IN THE NEWS: Democrats have an edge in fundraising overall, but Republicans are heading into the November election with more cash on hand for House of Delegates races. The latest round of campaign finance disclosures saw a record amount of campaign cash for an off-year election, and we're just getting started. Virginia once had a big advantage over Maryland in landing the new FBI because of its proximity to the FBI Academy at Quantico. But now the government agency that will choose the location is changing the criteria to give less weight to proximity to Quantico and more weight to cost and social impact. At the Watercooler: Thomas discusses the potential for Glenn Youngkin to serve as a less-catastrophic Republican presidential nominee than Donald Trump, and Michael talks about the national politics on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Episode Transcript

Michael Pope  

And this is Pod Virginia podcast that is celebrating August, which is women's suffrage month. Indian American Heritage Month, Breastfeeding Awareness Month, Black Business Month, and also, and I'm not making this up, losing loved ones in a tragic accident month.

Thomas Bowman  

Oddly specific holidays are getting so specific, Michael, that I hope September is walking into a room only to forget that you were there for a month.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, like, isn't that every month?

Thomas Bowman  

I think it's every day for men. 

Michael Pope  

Alright, okay, let's get to the news. Show me the money. Democrats have an edge in fundraising overall. But Republicans are heading into the November election with more cash on hand for House of Delegates races. The latest round of campaign finance disclosure saw a record amount of campaign cash for and off off-year election. And Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says we are just getting started. 

Stephen Farnsworth  

This is going to be one of the hardest-fought campaign cycles in Virginia history. Both parties are raising immense amounts of money compared to the past. And both parties are going to be looking at a lot of vulnerable incumbents and promising challengers as they try to reshape the legislature that takes office next January.

Thomas Bowman  

There's a Senate race in Loudoun County, for example, where one candidate has already raised over a million dollars, and another candidate has raised almost half a million dollars. Both are apparently running on the platform that they want to buy a yacht. Senate District 31. Michael has Democrat Russet Perry versus Republican Juan Pablo Segura; here's what a friend of the show David Ramadan had to say about that. 

David Ramadan  

This particular senator will probably end up being the most expensive State Senate race in the history of the Commonwealth. We will probably exceed $5 to $6 million in this race. And this race could either affirm the majority of the Democrats in the Senate, or it could flip and give the Republicans a leg up towards gaining the majority in the Senate.

Michael Pope  

No pressure there. So gosh, $5 to $6 million. I mean, that's nuts like I You heard it here first, folks, $5 to $6 million for this one state Senate race. I mean, like, there's there are a lot of congressional seats across the country that aren't that expensive. What do you make of these huge numbers, historic numbers that we're seeing here?

Thomas Bowman  

Yet, these specifically the senate districts are going to just be saturated with campaign cash because of the way that the Supreme Court ended up drawing these district lines; most of the competitive House seats are nestled within these competitive Senate seats. And look, here's what I have to say about that a lot of the people who are about to retire are holding on to a lot of cash, according to these new finance numbers.

Michael Pope  

If you look at the people who are retiring, I mean, Saslaw is the best example of this; he's sitting on a million dollars, and there are just a million dollars of almost a million dollars cash on hand that he can give to the caucus, or he can give to Russet Perry, or he can give to any of these candidates that are in tough races. 

Thomas Bowman  

It's good to be King Michael. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah, it's good to be well, so you know, the equivalent of that on the Republican side is Tommy Norman, who doesn't have a million dollars, but he's got a quarter of a million dollars. So like, he's also sitting on a quarter million dollars that he can give to the caucus, or to Juan Pablo Segura, or any candidate that he wants to give it to? 

Thomas Bowman  

Well, remember that Dick Saslaw is the Senate Leader. So the Republican equivalent to that would actually be the Speaker of the House, Todd Gilbert.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, not retiring there. But yeah, but I mean, if you look at the other, like senior senators who are retiring, they all have a huge chunk of change. John Edwards has $100,000 that he can distribute. Steven Newman's got $90,000. Cash on hand, Janet Howell has got $80,000 cash on hand. So this kind of historic wave of retirements is kind of a wildcard because those retiring senators get to distribute that money mainly to the caucuses but also to individual candidates as they see fit. It's also, I think, worth looking at the cash on hand. So there's an interesting disparity here between the senate members, the Senate candidates who have the most cash on hand versus the House members who have the most cash on hand, because on the Senate side, this the senators who have the most cash on hand are in really competitive races like Monty Mason, Siobhan Dunnavant or Schuyler van Valkenburgh. Whereas on the House side, the candidates that have the most cash are leadership people, Barry Knight, Terry Kilgore, Charniele Herring, Luke, Torian; I mean, like, there is a really interesting disparity that the piles of cash on the Senate side are candidates that actually need the money and are going to spend it, whereas the House candidates that have the most cash on hand are leadership, people who are going to distribute it.

Thomas Bowman  

Yeah, that makes sense. Because a, there are a lot fewer senators, and there are general assembly members, and that can potentially, if you're somebody who's contributing money, in the hopes that you will fall into the good graces of the sitting incumbents, there's a lot more expensive races to be had, or a lot more people to consider in the House, that there are in the Senate. So it makes a lot of sense that they're concentrating their fire on contributing to leadership in the House. Look, it's also, I will say, easier to raise money when you're in the majority for a lot of reasons because donors, lobbyists, and people who want something from you want you to pass their client's bills. Right? So that means that you're going to be giving money to committee chairs, generally speaking, and the people who get to say yes or no, to the things that you and or your clients want. And the other thing I'll point out, Michael, is that you are absolutely right to point out that cash on hand is a very important metric to consider because while the Democrats have an advantage overall with the cash that they've raised in this cycle, the Republicans have more cash on hand. And that's because the Democrats had a ton of expensive primaries that forced them to drain their bank accounts. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah, and another sort of angle on this is not reflected in these numbers that we're looking at. We're looking at numbers of candidates or numbers from the General Assembly. So what's not reflected in that is this historic amount of money raised by the Governor, who is breaking all the fundraising numbers. So everybody thought of McAuliffe as being the king of fundraising, but Youngkin is blowing McAuliffe out of the water here in his fundraising total, so, like, that's money that he is going to distribute among Republican candidates in tight races and talk about being a kingmaker. I mean, Youngkin is about to really be a kingmaker, or if the performance isn't what's expected, he could also end up with a lot of egg on his face, too. The rest of his time as Governor, and even his reputation, is really going to come down to how this election cycle plays out.

Thomas Bowman  

Well, that's certainly one read about it. But it also is Political Science 101. In many respects, the Governor has an agenda that he wants the legislature to pass, and as long as it's a divided legislature, he's not going to get many of the things that he wants to pass. And that creates an opportunity in fundraising to appeal to donors, specifically large donors who may be ideologically inclined toward the Governor himself, and he can make an appeal like helped me take the Senate so that we have a trifecta, as the Democrats in 2019 learned is a very compelling message to donors, it's a lot easier to say, give us money to help take a chamber than it is to say give us money to hold a chamber because it's not as compelling to people. They think the work is already done. 

Michael Pope  

All right, let's move on to our next story. Gmen in the Free State of Virginia once had a really big advantage over Maryland in terms of landing the new FBI headquarters because of its proximity to the FBI Academy at Quantico. But now, the government agency that will choose the location of the new FBI headquarters is changing the criteria to give less weight to proximity to Quantico and more weight to cost and social impact. Senator Mark Warner says Virginia clearly meets the mission of the FBI.

Mark Warner  

Anyone who doesn't understand that increasingly in a complicated geopolitical rural, the FBI's role is critically intertwined with our other national security agencies. That is, especially on the Intel side, virtually all on the Virginia side show a remarkable lack of understanding of the issue in the problem.

Thomas Bowman  

The General Services Administration already owns a 58-acre site in Springfield, and Governor Glenn Youngkin says Virginia is clearly the best choice.

Glenn Youngkin  

we meet the mission of the FBI. Most squarely, proximity to Quantico, proximity to the intelligence community, proximity to a ready workforce, proximity to infrastructure, and transportation capabilities that are far superior. And from an economic standpoint, it's better for taxpayers. 

Michael Pope  

But Youngkin's comments might come back to haunt him. So you might remember last summer, he criticized the FBI for, quote, politically motivated actions after the search of Mar-a-Lago. So, as a result of those comments, Maryland Governor Westmore is using those comments against Virginia, saying Virginia isn't really a good fit for the FBI after all because then here's the Governor, I mean, wanting to defund the FBI. The Governor actually never said that he wanted to defund the FBI. But that's what Wes Moore said. So, it is really interesting that if Virginia loses out on the FBI headquarters, these comments that Youngkin made about the search for Mar-a-Lago actually might end up playing a role in that.

Thomas Bowman  

Yeah, look, if I were advising the Governor here, I would probably quote him and say selective, politically motivated actions have no place in our democracy. Because look, if Glenn Youngkin wants the FBI here, and as we record this, by the way, Michael, it is, frankly, hours after it got announced last night that former President Trump got indicted by the federal government for his handling of classified information, and a lot more than that. So the opportunity here for Glenn Youngkin is to appeal to the FBI, to tell the truth, and lead his people. It's not easy. But he could certainly distinguish himself in a very crowded Republican field, if that's something he still cares about, by becoming a vociferous defender of America's institutions, specifically the FBI. And, clearly, this note about equity here.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, actually, that's a really important point to this. So, the GSA, which is the government agency that is going to be making the decision about where to put the FBI headquarters. They've been kicking this around for a decade, 10 solid years that they have been trying to figure this out. And they've got a list of criteria, serving the mission of the FBI, transportation flexibility, equity cost, and proximity to Quantico. So, just recently, they succumbed to lobbying from Maryland to say, hey, we should change the weight of these criteria. And we should wait for the cost and social impact to be heavier than proximity to Quantico. So they actually changed the math and how they consider these criteria. Gerry Connolly, Congressman Connolly, said, Look, Maryland has rigged the system here has rigged the outcome, and a lot of people in Virginia are really unhappy that the GSA suddenly at the 11th hour has changed the criteria. But that change in the criteria might end up giving Maryland this FBI headquarters despite the fact that, basically, the intelligence apparatus is in Virginia.

Thomas Bowman  

Yeah. Well, Michael, then the obvious path forward is to quit attacking equity because, you know, Glenn Youngkin is a Christian, and Christians know lying is wrong. And attacking equity, generally, is a lie. And he's got to do some things to tamp down that rhetoric and roll it back. Because the Government Services Administration, all due respect to Congressman Connolly, what the GSA is at least indicating here is that they value the equity impact, at least as much as already owning 50 acres of Springfield for however many 10s of millions of hundreds of millions of dollars, that is that would certainly impact taxpayers and their bottom line. They think that the money that could be generated by constructing the new FBI headquarters and a place such as Landover or Greenbelt, which they're considering, is going to be just as valuable as all of the intelligence apparatus proximity near Springfield ready. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah, the equity part of this, of course, is an important discussion. Now the other change in criteria is cost. And I believe that there is a dispute about which site is cheaper because, on the Maryland side, they are saying, look, Greenbelt or Landover are cheaper options than Springfield on the Virginia side. Everybody's saying look, The GSA already owns the Springfield Campus. So how could it possibly be cheaper to put it in Maryland? So I think we actually have a disagreement between Maryland and Virginia about which side actually would be a cheaper cost. But I guess the GSA is gonna have to work all this out, even as they're changing their criteria. I mean, that's just another thing to sort of get to me like we're a decade into this. And they're just now changing the criteria.

Thomas Bowman  

Yeah, again, that shows that the people at the GSA are considering what's known in the procurement industry as Best Value procurement rather than low-bid procurement. And without derailing the conversation. A low bid, obviously, is self-explanatory, but best value takes into account other things, including social equity impact, and there's an excellent case to be made that a low bid just simply doesn't give you a robust enough outlook. And that's why most private businesses don't do low-bid contracting because sometimes it's more than just about the raw expenditure.

Michael Pope  

Sure. Yeah. I mean, it that's a really strong point that we look at these kinds of decisions differently today and in 2023 than we did a decade ago. I mean, we have a different way of looking at these things as well; we should, I mean, like, that's progress. And it would be wrong if we had the same way of looking at these decisions that we did 10 years ago. So I guess I can kind of see it, but like this is, you know, you are literally changing the rules of the game while you're playing it. But I don't know; I guess both sides have an argument clearly to make. But it's the GSA that's going to make it.

Thomas Bowman  

Well, consider that the rules of the game are made by the government. And that has not changed. They get to change the rules. And that's one of the rules. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah. And I guess we're going to have to see where the GSA goes with that. So stay tuned to Pod Virginia because I'm sure we'll circle back around to this at some point in the near future. All right, let's move on to our final story of the day. Securing the Senate, so Democrats running for the Senate this year are hoping that voters will agree with their message on voting rights and education funding. But perhaps no issue dominates the landscape more than abortion rights. Here's Democrat Russet Perry, who's running for that toss-up seat in Loudoun County,

Russet Perry  

Our access to reproductive health care, my access to reproductive health care, will come down to whether or not Democrats can hold the majority in the Virginia Senate this Fall. My seat is a tipping point for having and maintaining, and controlling a Democratic majority in the Senate.

Thomas Bowman  

No pressure, I suppose. Democrats are also hoping to tie fears about crime to gun violence prevention. Here's delicate Angelia Williams Graves, who's running for a Senate seat in Norfolk.

Angelia Williams Graves  

While we were in committee and Public Safety Committee one evening, someone got shot and killed right up the street on Broad Street. And you know what the subject of our public safety committee was? It was bill after bill on gun safety laws, common sense gun safety laws that were proposed. And they were killed by Republicans in the House of Delegates.

Michael Pope  

So Democrats had a press conference last week; it was like 100 days to the election kind of press conference where they had several of their candidates talking about issues that were important to them. So they had Aaron Rouse speak about voting rights. Jennifer Boysko goes talked about Virginia being the last southern state with abortion rights. Russet Perry, you heard the clip there. She talked about her seat being the tipping point. Scholar van Valkenburg, a friend of the show, talked about education funding. Monty Mason talked about the importance of the budget. Clint Jenkins talked about the danger of giving tax breaks to millionaires. Angelia Williams Graves, you heard her there, tying fears about rising crime to gun violence prevention; Natan McKenzie talked about investing in young people. And Joel Griffith warned about the dangers of book burning in his district. So Thomas, what do you make of this field of Democratic candidates here who are trying to maintain control of the Virginia State Senate?

Thomas Bowman  

Michael, again, given the context of where we are with the President having just gotten indicted for a crazy conspiracy, as well as the things that are already out there, and gun safety being an issue that plays very well in the favor of Democrats, especially in the suburbs, and in urban areas? I would respectfully suggest to my friends in the Republican Party or people who can't stand me in the Republican Party, that considering the fact that the NRA has already proven in court to have been accepting money from Russia, perhaps they should not be letting the NRA drive the train here on gun policy because their motives are incredibly suspect. The other thing I would say is that no issue is going to dominate elections again, especially in The suburbs, like abortion rights. And once again, the Republicans on abortion rights, especially with Roe v Wade being overturned, they've walked up to a cliff, and voters are going to slaughter them for it. So the easy path forward actually for Glenn Youngkin if he truly wants to rebrand the Republican Party and remake the Republican Party and a non-MAGA Trump image is that he needs to reassure people that he supports the separation of church and state and that he's going to shield the rights of women to have equal access to their reproductive health care. Because we know that this has been a wedge issue weaponized by the Republicans in order to advance their own cold political agendas. And, again, because Glenn Youngkin and many other Republicans that evangelicals consider themselves true believers, I would point them toward Amos 113; This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders. Michael, when abortions happen to people, almost always, it's usually one of the worst moments of a person's life or the couple's life. So what I'll say is that often abortions are medically necessary, not necessarily to protect the life of the mother, but to protect the capacity and the life of the mother's reproductive systems so that one day, she can actually give birth to a viable baby. When a woman is forced at any number of weeks to not be able to have an abortion or to abort an unviable baby, that can cause the woman's uterus to effectively become barren for the rest of her life. So if you're trying to grow our population, if you're trying to protect the ability to grow life, then the thing to do is to withdraw and walk back that 15-week ban because, yeah, he's going to take flak from his own people, but that's going to require strength. And if he's at 0% nationally, and he wants to run for President, he's going to have to cut a different approach. And that is one thing that he could do that would also indicate to all of the other Republican candidates in the field that they can perhaps, depending on the district, hide behind the Governor and say I support the Governor's policy agenda, broadly speaking, even if they have their own opinions and own conscious on abortion. 

Well, obviously, abortion is going to be the central issue here in this Loudon race. I mean, you heard the audio there from Russet Perry, is that she is the linchpin, she is the tipping point. If she wins the election, then abortion rights will be protected. If she loses the election, then they're at risk. Her opponent, the Republican Juan Pablo Segura, his position, is that he supports Governor Youngun's 15-week limit with exceptions. Here's the thing about that 15-week limit, it actually polls pretty well. I mean, despite what people think about abortion and there the position that they have on supporting abortion rights. You will recall last year, and I think it was in October, there was this polling from Christopher Newport University that had 51% of respondents say they would support a ban on abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy. So I mean, there is a nuance here that people support abortion rights. However, the 15-week ban actually has majority support.

Yeah, and the Governor has the platform where, if he were to vocalize the truth, that he could probably change some of those people's minds because the reality on abortion is no legitimate medical organization or professional would ever say that abortion should be banned after 15 weeks because often, Michael, people don't even know they're pregnant at 15 weeks that can happen frequently. And this plays into the myth that people are trying to use abortion as birth control, and that's just not the case. 

Michael Pope  

One other thing worth mentioning about this press conference that happened last week where you had these rails and boys go, Perry, Van Valkenburg, Mason, Jenkins, Graves, Makenzie, and Griffith, that it was moved by Senator Lock. And serval was not part of the press conference. And think there were a lot of people who read that and interpreted that as a potential sign of things that might be to come in terms of the fight for leadership. So with the retirement of Saslaw, there's a vacant spot there for Democratic Leader in the Senate, potentially Majority Leader in the Senate. Thomas, what do you make of the fact that Locke was in charge of this press conference and Surovell was not part of it? Is that an indication of where things might be in terms of the battle for leadership that's going on behind the scenes?

Thomas Bowman  

I think that's probably a stretch Michael. The reality is Scott Surovell is a busy man and spends a lot of time in court and trial. And it's entirely likely and plausible that he just wasn't available at that point or in a reasonable amount of time to do this press conference. There's a lot that goes into scheduling, and a lot of people have to compromise based on that because we do not have a professional legislature that requires this member to have day jobs. And Senator Surovell's day job often keeps him busy. And so I don't know who was or wasn't at that conference and the decisions that got made into making those choices, but often, it's usually something that's not 3D Chess, per se, in these situations.

Michael Pope  

All right, well, let's take a break. When we come back, we'll go around the Commonwealth, we'll play a round of trivia will, read your comments, and we will head over to the water cooler.

We're back on Pod Virginia, and it's time to go around the Commonwealth. The Regional Airport in Manassas is one step closer to offering regular passenger flights.

Thomas Bowman  

Finally, now you can be treated poorly by a stranger in Northern Virginia, just like every other airport in the country.

Michael Pope  

In Portsmouth, the City Council voted to prevent the Mayor from tossing people out of meetings without a majority vote.

Thomas Bowman  

The Mayor immediately resigned, stating dang, bullying is actually why I got into politics. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah, him and a bunch of other people. Northern Virginia is officially the data center capital of the entire world. So I think it's about time we wrote a joke for them.

Thomas Bowman  

0111001

Michael Pope  

A councilwoman in Newport News is wondering if a recent leadership change is racially motivated after stating she's the only white council member for a majority-white district. She said quote, I would hate to make that statement. 

Thomas Bowman  

I hate to break it to you. But you actually just made the statement.

Michael Pope  

The Richmond-headquartered Atlantic Union Bank and the Danville-based American National are merging.

Thomas Bowman  

The outdoor ceremony occurred at Libby Hill, with both families and attendants concluding with Atlantic Union walking down the aisle to the tune of Here Comes the Bank.

Michael Pope  

A new public housing pilot program in Richmond would allow for approved mortgages based on a history of regular payments rather than a credit score.

Thomas Bowman  

I liked the old way better; so much easier to judge people said one guy who looks suspiciously like your landlord.

Michael Pope  

Okay, it's time to play some trivia. Last week, we asked you about the legendary Delegate Ken Plum, who is retiring after a very long career in the House of Delegates. We wanted to know when was he first elected?

Thomas Bowman  

Alright, Michael, tell us, when was Delegate Ken Plum first elected?

Michael Pope  

He was first elected in 1977, which is a bit of a trick question because if you check the Red Book, it says he was elected in 1981. That's because he was initially elected in 77. But then he lost reelection in 79. And he made a comeback in 1981. So the Red Book reflects his current service and office.

Thomas Bowman  

And what a comeback it was because he is now the longest-serving member of the House of Delegates. Seniority ranked number one.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, we had several people play the game this week. Joe Szymanski guessed 1977. So, good guests there. Jackie Gary guest 1975.

Thomas Bowman  

And Pete Gibson chimed in to say he was sure it was postwar; which were we talking about here, though? 

Michael Pope  

Yeah. Alright, only one person chimed in first with the correct answer. That was Andrew Millin, who gave the correct answer, which was 1977. He also gets extra credit for pointing out the hiatus from '80 to '82

Thomas Bowman  

Way to go, Andrew Million, teacher's pet. 

Michael Pope  

So congratulations, Andrew Millin. Thomas! Tell him what he's won.

Thomas Bowman  

All right. We've got a couple of things we're running through legal we'll find out if they approve it. So the first one, as I was more bobblehead, asked him if our FBI headquarters were coming to Virginia and watched him nod away.

Michael Pope  

We also have this potential prize gag prize that is a collector's item that came out post-war; which war? We're still not sure. All right, and our trivia question for next week. Because we are looking at these new campaign finance numbers. I wanted to look at the most expensive Senate races. So this year, we saw a record of campaign spending for the Senate races. The Lucas, the Louis Lucas versus Lionel Spriull, was more than $3 million. That's the record-breaking Senate race. That's the most expensive Senate primary ever in Virginia history. And then Eric Morrissey is the second most expensive. Carroll Foy versus Ayala is the third most expensive. Deeds versus Hudson is the fourth most expensive, so we had a lot of record-breaking primaries this year. Okay, so here's the trivia question for next week. What was the previous record-breaking Senate primary before 2023? What Senate primary was the most expensive ever in Virginia history? I'll give you a hint. It was from 2019.

Thomas Bowman  

Alright, if you think you know, hit us up.

Michael Pope  

Hit us up on socials, and you might not even win something. All right, Thomas. Let's head over to the water cooler. What's the latest you're hearing around the water cooler?

Thomas Bowman  

Michael, not necessarily what I'm hearing, but I wanted to point something out because I've been thinking long and hard about politics in this country nationally, and who wouldn't make for a good Republican nominee. And the more I think about it, especially with the indictment of President Trump, I think Americans deserve a Republican nominee who uplifts them rather than installs fear. I genuinely think that the narrative of voting Democrat or losing democracy is a threat, not a choice. And I'm not saying that I would ever vote for this person. But if Glenn Youngkin were the Republican nominee, it would avert many of the worst-case scenarios relating to national security. Can you imagine the damage that Donald Trump will do if he has over a year of being the Republican nominee presumptive to just spout all of the things that will incite chaos for the purposes of contributing to another January 6th? Can you imagine how destabilizing it will be for our alliances, who would become afraid that Donald Trump might do what he did in 2016 and win because there are no guarantees in electoral politics something, Joe Biden is at 81. That's now above the average age for males and their lifespan. So look, rather than being a seed of discord. I would like to see Glenn Youngkin promote unity by focusing on more bipartisan solutions, like what he's doing with Mark Warner on this microchip plant. Because he's got a chance to lead in that direction, that enhances the quality of life for everybody and steer clear of this divisive political climate. So look, a shift in this course, like what we've been telegraphing throughout today's episode, I think could elevate Youngkin. And he can at least offer an alternative that is decent, inspiring, and appealing to the average American. If he so chooses.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, you make a strong point about, you know, the nomination of Trump or even the election of Trump leading to some sort of situation with a civil war; you got to imagine...

Thomas Bowman  

Or one of the people who are trying to be like him, think about Ron DeSantis. 

Michael Pope  

Yeah. 

Thomas Bowman  

So it's Trump and a bunch of trumpets, you know.

Michael Pope  

I mean, you really have to think, okay, so assuming that Trump is the nominee, what happens when he loses the election? Does he unleash an angry mob, like the way that he did on January 6th? And then also, consider the scenario where he wins the presidency, and he's President for four years. How does that end? You know, like, what if he loses the next election? What does he do as President to stay in office? First, I mean, these are all things that, you know, you have to consider actually as a voter. So, yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from there in terms of which member and which potential candidate might be the best, just in terms of violence and potential civil war even.

Thomas Bowman  

Or not even just Civil War, Michael, the United States is desperately trying to hold the dogs of war at bay, not just domestically, because that is certainly happening, given what happened on January 6th and how likely people can be to get riled up over the many ongoing trials of Donald Trump. But internationally, too, there's a war in Ukraine that threatens the potential for Belarus to make a move on Poland and expand this horrible war of aggression into another world war. Certainly, we're concerned about China making a move on Taiwan. And the worst thing that I can think of, as far as those efforts go, would be to have the entire United States distracted with the chaos of the things that Donald Trump will do, say, in sight, and just generally manifest in his efforts. And the best way to avoid all of that, because that's when our enemies will pounce, when we are distracted, or, God forbid, overcome by that, is to never have that conversation in the first place. Let's just never have to go there, where the Republican opponent, the Republican nominee, is also getting indicted and facing prison for the rest of his life, if not the death penalty, depending on what the facts find. And that's a real potential outcome here, given that death by hanging is prescribed by the Constitution as a punishment for treason. And I do think it's a long shot for Glenn Youngkin, and I'm not. And he may not even want that anymore. But I do think that the way that he can stand out in a very crowded field full of people who are trying to be like Donald Trump or are going to be implicated in this crap is to be the person who is decent and likable and tells the truth. And if his goal is to move the Republican Party in a different direction that's more sustainable for the long term, then he can stand out by not even trying to appeal to those MAGA voters who are going to only be voting for Donald Trump, or someone like Ron DeSantis, he needs to appeal to that Arlington, callback here, that missing middle, right, who are either staying home because they're disgusted with politics, or they're utterly terrified by what they're seeing out of the Republican Party and want, and they're voting for Democrats. And I'll also point out that suburban voters have never been oppressed, and therefore they don't make reliable long-term Democratic voters anyway; that's what's on my mind for this water cooler, a little heavier than we normally go. But I wrote an article on LinkedIn that is sure to be controversial to many of my fellow Virginia Democrats. I'm very comfortable with my record of what I've said about my disagreements with Youngkin policies on pretty much everything. But one thing I can say about him is he's not going to try to start a civil war if he loses. And even though I will absolutely disagree with the policies that he pushes, he's going to respect our democratic institutions and maintain and strengthen our alliances abroad if he wins, and I would much rather Joe Biden lose to someone like Glenn Youngkin because that's a risk then ever face Donald Trump and let him give him that platform to say these terrible things that you know, he's going to say and do. What about you, Michael? What are you hearing about the water cooler?

Michael Pope  

Well, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. So last week, we had the supreme court rule that the construction could move forward. So this is the 300-mile pipeline that connects West Virginia to Virginia. This fossil fuel pipeline goes through Giles County, Craig County, Montgomery, Roanoke, and Franklin, so there is a lot of southwest Virginia fossil fuel here. I mean, this is old-school thinking. And you will recall our listeners were called the Fiscal Responsibility Act to order the approval of all permits. So much for the permitting process removed, also removed judicial review over the permits, and also said that only the DC Circuit Court could hear the challenges. So the latest here is the construction can move forward. So it's at this hour; it's probably already moving forward. But the three-judge panel has to figure out whether or not they want to dismiss the cases. So there are existing challenges here to the Mountain Valley Pipeline that we're already going on when Congress took action; here's the interesting twist here, the thing that still needs to be determined. Does Congress have the power to tell the courts to stop considering something? So I think this is something really significant that judges are going to have to work through here. Regardless of what they think about fossil fuels, regardless of what they think about the Mountain Valley Pipeline, there's a really important separation of powers principle here. Can Congress tell the courts to stop considering something? I think that seems like a pretty big problem to me; you know, if I were a judge, I would not want Congress interfering and my branch of government. And so I think that is something that still needs to be worked out. And so this three-judge panel might make a ruling on that it might go to the Supreme Court, but I think we could see a very important decision here about whether or not, I mean, so where does that end? So like, take Mountain Valley Pipeline out of this? Forget it for a second, like what if Congress said so you're the courts are considering? I mean, we wouldn't talk about the Trump indictment; the courts are considered, But Trump and Diamond. What if Congress passed a law that said your courts, you have to stop looking at the Trump indictment? Would that be a problem in terms of separation of powers? These are issues that are going to need to be determined here, this Mountain Valley Pipeline decision.

Thomas Bowman  

And these are valid questions. And obviously, my sympathies generally tend to lie with people trying to protect the planet. I wonder what it says that the Biden administration, like the Obama administration before them, in spirit, at least, is supportive of the Mountain Valley Pipeline? Is that just raw politics? Do you think Michael, or do you think that there's more to the story? 

Michael Pope  

It did kind of strike me as raw politics because the Biden administration needed the vote of a West Virginia Senator who wanted this pipeline, and it was, you know, a quid pro quo. They, the Biden administration, got to have its way on the debt ceiling and prevent the economy from collapsing in exchange for this fossil fuel pipeline.

Thomas Bowman  

Who knows? That's definitely above our pay grade, but I will say this, politics makes strange bedfellows, and we got to move on.

Michael Pope  

Thomas. Go ahead and open up that Pod Virginia mailbag. What are our listeners talking about?

Thomas Bowman  

We're hearing from folks over on our new threads account, where people are reacting to our discussion of Attorney General Jason Miyares, starting with the payday lenders to declare the CFPB unconstitutional. Kendler responded this way. I'm sure that $500,000 from the financial industry, including the $20,000, from payday lenders, has not had any bearing on his opinion.

Michael Pope  

Yeah, as we pointed out in the show last week, one of the contributors to Miyares for AG was a Norfolk-based business called Portfolio Recovery Associates, which is a debt buyer sued twice by the CFPB. We also posted some more information about that on threads. So if you're interested in following that thread, head over to threads, and we're @Pod_Virginia.

Thomas Bowman  

John Preston Brown also responded to our discussion about how the lawsuit challenges the funding model is unconstitutional because it uses money from industries that regulate. He wrote this on threads. Lots of federal agencies make money from providing acquisition services to other agencies. OPM has its own software shop that competes with private firms to sell software to agencies regulated by OPM. Is that illegal too?

Michael Pope  

Yeah, that's one of the interesting things about this lawsuit. If the Supreme Court sides with Miyares and the payday lenders, it could have really dramatic consequences, and that includes here in Virginia because the Bureau of financial institutions at the state corporation commission also uses the same funding model to regulate banks and railroads and predatory lenders. 

Thomas Bowman  

Brian Devine was more succinct, writing on threads that the AG is full of spit in the pocket of predatory lenders. And, of course, he didn't say spit.

Michael Pope  

Thomas, your LinkedIn post about Glenn Youngkin's decision to help the Ford evey battery factory also caused some discussion over the platform that used to be called Twitter. It's not Twitter anymore to have Tavares Spinks say he thought your initial criticism was correct writing this on X. I've read nothing that convinces me this was a bad move other than the Chinese company's possible connection to forced labor.

Thomas Bowman  

And what I said to him was, stay tuned because there's definitely going to be more to the story, Michael; that LinkedIn article you're referencing was pretty much called. I was wrong; Glenn Youngkin was right on this Ford EV battery plant. There is a bipartisan move right now in Congress or exceeded; there are bipartisan investigations. That's new information that we didn't have when Gun Youngkin made his initial statement. Last week, I talked about why it was still bonehead politics as far as what Glenn Youngkin did say and do and suggested a better path that he could have taken on that front. I don't want to rehash that here. But the reality is, if it's true that allegedly Ford is trying to get a round requirement for their tax credits, that they use United States parts labor and material and preserve the Chinese dominance of the battery space rather than build up our own in the United States, then that is a valid national security concern. And,  as to whether or not there was room for all of the players in one site, on Berry Hill for the Ford plant, and hypothetically, if we can get them this global international microchip firm, I would point out that in that specific case, it's probably not a big enough world for both of them to be there given the concerns about who they're talking about. So, with that new information, I know this is rare in politics. And I offer a mia culpa. I was wrong on that Ford EV plant. Glen Youngkin. was absolutely correct.

Michael Pope  

Sounds like we need to get Glenn Youngkin on the podcast. If you're listening, Governor, we will come to the executive mansion with our microphones and setup. 

Thomas Bowman  

We've done it before. 

Michael Pope  

We've done it before. All right. We also heard from Jordan Miles, who chimed in to say he loved the stroll down memory lane when we mentioned the Whipple clips in our episode with Chris Piper, who's the new executive director at the Virginia Public Access Project. You have the Whipple clips; it was kind of like a private club; you had to know someone who was already a member to get you in. So way back in the day, there was a young member of the Alexandria City Council, a guy named Justin Wilson, who got me into this private club many years ago, and I've been reading the Whipple clips ever since.

Thomas Bowman  

The State Fair Project also chimed in to reflect on our episode with Chris Piper, who pointed out how important it is to be focused on state and local politics over national politics because of the impact on your daily life. The State Fair Project says that's what they always say to.

Michael Pope  

 Yeah, well, that's also what we say because that's exactly what we set out to do when we launched Pod Virginia back in 2020. Create a place for news and analysis that was specific to Virginia. So if you're interested in national politics, there's an endless variety of those podcasts out there. But if you're interested in learning about stuff that actually has some bearing on your life in your community, we hope that you'll come back to Pod Virginia for that. 

Thomas Bowman  

And the bad jokes we tell. 

Michael Pope  

All right, let's celebrate some birthdays. 

Thomas Bowman  

Wednesday, August 2nd, is the birthday of Senator Emmett Hanger of Augusta and Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker of Alexandria.

Michael Pope  

Also, keep in mind that Saturday and Sunday of this weekend is the weekend of prayer for students. That's thanks to a resolution passed in 2017 by Delegate Jeffrey Campbell of Smith County.

Thomas Bowman  

Preferring prayer over students also happens to be Virginia's current education policy.

Michael Pope  

All right, well, that's it for this episode of Pod Virginia.