* * Creigh Deeds story

I have learned today that tragically, my friend State Senator Creigh Deeds, was stabbed by his son, who then committed suicide. As I post this, Creigh is in critical condition in a Charlottesville hospital. My heart is broken.

I wrote about Creigh in my book The Spine of the Virginias five years ago. I will paste it here:

Creigh Deeds is a state senator from Bath County, Virginia.  He has aspirations for higher office and lost a close election for the State Attorney General.  When I spoke with him was a declared candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor in 2009, which he won in dramatic, come from behind fashion, in May 2008.  He may be the most ambitious native politician along The Spine of the Virginias.  He was kind enough to meet with me on a hot summer afternoon in rural Bath County, conducting our interview driving around in his blue SUV.

            I started by mentioning that most of our recent governors were originally from out of state.

            He agreed, and then said, “I am as proud as I can be to live today 4 miles from the house my ancestors built in the 1740s.  Bath County is where I call home. I would not want to be from anywhere else.”

            He explained in detail his family tree, with ancestry of Scots-Irish and English roots, with some French Huguenots.   “My people never had any money.  They were always farmers or they worked in the woods.  Some may have been carpenters.  Over in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, some of my people were merchants.

            “I am proud of the fact that the last member of the state Senate from this part of Bath County was my seventh great-grandfather back.  His name was Sampson Matthews.  He was state senator before Bath County was even a County.  My great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side was a captain in the Confederate Army and was a leader in the Frankfurt area of northern Greenbrier County and served the community until he died.”

            I asked if he felt groomed for leadership.

            He said, “Not really.  I feel that I groomed myself.  My grandfather was chairman of the local Democratic Party in Bath County from the Depression and on through the 1960s.  So I have always known about politics and have always felt a responsibility to step forward.  We hear a lot the expression, a purpose-driven life.  I don't abide clichés and I don't really buy into them for myself.  I have always believed that you must make the days that you walk on this earth count for something. 

            “The house where I grew up was the first house in the County that had electrical power through rural electrification.  So I grew up with firsthand knowledge of the power of effective government.  I grew up with not just the knowledge of how effective government can change people’s lives, but about the power of politics. 

            “I was in the House of Delegates for 10 years and I have now been in the Senate for another seven.  I was a Commonwealth Attorney before then.  I have been in an elected position for over 20 years.  Michael, local government is where you have the greatest ability to effect change and do the most good.  But unfortunately sometimes it is where the leadership is the most lacking.

            “Too often, people who are elected to office wants want to be reelected so badly that they allow that desire to cloud their judgment and prevent them from doing the things that are necessary to effect the greatest improvement.  It sounds cynical and I really hate to say it because most people in political life want to do the right thing.”

            I said, “How about you?  Tell me about a personal success and a personal failure.”

            “There have been many things I have been proud of.  I have been on a crusade for several years and have carried legislation to help out the little guys, the small farmers selling his product on his farm without unnecessary regulation and inspection.  We passed a bill this year that will be helpful to the farmers.  I worked hard on an Amber Alert legislation (a child abduction alert bulletin) and on Megan’s Law [making information publicly available for sex offenders], but those bills are easy to be for because they attack evils that are so well recognized.

            “Coming from an area like this which is so green, beautiful and undeveloped and where people want growth and jobs, I see that unbridled growth sometimes can bring things that we don't want.  In 1998, I was chairing a subcommittee on land conservation and state parks and we were trying to figure out a way to conserve more land and more green space in Virginia.  I carried a tax credit bill that year that put in place the most progressive incentive-based land conservation program in the country.  Nine years later no other state has gotten it ahead of us.  It was not easy and I am proud of it.

            “In terms of the failures let me say that Harry Truman once said that he never got in trouble for doing the right thing but it was often unclear to him what the right thing was.  I believe that you live with no regrets.  You make choices based on the best information you have at the time and then you move on.   I have made tons of mistakes.  I have been in the legislature for 17 years and have placed perhaps 40,000 to 50,000 registered votes.  We get an astounding number of pieces of legislation in front of us every year.  How can any legislator possibly understand the ramifications of every one of them on every person in the state of Virginia?

            “I was raised a conservative.  It has taken me a long time to warm up to some of the changes that have taken place in our society.  There are certain votes that I would probably do a different way today than I did when I first voted on them.  You cannot legislate morality, but there have been several votes that were effective for certain segments of society but perhaps hurtful to another.  (In some instances) I have taken the easy vote that may have been hurtful in that respect.  And I think about them differently today.  But I have always tried sincerely to think about the bills in front of me and do the right thing for the people of Bath County and Virginia.”

            I asked, “Do you think there is a particular feeling that you have about your home that maybe someone who is more urban-based would not have?”

            “Everybody has got to feel the way they do about their home.  I think that wherever my wife and children are, that is home for me.  We live in a transient society but I feel that in having lived in only one place for virtually my entire life, I have a greater sense of what home really means than do people who have moved around more frequently.

            I said, “Here comes my Wolf Blitzer question.  You lost perhaps the closest race election in Virginia history.  What effect has this loss had on you?”

            He laughed.  “Oh my goodness!  I see it is just like any other disappointment that all of us have.  It is certainly not the worst thing that has ever happened.  It hurts to lose; don't get me wrong.  But if that is the worst thing that ever happens to me, that's not such a bad thing.

            “I am proud of every vote I got.  Democrats have had some successes in recent years but Virginia is still a Republican leaning state.  My home is Bath County and it is the second least populated county in the state.  The least populated county is Highland County and both of these counties are part of my base.  My opponent was raised in Fairfax and lived in Virginia Beach, two of the most populated regions in the state.  He spent over $6 million in the campaign and I spent $3 million.  And he beat me by 300 votes (out of 1.94 million cast).  There is a lot of win in that, Michael.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to take the office, but I got more bang for the buck than he got for his.  I proved that I can win a statewide election.  So it hurts like heck to have let people down.  It is not the end of the world.  There are still things that I believe I need to do.

            “For me growing up, the best memories of my life were right here in this little village of Millboro.  Before the War Between the States it was called Millboro Junction and was a major rail hub.  This rail line is the Buckingham Branch (of the Chesapeake and Ohio) and it goes from Charlottesville and Stanton through here and over to Clifton Forge and Covington and White Sulphur Springs and eventually to Cincinnati.  Rail transportation was huge during the War, which many historians considered the first modern war.  This was the main Chesapeake and Ohio line which then became CSX and now Amtrak goes through here several times each week.  When I grew up I remember hearing the train several times during the night.  In those days you could catch a passenger train at Goshen and go anywhere you needed to.”

            I said.  “Several people in West Virginia have told me that they think Virginia is a better run state.  They have all the pride in the world but still admit that Virginia does a better job in running its government.”

            He agreed.  “I think that is absolutely correct.  If you look at the regulatory schemes and the laws that are in place in West Virginia and compare them with Virginia, you will conclude that Virginia provides a better place to seek prosperity.

            “We in this country have failed to develop a comprehensive energy policy.  We have started a statewide energy policy.  I often speak about creating a research-based economy.  If we have a plan for coordinating the research that is already taking place at our research institutions, we have a lot to offer.  We also need to do what we can to attract energy-based research so that we can solve the problems we are beginning to face with energy depletion.  I am convinced that we will need to develop alternative sources of fuel.  If I am elected governor I feel that I can do many things to conserve state resources.  But at the end of the day we will still need to find new sources of fuel. We will need to develop more efficient wind energy and put more research into solar technologies. I believe people understand the urgency. 

            “I talk about three things on the stump, Michael.  The first thing I talk about is transportation, not only providing enough money for the roads we need and the maintenance of highways we already have but to put more people and freight back on the railroads.”

            He interrupted himself as we crested a small pass with a view to the west.  “After all the years I've lived here these mountains still take my breath away.

            “The second thing is this whole notion about a research-based economy and building a secure energy future.  The third thing is using the community colleges to build the smartest workforce in the world and linking our communities with high speed Internet and growing a technology-based economy.

            “I talk about what I think is important to the people of Virginia.  It takes no talent to find social issues that divide us.  These things don't create jobs or educate our children.  There are several issues that we will never have unanimity on.  Abortion.  Prayer in the schools.  Gun control.  Death penalty.  Gay rights.  These involve personal decisions that people have to decide for themselves.  When I am on the stump and people want to talk about those things, I will talk about those things.  I prefer to talk about those things that I want to do in state government to improve the lives of the citizens of Virginia.  What I want to do is make a large scale difference in people's lives.  I will not change my views to get elected.

            “People in Virginia are not as partisan as the pundits would have us believe.  Once a governor is elected, everyone generally wants him to be successful.  They are smart enough to recognize that their success is tied to the governor’s success.”

            As we wrapped up, I thanked Senator Deeds for all his time and input.  He said, “It’s been fun to show you around a bit of eastern Bath County.  I think it is one of the most beautiful areas anywhere.  From here through Craig and Giles and Bland and into Tazewell County and Burkes Garden, there is just unbelievable country.”