Yep, Lowell Went There

Lowell posts a positively trashy line at his Raising Kaine blog today, turning London's tragedy into a political statement:

The bottom line is that, almost four years into the “war on terror,” our leaders have failed us. There is no sign of a light at the end of the tunnel. Unless, of course,
it’s the headlight of an oncoming train. Today, London, tomorrow….who knows?

I'm one of those rare people who still believes that fighting terrorism should be a non-partisan issue. Bill Clinton had several opportunities to nab bin Laden, and so has Bush. There's more than enough blame to go around, but can anyone really say that disposing of Osama bin Laden would have stopped this brutal attack? I think not. Terrorism was around before him, and it will certainly survive him.

Give it a rest for a couple of days, Lowell. Your post is shameless. The people of London need prayers, not preaching.

Chapman Convicted on Dog Charge

The Manassas Journal Messenger is reporting that former 50th district candidate Steve Chapman was convicted yesterday of allowing his dog, Nixon, to run loose. Chapman still has to answer felony election fraud charges in September.

I'm going to go out on a limb and call Chapman irresponsible in caring for his pet. If animal control picked up Nixon on three separate occasions, how many times do you think the poor pooch really got out? Nixon was killed by a car in September 2004, also while on the lam.

For his part, Chapman blames Nixon's outings on his employees. I think Chapman needs to own up to his mistakes. I just hope he's learned that caring for a dog is a pretty huge responsibility.

If you think we had a field day with this one, just wait until September.

Prayers for London

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of London as they mourn the loss suffered in this morning's cowardly terrorist attack.

Preston Bryant Gets Tough

The fight between Del. Preston Bryant and Lynchburg Republican chairman Wendell Walker erupted soon after the primary ended, but the Lynchburg News Advance is just getting around to reporting on it. So are we. :)

For those who weren't on the "inside baseball" track in this race, Walker temporarily stepped down as GOP chair to run Robert Garber's primary campaign against Bryant. Walker's action is not unheard of, but you can see from this story how it can split a party down the middle. Now that the primary is over and Bryant has won decisively, he is making a rare public display of temper by calling for Walker's resignation.

We're confident that Bryant's easy win gives him the ability to pick a fight now and again, but we are still concerned about Bryant's seemingly eroding political base. Bryant's voting record reads a lot like Dick Black's or Bob Marshall's, except on that pesky tax issue. What will he do once his honeymoon with the pro-tax crowd is over and he's left with several festering fights with his philosophical base?

Potts and the Post....a Match Made in Heaven

The Washington Post put itself squarely in the corner of Russ Potts this morning with this editorial about Tim Kaine's transportation package, which managed to be about as lackluster as Jerry Kilgore's. One thing you have to admit: both major party candidates have really handed this issue to Potts. All he has to do is distinguish himself and draw attention to the differences between himself and the other guys.

The Post credits Potts with being the only candidate willing to raise taxes to deal with Virginia's transportation problems. Potts gets Post points for saying he would keep the General Assembly in session until they "produced a long-range financing package." But while the Governor can convene a special session of the General Assembly, he doesn't have the power to keep them in session until they do what he wants. For that, Potts would need help from Sen. John Chichester and his band of merry men in the Senate of Virginia. Chichester, we think, would be only too willing to play ball with Potts on this issue.

So far, Debategate hasn't hurt Kilgore any. Will the Kilgore/Kaine fizzle on transportation give Potts that needed bounce toward the 10% mark? I doubt it, but the Post sure is trying.

HD21-30: The Unopposed Races

All Republicans in this latest installment of the unopposed races:

HD21 - John J. Welch, III (R) - This Virginia Beach chiropractor with the intense Boston accent is a bit nutty, but his constituents like him.

HD22 - Kathy J. Byron (R) - She represents the area around Lynchburg and she makes Pastor John look like a liberal. 'Nuff said.

HD23 - Preston Bryant (R) - His Dem opponent dropped out about three hours after Bryant won his victory against Robert Garber.

HD25 - R. Steven Landes (R) - This is another one the Dems should have gone after. He is the GOP Caucus chairman and a modestly effective legislator.

HD27 - Samuel Nixon (R) - Otherwise known as Del. Rob Bell's twin. Nixon is a policy wonk whose intelligence puts him light-years ahead of everyone else.

HD28 - William J. Howell (R - Speaker) - The Dems couldn't topple this Spotsylvania resident with the smallest law firm in Virginia, but they sure could have made things interesting by challenging him.

HD29 - Beverly J. Sherwood (R) - Chair of the House Militia Committee, she gets the final say-so on guns and such. This is a very safe seat for the GOP.

HD30 - Edward T. Scott (R) - Another Democratless primary survivor. Scott really showed his mettle by wholloping his opponent, Pastor Mark Jarvis

Potts Steals from Kaine

WSLS-TV in Roanoke has conducted an exclusive poll showing gubernatorial hopeful Jerry Kilgore subsatantially ahead of opponent Tim Kaine 49%-39%. This poll is a bit more reliable than previous polls for two reasons:

1. It includes only likely voters, rather than all registered voters.
2. It includes Russ Potts by name.

The poll reports that Kilgore is ahead in all regions of Virginia, with the notable exception of Northern Virginia (naturally). It also gives Potts' numbers as 5%, which is where John Behan and I both believe he will end up in November.

The one concern I have about this poll is that the margin of error is rather high at +/- 4.5%. I prefer to see the margin at +/-3 or lower. Despite the high margin, Kilgore retains a decisive lead.

This shows what many hacks have been saying for a while: Potts seems to be pulling his support from those who can't stomach Kaine. It also shows us that we may have been wrong about the impact of Debategate - so far, Kilgore hasn't taken a beating from it at all.

It's still early, so this whole thing is still academic. But this can't be good news for the Kaine camp.