Deeds claims “middle of the road” in talk to Hanover Democrats

From the Mechanicsville Local (link):

Democratic state senator R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County staked out what he called his “middle of the road” position last weekend, when he spoke to about 20 people at the monthly meeting of the Hanover Democratic Committee at Ashland Coffee and Tea.

Deeds is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in the 2009 election.

Deeds, who lost to Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell in 2005 by 360 votes, said his party’s 2007 gains in the state senate were remarkable, considering the 2001 redistricting, done by a GOP controlled general assembly.

Democrats will hold 21 seats to the Republicans 19 in the 2008 general assembly, after gaining four seats in November.

“The Democrat tent is broad,” said Deeds. “Give us 2,000 more votes and we would have had 25 senators,” said Deeds.
He could face McDonnell again if he is the nominee, or Hanover’s Bill Bolling, the current lieutenant governor.

Former Virginia governor and U.S. Senator George Allen is also thought to be contemplating seeking the Republican nomination.

Deeds hit the “middle of the road” note several times in his talk.

“The perfect can be the enemy of the good,” he said. “Most of us are somewhere in the middle.”

Deeds said he knew in 2005 that he would run for governor in 2009, although his loss to McDonnell was “like getting kicked in the stomach.”

In an interview after the meeting, Deeds talked about the upcoming general assembly session and Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposed budget.

Deeds called Kaine’s scaled back pre - K program modest, saying it would cover about 7,000 at risk children at a cost of $56 million, most of that federal money.
“The governor talked about universal pre - K in the 2005 campaign,” said Deeds, “and ideally if you could afford to do it I’d like to do it too.”
But budget realities forced the governor to scale back his initiative, said Deeds.
“This is an affordable, modest expansion of pre - K education,” said Deeds.
“It doesn’t involve much in the way of general fund dollars.”
Deeds said he would have favored a bolder initiative. “I would favor working for universal pre - K, but it’s a question of dollars and cents.”
Kaine’s proposal to use $261 million from the state’s rainy-day fund also has Deed’s approval.
“A $641 million dollar budget shortfall sounds to me like a rainy day,” said Deeds, who said the state may already be in recession according to some economists. The current balance in the rainy-day fund is more than $1 billion, said Deeds.
“For those who say it’s not appropriate, tell me where you’re going to make the cuts,” said Deeds. “The responsible approach is to say I don’t want him to invade the rainy-day fund, and this is where he can cut the money.”
Deeds said the tragedy at Virginia Tech showed the serious problems in mental health services in the state.
“I knew kids who were in Norris Hall that day,” he said.
“The worst thing is, we know that there are thousands of people like Cho walking among us putting our children in danger.”
Deeds said he supports reforming mental health services in response to the Virginia Tech shootings, but does not think there is any connection between gun control laws and the massacre.
“This kid did everything legally,” said Deeds. “I don’t see this as an entree to the gun control debate.”
“What that awful, awful tragedy showed is that we have serious problems in our mental health system,” said Deeds, who said the problems existed before the Virginia Tech shooting and demonstrated the need to invest the money and restructuring into the system to fix it.
Deeds also championed his constitutional amendment to create a non-partisan redistricting system.
“People are not well served by a polarized legislature,” said Deeds. “Most people are in the middle.”
Deeds called his amendment a “radical proposal that would make every district competitive.”
Deeds declined to speculate on potential opponents in his bid for the governorship, either for his party’s nomination, or in the general election.
“All I can control is how hard I’m willing to work for the things I’m willing to do,” said Deeds.