got my first piece ofof mail today from Jason Flanary and it was so weird. I open my mailbox and the way the mail was folded I was greeted by the phrase "Dave Marsden threatened to kill his wife". Lovely. Anybody else get this crap? Can we focus on the issues please????

Marsden supported a Rick Perryesque in-state tuition break for illegals in VA. That's enough for me. My vote goes to Flanary by default.

So my options are Dave Marsden who has worked on various causes in a bipartisan way for 30+ years or a barely 30 Year old dude named Jason Flanary who worked for Tim Hugo and as a personal trainer and who may or may not have been fired for plagiarism and may or may not have signed the pledge to refuse to raise taxes? How am I supposed to believe Jason Flanary understands the issues my family faces when he doesn't even have one of his own? Im usually undecided at thiis point but thankfully this is an easy one. Im voting for Dave Marsden

Jason doesn't have a va-jay-jay either. He probably doesn't understand women's issues. Ha!

Are you suree he doesn't have a va jay jay? Flanary is indecisive and does whine a lot

Based on your criteria, all politicians have va-jay-jays.

How dare you say Eisenhower has a va jay jay-he's alot decorated marine!

Just saw a Marsden commercial attacking flanary which is running during morning joe. I hadn't heard about romney accusing flanaryys company of wrongdoing. And something about falsifying records with a judge? Does someone have a link to this ad?

Its on youtube

http://m.youtube.com/#/profile?user=SenDaveMarsden&v=qw8BlbR-Ly0&view=videos

Here's a link to the ad you saw: http://www.youtube.com/user/SenDaveMarsden#p/a/u/1/qw8BlbR-Ly0







and according to this link, Marsden may be able to update his file with another ethical wrongdoing

http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/doh/2011/10/texting-mystery.html

FLANARY = LOSER + OPPORTUNIST = INFLAMMATORY IDIOT.

Go away. Just go away. This is Fairfax County. Such backroom dirty-water politics doesn't play well here.

Flanary knocked on my door in August and he seemed nice but not too smart on the issues. This latest round of news seals my vote for Marsden. We don't need someone with a thin resume and dirty tricks up his sleeve in office.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/anti-democratic-text-messages-in-northern-va-prompt-lawsuit-complaints/2011/10/31/gIQA0cVdaM_story.html


Anti-Democratic text messages in Northern Va. prompt lawsuit, complaints
By Anita Kumar, Published: October 31

RICHMOND — A week before Election Day, Democrats have taken legal action to try to stop thousands of unsolicited text messages encouraging people in Northern Virginia to vote against their candidates.

A lawyer for the Democratic Party of Virginia wrote to ­ccAdvertising, a political phone and text-messaging vendor with a history of sending unsolicited messages, whose chief operating officer, Republican Jason Flanary, is running for Senate in Fairfax County. And a local Democratic activist, Ruth Miller, filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County General District Court on Monday.

Others who received texts have contacted the office of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Federal Communications Commission.

The texts have been reported in several Senate districts, including that of Flanary’s opponent, Sen. David W. Marsden, as well as Sen. George L. Barker, Sen. Linda T. “Toddy” Puller and Sen. Janet D. Howell, all Fairfax Democrats.

“When people resort to illegal or unethical tactics, it’s obviously despicable,’’ said Barker, who is facing Republican Miller Baker. “It undermines the entire process and integrity of the system.”

The messages do not identify a sender, but the state party, Marsden and others believe that ccAdvertising is behind the texts. The company did not return a call for comment.

But Brian Coy, spokesman for the Democratic Party, said a ­ccAdvertising lawyer told the party that the company did not admit to sending the texts.

FreeEats, the parent company of ccAdvertising, has been fined for similar conduct in North Dakota, according to news reports. Americans in Contact political action committee, which lists Flanary as executive director, has been tied to unsolicited messages in other states, including North Carolina, Illinois and Pennsylvania, according to published reports.

Both companies have given in-kind services to Flanary’s campaign, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics. Many other Republicans in Virginia also employ ccAdvertising.

“Given your company’s past use of technology for this exact purpose and your stake in Mr. Flanary’s race both as a service provider and employer, there is obviously strong reason to believe that ccAdvertising is the entity that has transmitted these unsolicited text messages,’’ the Democratic party’s lawyer wrote in a letter to the company.

Flanary, a former vice president of government relations for the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, did not return a call for comment Monday.

“It’s pretty clear this is what my opponent does for a living,’’ Marsden said. “It’s pretty consistent with the research we have done on him.”

In the final days of the campaign, attacks by Republicans and Democrats are rampant.

Republicans are fighting to gain control of the Virginia Senate next week as they try to take the last bastion of Democratic power in Richmond.

Democrats are accusing Republicans of trying to “scare” voters with the text messages, which began more than a week ago, as they try to win two seats to seize control of the Senate.

Dave Rexrode, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia, said he had no knowledge of the texts.

One text message says: “OBAMA and his VA DEMOCRAT allies want to RAISE YOUR TAXES. Send a message. DO NOT vote for VA Democrats on 11/08/11.”

Republicans across the state have been trying to tie Democrats to an increasingly unpopular President Obama in recent weeks in speeches, campaign mailers and TV ads.

A second text message singled out Marsden: “Dave Marsden voted to allow Ffx County Schools to HIDE FROM PARENTS when they discipline kids. Ask Dave why.’’ It listed his campaign’s phone number.

Marsden said he voted against a bill this year that would have required schools to tell parents if their children had been disciplined, but he said he supported the concept. He said it was not clear how the school districts were supposed to notify the parents, and he wanted to work further on the bill with its sponsor, Del. Kaye Kory (D-Fairfax).

Marsden’s campaign said it has received about 250 responses to the text messages. Another dozen complaints went to the Democratic party.

Cuccinelli spokesman Brian Gottstein said that the attorney general’s office does not comment on its investigations but that it would investigate if it received a request from the State Board of Elections. A spokeswoman for the Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is referring people to the FCC, a spokeswoman said.

Dave Mills, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said he believes the texts violate federal law that bans unwanted communication sent to wireless devices.

Miller, a lawyer who is active in Democratic politics in Fairfax, filed a complaint with the FCC and sued in General District Court, where she believes she can receive $500 to $1,500 per unwanted message. “It seems pretty straightforward,’’ she said.

What a year. For school board, we have the guy who was a student, so he knows. The lady who read something somewhere and said that is not right. The may who (sadly I admit) lost his child, then decided to take up that battle. There are more than their person missions to this election. There is more to the big picture. These folks do not get it. They do not get my vote either.

Marsden isn't that bad. The voters would be insane to trade him in for this sleaze. Jason Flanary has nothing to offer but lies and mud slinging. Flanary would be better served if he got a real job and someI relevant experience instead of making a living off of dirty campaigning.

I'm going to have to go with senator Dave Marsden on this one. Mr Flanary just has too many red flags..

I find it funny how he tries to sell him self as a Marine, when he was stuck at Camp David trying to keep Bill Clinton in shape and probably polishing guns.