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At our Gala Monday evening, the loudest applause line of Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb’s address was when she said that pro-family Virginians expect that the next governor of Virginia to submit a budget that ends taxpayer subsidies to Planned Parenthood. In a radio interview the next day on the Laura Ingraham Show, Republican candidate for governor Bob McDonnell stated that he would do just that.

Now, Planned Parenthood is going berserk over McDonnell’s comments, despite the fact that The Washington Post today claims that Planned Parenthood didn’t receive any taxpayer money in this year’s budget. For several years The Family Foundation has worked with other pro-life organizations to end the taxpayer subsidizing of Planned Parenthood, often finding it difficult to uncover how much money they receive or through what agency or program.

While Planned Parenthood alleges that the money they receive is used for “women’s health care,” the fact is that this is a $1 billion a year organization that performs more than one-quarter of all abortions in the nation, with roughly one-third of its income coming from taxpayers.

Oddly, for an organization that claims to be about “health care,” it is run by a hard-core partisan Democrat, Cecile Richards, the daughter of former Texas Governor Ann Richards and former chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The truth is, it is nothing more than a partisan organization that uses its taxpayer funding to bludgeon pro-life candidates across the country and to promote abortion on demand. This year, Planned Parenthood endorsed McDonnell’s opponent, Creigh Deeds, who supports taxpayer funding of that organization. in fact, Planned Parenthood endorsed all three Democrat statewide candidates.

The fact is that, regardless of their position on abortion, most Virginians do not like the idea of their tax dollars paying for abortions and, by extension, organizations that perform them. Planned Parenthood has plenty of its own money; it doesn’t need any from the taxpayers.

Annotations & Elucidations 

The Day After

Wow! What an evening last night! We’ll have a review and other highlights later, and hopefully some video later in the week. Mike Huckabee brought down the Greater Richmond Convention Center with an inspirational speech filled with philosophical overtones overlayed with moral and Biblical principles, capped with a moving exposition as to what happens when people stand idly by and ignore the events around them. We have coverage from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog and The Shad Plank Blog.

Meanwhile, President Obama is in Norfolk today to campaign for Democrat Creigh Deeds. If he’s truly the chosen one, he should be able to raise this campaign from the dead, right? As he passes the gates of D.C. into Virginia, the POTUS will see a new Post poll that shows Republican candidate Bob McDonnell stretching his lead to 11 points. He leads in campaign donations, too, the latest filing reports show.

In Commentary, Thomas Sowell looks at the dismantling of America, Bobby Eberle excoriates Republicans and the president, and Richard Olivastro reports on an “under God” button controversy. There’s more, too, as well as a full National News section. Read up! We’re only a week away.

*McDonnell leads Deeds in poll, cash (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

*Huckabee draws a crowd in Richmond (Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog)

*Huckabee in Richmond tonight as Del. Oder snags award . . . (The Shad Plank Blog)

McDonnell’s edge over Deeds grows stronger (Washington Post)

Heading into homestretch, McDonnell has more cash (Roanoke Times)

Competition for 17th District House of Delegates seat in home stretch (Roanoke Times)

National News:

No guarantees on Senate health bill’s public plan (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Long-term care insurance program gains in the House (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Pelosi: ‘There’s got to be a better name for this’ (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Senate Leader Harry Reid faces tough re-election (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Obama admin concerned about freedom of speech (AP/GOPUSA.com)

Commentary:

Dismantling America (Thomas Sowell/GOPUSA.com)

Obama’s War On Fox Is Liberalism’s War On Dissent (David Limbaugh/GOPUSA.com)

‘One Nation Under God’ Button ‘Terminated’ (Richard Olivastro/GOPUSA.com)

Scratch Another GOP Candidate Off The List For 2012 (Doug Patton/GOPUSA.com)

Message to Republican Leaders: Get a Clue! (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Obama Bails Out When Asked About Fox News (Bobby Eberle/GOPUSA.com)

Some have wondered if the now open 69th House seat, comprised mainly of South Richmond (and a precinct or two in Chesterfield County), now open because of long-time Democrat Frank Hall’s resignation to accept an ABC judgeship, will have a Republican candidate this November (see Tertium Quids here, which also discusses the likely Democrat candidate). It is a majority-minority district, although Hall, who is white, has been able to hold the seat for some time. The likely new Democrat nominee will be black. But there are a few signs this part of Richmond is dissatisfied with the status quo. So, can a Republican — a black Republican — who’s a successful professional, with a hard-working ethic, and ties to the community, connect with the electorate there for an open seat?

Last night, in Alexandria, in fact, a GOP-backed independent, Alicia Hughes, who is black, as well as GOP nominee Frank Fannon IV, won city council seats in a shocking upsets of Democrat incumbents (see Peter Roff of Fox Forums, here). A significant issue was the Democrat majority (there have been no Republicans on Alexandria’s City Council for years) raising property taxes without pause, even as home values decreased.

For weeks now, there has been an all-but-official black Republican interested in running for the 69th House District, but at his request we’ve kept it quiet until he made it official. However, today, with the release of an e-mail by the Richmond City unit chairman and the launch of a Web site, it’s pretty much official that financial services professional Ernesto Sampson will give it a go.

It won’t be easy by any means — some party regulars on both sides shy away from running candidates in districts dominated by the opposite party because they are afraid of generating turn out of marginal party-line voters which can hurt other candidates on the ticket. Will typical party-line voting hold sway this year, no matter the issues or candidates? 

It will be interesting, at the very least, to see if Sampson can make a compelling case in a strongly Democrat area, as Republicans have in Northern Virginia recently, including last night’s stunners in equally urban and liberal Alexandria (see Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog). It will be equally interesting to see if he can do it on a strongly innovative and conservative platform.