Plum: "I Have Not Lost My Enthusiasm"

Through all the development in Reston and the outlying areas of Vienna, there has been one constant, constituents said at a fundraiser in Reston yesterday: Del. Ken Plum.

The Democrat and Reston resident has represented Virginia's 36th District – which now includes Vienna's Flint Hill precinct – from 1978-80 and from 1982 to today. He is running for re-election against Republican Mac Cannon.

"We are a diverse group of people," Plum said atop the roof deck on the 22nd story of . "This is a reflection of what our community has been. As we go forward, know that I have been around a while, but I have not lost my enthusiasm."

Plum reiterated his commitment to public education, the environment and equality for all citizens, regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D), who stopped by the event - one of several appearances he made Tuesday in Northern Virginia -- said Plum has "always been willing to put the community and the Commonwealth ahead of everyone else."

"He is a hardcore Democrat," Warner said. "But time and again he has been able to think longterm and not just about the next election cycle."

Qualities like that are necessary at every level, Warner said, as the nation faces some tough partisan politics and a $14 trillion deficit.

"It is going to take some serious debate, conversation and hard choices," he said. "It is going to take people from both parties who are willing to give a little bit.

"I do wonder about the new crowd - the 'my way or the highway.' I wonder what kind of constitution they say they support, since the founders had this set of checks and balances."