5th District conservatives need to take a lesson from Chuck DeVore

In this post on RedState Chuck DeVore's Communications Director Joshua Trevino puts to rest the conflict between their campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. DeVore, a California Assemblyman, is seeking the Republican nomination and has been involved with what is a similar conflict to the conflict many of the GOP candidates for Congress in the 5th District seem to have with the National Republican Congressional Committee. The NRSC went out early and recruited Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP who is a VERY VERY moderate candidate (much more so than Robert Hurt mind you), and un-officially endorsed her candidacy for the US Senate from California over DeVore and has been accused of favoritism in various forms. Well the conflict has been put to rest and candidates in the 5th really need to consider what the DeVore campaign has decided to do here.

Trevino says in the post:

Mission-driven conservative warriors have a penchant for wanting to clean the Augean stables. But it turns out King Augeas has more than one stable. You, the activists who read and sustain this site, can and should focus your energies on the Augean stable that is our national-Party establishment. Here in California, we’ve got our own Augean stable to clean: the mess that Democratic governance and left-wing ideologues have created, bringing to ruin what by right ought to be the most prosperous spot on the planet. The impoverishment of California is the greatest act of policy-driven vandalism since the Fourth Crusade, and the human suffering that results is the sole moral burden of Democrats — of whom Barbara Boxer is the witless archetype.
That’s our fight. That’s Chuck DeVore’s fight. That’s the fight we at DeVore for California focus on every single day. And fighting that fight — not the fight with D.C. Republicans — is how we’ll win. We must earn the right to lead this fight in 2010, by beating Fiorina for the right to take on Boxer. You can help us do exactly that. What role the NRSC wishes to play in this is its choice. It may continue as it has, and that would be a pity, but also beyond our control.

While our state is in a much better situation than the state of California candidates for Congress in the 5th shouldn't focus their campaign and their message on supposed wrongs by the NRCC, Robert Hurt, and the 5th District GOP Committee. Like it or not, what has happened in the past happened. There will be a primary on June 8, 2010. Like it or not, it's happening. Let the activists and bloggers, the donors and grassroots work out the wrongs done by the NRCC and 5th District Committee. There will be an election for 5th District Chairman this spring and if you don't like the way Tucker Watkins has done things, then vote for someone else. The candidates need to stop attacking the NRCC and the 5th District Committee and focus on the issues important to the citizens of the 5th District.

Reality shows us that Rep. Tom Perriello had 21 town hall meetings with his constituents over the summer. In these town hall meetings the people voiced serious opposition to the health care reform bill which came before the House as well as general opposition to any serious government intervention into our health care system as well as any general cuts to Medicare. Despite his constituents expressing these views in his town hall meetings Perriello voted in favor of the health care reform bill which passed in the House of Representatives. Evidence shows us that "Cap and Trade" legislation will kill jobs in the 5th District which is an area that has already suffered greatly due to the economic crisis. Despite this evidence Perriello voted for the "Cap and Trade" bill. Evidence showed us that the economic stimulus plan would not help citizens of the 5th District and would only cause our nation to go into greater debt which the future citizens of the 5th District would have to pay off in exorbitant taxes. Despite this evidence Tom Perriello voted in line with Nancy Pelosi in favor of the economic stimulus package. This is the reality we are facing in the 5th District.

The candidates for the GOP nomination shouldn't worry about the intra-party fighting that is going on. Leave that to the party activists  and drop that from your message. Tell us what solutions you will bring to Washington that will put people back to work, empower the free market, cut spending, rid us of burdensome government intervention and regulation, and protect life and liberty. I hope Robert Hurt, Feda Morton, Michael McPadden, Ken Boyd, Laurence Verga, Ron Ferrin, Jim McKelvey, and all their staffs can take a lesson from Chuck DeVore.

After death of newborn in Campbell Co. General Assembly looks to close loophole

After charges were not filed in the questionable death of a newborn child in Campbell County last Friday, GOP legislators, under the lead of Senator Steve Newman, with the assistance of Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli, Campbell County Commonwealth's Attorney Neil Vener, and Campbell County Sheriff Terry Gaddy are looking to pass legislation to close this loophole in order to protect innocent life in future situations.

According to the Lynchburg News and Advance:

Deputies were called to a home in the 1200 block of Lone Jack Road in Rustburg about 11 a.m. Friday. The caller said a woman in her early 20s was in labor.
When deputies arrived, they discovered the baby had actually been born around 1 a.m., about 10 hours earlier. Investigators said the baby was already dead when deputies got there.
Investigators told WSLS the baby’s airway was blocked. They said the baby was under bedding and had been suffocated by her mother. Investigators said because the mother and baby were still connected by the umbilical cord and placenta, state law does not consider the baby to be a separate life. Therefore, the mother cannot be charged.

 You can read the whole statment regarding the legislation from Senator Newman here.

The general problem with the law is that the child was still attached via the umbilical cord at the time of death. In order for charges to be filed in Virginia under the current law the following must be established: (1) the child must have been born alive; (2) the child had an independent and separate existence from its mother; and, (3) the accused was the criminal agent that caused the infant’s death. So in the case number two of the above was not completly true and the mother gets off free.


Legislation being put forth will essentially abolish this loophole and will allow charges to be filed if another case like this were to occur. Delegates Kathy Byron and Ben Cline will lead action on this legislation on the House of Delegates side and Senator Robert Hurt will be Senator Newman's co-sponsor in the Senate.


Regarding the legislation Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli said today:

“I have spoken to Senator Newman about the tragic and appalling circumstances of the baby’s death, and I certainly will make the resources of the Attorney General’s office available to help make sure this can never happen again.  This situation cries out for action, and I will support efforts to fix what appears to be a horrific loophole in our laws.”

This whole situation seems to be a great travesty and certainly a call for action to our lawmakers. The action by Senator Newman as well as the other elected officials who are stepping up to close this loophole should certianly be commended as well as a testament to how fortunate we are in Virginia to have elected officials who consider protection of the right to life a serious priority.

Remember: If a person does not have the right to life, all other rights then become unavailable.

Cross Posted at VA Social Conservative

Crist keeps telling lies, Rubio kills lead

Charlie Crist continued to make false statements about his record and Marco Rubio's record on Monday:

"When you hear people out there on the campaign trail talking about what they're going to do, look at what they've already done,'' said Crist, going on to cast Rubio as a big-spending, tax-raiser. "Let's make sure the words meet the facts. I don't believe in raising taxes. I'm running against someone who wanted to,'' said Crist, apparently referring to Rubio's support of a plan to raise sales taxes while cutting property taxes.

But Crist never mentioned that he signed a budget this year that includes more than $2-billion in new taxes and fees. In fact, several times Crist made claims about his record that have been widely debunked or undercut by reality.

Then today a new Rasmussen Poll was released which showed Rubio and Crist in a deadlock at 43%:

Charlie Crist- 43%
Marco Rubio- 43%
Other candidates- 5%
Undecided- 9%

This is a large drop for Crist who polled at 53% in August and 49% in October compared to Rubio's 31% in that same August poll. So folks we now "officially" have a race on our hands.


For more on the subject please see: A Bomb Goes off in Florida

2012 Speculation for US Senate seat Part 2

John Brownlee- I know he has been encouraged to run again for office and this is probably one which he will want to throw his hat in if he does want to run for office again as others like Cantor, McDonnell, Cuccinelli, and Bolling will likely be passing  this one up. He has name recognition from a previous statewide run as well as holding a high level federal appointment. Negatives include the failed AG bid as well many questionable actions as US Attorney. I am also skeptical of weather he has any desire to run again after the failed AG run as he has stepped away from the Republican party quite a bit since May. But if wants to run for something this will represent one of his best chances. My prediction: Possibly running

Rep. Bob Goodlatte- Goodlatte has begun taking a higher profile recently over the past 12+ months on the fight against the Democrats excessive spending and highly intrusive agenda which could signal a desire to run but he has never given any other signals in regards to this. Despite this I think his name will continued to be thrown out on the blogs and in conversation and he will be encouraged to run. Rep. Goodlatte seems to be perfectly content representing the 6th District though and could possibly move up in House leadership after the upcoming 2010 election in which he will likely be unopposed after the embarrassing showing of Sam Rasoul in 2008. My prediction: Possibly running

Rep. Rob Wittman- Wittman is a Congressman who I feel has done a lot in a very short time in office. He has yet to even serve a full term in Congress and has accomplished a great deal especially with the Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act.  Additionally Wittman has taken steps to be a leader among the House Republicans by working to start the Republican New Media Caucus. Wittman is someone who definitely has leadership potential at the statewide potential but there are many questions on weather Wittman will be able to garner much excitement statewide.

Cross posted on VA Social Conservative

Let's Play the Speculation Game

Other blogs have been starting to throw out speculation for who will run for the Republican nomination for US Senate to challenge Jim Webb in 2012. This is always fun so why not play the game here too?

Potential Candidates:

Del. Bob Marshall- Marshall ran against Jim Gilmore for the nomination in 2008 and lost by a very slim margin in what was another grassroots vs. establishment battle. That run greatly raised the stature and name recognition of Marshall and put him in a great position to run again in 2012. Marshall has been a hero for both life and the taxpayer in the House of Delegates and has begun to take a larger stand against federal government intrusion especially with the legislation he has pre-filed for the upcoming session of the General Assembly in regards to Obamacare. Marshall also had the support of our Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli last year and I see no reason why he wouldn't have his support again in 2012. Since Cuccinelli's profile has risen greatly over the past 12 months a Cuccinelli-backed Marshall will only be one more reason why Marshall could be our next US Senator, especially if the Cuccinelli grassroots organization steps up for Marshall as well. Marshall could have a team of  bloggers/internet activists, grassroots volunteers, experienced campaign staffers, and even potential donors lining up to help him in addition to his own seasoned campaign team. My prediction: Running

former Rep. Tom Davis- Who even knows? Davis is sitting up in NOVA playing to the beat of his own RINO drum. I sure hope for the sake of the Republican Party of Virginia he doesn't run, but honestly I bet he will. If he decides to run again I hope we nominate via convention again so he will get scared and drop out again. We'd really just be getting a slightly more moderate Jim Webb. A slight improvement to the current situation would be a great disappointment to the people of Virginia who want a great improvement. I wonder how Davis feels being by himself in his "big tent" Republican party? My prediction: Probably running

Governor-elect Bob McDonnell- No chance in hell of getting him to run. If McDonnell governs like he campaigns, which he has so far with the transition, and decided to run for Senate against Webb we would have another blowout on our hands similar to the one he gave Creigh Deeds in November. But there is no way McDonnell would leave the Govenor's office especially with the large amount of things he wants to accomplish especially when Virginia is different from other states and he will only have four years to accomplish his goals with no hopes of re-election if he falls short of his goals. My prediction: Not running

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling- Bolling wants to be Governor and there is no reason he should give up a shot at that to run for US Senate. None at all. Especially if he and McDonnell prove to be an effective governing team than the voters of Virginia will have no reason not to pick him to be their next Governor in 2013. My prediction: Not running

Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli- I put Cuccinelli in the same category as Bob McDonnell. Cuccinelli has a long list of goals he wants to accomplish as Attorney General and the is NO way he will leave that office short of achieving these goals. The most likely option for Cuccinelli is to run for re-election at this point which he has spoken of many times since his victory in November. As far as Cuccinelli seeking higher office, I feel that the US Senate would be a much better fit for him than the Governor's mansion so I eventually expect him to move that way, but the earliest we will see Cuccinelli make a run for the US Senate will be in 2014 when Mark Warner's seat is up. Expect him and his grassroots army to line up behind Marshall as mentioned above. Just imagine sometime in the near future we could have our US Senators from Virginia be Bob Marshall and Ken Cuccinelli. That would be quite awesome and cause C-SPAN 2 to be one of the most entertaining channels on TV. My prediction: Not running

Rep. Eric Cantor- Why would he want to be the junior Senator from Virginia when he can be the Speaker of the House? My prediction: Not running

former Del. Chris Saxman- A lot of people threw out Saxman's name last year and his name has been thrown out a lot in regards to the 2012 seat as well. It will be interesting to see what he does especially since he will most likely working as an education advisor or possibly Secretary of Education under Bob McDonnell. My prediction:  Possibly running




Cross Posted at VA Social Conservative

2009-2010 NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision Bowl Game Predicitions

When I started this blog my goal was to occasionally blog about things other than politics to spice things up on here as well to give myself and my readers a break from politics, because politics isn't the only thing going on in the world right now. So in order to do this here are my 2009-2010 College Football bowl game predictions:

New Mexico- Dec. 19, 2:30pm, ESPN Fresno State 42 Wyoming 14
St. Petersburg- Dec 19, 8:00pm, ESPN Rutgers 27 UCF 17
R&L Carriers New Orleans- Dec 20, 8:00pm, ESPN Southern Miss 48 MTSU 24
MAACO Las Vegas- Dec 22, 8:00pm, ESPN BYU 27 Oregon State 24
Should be one of the more interesting bowl games.
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia- Dec 23, 8:00pm, ESPN Utah 35 California 31
Sheraton Hawaii- Dec 24, 8:00pm, ESPN SMU 33 Nevada 28
Emerald- Dec 26, 8:30pm, ESPN USC 36 Boston College 33
Not a fan of either of these teams, USC is probably the better team and should win but it will probably be a close game. I am still bitter about Boston College being in the ACC, probably the worst decision especially in the view of a fiscal conservative like myself who despises the fact that UVA has to waste so much money on travel expenses all the way to Boston for minor teams that don't  bring in much revenue.
Meineke Car Care- Dec 26, 4:00pm, ESPN Pittsburgh 48 North Carolina 17
Pittsburgh is an outstanding football team flat out an should win this game with no problem. Plus I always have to go by a rule that was taught to me many years ago as a young boy: ABC- Anybody But Carolina
Little Caesars- Dec 26, 1:00pm, ESPN Ohio 24 Marshall 21
Gaylord Hotels Music City- Dec 27, 8:00pm, ESPN Clemson 33 Kentucky 17
 Clemson avenging Kentucky's win over the East Carolina Pirates in last year's Liberty Bowl for me shouldn't be much of a problem if the real Clemson team shows up or the one that showed up in their losses to Maryland and South Carolina.
Independence- Dec 28, 5:00pm, ESPN Georgia 27 Texas A&M 21
Champs Spots- Dec 29, 8:00pm, ESPN Wisconson 20 Miami (FL) 17
EagleBank- Dec 29, 4:30pm, ESPN Temple 15 UCLA 9
At least Army won't be playing in this bowl. I love Army. I have the utmost respect for the school and try to always pull for them unless they are playing UVA or ECU (which are my two favorite teams), but after their dismal performance against Navy they deserve to be neither eligible nor worthy of playing in a bowl game. 
Pacific Life Holiday- Dec 30, 8pm, ESPN Nebraska 21 Arizona 0
Roady's Humanitarian- Dec 30, 4:30pm ESPN Idaho 34 Bowling Green 27
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces- Dec 31, Noon ESPN Houston 49 Air Force 10
Texas- Dec 31, 3:30pm, CBS Missouri 24 Navy 21
Brut Sun- Dec 31, Noon, CBS Stanford 33 Oklahoma 21
Insight- Dec 31, 5:30pm, NFL Network Iowa St. 24 Minnesota 17
Chick-fil-A- Dec 31, 7:30pm ESPN Virginia Tech 35 Tennessee 17
Despite my pick I'll definitely be pulling for a Tennessee win. I am throughly angry that Virginia Tech is in this bowl because I am going to have to put up with all my poorly educated friends who are Tech fans wanting to watch the game on New Year's Eve.
Outback- Jan 1, 11am, ESPN Auburn 42 Northwestern 14
This is the bowl no one wants to be in because anyone who had more than a minute of a good time the night before is not going to be awake at 11am on New Year's Day to watch this game. I don't really have any direct connection to Auburn so I don't consider myself a fan but they are a team that I have always enjoyed watching and I usually pull for them. That being said I don't plan on being up for this one but plan on Auburn making sure that the last time Northwestern won a bowl game is still the 1948 Alamo Bowl when this one's over.
Capital One- Jan 1, 1pm, ABC LSU 49 Penn State 46
This game should be the best non-BCS bowl game this year. These two teams could have easily been in BCS bowl games if Penn State hadn't cost themselves the conference championship by loosing to BOTH Iowa and Ohio State and if LSU had been able to beat Ole Miss and either Florida or Alabama. Look for a lot of offense from both teams. This is also a big match up as far as status of both the Big Ten and SEC. SEC without a doubt has been the premier conference in the nation and LSU has been a huge part of that success but look for Penn State to come out strong really wanting  to win this one as a Penn State win would show the nation that the Big Ten can hang with the SEC.
Konica Minolta Gator- Jan 1, 1pm, CBS West Virginia 34 Florida State 28
I'll be flipping channels back and forth on New Year's day as we have two of the best bowl match ups of the  year taking place at the same time in the same state143 miles apart. All that aside though, this will be Bobby Bowden's last game as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles and they will without a doubt be looking to win one for their coach. West Virginia does great in the bowl setting and has won four straight bowl games but they have underperformed to expectations greatly over the past two seasons.  There will also be Big East vs. ACC pride on the line here which is another big factor in this game. West Virginia will come out on top due to the fact that FSU will be largely playing on emotions, FSU has a terrible defense and  containing  Noel Devine will be a huge task, and West Virginia is a much more experienced team with bowl experience and success over the past four years.
Rose- Jan 1, 5pm, ABC Oregon 42 Ohio State 28
Oregon played awesome to finish out the season and definitely has the momentum going into this game. Ohio State is historically overrated and doesn't really have the offensive fire power to hang with Oregon.
Allstate Sugar- Jan 1, 8:30pm, FOX Florida 38 Cincinnati 30
Tebow's last game and they are going to come out hungry right off the bat. Cincinnati has a lot they can prove with this game. Brian Kelly has moved on to Notre Dame so look for them to be hungry to prove they can win without Kelly. A Cincinnati victory can also be big for the Big East as they look to establish themselves as a football conference and would also most likely leave Cincinnati at #2 at the end of the season. Additionally a Cincinnati victory would allow them to finish undefeated for the first time since 1952 when they closed out the season a whopping 3-0. Despite the numerous positives for Cincinnati if they win this game there is no way any team  in the nation could beat Florida after that loss to Alabama. They will come out and play their best football of the year.
AT&T Cotton- Jan 2, 2pm, FOX  Ole Miss 27 Oklahoma State 17
Another game which will be a very interesting and entertaining game as both of these teams were potential contenders for BCS bids had it not been for a bad loss or two.
Autozone Liberty- Jan 2, 5:30pm, ESPN East Carolina 33 Arkansas 30
As a die-hard East Carolina Pirates fan this will be the game which I will most be looking forward to. I love the fact that C-USA is matched up with the SEC in this game because this without a doubt will let them test themselves to what their progress has been after throughout the season after disappointing losses to West Virginia, North Carolina, and SMU early on. The SEC team in this game is usually a lot better than the C-USA team despite their record which is a testament to the level of football played in the SEC. The Pirates will be facing an Arkansas offense led by QB Ryan Mallett and will face the similar challenge of a pass heavy offense similar to the one which they were able to hold to about as little production through the air to pull out the victory against Houston in the C-USA championship game. If ECU can play good defense, have a solid ground game on offense which feeds off success on defense and leads to Pinkney being able to find Dewayne Harris and Darryl Freeney open they will be successful. They also need to win the turnover battle which means interceptions and forced fumbles.
International- Jan 2, Noon, ESPN2 South Florida 27 Northern Illinois 24
Papajohns.com- Jan 2, 2pm ESPN South Carolina 36 Connecticut 35
Alamo- Jan 2, 8pm ESPN Texas Tech 24 Michigan State 21
Tostitos Fiesta- Jan 4, 8pm, FOX  TCU 17 Bosie State 14
FedEx Orange- Jan 5, 8pm, FOX Georgia Tech 39 Iowa 14
GMAC- Jan 6, 7pm, ESPN Central Michigan 52 Troy 49
BCS National Championship- Jan 7, 8pm, FOX Alabama 37 Texas 17

College Republican Resolution Sent to the 10th District Congressional Committee

In the last week a resolution was passed by the College Republican boards of Patrick Henry College and Christendom chapters. These are the only two CR chapters in Virginia's 10th Congressional District.

The resolution was sent via e-mail last night to the 10th District Committee using the e-mail list provided on the committee's webpage.

The resolution addresses the issue of the date of the 10th District Convention. In previous years it has been scheduled for the same date as Patrick Henry College's graduation. This coming year both PHC and Christendom have their graduations on the same date (May 15th), and the resolution requests that the convention be scheduled prior to this date so that CRs from both schools can participate.

I have been told that this may seem like a ploy to get more conservatives to go to the convention since both schools are pretty conservative. That is not what this is. As college Republicans we believe the party should be encouraging not hindering politically active young people from participating. The two boards that passed this resolution represent the most politically active college students in the district.

Some have suggested that scheduling the convention for the same day as Patrick Henry College's graduation has been intentional by Chairman Jim Rich. I am not willing to make that accusation. However, if after receiving this resolution he and the rest of the committee set the convention date for May 15th or a date after it can only be concluded that the 10th District Committee is intentionally trying to keep young people out of the process.

While none of the clubs in the district have representation on the committee, we strongly hope that Chrissi Lee (the CR rep to the committee from Virginia Tech) will take this resolution as her own and represent the college republicans in the district at the meeting on December 17th.

5th District GOP Committee chooses Primary

Yesterday at a meeting of the 5th District Committee in Appomattox members of the committee voted 19-13 in favor of a primary. Honestly I am totally shocked that this happened. Despite my support for Hurt in this race I supported a convention for many reasons. I really liked the challenge of winning in a setting where Hurt wasn't supposed to win if we had a convention. From what I had heard with my ear to the ground over the past two weeks all signs said convention so I am really shocked. I am quite concerned about the number of Dems who  will possibly plan to vote in the primary for someone who has less ability to challenge ole Tommy boy. But I'll take the cards that are dealt and I am looking forward to a primary.

Senator Robert Hurt- Looking at the record

Many of State Senator Robert Hurt's opponents for the GOP nomination in the 5th Congressional District are attempting to attack his record and portray him as not being conservative. These candidates, their staffs, and consultants should take a hint from this year's Governor's race. Virginia voters don't like all the negativity. I can't even begin to count the number of voters who expressed their displeasure with the large amount of negativity in Creigh Deeds' message when I was out canvassing for Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli this fall.

When we look at closely at Senator Hurt's record you will find that these attacks are false and nothing but desperation by candidates who are worried about Senator Hurt's obvious advantages in this race.

Robert Hurt's record:

• “A” rating from the National Rifle Association in 2005 and 2007 elections and an "A+" rating in the 2003 election.
  
• Previous campaigns have been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business as well as the Virginia Farm Bureau. 
  
• 100 percent voting record with the Virginia Society for Human Life, the Commonwealth’s premier pro-life organization.
• In 2009 Hurt received an 89 business rating and 100% voting percentage from Virginia Free  a business organization which gives objective, non-partisan political information to Virginia businesses. 
• Signer of the Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge. 
• 91 rating on the Family Foundation's 2009 Legislative Report Card. A few things of note about this rating: Attorney General-Elect and conservative hero Ken Cuccinelli received the exact same 91 rating from the Family Foundation, and only five of Senator Hurt's thirty-nine Senate colleagues received a higher rating from the Family Foundation: Senator Ralph Smith, Senator Mark Obenshain, Senator Steve Newman, Senator Steve Martin, and Senator Jill Vogel.
• In 2007 introduced HB 2749 which then-Delegate Hurt worked with then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell to pass and was eventually signed into law by Gov. Tim Kaine. The law requires that a sex offender to register any email addresses which he or she will use, and enhances penalties for production, distribution, etc of child pornography. McDonnell said the following about Hurt's work on this bill, "We require all sex offenders to register their physical and mailing addresses in Virginia, but in the 21st century it is just as critical that they register any email addresses or IM screen names. This has become readily apparent during the meetings of our Youth Internet Safety Task Force, and it is time we take this step. I commend Delegate Hurt for leading the effort to make this the law in Virginia."

Do any of these candidates have a record like this to go on? With the exception of Ken Boyd, who has a voting record from the Albemarle Co. Board of Supervisors, which I have been unable to take a look at yet, none of these candidates have records to back up their conservative views. With Robert Hurt you will be getting a true conservative with a record to prove it.

Why Bob McDonnell is the future of the GOP

The big deal with conservatives in America this year has been the battle between the GOP establishment and the grassroots conservatives. It has been highlighted extensively on Red State as well as by our friends at VA Social Conservative. There have been many occurrences where battle has escalated seriously this year beginning with the ousting of Jeff Fredrick as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia in April, to the Crist v. Rubio fight in Florida, to NY-23, and on to California in the Senate battle between establishment candidate Carly Fiorina and the choice of the conservative grassroots Chuck DeVore. These in-fights have been prevalent and received much media attention and probably are not the beginning or end of battles between the two factions.

In Virginia this year Bob McDonnell was the most successful candidate in Virginia in recent memory. His campaign message was flawless and he ran a perfect campaign focusing on the issues that matter most to the people. In a National Journal poll of Congressional and Political insiders set to be released tomorrow Bob McDonnell was rated as the political figure who most impressed GOP Congressional and Political insiders this year.

Which political figure has most impressed you this year?

Congressional Insiders

Dems                        GOPers
Barack Obama          31%   Bob McDonnell     13%
Nancy Pelosi          16    John Boehner       9
                            Mitch McConnell    9
                            Sarah Palin        9
Political Insiders
Dems                        GOPers

Barack Obama          25%   Bob McDonnell     22%
Nancy Pelosi          11    Sarah Palin       11

You are now probably to the point where you are saying, "Will why are you touting this information, we all know principally you are a staunch conservative who tends to sympathize with the grassroots in cases like this?". But that's the beauty of it and the reason why Bob McDonnell is so successful. Bob McDonnell never wavered from his core conservative principals during his campaign and based on the noise from his transition it looks like he will continue along that path as Governor.

The fact is Bob McDonnell has found a way to appeal to both the GOP establishment and the grassroots conservatives. He took the support from both factions of the party and put together a completely united base that stood behind him from day one. If Bob McDonnell had been solely the  choice of the grassroots conservatives or solely the choice of the establishment he could have either A. simply lost the election or B. won a close election with nowhere near the margin of victory he did on November 3. Will other principally conservative candidates be able to wow both factions of the GOP and continue this trend of blowout victories?

Rep. Bohner on the House floor Today speaking about Stimulus 2

I can't believe the Democrats have the audacity to stand up here and say we need to spend who knows how much more money in order to get out of this recession. These people obviously haven't taken an economics course in their lives. WE ARE BROKE!!! WAKE UP!!! And honestly the amazing thing is that they can't even come up with worthwhile programs or places to put this money in. If you are going to spend this much money at least put a little more effort into deciding where to spend the money. We must empower the free market not the government. Minority Leader Bohner said it all on the House floor today.

Rubio Stimulus Debacle

My main focus on this blog has always intended to be politics in the Roanoke Valley and Virginia as a whole but another goal in starting this blog was to advocate the conservative cause and conservative movement as a whole. In the latter goal I have attempted to be a staunch advocate for conservative Republican Marco Rubio who is the former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives who is running for the United States Senate and is involved in a heated primary battle with RINO Gov. Charlie Crist.

The center of Rubio's campaign message has been attacking Gov. Crist's avocation of President Barack Obama's "stimulus" plan earlier this year which included Crist appearing with Obama at an Obama campaign 2.0 rally in Florida which was one of many held by Obama throughout the country advocating the stimulus. Well recently in an interview with a local Florida TV station Rubio has stated that he would have accepted the stimulus. Well you know the liberal media, the statement was blown way out of proportion and taken way out of context and said that Rubio would have accepted the whole thing and advocated for it etc. etc. Today the Rubio campaign issued the following statement which will hopefully clear the air in the situation and show us what fine news media we have in America today.

Charlie Crist campaigned with President Obama in support of the $787 billion stimulus spending bill and pressured Florida's congressional delegation to vote for it. And if he had been in the U.S. Senate, he would have voted for it. Unlike Charlie Crist, I do not believe we can deficit spend our way into prosperity. I would have stood up to the Obama-Crist stimulus package and offered a clear alternative in the form of permanent tax cuts.
Advocating for the stimulus plan and accepting those dollars are not the same. The stimulus was a disaster and I would have fought it in every way possible. But once President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Crist mandated their mountain of debt, I have said I would have handled the stimulus money the same way real conservative governors like Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin and Haley Barbour have.
The difference is clear. Charlie Crist actively advocated for this fiscally irresponsible stimulus policy. At a time when most other prominent Republican governors were fighting Obama's stimulus and offering conservative alternatives, Charlie Crist actually championed the Obama package and helped him pass it. Charlie Crist may not understand what he did wrong or he may just want to forget it, but I'm confident that Florida Republicans won't.

New Name

I'm quite busy with finals and probably shouldn't be blogging but after attending the New Media workshop at this weekend's RPV Advance I have this desire to go on a new media/blogging binge that I do every once in a while. So I guess I'll just have to get a quick fix in and get back to studying and then drown myself in the internet over break.

All that aside I have decided to change the name of the blog. I originally came up with the name Roanoke Conservative Daily because I wanted to name my blog Roanoke Conservative, but that name was already taken so I just threw daily on the end. After a lot of thinking since I've started the blog I realized the name just didn't suit the blog. This isn't a newspaper or a news source. Yes, sometimes I will share news but in the end this should be a place where conservatives can come and discuss and exchange ideas and other topics on the minds of conservatives. My goal is not to be a news source but to share conservative values, candidates, and ideas. So hopefully this name change will more reflect the ultimate goal of the blog.

FYI the url for the blog remains the same: http://roanokeconservativedaily.blogspot.com

Look for more exciting changes and additions soon.

Amendment Prohibiting Public Funding of Abortion Fails In Senate

The amendment to the Reid health care bill which would prohibit public funding of abortion failed today 54-45. The amendment was introduced by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). You may remember that the House passed the Stupak-Pitts Amendment - calling for a prohibition of abortion funding a few weeks ago. This means that these bills will have very different language regarding public funding of abortion if the Senate bill does pass. So where does this take us next? Despite the amendment failing there is good news though, we will have one more chance to fight this when and if the Senate bill passes and both the House and Senate bills will go to the Joint Conference Committee where we will have one more chance to prevent federal funding of abortions. So keep fighting!

Bob Marshall's Bill to keep Gov't run healthcare out of Virginia

Here is Delegate Bob Marshall's bill to prevent government run healthcare from taking effect in Virginia which he has prefiled with the House clerk. It can also be found online here




HOUSE BILL NO. 10 Offered January 13, 2010 Prefiled December 7, 2009 A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 38.2-302.1, relating to a person's participation in a health care system or plan; Virginia Health Care Freedom Act. ---------- Patron-- Marshall, R.G. ---------- Committee Referral Pending ----------
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 38.2-302.1 as follows:
§ 38.2-302.1. Virginia Health Care Freedom Act.
No law shall restrict a person's natural right and power of contract to secure the blessings of liberty to choose private health care systems or private plans. No law shall interfere with the right of a person or entity to pay for lawful medical services to preserve life or health, nor shall any law impose a penalty, tax, fee, or fine, of any type, to decline or to contract for health care coverage or to participate in any particular health care system or plan, except as required by a court where an individual or entity is a named party in a judicial dispute. Nothing herein shall be construed to expand, limit or otherwise modify any determination of law regarding what constitutes lawful medical services within the Commonwealth.

I am a Conservative and I support Robert Hurt

In the race for the Republican nomination for the 5th District Congressional seat the plan of the five challengers to State Sen. Robert Hurt (R-19) seems to be to attack Sen. Hurt for his vote on Mark Warner's 2004 tax increase and saying that he is not a conservative. People who attack Robert for this vote do not understand the circumstances surrounding nor to they know Robert personally or have any knowledge of his outstanding representation of his constituents as a Delegate and State Senator.

I first came to know of Robert Hurt in 2006 when I transferred to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA before my junior year of high school. Robert is from Chatham and the town is part of his former House district and his current Senate district. I honestly can not think of a person in the town of Chatham who is more respected than Robert Hurt. It seemed that almost everyone of my teachers at Hargrave had a Hurt for Delegate or Hurt for Senate bumper sticker on their car regardless of their political affiliation. Some of them were staunch conservative Republicans like Robert but others were Independents and Democrats who supported Robert because no matter what they knew that Robert would always put the interests of his constituents first. Many remember that this time between 2006-2008 was not a friendly time around the country for many Republicans but Robert continued to have the support of many.

Much discussion has risen on the blogs in recent weeks about Sen. Hurt's vote for Mark Warner's 2004 tax increase. Virginia specific blogs like Bearing Drift and Virginia Tomorrow have discussed this and even national blogs like Red State have as well. People who attack Robert Hurt on this vote don't really know the circumstances surrounding this vote at all. Mark Warner flat out lied to the General Assembly telling them that if they did not vote for this bill that the government would essentially have to be shut down. Trust me, I don't like the government that much and I am sure Sen. Hurt doesn't either but we all realize that despite how big the government has grown that there are key services that the government does provide that are essential to our everyday life. Also, if you look at the actual votes on the bill you will realize that the bill would have passed with or without the vote of then Delegate Robert Hurt. Robert Hurt voted for what he thought at the time was in the best interest of his constituents. You can't fault a representative for that especially with the amount of elected officials who are doing the opposite these days. Looking back on the situation it wasn't the best vote as we ended up having a budget surplus, but there is no reason why a great and honorable man like Sen. Robert Hurt should have to suffer for the lies of Mark Warner.

If you are saying Robert Hurt isn't a conservative do you remember who he supported in the primary for Attorney General of Virginia this spring? Sen. Hurt along with his Senate colleagues Sen. Ralph Smith and Sen. Jill Vogel were some of the first elected officials to come out openly in support of then Sen. Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General. Cuccinelli is without a doubt the most conservative candidate to run in Virginia since Mike Farris ran for Lt. Governor. If Sen. Hurt wasn't really a conservative he probably would have gone with the GOP establishment crowd and supported John Brownlee for the GOP nomination.

Out of all the other candidates who really knows the 5th district and its people well enough to represent them? Obviously not Lawrence Verga. In the Virginia Tomorrow post by Verga which is linked above Verga claims that there are 22 counties in the 5th District which is quite incorrect. There are actually 18 counties in the 5th district.

Robert Hurt is the best choice for Congress in the 5th District. He has represented his constituents well as a Delegate from 2001 to 2007 and since then as a State Senator despite one bad vote with many circumstances surrounding it. I am sure if you go through the records of Republican elected officials in Virginia the majority of them have at least one or two bad votes with hundreds of great conservative votes and the same is the case for Robert Hurt. No other candidate running for the 5th District has any experience representing more than one county in the district while Robert Hurt has represented a large portion of the district in the General Assembly since 2001.

I am a conservative and I am supporting Robert Hurt for Congress and I urge all others to do the same.