Warner is Leaving the Senate

On January 3rd, John Warner will retire from the U.S. Senate after thirty years in office. He will be the second longest serving Virginian senator. In light of this fact, the Richmond Times Dispatch published two articles about John Warner's service as a senator. One of the great commonalities between the two articles was John Warner's "independence," i.e. willingness to break with his own party.

One of the articles had a classic Larry Sabato quote.

Warner says he has no regrets about stands that put him at odds with the state Republican Party, such as his opposition to the 1987 Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork and to Oliver North's Senate candidacy in 1994.

University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato, who has followed Warner's career, said Warner's model of the Republican Party is the only one that can win long term.

"He's been vindicated by history. He's been more successful for longer than any Republican in Virginia history."

I know that Larry Sabato enjoys bashing conservatives, but please... Warner has been vindicated by history? The Republican party has definately fallen on hard times since 2005. However has John Warner won an election since then? How do we know he could have been elected in a state that seems to be unfriendly to Republicans? Also it was not Warner's brand of Republicanism that brought about the resurgence of the Republican Party in Virginia which began in 1993. It was the leadership of George Allen which lead to this parties gubernatorial victories in the nineties and its success in the state legislature as well.

A major part of John Warner's legacy is as someone who undermined the Republican Party at every turn. He successfully worked to block the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, opposed Michael Farris for Lieutenant Governor (1993) and Oliver North for Senate (1994) even after they were the Republican nominees. More recently he was part of the "Gang of 14," opposed the Bush administration when it attempted to be conservative, and has been invisible when Republican candidates in Virginia could use his support. In all honesty Warner did make token appearances in the final weeks of the campaigns these past couple years.

Imagine if Robert Bork had been on the Supreme Court instead of Anthony Kennedy. Imagine if Mike Farris and Oliver North had been elected. Imagine if the nuclear option had been exercised. Imagine what this could have done for the causes of limited government, preserving the constitution, and building the Republican Party in Virginia. Imagine all these things, and then realize that John Warner stopped those dreams from becoming a reality. This is John Warner's legacy. It is not one of being a voice of moderation within the Republican Party, but of undermining the party. This is why I am happy John Warner will no longer be my senator.

________________________________

Links to the two Richmond Times Dispatch articles.

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/JWAR21S_20081220-191415/158995/

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/JWAR21_20081220-211318/159097/

Merry Christmas!!

May your days be merry and bright, and I hope you enjoy this season with family and friends as we reflect on the birth of our savior, and the salvation that he brings.

I am eating Grandma's home cooking, and enjoying the Pennsylvania out doors so here is another really good song.

In the vein of really cool Christmas videos...

Here is a really Christmas video by Stephen Curtis Chapman about those who are less fortunate than us. We should take this time to thank God for the many blessings we have.

Also, best Christmas wishes to Stephen Curtis Chapman and his family during what has been a very tough year for them.

The Experience of Caroline Kennedy

Throughout the past presidential race we heard on a regular basis how Governor Sarah Palin lacked the experience to be one heart beet from the presidency. Whether or not she had the experience and the qualification to the vice president, Sarah Palin was at least a sitting governor, a former mayor, and had chaired a very important state commission.

The "unqualified" and "inexperienced" criticisms of Sarah Palin are quite ironic in light of the fact that Caroline Kennedy is the favorite to replace Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Senate.

Until Caroline Kennedy wrote an oped endorsing Barack Obama in late January of 2008 and then actively campaigned for him, she hardly had any involvement in politics. Her professional life has included a number of different jobs as an attorney, writer, editor, and board member for numerous non-profit organizations. She has held many of these positions as a result of her last name and the fact that her father was J.F.K. As a citizen she hasn't even been involved in the political process enough to vote on a regular basis. She has missed multiple primary and general election votes for top of the ticket races. There has also been a lot of talk that Caroline Kennedy just recently renewed her law license in order to have that credential to burnish as she makes the case that she should be New York's next senator.

These are tough times, and whoever is nominated to replace Hillary Clinton will have two years in office before they face reelection. We need someone in that seat who has experience in elected office. Someone who understands how to work with people and get things done. The only thing Caroline Kennedy has going for her is her last name.

For all the criticism of Sarah Palin as unqualified to be vice president. She was atleast a governor, mayor, and chair of a commission about oil companies. Caroline Kennedy hasn't done anything significant as a public servant to have this senate seat simply handed to her.

In all honesty Caroline has held no position that would in anyway qualify her to be nominated senator of New York. In fact she seems to have a sense of entitlement for the seat. Her uncle Robert F. Kenedy occupied the seat till he was tragically assasinated during his 1968 presidential bid. In order to keep the Kennedy image going they need another new younger person in high elected office.

Governor Patterson should find someone who can be a senator from day one to nominate for the position, and then Caroline Kennedy should run for the office later and convince the people of New York to elect her as their senator. She should not be given the senate seat simply because of her last name, or her political connections with the incoming president.

Weyrich on Mike Huckabee

On April 5th, World Magazine published an article about the disunity the religious right displayed during the Republican presidential primary.

Paul Weyrich—a founder of the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority, and the Council for National Policy (CNP)—raised his hand to speak. Weyrich is a man whose mortality is plain to see... Weyrich, a Romney supporter... steered his wheelchair to the front of the room and slowly turned to face his compatriots. In a voice barely above a whisper, he said, "Friends, before all of you and before almighty God, I want to say I was wrong."

In a quiet, brief, but passionate speech, Weyrich essentially confessed that he and the other leaders should have backed Huckabee, a candidate who shared their values more fully than any other candidate in a generation. He agreed with Farris that many conservative leaders had blown it. By chasing other candidates with greater visibility, they failed to see what many of their supporters in the trenches saw clearly: Huckabee was their guy.

On Sunday Paul Weyrich was buried. I pray that the clarity he displayed was passed on to the "leaders" of the "religious right." We need leaders who will value principle over pragmatism, and access to power. Paul Weyrich was one of the few religious leaders who clearly understood the political situation last spring. We will miss him.

George Will on the Auto Bailout

This article was just too good to not pass on.

Legality of Bush's Bailout of Automakers Questionable

GEORGE F. WILL

Dec. 20, 2008, 9:34AM

A new Capitol Visitor Center recently opened, just in time for the transformation of the Capitol building into a tomb for the antiquated idea that the legislative branch matters. The center is supposed to enhance the experience of visitors to Congress, although why there are visitors is a mystery.

Congress' marginalization was brutally underscored when, after Congress did not authorize $14 billion for General Motors and Chrysler, the executive branch said, in effect: Congress' opinions are mildly interesting, so we will listen very nicely — then go out and do precisely what we want.

Friday the president gave the two automakers access to money Congress explicitly did not authorize. More money — up to $17.4 billion — than had been debated, thereby calling to mind Winston Churchill on naval appropriations: "The Admiralty had demanded six ships: the economists offered four: and we finally compromised on eight."

The president is dispensing money from the $700 billion Congress provided for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The unfounded assertion of a right to do this is notably brazen, given the indisputable fact that if Congress had known that TARP — supposedly a measure for scouring "toxic" assets from financial institutions — was to become an instrument for unconstrained industrial policy, it would not have been passed.

If TARP funds can be put to any use the executive branch fancies because TARP actually is a blank check for that branch, then the only reason no rules are being broken is that there are no rules. This lawlessness tarted up as law explains the charade of Vice President Dick Cheney warning Republican senators that if they did not authorize the $14 billion, the GOP would again be regarded as the party of Hoover. Surely Cheney, a disparager of Congress and advocate of extravagant executive prerogatives, knew that the president considered the Senate's consent irrelevant.

Evidence that casualness about legality is inherent in big government is found in H.W. Brands' new biography A Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR became president on Saturday, March 4, 1933. Banks were closed that day and the next, temporarily preventing panicked depositors from withdrawing their money. At 1 a.m. Monday, FDR ordered all banks closed for four days, hoping that the fever would break. His act may have been prudent. But was it legal? Brands writes:

"He cited a section of the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act as justification. The act had never been formally repealed, but a body of legal theory held that the law, along with other wartime legislation, had expired upon the signing of the peace treaty with Germany in 1921."

The expansion of government entails an increasingly swollen executive branch and the steady enlargement of executive discretion. This inevitably means the eclipse of Congress and attenuation of the rule of law.

For decades, imperatives of wars hot and cold, and the sprawl of the regulatory state, have enlarged the executive branch at the expense of the legislative. For eight years, the Bush administration's "presidentialists" have aggressively wielded the concept of the "unitary executive" — the theory that where the Constitution vests power in the executive, especially power over foreign affairs and war, the president is immune to legislative abridgements of his autonomy.

The administration has not, however, confined its aggrandizement of executive power to national security matters. According to former Rep. Mickey Edwards in his book Reclaiming Conservatism, the president has issued "signing statements" designating 1,100 provisions of new laws — more designations than have been made by all prior presidents combined — that he did not consider binding on him or any other executive branch official.

Still, most of the administration's executive truculence has pertained to national security, where the case for broad prerogatives, although not as powerful as the administration supposes, is at least arguable. With the automakers, however, executive branch overreaching now extends to the essence of domestic policy — spending — and traduces a core constitutional principle, the separation of powers.

Will is a Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C. (georgewill@washpost.com)

President Bush's Accomplishments on Social Issues

I know at this time it is difficult to think well of the president after he has sold out conservativism, and the idea of limited government. I think it is important to remember what he has done on the social issues that are some important to all of us. The following list does not include the President's judicial nominees which are an important part of his record. The list also includes things he pushed for to varying degrees, but they are all part of his record. I think it is important to be thankful for what President bush did on these issues, especially as we think of the fights we will be engaged in by the end of January.

Advanced A Culture Of Life

• Worked to build a culture where every human life is valued and protected in law.
• Called for and signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 to outlaw partial birth abortion, and successfully defended this law before the Supreme Court.
• Signed the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, requiring that Federal law to recognize as an individual any infant born alive, including the survivors of abortion procedures.
• Created a separate criminal offense for any person who causes the death or injury of a child in the womb by signing the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004.
• Prohibited foreign nongovernmental organizations that receive U.S. tax dollars for family planning from performing or promoting abortion. Restored the Mexico City Policy, ensuring international family planning programs are not indirectly subsidizing abortion or the promotion of abortion.
• Enforced the Kemp-Kasten anti-coercion law and ensured that no foreign assistance funds went to organizations or programs that support or participate in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.
• Issued a regulation to ensure health care providers are not forced to choose between practicing medicine and following their moral and ethical convictions.
• Ensured States have the option to provide vital health care services to promote healthy pregnancies for women and their unborn children who would otherwise be ineligible for coverage under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
• Protected the pro-life provisions in the annual appropriation bills by promising to veto any legislation that weakens current Federal policies and laws on abortion or that encourages the destruction of human life at any stage.
• Supported research on existing embryonic stem cell lines within moral boundaries while refusing to sanction the destruction of human life. The President vetoed two bills that would have authorized the use of public tax dollars for research that requires the destruction of human embryos.
• The discoveries that reprogramming technologies can be used to make adult cells function like other cells, including embryonic stem cells, that demonstrate the President’s policy has extended the frontiers of medicine without destroying human life.
• Signed the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, which created a new Federal program to collect and store cord blood and expands the current bone marrow registry program to also include cord blood.
• Signed the Fetus Farming Prohibition Act, which prohibits the solicitation or acceptance of tissue from fetuses gestated for research purposes.

Promoted Strong Family Values

• Remained firmly committed to protecting the sanctity of marriage consistent with the President’s steadfast belief that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman.
• Called on Congress to pass an amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman.
• Supported abstinence education to help America’s youth build self-esteem, understand and aspire to healthy marriages and parenthood, and learn skills that will help youth make and follow through on good decisions. Increased funding for the Community-Based Abstinence Education from $20 million in FY 2001 to $108.9 million in FY 2008. Increased funding for abstinence education through the Adolescent Family Life program from nothing in FY 2001 to $13.12 million in FY 2008.
• The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief includes meaningful funding for Abstinence and Be faithful (AB) programs and maintains the core principle of AB as part of an effective prevention approach.
• The PEPFAR law requires a report to Congress if less than 50 percent of funding to prevent sexual transmission in countries with generalized epidemics will be spent on AB programs.
• Led efforts to promote healthy marriages and successful parenting to improve the well-being of families throughout the Nation.
• The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families Healthy Marriage Initiative provides couples with knowledge and guidance on sustaining healthy marriages and parenting relationships.
• Additionally, HHS’ Promoting Responsible Fatherhood initiative provides resources to help strengthen the role of fathers in the lives of children and families.
• Doubled the child tax credit and provided marriage penalty relief.
• Established the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships program, the first Federal school-choice program, which allows families to choose a private or religious school if it better meets their child’s needs.
• Signed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, to ensure that anti-gambling laws are enforced.
• Fought for and signed into law the Support Our Scouts Act, which prohibits Federal agencies from discriminating against youth organizations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Future Farmers of America.
• Signed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, which strengths the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to ensure broadcast decency standards on America’s radio and television airwaves.
• Signed into law a bill to provide for the Federal acquisition of the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego, California, thereby preserving the integrity of war memorials that include religious symbols.

Launched Faith-Based And Community Initiatives

• Launched the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) in January 2001 to strengthen America’s nonprofit sector and extend the impact of faith-based and other community organizations. This established a “level playing field” for faith-based groups and greatly expanded government partnerships with all frontline nonprofits through innovative models, such as vouchers and intermediary model grants.
• The Initiative has delivered results through grassroots partnerships including supporting recovery for more than 200,000 addicts, and matching mentors with more than 110,000 children of prisoners.
• Provided care for more than 10 million people affected by HIV/AIDS around the world through partnerships with local nonprofits, which have been central to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
• Defended the rights of faith-based Federal grantees to hire people of the same faith by signing Executive Order 13279. The FBCI has worked to make Federal efforts to address human need more local, personal, entrepreneurial, and, most importantly, more effective.

Update About my Blog

This post is just so noone gets to confused when they see all these post from before November of 2008 on my blog. Since I am going to be blogging on blogspot from now on as opposed to xanga, I am in the process of moving all my political and cultural xanga posts over to blogspt. So far I have moved over all my posts from 2007. It's been fun goign back through my old posts, remembering highschool, and different fun opportunities I had then. I also remember I had a personal policy that I would make a nother update once I had 5 comments on my previous post unless something else really needed to be posted. Yeah... That probably wouldn't work too well here.

Anyway... Just a quick explanation. I hope y'all enjoy reading them.

Also, these are just straight copy and pastes. I didn't fix many grammar, formatting, or linking problems so I hope you take that in mind if you go back and read any of them.

Blagojevich Update

The past couple days were filled with a lot of fun developments in the Blagojevich corruption case in Illinois.

The Chicago Sun Times reported that Rahm Emmanuel spoke with Blagojevich about the Senate seat, and there are probably tapes of some of those discussions. This report came out after Emmanuel had refused to speak to the media about this case for an extended period of time. From Barack Obama's point of view the incomign administration shoudl come totally clean, and honestly explain any connection they might have with this scandal. This shadow has been hanging over the president elect, and they shoudl do everything necessary to get rid of it.

Yesterday Governor Blagojevich had a brief press conference in which he declared his innocence, refused to step down, and fight this thing "till his last breath". He also urged his constituents to give him the presumption of innocence and thanked everyone who had supported him during this time.



The one thing that was missing from Governor Blagojevich's defense was something called evidence. While he insisted he was innocent he did nothing to dispute Patrick Fitzgerald's claim of having taped conversations in which Blagojevich was trying to sell the senate seat. Unless Blagojevich can dispute the evidence, he is simply stalling the inevitable and delaying the selection of a senator to replace Barack Obama. If Governor Blagojevich is going to fight this to the bitter end he should atleast allow the state of Illinois to have a special election to choose the next senator. This move will enable the state of Illinois, and the country to begin to move on from this scandal.

Another Conservative Champion has Died

This morning conservatives were greeted with the news that Paul Weyrich died at the age of 66. Paul Weyrich was one of the leaders of the Reagan Revolution and has been lovingly referred to by some as the father of the modern conservative movement. He founded the Heritage Institute, Moral Majority,was a member of the Arlington Group, and when he died he was the President of the Free Congress Society. He was a principled leader and he will be missed. The old generation is passing hopefully new young principled people will rise up to be leaders in the conservative movement.

The following are a collection of early tributes to Paul Weyrich.

The Heritage Foundation

Paul M. Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and the first president of The Heritage Foundation, died this morning around 1 a.m. He was 66 years old. Weyrich was a good friend to many of us at Heritage, a true leader and a man of unbending principle. He won Heritage’s prestigious Clare Boothe Luce Award in 2005. Weyrich will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, including son Steve, who currently works at Heritage.

Grover Norquist

Paul Weyrich created institutions and networks that incubated new and old powerful policies and strategies to advance liberty. ... He brought leaders of various freedom impulses together. Most of the successes of the Conservative movement since the 1970s flowed from structures, organizations, and coalitions he started, created or nurtured. Paul also lived a balanced life with work, family and his faith. We will miss his puns and wisdom and hard work.

Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online, who had the first word of his passing, called Weyrich "a Washington conservative institution" and "a patriot who lived a long life serving his nation."

Tony Perkins

My good friend Paul Weyrich is gone. He was just sixty-six years old. Many people will be surprised at that. That's because we've watched Paul for decades as he battled diabetes, as he suffered amputations, but never, never any loss of his fighting spirit. Paul Weyrich has been a fixture in Washington, D.C. for more than thirty years. He fathered the religious conservative movement in American politics. He didn't over-intellectualize about Christians "jumping into the fray." He recognized early that the fray had jumped onto us. Liberal bureaucrats were coming after us -- in our churches, in our schools, and in our families. Wherever a Planned Parenthood worker is breaking parents' hearts by leading their children into sin, we have a grievance against our government. Paul Weyrich was the first to show us how we could effectively petition our government for redress of our grievances. May our Lord keep His servant, Paul. And I pray our Lord will also comfort the loving Weyrich family.

It is Christmastime

In the spirit of the season I will start periodically posting videos of different really good Christmas songs.

This one is pretty fun if you haven't seen it yet. It is a light display set to a Trans Siberian Orchestra song.

The Case for Patrick Muldoon

When I saw this article on Bearing Drift, I couldn't help but republish it.

Patrick Muldoon = hypocrite

By Brian Kirwin

Published December 16th, 2008

Who is Patrick Muldoon? I don’t know a lot about him, other than his strategic brilliance to make telemarketing phone calls over the Thanksgiving holiday. So off to the internet to research! According to his website, he is running for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor because we need “strong leaders in Virginia who want to promote our traditional values by being committed to fight for us, 100% of the time.”

Apparently Mr. Muldoon believes gambling is a traditional value. Mr.Muldoon is an attorney at Duane Morris, a DC law firm, whose lobbying arm, according to their website, represents casinos and gambling interests such as Hilton Gaming, Keystone Gaming Alliance and Oberthur Gaming Technologies.

Is gambling a traditional conservative value? I doubt professional associations with gaming interests is hardly representative of the 100% pure conservative he claims to be.

But, wait there’s more. Muldoon and his supporters have been critical of politicians that have received donations from Barr Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company that employs hundreds of Virginians and has engineered affordable generic drugs to fight cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

Barr also created a contraceptive pill. Haven’t Muldoon and his supporters claimed that anyone who accepts money from Barr is pro-choice? On Duane Morris Consulting’s website, you’ll see Barr Labs listed a client.

From Muldoon’s definition of associations with Barr, shouldn’t we hold Muldoon to the same standard? Is that an association of a pro-lifer?

Now, I’m not making any judgments about gambling or Barr Labs. This is about campaign honesty. Before Patrick Muldoon starts attacking Republicans with his 100% litmus test, he should be ready to meet the same test, shouldn’t he?

He has lost every election he has entered and is now the Democrats’ best friend as he forces us to spend money that could be spent beating a well-funded Democrat.

If he’s going to run on the “100% conservative” banner, he better meet his own test. On first glance, Patrick Muldoon is a hypocrite.

UAW Bailout

While I am taking a blogging sabatical, I received this issue of the Cuccinelli Comapss and I figured I had to pass it on.

December 15, 2008

Dear Fellow Republican:

You're all aware of this week's bailout news. But things still hang in the balance on the UAW/GM/Chrysler bailout, and I wanted to ask all of you to act now to slow down our slide to government ownership of another sector of our economy.

I guess some people think that if you're going to abandon principles, you might as well do it BIG!

I hope all of you believe, as I do, in free market capitalism, and I hope you further agree with me that all of the bailouts and talk of new bailouts are a complete abandonment of that concept. We have an update and a way for you to act in this issue of The Compass.

Bailout Status

This past week, the House of Representatives voted for a NEW $15 billion bailout of the UAW, GM and Chrysler (a German, not American, company as I recall). I am happy to say that no Virginia Republicans voted for this bailout.

Be aware that if this bailout ever gets through, it will have enormous strings attached. Namely, all of the regulatory burdens that the Dems couldn't get through as legislation, they'll get instead as conditions of these loans/chairitable gifts. As someone that believes that such burdens on business reduce competitiveness and freedom, that will only make this proposal 50 times worse.

The short-term good news is that the bailout, part deux, failed in the Senate. They couldn't get to 60 votes on the cloture vote (the vote to break a filibuster). The embarassment for Virginia is that both of our Senators, Warner and Webb, voted FOR the second bailout. Sad.

What's Next

It would be nice if this chapter were over, but it's not.

Here's a quote from http://www.opinionjournal.com/ on the Senate's rejection of the bailout, part deux, without concessions from the UAW. It rings particularly true for a father of small children:

"You have to hand it to Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto
Workers union, and his colleagues. Negotiating for a living is, you know, what
they do. And they're good, very good. They know when somebody's about to
blink.

So it was last Thursday night that Mr. Gettelfinger rejected the deal
offered by Senate Republicans for interim bailout money to keep General Motors
and Chrysler alive for a few more months. The UAW chief was betting that the
Bush administration would blink, and that the union would get a better deal from
the politicians than it would get from the marketplace or from a bankruptcy
judge. It's a ploy we all learned in childhood. When dad won't give you what you
want, turn to mom."

As depressingly astonishing as it may be, President Bush is considering using money from the first bailout bill as a slush fund to lend or give money to GM and Chrysler - without any concessions from the unions. You remember, that was the bill to bailout the financial sector?!?

So, President George ("Herbert Hoover"?) Bush is seriously considering breaking the bounds (what bounds?) of the first bailout bill to just go spend the money on whatever the heck he wants to spend it on... even when that has already been defeated in the Senate!

Incredible.

What Can You Do To Stop This Insanity?

Given that the President has not yet decided whether to bail out the UAW and automakers, there is still time to let them know what you think. Please send them an email to comments@whitehouse.gov AND call their comments line at 202-456-1111.

Let's try not to fall farther down this horrible path to unrecoverable debt and an abandonment of capitalism. Please send them an email and call today!

Sincerely,

Senator Ken Cuccinelli

Virginia 37^th District

Attorney General Poll

Over the next week I will be taking my finals at Patrick Henry College. Therefore since finals are crucial to my grades, gpa, etc I will be focusing on my duties as a student over this next week.

I have posted a poll for the Republican Attorney General race that will expire when I am done with school. Please vote in it and leave a comment saying who you support and why. I look forward to seeing everyone's reason's for supporting different candidates.

As we have a competitive hard fought nomination battle over the next couple months, one thing we can all agree on that should unify us is that we need a candidate who will further strengthen an already very strong Republican ticket.

...and Speaking of Corrupt Democrats, but should we really be?

According to the Washington Post,

House Minority Leader John Boehner released a campaign memo earlier this week in which he makes clear that his party will push the idea of a culture of corruption within the Democratic party over the next few years.

Luckily for Boehner he seems to have a lot of fodder.

The GOP can herald the way that Representative Cao ended the carreer of William Jefferson who was under a bribery investigation.

The GOP should beable to make plenty of hay out of this new scandal with Governor Blagojevich.

They also have the case of Charlie Rangel who is under investigation for using his position on the Ways and Means Committee to create and defend tax loopholes which he has used for personal advantage. He is also under investigation for other tax code related issues.

While it is true that the Democrats are corrupt, should the Republicans really push the idea that the the Democrats are corrupt this election cycle? The GOP seemed to have a difficult time keeping its own members from doing really bad things over the past few years. If the House Republicans are going to call the Democrats corrupt durign teh next election cycle, they better make sure they are not corrupt, and have a xero tolerance level for anyone who is even slightly tainted with corruption. Accusing the opposition of corruption is an inherently difficult strategy as you must make sure you are not corrupt yourself.

If the Republicans can pull off the whole corruption angle, cool, however I would be much more excited and inspired to campaign for them if they would advance a series of creative conservative ideas. When the GOP violates core conservative beliefs (suports the bailout, supports unlimited spending, supports amnesty, etc...) and refuses to fight for conservative principles, I am just as uninspired to vote for them as when they are corrupt. Hopefully the Republicans will grow a spine and act on it.

No Hypocrisy Doesn't Exist

Remember the beginning of 2006 during the Jack Abramoff Scandal? Pictures of President Bush and Jack Abramoff surfaced, and President Bush and the Whitehouse were under fire for the "close" connections they had with Jack Abramoff. These pictures were "proof" that President Bush was corrupt.



Well today as Matt Drudge has been reporting on the arrest of Governor Blagojevich, he has put this picture at the top of his website.



It is a picture of Barack Obama and Governor Blagojevich smiling, shaking hands, and talking. I wonder if Obama will come under as much criticism as a result of this picture with Governor Blagojevich as Preisdent Bush came under as a result of the picture that surfaced of him and Jack Abramoff.

Change You Can Believe In

For a candidate who ran on "change" Obama sure has done an impressive job carrying out his campaign promises.

Early on his presidential campaign Barack Obama promised to take federal financing of his campaign. As an early sign of how well he would keep his campaign promises, he went back on that promise.

One of the reasons Obama was able to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary was the whole issue of the war. He was able to paint Clinton as a hawk, and advertise himself as someone who had opposed the war from the very beginning. Obama believed in this so much that he nominated Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, and Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. These two picks that have made some liberals unhappy as theleft perceives these two people to be military hawks.

No the questions is how involved was Obama in the scandal that lead to Governor Blagojevich's arrest this morning? For someone who ran as someone who would remove cronyism, partisanism, and corruption from politics, any involvement in this scandal will undermine his message. As the investigation unfolds it more people will inevitably be implicated and it wil be interesting how close this investigation gets to the new president.

Apparently Tony Rezko, a close friend of Obama's, is under investigation as part of this scandal.

The Next Right reports that Obama and Governor Blagojevich both seem to have improper links to the Children Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Obama also seems to be following in the path of outgoing President Bush. He and his campaign adviser David Axelrod have now said opposite things on the communication between Obama and Governor Blagojevich on who will take Obama's senate seat.

Obama said today after the story broke, "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."

However on November 23rd David Axelrod said, "I know he's (Obama) talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."

This apparent deception by Obama concerning his involvement in the selection of his replacement only makes people even more suspicious.

ABC News Senior Whitehoue Coresponent, Jake Tapper, details suspicious activity by the Obama Whitehouse, and Obama's closeness to Governor Blagojevich which might lead to potential damaging things for Obama down the road.

For a man who criticized the corruption of the Republicans and the Bush Administration, this kind of closeness to Governor Blagojevich's scandal does not seem to be like much of a change.

_______________________________________________

So where is this "Change You can Believe in?"

I see it in Bob McDonnelle in 2009. "Promises Made Promises Kept"

I also see it in 2010 when we elect more principled conservatives to the house and senate.

The Top of Our Ticket Next Year

Bob McDonnell's speech at the Republican Advance this weekend.

Bob McDonnell for Governor
"Promises Made Promises Kept"



Bill Bolling's speech at the Republican Advance

Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor



And for everyone who says Virginia is going blue, the polls for the governors race look good right now. Bob McDonell has the highest approval rating of any candidate for governor next year according to Rassmussen. He also matches up very well with the potential Democrat nominees, and has the advantage of being able to focus on the general election while the Democrats will have a brutal primary.

The GOP is now 3-0 in elections since November 4th.

With 100% of precincts reporting Joseph Cao defeated William Jefferson 50-47 in LA-2 to become the first Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. Congress. This victory is especially amazing as it was in a majority Democrat district.

While not quite as big a victory as could have been hoped for, Fleming defeated Carmouche by 356 votes in LA-4. Fleming declared himself the victor around 11:00 PM, and he should be feeling real comfortable as he has a larger lead than Norm Coleman does in MN. While we should have had a much bigger victory in that district, it was still a win and we will take every one we can take for now.

Next up any competitive special elections that may arise as a result of Obama's cabinet and White House picks, and then the Virginia executive races in 2009.

Republican Advance Straw Poll Results: Cuccinelli Wins

According to Hampton Roads GOP, Ken Cuccinelli won the Republican Advance Attorney General straw poll.

***This is a HamptonRoadsGOP.com exclusive*** Cuccinelli wins the RPV Advance Strawpoll. The results are as follows: Cuccinelli, 47% Brownlee, 38% Foster, 15%.

This is now the second major grassroots victory by the Cuccinelli campaign in a week.

This was also a major victory because the deck was set against Cuccinelli in the straw poll. In the 2007 Republican Advance straw poll, Ron Paul traveled en masse to the Republican Advance to make sure Ron Paul won the poll, and they were successful.

This year John Brownlee tried to win the straw poll by bussing people in to the Advance, and paying for peoples admission to the event. In his live blog of the AG debate earlier today, Shaun Kenney estimated that John Bownlee had bussed in 200 people, and that roughly another 300 people were at the advance.

If Shaun's ballpark estimates are roughly accurate this makes Cuccinelli's victory even more impressive. Brownllee bussed in 2/5ths of the Advance attendees and received roughly 2/5ths of the vote in the straw poll. Assuming the people Brownlee bussed in voted for Brownlee, this means Brownlee had very little support among people who went to the Advance with an open mind on the race.

No matter what trying to buy a strawpoll and failing has to be an embarrasment for any campaign.

Cuccinelli had now won the two biggest tests of grassroots strength in this AG nomination contest. This bodes very well for him heading into the delegate elections starting up in January.

::UPDATE:: For final results from bloggers who were at the advance, check out Jason Kenney, and SWAC Girl.

Special Elections Round II

Tonight Louisiana residents will go to the polls (again) for the final vote on who will represent Louisiana's 4th congressional district.

The race is between Republican John Fleming (who has a really amazing website btw), and Democrat Paul Carmouche. Sean Oxendine makes the case on The Next Right that this race is an even more important bell weather than the Saxby Chambliss senate race as it is comparable to the string of special elections the GOP lost last spring. Most polls have this race in a dead heat, and while this race is not getting the national attention the Saxby Chambliss senate race recieved, Generation Joshua does have a team of young homeschoolers working on the race. We'll see what happens, and I will post tonight to let y'all know what happens.

Hopefully the GOP can keep winning these special elections.

__________________________________

Another race to watch tonight is Louisiana's 2nd congressional district. This race is between Republican Joseph Cao, and incumbent congressman William Jefferson. In the general election in November, there was a lot of talk about possibly defeating John Murtha. It appears that tonight there is a chance to defeat William Jefferson.

This is not a bell weather race by any means as it is a solidly Democratic congressional district, defeating William Jefferson would be amazing. It would show that Republicans can win in solidly Democrat congressional districts, and it would demonstrate once again that the people of Louisiana will not tolerate corruption.

Check back in tonight for election results.

Talk About Hardball Politics

As some one who enjoys the politics of the legislative process, besides just the art of campaigning, I ran across two really cool articles today.

The first one was about the U.S. Senate and the power of the Rule's Committee as well as conflict of interest when it comes to committee positions.

The second one is from Canada and an amazing way Stephen Harper came up with to avoid a no confidence vote.

I hope y'all enjoy.

Creative Ways to Improve the RPV

Rebuild the Party is a very creative way to get things goign in the right direction on the national level. Here are two ideas on how tom improve things on the state level.

1.) Shaun Kenney just recently released a memo with an 8 part plan of how to completely revamp the RPV. It is a very creative idea, and I hope it spurs others on to thinking of ways to rebuild this party, and then I hope we see actual change as a result.

2.) While I was thinking about the Rebuild the Party movement, I remembered an issue of the Cuccinelli Compass sent out right after the general election this November. The e-mail included a very creative proposal by Ken Cuccinelli for developing technology and internet tools for the Republican party in Virginia. It is a plan I hope Jeff Frederick and the RPV embrace as we move on towards 2009 and reclaiming our state.

November 9, 2008

Dear Fellow Republican:

Well, the daze is wearing off and I’m already hearing from grassroots conservatives everywhere that they’re ready to start fighting their way back. I have also been pleasantly surprised to hear a general commitment to the two things we need to win: a Republican Party focused on core principles and grassroots campaigns.

Let’s get to it!

An Idea to Add to the Grassroots Arsenal

Looking at just one small area from this year’s election, it is generally considered that the GOP was out-teched in this election cycle, and my own observation is that such a conclusion is accurate. I’ve had an idea for many years that I’ve discussed with a few individuals and I want to now throw it out to all of you as food for thought. It’s just one idea, but I hope it might spawn many others.

The idea is to create a Virginia Internet Republican Committee. It would be very similar in structure to a unit committee (e.g., Fairfax County Republican Committee) or an auxiliary (e.g., the Virginia Federation of Republican Women). The idea would be that VIRC members could be members of their local unit committees but would also participate in the VIRC.

This is an idea that I’ve passed on to some of our GOP party leadership and I wanted to share it with all of you. Do with it what you will.

The concept is to establish the VIRC statewide and recruit membership from all over the Commonwealth. Meetings would generally take place via electronic means, such as conference calls, over the Internet or a combination of the two.

The initial purpose would be to recruit a critical mass of members so that VIRC could be self-sustaining. Terms of membership would need to be defined and put into the Party Plan. For example, annual dues might be $5, payable to the RPV via credit card – of course. Membership would not be anonymous, full information would be provided. Note that membership should be considered to include those too young to vote.

The strategic goal and the main reason to undertake a cutting-edge effort such as VIRC would be to offer another outreach opportunity to expand the GOP’s membership, volunteer and voter base, and, critically, to do so in a way calculated to massively increase our “in house” technical talent available to candidates and the party generally (e.g., for sustained efforts on blogs and in communication in general).

Presumably, those attracted to join the VIRC would be technically saavy, and would themselves work on how to expand the quality and utility of the VIRC. E.g., developing template websites, running a committee in which motions and voting takes place on line, mastering technology for the benefit of all campaigns (e.g., seeking out or developing automated, home-based, Internet-calling systems for GOP candidates), learning technology and testing it prior to introduction to GOP campaigns, expand our base of volunteers with high-level database skills, expand our base of volunteers capable of running Internet social sites (e.g., a candidate’s Facebook page) etc. This list is just a set of examples, there are many others.

While not necessary, initially, it would be best if this effort were voted on/approved/endorsed by the State Central Committee of RPV, but VIRC would not need voting power on SCC or other formalities to start. It would take the limited commitment of some individuals already within the GOP fold to get the effort started. We have plenty of such folks available to us. Getting several volunteer commitments to participate in managing the effort would avoid the VIRC becoming a burden for RPV staff, while maintaining strong connections between RPV/SCC and VIRC. Perhaps make such volunteers an ad hoc committee of SCC.

After a period of relatively informal experimentation (a few months), SCC may consider the effectiveness of VIRC vis-à-vis the effort required to deal with VIRC and decide to cancel the effort or take it to a more formal level, e.g., giving the Chairman and two elected SCC reps seats on SCC. Additionally, the relationships and/or connections between members of VIRC and their local GOP units could be addressed after an initial period with a variety of member experiences.

In short, I believe that VIRC could help us expand the GOP while also adding to our base of technical expertise within our party ranks.

Will tonights senate results from Georgia impact the way Obama governs?

Leading into today's Senate runoff race in Georgia, Patrick Ruffini postulated that a Saxby win of five or more points would mean that the high Democrat turnout among African Americans and the youth was an anomaly that happened because Obama was at the top of the ticket. He went on to explain how this could mean good news for the Republicans in 2010.

After not gaining leading Jim Martin by three points and not earning 50% of the vote in the November 4th election, Saxby Chambliss cruised to a 15 point win tonight.

Since the elections congressional Democrats have been generally willing to work with Obama and let him call the shots. They understand that his campaign was responsible for their house and senate gains, and have been willing to let him lead as a result.

The question is do tonights election results demonstrate just how big of a bump Obama game downtickets? If they do, will Democrats see the threat they face in 2010, and as a result seek to work more independently of Obama to make sure they get elected?

What do you think?

Statewide Petition Update

Last night at 11:07 PM Hampton Roads GOP posted an article entitled "Statewide Petitions Update." The article says,

"They started counting petitions today at RPV. At last count, it appears that the Cuccinelli campaign has more petitions than any other campaign by a large margin.

As of last night, McDonnell, Bolling, Brownlee, Foster, and Cuccinelli fulfilled the requirement.

Stay tuned for more updates…"

Once again it appears the Cuccinelli grassroots has demonstrated its strength in this petition drive. I will be interested to see the final number of raw signatures collected by each candidate, and if anyone was unable to collect enough signatures.

The next couple of steps after the petition drive results are officially announced will be the Republican Advance strawpoll this weekend, and then the release of this quarters finance reports. After that the primary election will really get underway as we have mass meetings around the commonwealth to choose delegates to the state convention on May 30th. Best luck to John Brownlee and Ken Cuccinelli this weekend at the advance.

Also it will be interestign to see if Muldoon was able to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot.

UPDATE:: According to Jason Kenney, all the candidates made it on although Muldoons 11th district signatures are still being reviewed.::

This article has been updated as the Hampton Roads GOP reposted the article.

Pirates of the Gulf of Aden: Please Bring them to an End

Once again the Somali Pirates have struck again. They have captured over a dozen ships (including a Ukranian ship filled with tanks, ammo and spare parts, and a $100 million Saudi oil tanker) and gotten wealthy off of the ransom. Today they made the news by unsuccessfully attacking a cruise ship. Luckily for the ship it was so much bigger that it is almost impossible for pirates to board, and it was able to outrun it.

It strikes me as odd that in a "civilized" world we are standing by and allowing piracy to exist. These pirates are disrupting international trade, and all the world is doing is establishing a naval force to cruise around that area and "protect" that shipping lane.

As we all know the best defense is a god offense. In the early 1800's America had a similar problem with protecting it's ships from pirates. After America got sick of paying the ransoms on its ships, we decided we had to forcibly stop the pirates from committing piracy. Under the leadership of President Thomas Jefferson, the American Navy was birthed and it sailed right into the ports of the North African pirates, and destroyed the pirates. Hopefully the nation and the world will come to the point where it stands up to the pirates, and destroys the pirates before they get too technically advanced as a result of the millions the pirates are receiving from the ransom money. Every ship has the right to sail the open seas. We need to keep it this way. We must protect international trade and end piracy.

The Cuccinelli Grassroots is Impressive

Today is the day the executive candidates for the Republican nomination in VA are turning in their signatures to get on the ballot at the State Convention on May 30th.

Each candidate was required to turn in 4,000 signatures including 200 per congressional district. According to my sources Ken Cuccinelli turned is turning in over 15,000 signatures. Most campaigns try to get double the amount of signatures required. Cuccinelli and co. collected almost 4 times as many signatures as they needed. That is an impressive turn out for the Cuccinelli grassroots. I will be curious to see how well the other candidates do.