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In his thumping of Creigh Deeds Tuesday night, Bob McDonnell nearly garnered as many votes as . . .

Marriage.

Yup, that’s right. McDonnell’s 1,160,365 votes (as of this posting) fell just 168,172 short of the 2006 marriage amendment. That proposal received 1,328,537 supporters. Talk about a “bipartisan,” “center,” “mainstream” vote, marriage is the model. 

We also found some interesting tidbits from Tuesday’s exit polling (yes, I know, exit polling . . . but it makes for good fodder).

According to exit polling from CNN, 34 percent of those voting identified themselves as “Evangelical/Born Again” and, of that block, a whopping 83 percent cast their vote for Mr. McDonnell. Now, if you run the numbers that equates to nearly half of all voters that cast their ballot for McDonnell were of the “Evangelical/Born Again” group. (To our liberal friends, breath, breath . . . there you go, breath. It’ll be ok. Breath . . . .)

So, as all the pundits, experts, campaign consultants, etc. inform us that the campaign Mr. McDonnell ran is the “model” for future GOP candidates, lets all remember that the “model” only works if “the base” is motivated. Otherwise, well, see John McCain. And Jerry Kilgore. And . . . well, you get the idea.

So, the votes are cast and the election is over. Already, media pundits are talking about what it means. In today’s Washington Post, I am quoted concerning the expectations pro-family Virginians have for Governor-elect Bob McDonnell. Now it’s your turn. What do you expect? Vote and leave us your thoughts.

As Virginia’s statewide campaign winds down, it’s a time for reflection . . . what’s been your favorite gaffe moment? There are many, to be sure. But we took the painstaking task of narrowing it down to seven. Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner star in three each. All but one are below in video or audio form, and there’s a link to our original report for the other. If you need a refresher, feel free to review them again — or watch/listen/read them again for old times sake and a good laugh. Or, if they are burned indelibly into your mind, vote straightaway. If you have another nominee, feel free to cast a write-in vote in our comments section. However, as tempting as it is, votes for the Deeds, Wagner or Shannon campaigns as a whole are not allowed. It’s just not fair. Feel free to forward or share this link (especially to undecided voters).

The Deeds Dodge on taxes.

Marriage should be between a man and a woman except you shouldn’t discriminate against same-sex couples.

I feel strongly both ways on the public option.

Steve Shannon’s “Jeopardy!” moment. Where’s Alex to make him answer?

Jody Wagner will have a lot of time to spend looking for the Lt. Governor’s Mansion.

AUDIO CLIP (8:34): Jody Wagner’s Rambling “Let’s Be Clear” Interview With WRVA’s Jimmy Barrett (click here).

BLOG POST: Jody Wagner Sticking With A VEA Accusation Against Bill Bolling That Even The VEA Retracted And Apologized For (read here).

No, those aren’t the words of a Creigh Deeds/Jody Wagner/Steve Shannon staffer. They are the words of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards (daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards and former staffer for Nancy Pelosi) in an e-mail she sent to her followers yesterday concerning the debate surrounding abortion and “health care.”

In the e-mail intended to frighten her following in to action she states, ”Make no mistake — Planned Parenthood has been working with legislators day and night. But when it comes to hearing from regular people, the contact with voters that matters most to members of Congress, we’re getting out-hustled, outnumbered and just plan drowned out.”

Now, ignoring the fact that Ms. Richards just referred to pro-life Americans as “regular people,” something she may lose her job over, and taking her at her word, it would appear that us “regular people” are being heard on Capitol Hill. To enflame her followers a little more, she restorts to the typcial misinformation about what is actually happening, but perhaps — just perhaps — she has a moment of honesty and admits that pro-life Americans are winning the battle!

This comes as a new survey by Pew Research finds that more Americans are becoming pro-life.  

Polls conducted in 2009 have found fewer Americans expressing support for abortion than in previous years. According to Pew, “In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents; now Americans are evenly divided on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them harder to obtain. Less support for abortion is evident among most demographic and political groups.”

The good news just keeps coming!

It’s official. We now have, thanks to Minnesota courts — which, similar to Iran’s government, refused to investigate that there were more votes than voters in certain precincts — a “comedian” U.S. Senator in the person of know-nothing, erratic, hyper-liberal, Al Franken. Losing to a clown like Franken must be pretty embarrassing to former incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. After all, he was a successful mayor of St. Paul and a distinguished senator.

It got me thinking, for the fun of it, this question:

These three jump out at us. Add your own answer and comment on any other U.S. Senate election result, or any campaign result you think is particularly embarrassing because of how, why or to whom the candidate lost.

There has been a lot of upheaval in the Republican Party of Virginia this year, with the Republican State Central Committee removing Delegate Jeff Frederick from the post he won at last year’s convention. The State Central Committee then voted in to the state chair Pat Mullins, the former Fairfax County and current Louisa County GOP chairman. He is running to fill out the remainder of the term, as is Franklin County Chairman Bill Stanley, at the Republican State Convention this weekend in Richmond. You may vote between now and Saturday at 10:00 a.m., then click on the headline and let us know why you support either of the candidates.

Virginia Republicans will gather in Richmond Friday and Saturday for its state convention to nominate candidates for the statewide campaign this fall. The nomination campaign for attorney general is very competitive. Who’s your choice? Vote here between now and 10:00 a.m. Saturday and click on the headline to leave us your comments as to why you support your candidate.

For the first time since Gallop began asking the question over a decade ago, a majority of Americans now consider themselves “pro-life” when it comes to the issue of abortion, according to the results of a new Gallop poll released this week.

In a near reversal from Gallop’s Values and Beliefs survey from a year ago, 51 percent of Americans questioned now call themselves “pro-life,” while just 42 percent claim the “pro-choice” label. Interestingly, 23 percent of those polled said abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, with 22 percent saying it should be legal in all circumstances — a dramatic shift from past polls. The majority, 53 percent, still support abortion under limited circumstances.

So, what does it all mean? Has there been a deep, philosophical change in the minds of Americans when it comes to abortion? Do these numbers signal a backlash against the in-your-face abortion happy Obama administration?Will these numbers mean anything on election day?

Good questions and, as with any poll, the answers are difficult to pinpoint. One thing is certain, Americans continue to be schizophrenic when it comes to abortion. Most consider abortion “immoral,” but most approve of its legality at least in very rare circumstances (rape, incest). At the same time, they just elected the most pro-abortion President in the history of the country. (Did they really believe this guy was a moderate?)

Perhaps the dirty little secret of abortion in America is that Americans prefer it to be a dirty little secret. Most clearly are uncomfortable with the concept of killing unborn babies. We just don’t want to talk about it. And we don’t want our politicians talking about it. Perhaps its because talking about it forces us to face the duplicity of our reasoning on the issue.

Here’s hoping that the minds of Americans are finally catching up with the evidence. More and more of us have seen into the magnificent world of an unborn child through modern 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds. Only the most cold-hearted can see those pictures and deny the humanity. Unfortunately, one of them happens to occupy the nation’s highest office.

We’d like to know how many of you went to a Tax Day Tea Party and where, so please vote for the location you attended. If you didn’t go to one, let us know that, too. Then leave a comment on the thread about why you went or didn’t go, where you went if it’s not listed, what your experiences were, what you liked or didn’t like, and what you got out of it all.