Write in Al Bedrosian for County Supervisor- Hollins District

Please read the following letter from Al Bedrosian, I encourage anyone living in the Hollins District of Roanoke County to write him in for Supervisor:



I, Al Bedrosian, am running for Roanoke County Supervisor – Hollins District (North Roanoke County) this Tuesday, November 3rd. I will be running as a conservative write-in candidate – which means I need you to write in my name B-E-D-R-O-S-I-A-N as County Supervisor when you vote this Tuesday

My reasons for running as a write in candidate are as follows:
2 months ago, I was approached to write an article for the Roanoker Magazine about Roanoke County Government. My findings, which were published in the October 2009 issue of The Roanoker Magazine were disheartening to say the least:

- Size of Roanoke County budget nearly doubled in the past 10 years, while the population during that same time only increased by 15%.

- The tax burden per person in the county has nearly doubled to $2100. An average family of 5 has a county tax burden of over $10,000!

- Roanoke County has the second highest Real Estate rate in all of Virginia, second only to Loudon County in Northern Virginia. – that’s REAL MONEY that we pay in our monthly mortgage or mid/end of the year tax bill if you own your house.

- The County bypassed the voters (did not get their approval as they should) and passed an $83 million bond – which included spending $50 million on a new GYM with waterslides in North Roanoke County. Building gyms with our tax dollars, when people are struggling to make ends meet. This is NOT the role of government.

- The current Supervisors voted to accept federal STIMULUS money, with strings attached, to cover up shortfalls in the budget. Federal Stimulus money is money stolen from our children’s future.

The sad thing is that this Fiscal IRRESPONSIBILITY was performed under republican controlled County Supervisors!! Everything listed above is directly opposed to the Republican Creed of Virginia which calls for lower taxes, and government involvement ONLY when it cannot be done by the private sector.

Unfortunately, I uncovered these items after the Primary in June, 2009 so was unable to run in the Republican primary and remove our so-called Republican supervisor in the Hollins district. I did however approach Mr. Flora and ask him politely to step down and let a true Republican/conservative run for office. He refused. I took this issue up with the republican leadership, but they showed little interest. I thought there was really little I could do until the final nail in the coffin occurred this past week, THE ROANOKE TIMES endorsed Mr. Flora, our current Hollins Supervisor.

When a liberal newspaper endorses a Republican over a democrat start getting VERY nervous. The endorsement of the current Hollins County Supervisor by the Roanoke Times has made me say ENOUGH is ENGOUGH. If you vote in the following 6 voting places in North Roanoke County, I am asking for you to write in B-E-D-R-O-S-I-A-N as County Supervisor. PLEASE SEND WITH A personal NOTE TO YOUR FRIENDS….Let me know if you are in the district and would be willing to vote for me. I will be voting for Republicans: McDonnel, Bolling, and Cuccinelli

You can reach me on Facebook.

WE have less than a week to get this message circulated among conservatives in North Roanoke County!

If you vote at any of the following places please write me in for Supervisor:
-Roanoke Valley Christian Schools off of Williamson Rd.
-Burlington Elementary School – off of Peterscreek Rd.
-Mountain View Elementary School – off of Plantation Rd.
-Life Church – off of Peterscreek Rd.
-Bonsack Baptist Church off of 220 alternate
-Hollins Library off of Peterscreek Rd.

Thanks

Al

My choices in Bearing Drift's "The Berrys 2009"

Our fellow VA Conservatives over on Bearing Drift have set up awards for the best use of the internet in the campaigns this year in different categories. First off I would like to encourage you to vote. In my eye Bearing Drift is the leader in conservative blogging in Virginia, and having Bearing Drift around has been a great source of laughs and campaign analysis throughout the whole year. For me personally I was new to political blogging this year and Bearing Drift set the standard and example for the rest of the conservative bloggers in VA to follow. The Berrys are a great idea and I'd like to offer to my audience my choices:

You can see all nominees and vote by following this link

For the record Bob McDonnell's campaign was exempt from the awards as Vincent Harris and Harris Media have done ran probably what has been the best online campaign since it has become such a popular tool in campaigns. This is one area where we failed big time in 2008 and Bob McDonnell and his team set out to prove they could kick the Dems ass online this year. They didn't just kill them online they set the standard for years to come for any candidate no matter where they are or what office they are running for.

Best campaign video of 2009:

Will Morefield for Delegate:




Being in Southwest VA Will Morefield's campaign for Delegate hasn't received much recognition around the state. From what I've seen he has run an excellent campaign. The RPV came out with some great videos this year but this one is the best out of any of the campaigns. I have a little background in video editing and to put a video together with such beautiful transitions, narration, shooting, and on and on and on takes a lot of time and skill even for just this short one minute clip. And despite the fanciness of the video, the shots, message and music all mix together so well and really allow the message to resonate with the viewer.


Best Campaign Blog of 2009:

Roanoke Valley Republicans. No questions. Greg Habeeb has done an outstanding job on the blog and has been another one of the blogs that has set the standard for the rest of us out there trying to blog.

Best Use of Social Network:

Ken Cuccinelli

Most candidates, weather in Virginia or elsewhere usually don't manage their own Facebook and Twitter. They are busy traveling and trying to spread their message to voters personally. Despite Ken's busy schedule he always took the time to upadate his Facebook and Twitter HIMSELF. He put a huge personal touch on his Facebook and really interacted with his supporters the way no other candidate really does. Just another reason why he's the grassroots King of Virginia.

Best overall use of Web 2.0 in 2009:

Ken Cuccinelli

Two months ago if I was asked this question I would have said that Cuccinelli definitely has the edge on the social networking side of this but his campaign website is a little dry and unattractive. But then they started updating it. Adding pictures, more information on the issues, press releases, latest news, more on the issues and now the website has really blossomed into really outstanding piece of work. So without a doubt once again: it's Ken Cuccinelli.

One Week out: Polls show GOP Sweep

As Ken Cuccinelli so wisely predicted ten days ago at Eric Cantor's annual Republican Round-Up it looks like we are about to have a sweep here in Virginia:


Public Policy Polling:
Bob McDonnell +15
Bill Bolling +12
Ken Cuccinelli +16

SurveyUSA Poll:
Bob McDonnell +17
Bill Bolling +14
Ken Cuccinelli +16

These two polls both show each GOP candidate up 12 or more points over their respective opponents. I hope the rest of the country takes notice of the statement we will make one week from today.


Despite this good news click here to find a Victory Office near you to volunteer with Get Out The Vote efforts this upcoming week.

Message from Senator Ralph Smith to the citizens of the 22nd District of the Virginia Senate

Dear Friends,

Election Day is 14 days away and this week the Roanoke Valley has the honor of hosting debates between the candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor. Missing from the lineup are the candidates for Attorney General because Democrat Steve Shannon refuses to debate Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Roanoke Valley or anywhere else.

Del. Shannon knows that refusing to debate Sen. Cuccinelli is like refusing to box Muhammad Ali or race Richard Petty. He feels embarrassed ducking a challenge but he knows that embarrassment is nothing compared to what the contest's actual results would yield.

Throughout the race, Shannon has shown he is no match for Cuccinelli's sharp wit and even sharper legal mind.

When the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts threatened the successful prosecution of DUI offenders in Virginia, Sen. Cuccinelli was the first legislator to call for a special session. Shannon called Cuccinelli's special session idea a "political stunt". Fortunately, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Governor of Virginia put politics aside and followed Ken's lead on this issue. The General Assembly went back in August and passed a legislative solution that earned Cuccinelli praise from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Twice this campaign season, Shannon has made the mistake of agreeing to debate Cuccinelli. Such was the case at a debate in Northern Virginia when Cuccinelli asked Shannon to name all the divisions in the attorney general's office. Shannon decided to discuss his support for the massive 2004 tax increase instead of showing the audience that he didn't know what the Attorney General actually does.

Cuccinelli jumped up and said, "Mr. Moderator, in court I'd object to a witness not answering the question." Shannon never answered the question.

Since that debate, Shannon has decided to stick to the sage advice, "Its better to be quiet and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

Cuccinelli has done as much to prove he is up to the job of Attorney General as Shannon has done to prove he is not. That is why Cuccinelli has been endorsed by 77 local sheriffs and commonwealth attorneys in addition to the Fraternal Order of Police. Those that have committed their life to law enforcement trust
Ken Cuccinelli.

Those of us who have had the honor of serving with Ken in the Senate will miss the wealth of legal knowledge he brings to the Senate floor and the Courts of Justice Committee. In the Senate, Cuccinelli has built a strong reputation as a protector of the Constitution, a bi-partisan leader on mental health issues, and being almost as stingy with your tax dollars as I am.

I was proud to endorse Ken for Attorney General before he even announced his candidacy because I knew he was the best choice for Virginia. This campaign has completely cemented that thought.

I hope you will join me in helping ensure that Ken is elected on November 3 so he can continue Bob McDonnell's strong leadership as Attorney General. If you know you will be unable to make it to the polls, please apply for an absentee ballot ASAP. Any time or financial contributions you could give Ken in these final two weeks would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any questions, I can be reached at my 5720 Williamson Road office in Roanoke at (540) 206-3597, this email address, or on Facebook.

Sincerely,

Ralph K. Smith
Senate of Virginia
District 22

Fimian out raises Connolly

In the race for the 11th Congressional district seat in Virginia businessman and GOP candidate Kieth Fimian has out raised Democrat incumbent Rep. Gerry Connolly in the last quarter's fund raising period.

Fimian raised $233,832 in total contributions and $286,332 in total receipts. Connolly raised $124,726 in total contributions and $176,736 in total receipts.

Looks like the GOP is ready to challange the Dems just about everwhere! At least up there in NOVA.

Fundraising Comparison Cuccinelli v. Shannon

Special Guest Post from Sen. Ken Cuccinelli

We raised 673K. 200K came from nat'l GOP support, so raised 473K ourselves.

We had 1791 total donors; 780 of whom donated over $100, and 1011 of whom donated $100 or less.

Shannon raised 533K. 225K of his came from nat'l Dem support, so he raised only 308K - the lowest amount of any statewide candidate in September.

Steve had 556 total donors; 454 of whom donated over $100, and a paltry 102 of whom donated $100 or less.

He barely made it into triple digits of small donors! Ouch. We have once again brought in nearly 10 times as many small donors as he has. Double ouch. These are the folks that are going to help us close strongly ON THE GROUND (not to mention, we again have twice as many donors over $100 as he does).

Not to mention the fact that we have once again come in with far more donors - 3+ times as many total donors (recall that we had over 4 times as many for July and August). Note that the only finance period that we are aware of in which more total donations came into an AG candidate's race was our own record-shattering July/August period. But for our own record number of donors in those summer months, the number of donors that helped us this period would've shattered the previous record by over 50% (over 600 above the old record).

At least we know who has the grassroots campaign in this race!

Current cash on hand is where Shannon has his advantage (remember, he didn't have a Dem nomination contest). He has $1.421 million on hand, while we have $935K - a 3:2 advantage for him at the end of September.

We outraised Shannon for the third period (out of 3) since the convention.

After the convention, Shannon had a 10 to 1 cash on hand advantage. At the end of June, he had a 4 to 1 c.o.h. advantage. At the end of August he had just over a 2 to 1 c.o.h. advantage.

Now, he started negative radio ads in SE Va. early in September and he went up on T.V. earlier than we did in September. These are things he gets to do b/c he has more money; however, we are still ahead of him in every poll and he is a virtual unknown in many parts of Virginia (I don't have that problem).

So, if we can continue to try and close the cash on hand gap, we are in a good position to be competitive right to the end. If you can donate to keep this momentum going, we would appreciate it! You can donate via our webpage at www.Cuccinelli.com.

Thanks to all!
Ken

I know these numbers look encouraging, and they are, but I would like to encourage anyone who can to donate ASAP to the Cuccinelli campaign. The Dems essentially think Deeds and Wagner are lost and they are going to save Shannon. WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN. We may be beating him on the ground, but we must stay on TV and the radio. We are trying to raise $100K before election day and have raised $30k so far. All you have to do is click the donate button at the top of the site.