Redstate

Posted at 5:17am on Jun. 30, 2008 Jim Webb Pulls a Pelosi

By Erick

I have an article up at Human Events on just how low Jim Webb (D-VA) has sunk in the Senate.

He has holds on four appointees to the Pentagon. Why? Well, he claims the holds are related to wanting questions on Blackwater Worldwide from the Pentagon. But he's received those answers and still won't release the holds.

So why are the holds really there?

Sen. Webb is expected to travel on a tax-payer funded junket to Southeast Asia. He wants both his wife and his 18 month old child to accompany him without having to pay reimbursement to the government. Unfortunately, according to a March 9, 2007, letter from Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), while spouses are permitted to go with the Senator, “relatives of Senators (other than spouses) will not be permitted to travel with Senate delegations.”

You can read the whole article here.

Posted in Congress | Jim Webb | Virginia — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:42am on Jun. 8, 2008 And how *was* the first day of the general campaign, Senator Obama?

But first, let's make sure that there's no potential mixups in names.

By Moe Lane

OK. This is how it worked (trust the Obama campaign to schedule two events in cities with similar names, on the same day):

On Thursday, Senator Obama started his day by making a speech in the city of Bristol, Virginia. Said speech was not to a crowd of 20,000: that is actually more or less the population of the city itself. Senator Obama then went up north to Bristow, Virginia, where he spoke with a completely different crowd. All clear?

Excellent.

Now that we've eliminated all that possible confusion ahead of time, here comes the fun stuff. You see, the Bristow Nissan Pavilion thing was apparently what I'll nicely call a bit of a dud.

Yes, imagine our collective surprise.

Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | The Best Democratic Primary EVER | Virginia — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:27pm on Nov. 11, 2007 Ruffini > Fisher in Evaluating Virginia GOP Troubles

By Ben Domenech

Marc Fisher is a fine guy, but he doesn't really get it. Asking Russ Potts to give you advice on what Republicans need to do to take back Virginia is about as silly as asking Jeannemarie Devolites Davis. Instead, Virginia Republicans should be turning to Patrick Ruffini, who says we need to start by firing the consultants.

This ad should be enough to convince you. Remember, this is a Republican ad from Tom Davis's one-time prodigy/current wife. She lost in the most lopsided race of the day.

Posted at 4:31pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Drafting Ted Olson (R-VA)

By Erick

With General Peter Pace not seeming to want to take the bait and get into the Virginia Senate Race, both Jim and I are hearing the same rumblings.

A certain group of conservative Republicans are pushing Ted Olson to run for the Virginia Senate race. If nothing else, Ted could most certainly stomp Mark Warner in a debate.

Posted in 2008 | Virginia — Comments (19)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:58pm on Oct. 15, 2007 One Last Mission for General Pace

Virginia Needs General Peter Pace

By The Directors

The political prospects for the 2008 Senate race in the Commonwealth of Virginia are dim.

With wealthy former Gov. Mark Warner holding significant leads over Rep. Tom Davis and former Gov. Jim Gilmore - two unimpressive candidates with little grassroots support - the likelihood of two Democrat Senators is high.

We are facing a critical moment in our nation's history. Such moments call for unique leadership - leadership which challenges the positions of the drive-by media, the Beltway insiders, and the political status quo. And the time has come for a leader who knows the truth firsthand about the challenge we face confronting forces of terror in Iraq and around the world, and will not play games with our men and women in uniform for political profit.

The Editors of National Review recently wrote an editorial urging General Peter Pace, the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - the highest military office in the nation) to enter the Senate race in Virginia.

Many Virginians agree, and with the recent selection of a convention over a primary, there is a realistic opening for a Pace candidacy.

Today, we urge General Pace to accept One Last Mission on behalf of his country. We urge him to heed the calls of his fellow countrymen and, rather than slipping away into a quiet (and much deserved) retirement, to serve once more a proud and grateful nation that desperately needs the unique leadership only he can offer.

Thanks to our friends at BigRedTent, you can now demonstrate your support for a Pace candidacy for the United States Senate by doing more than joining a Facebook group or commenting on a blog: you can donate to the effort. If Pace chooses to run, the money raised will go to that effort - if not, approved donations will go to a military charity.

We recognize that General Pace must be reluctant to enter this fray. But as One Last Mission puts it:

General, the American people need your leadership in the U.S. Senate. The outcome of even one Senate race could mean the difference between pushing on towards victory and being driven from the field and rendering meaningless the blood that has been spilt in the sands of Iraq and Afghanistan. We cannot afford to be represented by a September 10th politician. We cannot spare you now.

Posted in 2008 | Virginia — Comments (23)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:05pm on Jun. 12, 2007 Ed Gillespie: "Run away! Run away!"

By Ben Domenech

Ed Gillespie's commitment to helping out Virginia was evidently not an enduring one - he's fleeing across the Potomac to replace Dan Bartlett at the White House.

Gillespie is a smart cat, but considering that he couldn't get through one cycle here in the Old Dominion without a problem or two, I'm not sure the RPV will miss him.

Posted at 12:33pm on May 14, 2007 Should We Be Concerned?

By Erick

This is one of those issues that troubles me. You don't want to judge a man by his ethnicity or background, but there are more and more people troubled by the candidacy of Faisal Gill. He's running for 51st District Delegate against Julie Lucas and some of the grassroots guys are concerned.

I don't know the guy, but a cursory review of Michelle Malkin's site gives me pause. It seems Mr. Gill, when he worked for Homeland Security, failed to disclose his association with Abdurahman Alamoudi, a muslim leader indicted on terrorism related money laundering charges. This is compounded by Gill's work with the American Muslim Council, which encouraged muslims not to cooperate with the FBI after 9/11.

Also troubling is that a lawyer connected to Gill is rumored to be the Washington Post leaker of the NSA wiretapping program. Frank Gaffney wrote about Gill, primarily due to Gaffney's war with Grover Norquist, who was one of Gill's references for the DHS job.

As Michelle wondered,

How does a guy with no intelligence background get appointed director of intelligence policy at DHS--and how does he keep that job and his security clearance after committing two possible felonies by failing to list his two foreign-funded employers on sworn government forms?

And now the guy looks like he just might be the GOP nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates.

Question for Virginia readers: is Gill being smeared or is there a legitimate concern about him, or about the Dems painting the GOP terribly if Gill is the nominee? I think the latter is probably likely, but I wonder about the former.

Posted in 2007 | Virginia — Comments (19)/ Email this page » / Read More »