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Annotations & Elucidations 

The Earthquake Edition

That wasn’t a landslide last night, it was a full blown eruption. Unimaginable margins for the top three elected officials in Virginia and a massive pickup in the House of Delegates, shooting the GOP number there from 55 to at least 60, is no mere landslide. It’s The World Turned Upside Down. Only four years ago, Bob McDonnell eked out the closest election in Virginia history, by 300-plus votes. Now, he’s a national figure.

In a similar way, Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli won re-election to the Senate by 92 votes in 2007. He’s always been the number one target for Democrats, liberal victimization and special rights groups, and left-wing special interests. They didn’t get him when they had the chance. Now, they must be horrified. 

It’s all election coverage and postmortems today, including a late breaking update from Lynchburg where Delegate Shannon Valentine finally conceded to Delegate-elect Scott Garrett, despite his margin of victory being within her right to call for a recount.

Our own Victoria Cobb is quoted in the Washington Post on how Governor-elect McDonnell will govern. That’s at the top. We bookend the News Stand with another social issues story: Maine, of all states, protects traditional marriage. It truly was an earth shattering night.  

News:

*Now, the hard part: Continuing to straddle the center and the right (Washington Post)

McDonnell beats Deeds, wins governor’s race; now it gets harder (The Daily Press)

McDonnell leads GOP sweep of statewide races (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

GOP reclaims Virginia (Washington Post)

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling wins second term (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Bolling defeats Wagner, holds on to No. 2 post (Washington Post)

Cuccinelli elected attorney general (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Cuccinelli’s sound win rounds out GOP sweep (Washington Post)

Republicans retaining control of House of Delegates (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Republicans boost dominance among Va. Delegates (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

UPDATED: Valentine Concedes: Barrett wins in 23rd District (Lynchburg News & Advance)

Liberty delivers votes by the busload (Lynchburg News & Advance)

Republicans keep 17th House of Delegates district on Election Day (Roanoke Times)

Newcomer Robin Abbott beats veteran incumbent Phil Hamilton (The Daily Press)

Sen. Ken Stolle to become Va. Beach’s next sheriff (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Exit Poll: Virginia Voters Older, Energized (FoxNews.com)

Governor’s agenda flagging, but not ratings (Washington Post)

Analysis:

Analysis: GOP sweep shows policies, not parties, are paramount in Va. Politics (Jeff Schapiro/Richmond Times-Dispatch)

National:

Gay marriage vote fails in Maine (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Today, pro-family Virginians are celebrating yesterday’s election of candidates whom we believe hold to, and will govern by, values you and I share. After months of working hard either for candidates or organizations like The Family Foundation to educate voters, seeing the fruit of that labor is sweet indeed.

Exit polling found that evangelicals made up more than one-third of voters yesterday and 83 percent of those voted for the pro-life, pro-family candidates. Those numbers surpass the high water mark of pro-family involvement in any Virginia election to date!

No one can question that our Winning Matters campaign had an incredible effect on voter turnout. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the campaign by donating financially, distributing Voter Guides, Report Cards, holding voter registration drives, and a multitude of other activities. Your efforts made a huge impact yesterday.

But now, the work begins.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m as thrilled as you that Virginians sent a clear message to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (not to mention Mark Warner, Jim Webb and the like) that we reject the debt riddled policies they are pushing. I’m excited that we have a Governor-elect, Lt. Governor-elect and Attorney General-elect who share our values. But I also know that we’ve been here before, in the days after elections, thinking that the work was done only to learn that it was far from over. We need to hold all of our newly elected officials to their promises.

Even with a larger conservative majority in the Virginia House of Delegates, the obstacle that our pro-family, pro-life agenda has faced for several years – the Virginia Senate – stands between us and our goals. While we hope members of that chamber also get the message of last night’s election results, they have two years before they face the voters. If history is any indication, they are hoping that you will have forgotten by then.

The first opportunities to affect the Senate will come with two special elections in the next few weeks. With Ken Cuccinelli’s victory last night, there will be an election to replace him in his Fairfax Senate seat. In addition, Senator Ken Stolle won election to sheriff of Virginia Beach, meaning that there will be an election for that seat as well.

Here is the commitment I’m asking you to make today: we will not stop, we will not rest, until the Senate of Virginia reflects our values! We will not stop working until that chamber joins the rest of our leaders in supporting common sense pro-life and pro-family proposals.

We have the opportunity in the upcoming session to give all 40 members of the Senate the chance to vote on legislation that reflects our values – and if they reject those values again, we have to make them pay the price at the ballot box in 2011.

I also encourage you to pray for all the newly elected candidates. In particular, over the next few months Governor-elect McDonnell will select key advisers, cabinet members and a multitude of officials on boards and commissions. Please pray that he appoints qualified, principled conservatives to those positions, the impact of which will go on well after he leaves office. It is often said that “personnel is policy,” so selecting those he will take counsel from in the years ahead is crucial for the new governor.

But today, celebrate. Enjoy a hard fought victory. Then get ready to join The Family Foundation as we look only to the future.

Regardless of who you intend to vote for on Tuesday, polls showing large gaps in the statewide races are no excuse to not vote. Every pro-family, pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-traditional values Virginian must take the responsibility of voting seriously and exercise that sacred freedom at every opportunity. We urge you to ignore the polls and news stories and vote on Tuesday.

The Family Foundation has produced one million non-partisan Voter Guides to educate voters for this year’s elections so that citizens can be prepared when they vote. If your church has yet to distribute these guides, we urge you to contact us at 804-343-0010 so we can get them to you in time. Sunday is the last opportunity to educate your fellow church members concerning where candidates stand on pro-family issues.

Please click here to review the statewide Voter Guide that includes the races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Read the Voter Guide and study where the candidates stand. Also, please forward this blog post link to your family and friends and on your social networking sites, so others can be informed.

We also urge you to watch our online Video Voter Guide and share it as well. You can even  download it to a disk to show at your church. This is another way in which we are trying to educate Virginians prior to this year’s crucial elections.

Samuel Adams, one of our nation’s leading Founding Fathers, said:

Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote . . . that he is executing on of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.

We I trust that you will vote on Tuesday, and that your vote will reflect your values.

It’s one thing to be thrown under the bus, but quite another when the driver drives over you, then puts it in reverse and flattens you again. Even if the driver feels guilty and gets out to see if he can help, it’s still rubbing salt in the wound — which is how Creigh Deeds must feel after President Barack Obama agreed to campaign for him this week after this article Friday in the Washington Post pretty much undermined what’s left of his gubernatorial campaign.

The president wants plausible deniability that he and his policies have nothing to do with the sinking Deeds ship, yet he’s still coming to campaign for him. Part of his legendary ego? Who knows? Pretty strange, even for this crowd, and disturbing to Virginia Dems, as this Post follow-up concludes.

The White House says Deeds has been too negative. This from the crew compiling an enemies list that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce of all people. Plus, it’s helped New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine shred Republican Chris Christie into confetti with a television assault never before seen. Bill Pascoe of CQ Politics’ In The Right blog struggles with the difficult task of trying to make sense of it all.

Annotations & Elucidations 

The Substitute

Filling in for Admin today, so the comments will be brief! In today’s news we have the White House beginning their tactical distancing from Creigh Deeds, that way the stories following November 3 are sure to say “Virginia Elections No Reflection on Obama.” But the most fun news comes from yesterday’s debate between candidates for Attorney General. Now, if Creigh Deeds is the Democrat candidate in this race that’s baffled by simple questions, and Jody Wagner is the most clueless, then clearly Steven Shannon is the angriest candidate on the ticket. I mean, seriously, I know the job of AG is important, but Steve, smile once in a while. Everyone knows that you are running for the job of the Commonwealth’s top prosecutor, even though the AG isn’t the Commonwealth’s top prosecutor, but lighten up. Yesterday Steve decided that Creigh couldn’t be the only one to run a nasty campaign, so he played the race card. I guess the only question remaining: Is anyone listening anymore?

News:

TFF Action, our sister organization, has published its 2009 Voter Guides, which list the positions of the candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general on crucial issues facing all Virginians, as well as those running for certain seats in the House of Delegates. You can read them online here, as well as print and distribute or forward them electronically. You can also get hard copies by calling John Smith at 804-343-0010 or by e-mailing him at john@familyfoundation.org.

While it compiled the Voter Guides, TFF Action also launched our latest Internet site — its own YouTube channel — and its first hit is this video voter guide:

The candidates and the issues: Who supports and opposes what?

The issues facing Virginia this year are monumental. The election may be a turning point not only for Virginia, but the nation. The eyes of the country are on us — and the message Virginia sends in two weeks will either validate the efforts of those in power in Washington, D.C., or send them a message and prepare the way for a reversal of trends in 2010. Inform yourself. Inform others. Share this information and this link with those on your e-mail lists, post it on social networking sites, and consider ordering the Voter Guides for distribution to your church.

By the way, it never ceases to amaze me that the homosexual lobby thinks same-sex marriage and its other agenda items are necessary for a thriving economy. See the first bullet point in the Equality Virginia news release announcing its endorsement of Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor, where EV’s Jon Blair says:

To attract the best public and private employees, Virginia must be welcoming of diversity and avoid discriminatory practices. Anything else hurts employers and employees, stifles economic growth, and limits Virginia’s competitiveness.

Let’s see. Virginia has maintained one of the best economies in the country for decades without capitulating to the radical homosexual agenda, and somehow our economy has suffered? Well, then, take it to they guys who’ve been in charge recently, who say they are on your side — Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (not to mention Jerry Baliles), the men Deeds says he wants to tailor himself after (tax increases and all).

Here is a new television ad running in parts of Virginia, done by the Virginia Values Voter PAC:

The two sides of Creigh Deeds.

Annotations & Elucidations 

The Late And Washington Post Poll Edition

The big news was from the Washington Post this afternoon, when it releases its latest poll showing all three Republicans — Bob McDonnell, Lt. Governor Bill Bolling and Senator Ken Cuccinelli — leading their respective races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general by nine points. The other big news today concerning the statewide races is that Cuccinelli’s opponent for attorney general, Democrat Delegate Steve Shannon, tried to emulate his gubernatorial ticket mate Creigh Deeds in question dodging (see Tertium Quids below). Who does it better? You watch. You decide.

Other than that, the debt is at third world levels, the CBO says BaucusCare is nearly as expensive, the Supreme Court hears a religious liberty case, and a more ineffective “jobs programs” is on its way. The good news is that we have some superior insights from Larry Kudlow, Michelle Malkin, Bobby Eberle, Michael Barone and Lisa Fabrizio on ObamaCare, his Olympic flame-out and political weakness, and how to create real and plenty jobs.  

News:

McDonnell Widens Lead in Virginia Governor’s Race (Washington Post)

WaPo Poll: McDonnell, Bolling, Cuccinelli all +9 (Tertium Quids Blog)

Explicit ‘Banned Book’ Infuriates Virginia Father, Leads to School Review (FoxNews.com)

Democrats beg Deeds for positive message (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Democrats vowing to hold strong in fight for governor (Northern Virginia Daily)

Deeds avoids Obama, embraces Warner (Washington Times)

Videos Highlight Dueling Images (Washington Post)

Meanwhile, at the AG Debate . . . (Tertium Quids Blog)

Delegates candidates speak at Henrico forum (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Contrasting Candidates Enter Final Month In Race For House Of Delegates (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Hurt will seek GOP nomination to challenge Perriello (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

National News:

Sharp debate at high court over cross on US land (AP/GOPUSA.com)

CBO: Budget deficit triples to record $1.4T in 2009 (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Health bill would cost $829B, cover 94 percent (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Bill increases spending on food stamps, nutrition (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Lawmaker: Cost of presidential copter tripled (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Obama huddles with Democratic leaders over jobs (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Commentary:

The Mundell-Laffer Solution (Larry Kudlow/GOPUSA.com)

Weak Himself, Obama Draws Strength From Bush (Michael Barone/GOPUSA.com)

O-lympics (Lisa Fabrizio/GOPUSA.com)

Couldn’t the ‘Men in White Coats’ Just Take Obama Away? (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Spin Doctors For Obamacare (Michelle Malkin/GOPUSA.com)

Obama’s ‘No I in Team Syndrome (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Annotations & Elucidations 

It’s Almost Too Sad — Too Much News, Not Enough Time

There is so much news out there . . . of course, it’s campaign season, so one would expect that. But this year seems different. Different types of news, different angles. Wish I could cover it all. Looking for something you come across something even more interesting. Can I get to it all? No, and that’s the one frustrating aspect of blogging. Oh well. I’ve bookmarked some articles I hope to get to tomorrow, particularly about how the Dems now are trashing former Governor Doug Wilder (see Washington Post) over his non-endorsement of Democrat gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds. But why trash him when, rumor has it, the DNC is already dumping Deeds? That was one thing I picked up on when searching something else (see here).

The one national story that’s getting traction is a Democrat Congressman who said the GOP health care plan is to tell people to not to get sick and if they do, die quickly. Oh, yeah, the liberals are so pure, innocent and nice to play with. Please see the AP article and Bobby Eberle’s commentary. Maybe we need to pray for liberals, which is what Newsweek looks at (remember, it’s Newseek!). On a more uplifting note, there was a rally for school choice at the U.S. Capitol yesterday as the Washington Times documents.

News:

Race for governor: McDonnell takes swipe at Kaine (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election McDonnell 51% Deeds 42% (RassmussenReports.com)

Poll: Bob McDonnell pads lead over Creigh Deeds in Virginia (Politico.com)

News7 SurveyUSA poll shows frontrunners in November elections (WDBJ-TV/WDBJ7.com)

Kaine sees tougher fight, more negative tone in governor’s race (Lynchburg News & Advance)

On the Wilder Side of Politics, Picking None of the Above (Washington Post)

National News:

Democrat says GOP wants sick to just ‘die quickly (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Vote on health care expected mid-month (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Rallying for school vouchers (Washington Times)

Obama admin. defends official for gay advice (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Essay in military journal urges end to policy on gays (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Obama’s ‘Safe Schools’ Czar Admits He Poorly Handled Underage Sex Case (FoxNews.com)

Commentary:

You Lie vs. You Die . . . Where’s the Real Apology? (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com) 

Praying for Liberals (David Waters/Newsweek)

Analysis:

Democrats Win Lobbyists But Lose Basic Reforms (Michael Barone/GOPUSA.com)

SurveyUSA’s Results in Virginia Will Please Republicans, But . . . (Jim Geraghty/National Review Online’s the campaign spot blog)