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Running on experience in the 11th
\A businessman and political novice is trying to keep a veteran of local government from putting Virginia's 11th District in Democratic hands.Republican Keith Fimian and Democrat Gerry Connolly are vying to fill the seat that retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Davis has held since 1995.
Connolly, who, like Davis, is a longtime member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and in his second term as chairman, argues that the pragmatism of local government will make him more effective in Congress.
"We need somebody with extensive experience in the region. I've got a record of accomplishment," he said.
Fimian, who grew a home inspection company from a small room over his garage to a profitable national corporation, says his business experience will be valuable in attacking the federal deficit and the financial crisis.
"In business, you have smart people working together to find common ground," he said. Most congressmen "are more concerned about being an R or a D than being an American."
Although the race has been anything but friendly, the two have similar views on energy policy and both are critical of the partisanship that can gridlock Congress.
Fimian has run a largely negative campaign, blaming Connolly for Fairfax County's projected $430 million revenue shortfall and accusing the chairman of being in the pocket of developers.
"He knows how to raise taxes and he knows how to spend," he said of Connolly.
Connolly dismisses such attacks as evidence of his opponent's lack of knowledge about how government works, and routinely points out that he never saw Fimian at county meetings prior to the election.
"My opponent evidences almost no knowledge or interest in how local government works," he said.
On the biggest issue of the day, the economy, both were reluctantly supportive of the plan to bail out financial companies, seeing few other options.
"I can't believe the federal government has to do this. It never should have happened," Fimian said.
The key to stopping the bleeding is to get control of the real estate industry meltdown, Connolly said. "The federal government has more leverage to do that than it did before."
Fimian believes his business experience will be particularly valuable in addressing the federal deficit. The key is growing the economy, he said, but he will also "eliminate every duplication that exists" and put a stop to "wasteful" earmarks – though not necessarily "good" earmarks like the ones that have helped pay for key transportation projects in Northern Virginia, like the Wilson Bridge and the Springfield interchange.
Connolly also wants to balance the federal budget, but points out that the debt service on the national debt alone is nearly as big as the Pentagon's annual budget and it will be hard to grow the economy enough to cover the country's needs.
"The economy is just going to dominate everything for the foreseeable future," he said, and there will likely be less money left for things like health care reform. "It's going to be one huge restraint on everything moving forward."
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