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The Almost All Virginia Edition

This monster edition of the News Stand is almost all Virginia. Except for a very interesting piece about the beginning of the dismantling of campaign finance reform free speech restrictions by the D.C Court of Appeals, it’s all about the campaign. Most of it is about the race for governor, but we have several pieces on House races and one on the AG campaign, along with analysis and commentary by John Fund, Fred Barnes and others (this must be important if the national types are peering in).

There are a few articles to point out, including a blog post at the Post. With all the talk of Democrat Creigh Deeds closing in on Republican Bob McDonnell, as two polls last week (including Rasmussen) indicated Deeds was within two points, three polls have emerged to show it’s not quite that close. The Post’s own poll has McDonnell up by four and still over the 50 percent  threshold, while the Clarus Poll has him up by five and the Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll has him up by seven. (Interestingly, the Post’s Anita Kumar writes that she doesn’t trust polls but says this one is one she “doesn’t mind telling you about.” Why? Because the Kos is ultra hard leftist or because it shows McDonnell up by a larger margin than her paper’s poll? Hmmm.) 

Elsewhere of note, the Post has two articles on A) Deeds’ union ties and B) that business in Virginia is suspicious of him. So much for that Mark Warner legacy.

Of course, it wouldn’t be campaign season without the Mainstream Media hit pieces on conservatives, and the lil’ ol’ Loudon Insider got into the act with Hollywood tabloid-style “reporting.” It brought up a charge filed years ago against a Republican House candidate when he was in the Army — even though the Army’s investigation found that he wasn’t even at the place where the witness claimed he was. The case was dismissed. Then there’s the ongoing dishonesty of Democrat Tom Shields running in the 73rd House district.

The Post can’t resist, either, and asks about perceptions of “McDonnell’s alma mater.” Other than Charlie Weis on the hot seat, what’s wrong Notre Dame? Perhaps this? Of course, not!

Finally, you know it’s been a rough week for Senator Deeds when even the Post’s liberal columnist Robert McCartney blasts him for his poor debate and post-debate performances! 

News:

McDonnell 50, Deeds 43 (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

Deeds Shows Big Gains In Va. Poll (Washington Post)

Deeds narrows contest, poll finds (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Republican loses some ground in poll (Northern Virginia Daily)

Unions Investing Heavily In Deeds (Washington Post)

Businesses Taking a Hard Look At Deeds (Washington Post)

Deeds, McDonnell split over environmental policy (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Wilder: Va. race a referendum on Obama (Washington Times)

McDonnell and Deeds couldn’t escape lingering questions at Roanoke meeting (Roanoke Times)

Issues of Perception Try McDonnell’s Alma Mater (Washington Post)

Gloves come off in Va. governor’s debate (Washington Times)

Gubernatorial debate turns contentious in N.Va. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Deeds, McDonnell clash in gubernatorial debate (The Daily Press)

Deeds, McDonnell throw sharp jabs in debate (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Deeds, McDonnell square off in debate (Roanoke Times)

Thrust and Parry Over Va.’s Future (Washington Post)

Cuccinelli wants to shift consumer watchdog into attorney general’s office (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Greason Rebukes 1994 Charges (Loudon Insider)

Del. O’Bannon says Shields’ charges are false (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Marrow Promotes Nurse Practitioners (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

Will Hamilton lose appropriations seat? (The Daily Press Shad Plank Blog)

Audit: Little evidence of work by Del. Hamilton at ODU (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

ODU cites ‘mistakes’ with Del. Hamilton (The Daily Press)

Audit: ‘Little documentation’ of services by Hamilton to ODU (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Democrats get financial boost in House races (Roanoke Times)

Analysis:

Virginia Moves Back to the Right (Fred Barnes/Wall Street Journal)

Deeds in a Bit of a Bind on Taxes, Transportation (Washington Post)

Word and Deed (John Fund/Wall Street Journal)

Commentary:

Plain and Simple, Deeds Stumbles In N.Va. Debate (Robert McCartney/Washington Post)

National News:

Court Strikes Down Regulations Limiting Nonprofits’ Campaign Funds (Washington Post)

Among the many threats to our way of life by the Obama administration is its insistence on forcing you to fund abortions with your hard-earned tax dollars as part of its proposed multi-trillion dollar hijacking of our best-in-the-world health care system, proving the lie of  “safe, legal and rare.” Didn’t the president say at Notre Dame and to Pope Benedict recently that he wanted to “reduce abortions”? 

But the monstrosity proposed by the administration and its radical leftist lackeys in Congress goes far beyond making “access” to health care available to all. It includes a sweeping reversal of long held bi-partisan policies that Americans should not be forced against their conscience to fund abortions with tax dollars. Not only that, but this legislation requires pro-life doctors and nurses to choose between their careers and their conscience through government mandated abortions. 

It comes as no surprise, then, that two of the most radically leftist organizations, Planned Parenthood and the National Organization for Women, are the legislation’s primary backers, pushing this provision as if their lives depended on it. With that kind of leftist fanaticism attemping to ram through this bill, it is essential that pro-life Americans rise up!

To learn how you can help stop this tragedy from happening, log on to a one-time-only live Webcast this Thursday — July 23 — at 9:00 p.m. 

The Webcast will feature pro-family leaders, including Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson, Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Dr. Charmaine Yoest of Americans United for Life, and other national leaders on the front lines fighting for the pro-life cause.

There’s no charge to participate. It will last approximately 70 minutes and viewers will be able to ask questions. To learn more about this important Webcast, and to register for it, click here to visit  StopTheAbortionMandate.com.

We urge you to take the time Thursday evening to participate in this one-time only national event. Help spread the word by forwarding this link to as many of your pro-life friends as possible and ask them to join the fight as well.

Here’s the latest video from CatholicVote.org, as a follow-up to the previous one. Perhaps the abortionist-in-chief should have a look at this, as well, before he uses Notre Dame as a stage to pump prime his image:

It only figured that with his boss about to accept, controversially, an honorary doctorate from Notre Dame (more on that in a future post), Joe Biden would step back into his bishop’s role to preach to all of us that, ”You know there is no excuse for violence against a woman or child. There is no excuse.” Except, of course, when you want to kill unborn children. But that’s Bishop Biden for you, and yet another embarrassment by him to the Catholic Church and its pro-life teaching, as well as another Catholic university flaunting a directive of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (see CSN News). 

So Vice President Bishop Biden goes to Georgetown University to get his corresponding JV award, as opening act for the POTUS’ appearance at Notre Dame, from a pro-abortion group for his role in the Violence Against Women Act. What’s wrong with that phrasing?

Though less publicized than the president’s Notre Dame visit, Biden’s appearance before this group, much less his acceptance of the award at Georgetown, is more scandalous to the Catholic Church in that Biden is Catholic and professes to believe in the Church’s teaching on abortion — but remains pro-abortion in defiance of Church teaching. Then he has the audacity to lecture us on violence. So, both Georgetown and Notre Dame, are bringing shame to Catholic teaching on unborn life.

Said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society:

“In many ways this honor is worse [than Notre Dame honoring Obama] because not only is Georgetown honoring a pro-abortion Catholic politician, but it is doing so in co-operation with a national pro-abortion lobby, Legal Momentum.”  

But that’s not all. Georgetown later admitted that it acquiesced to the White House and covered up references to Jesus and a Cross when the president spoke there two weeks ago. According to CNS:

“Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram ‘IHS’ — symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ — because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.”

A Georgetown spokeswoman told CNS:

“”Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.’”

A reference to Jesus and a Cross out of context at a Catholic University? In the battle of sellouts to the Catholic Faith, Notre Dame may be getting more publicity, but Georgetown is winning more battles.