Va. House of Delegates: Hamilton hosts tele-townhall....

Del. Phil Hamilton is facing his first campaign challenge in more than a decade, but he's not dusting off old school barnstorming techniques he's getting cutting edge.

Hamilton, a Newport News Republican, is the second in command of the House Appropriations Committee and he's getting pushed by Robin Abbott a Newport News attorney.

On Tuesday night, Hamilton hosted an hour long tele-townhall that focused on the new laws going onto the state books as of July 1. A tele-townhall essentially allows a candidate to call thousands of homes throughout their districts and offer folks the chance to listen in and even ask questions. On Tuesday night Hamilton called 15,000 homes in the 93rd district - basically the central Peninsula.

It's kind of like an interactive robo-call - where folks who don't give a hoot about state politics can opt to hang up the phone. But folks who want a chance to hear from Hamilton can get a good sense of how he interacts with the public and they also might get the chance to offer up a question.

This is getting to be a favorite technique for members of Congress because it is not an overly expensive option and it allows folks to turn a limited amount of time into personal contact with thousands of potential voters. And these are just potential voters - these are folks who have decided to listen in on Hamilton's call - so either they're interested in state politics or they are at the very least willing to hear a state lawmaker out.

Think about it from Hamilton's perspective - it's hard to believe that Hamilton can spend a better hour on the campaign trail. What other campaigning event carries that kind of weight - perhaps a campaign commercial - but then you're getting into the neighborhood of serious money. 

Hamilton versus Abbott is going to be a heavily watched race simply because of the importance of the Republican majority in the House of Delegates. The GOP has a shrinking advantage and if Democrats can win a handful of seats this fall they could take the helm over re-districting - which would be a huge blow to the prospects of a Republican revival starting in Virginia.

If Abbott can connect with Peninsula Democrats she should perform well in the 93 - which boasts a healthy Democratic population that hasn't been able to vote for a fellow Democrat for the House since the mid-1990s. Peninsula Democrats had new energy last year during Barack Obama's presidential campaign but we'll have to wait to see the enthusiasm in the fall. 

 Abbott has done well with early fundraising, thanks largely to the law firm where she works - Consumer Litigation Associates. But word among Peninsula Democrats is that Abbott is a tremendously hard worker, who is going to refuse to be out-hustled on the campaign trail. She's going to need that energy and stamina to knock off Hamilton, who relentlessly reminds voters in his district about what is going on in Richmond. 

Abbott is a political newcomer and Hamilton is already dialing up 15,000 homes in the district so he's clearly not taking anything for granted. 

Comments

[NotAnnCulter]

Thanks Neil for the attempted etymology for “iller”. Even so, it really is not an accepted word at all. Hey, what happened to the Abbott on Health Care video? I wanted to watch it again, but it was gone.

[Neil B ♪]

NotAnnCulter, "iller" would be a new lexeme formed by derivation, in the same vein as "sicker" is from "sick." (How do you think we got words in the first place? ;-) But sure, it isn't in common use.

As for Hamilton, Robin's supporters aren't suggesting he's a ogre. It's a matter of who stands strongest for consumers and the public interest. Your suspicion of a national health system is understandable, but: our system does not work well despite the glib boasts of oafs like Hannity, and almost every other advance nation has a national health system of some kind.

Finally, don't forget that national, public-option insurance (that which pays the actual providers of health care on your behalf) is not to be confused with a direct, "national health care system" that socializes the providers too. Obama and fans' plan is the former and not the latter.

[NotAnnCulter]

I took the suggestion from a previous comment and watched the “poignant” Abbott you-tube video on health care. Several things were very interesting. First, what does it mean to be iller and iller. I can’t find the word iller in the dictionary. Secondly, I’m glad Abbott is proud to be an American most of the time. I’m proud to be an American ALL of the time. Finally, I’ve checked Hamilton’s record and he has been a leader in securing additional funding for the free clinics and community health centers, funding which created the Virginia Cares Uninsured Program, and improving access to health care through the reform of the COPN process. Also, thanks for pointing out Abbott’s support for nationalized health care. I support free market, free enterprise capitalism over Abbott’s support for more European Socialism!

[Neil B ♪]

Sorry, my HTML for the embedded URL didn't show as an actual link. (Hint to Shad Plank: would you please enable linking in comments so we don't have to dump and entire visible URL into a comment - or was I missing something? tx)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM05-CwD2wQ

[Neil B ♪]

Check out this poignant video from Robin Abbott about a local, formerly uninsured woman who had lots of trouble getting medical care. The woman even considered divorcing her husband as a way out of her troubles:

Robin Abbott

What does Phil Hamilton plan to do about the uninsured in VA? And if you think that means more cost, no: almost every study says the *net* cost of letting people slip through the cracks is worse.