maggiebeth's blog

This may come as a surprise to some, but the current economic downturn hasn’t hit the rural parts of the state quite as hard as it has the rest of the Commonwealth. Truth be told, these areas of the state often already in the middle of an economic recession that began long before the crash in October. Here are some sobering statistics:

Martinsville has the highest unemployment in Virginia with 20.2 percent of people unable to find working in February 2009. In December 1999, however, unemployment was already at 19.6 percent as another textile factory closed, according to the Martinsville Bulletin. There were some dips between 1999 and 2009, but not by much.

The Cynthia Neff for Delegate campaign is now accepting applications for the following three internship positions in Virginia's 58th District. If any of these positions strike you as interesting, e-mail Lionel Dripps at lionel.dripps@gmail.com

Deeds Country seeks current college or high school students wishing to gain high-level campaign experience in a fast-paced office for a full or part-time internship in the Charlottesville-Harrisonburg-Staunton region. We are seeking motivated, organized, and reliable individuals to assist the campaign's political staff with day-to-day duties. Such duties include working with Democratic and other community leaders, doing visibility, performing research, database development, and other tasks as necessary.

Deep in the heart of the Fightin' Ninth Congressional District yesterday a dedicated group of volunteers and staffers escorted Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner, and Steve Shannon to the Galax Fiddlers' Convention. This part of the state helped now-Senator Warner gain the Governor's Mansion in 2001. Our slate of candidates received a warm welcome as Sen. Deeds read a letter from Governor Kaine. Organizers (the Fraternal Order od the Moose) estimated over 50,000 people attended the event last night. Although Bob McDonnell spoke in the afternoon, he left before things heated up and left surrogates such as former RPVA Chairman Jeff Frederick to speak in favor of him. He sure did miss a good time.

Greetings from beautiful Galax, Virginia! I am on the ground here at the 74th annual Oldtime Fiddlers’ Convention. Felts Park is just full to bursting with oldtime and bluegrass musicians and fans. I’m looking forward to y’all joining us on Saturday to hand out stickers for our statewide candidates when the size of Galax swells an additional 50,000 people. Plan to meet at 6:30 p.m. at the front gate. Admission costs $12 and there will also be lots of wonderful food and craft vendors.

From the archives of the Rural Caucus e-mail:

This is my home district. Don't get me wrong, Del. Dave Nutter is a really nice guy. I've seen him out at Ruritan meetings, square dances, and the like. You couldn't ask to meet a more personable, warm guy. The problem, remains, however, that he is often just plain wrong on the issues. Nutter most recently voted against unemployment relief for Virginians to the tune of $125 million.