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In case you missed it, Governor Bob McDonnell appeared on the Fox News Channel morning show Fox & Friends yesterday to tout his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night and Virginia’s budget surplus. He also took the opportunity, when the opening was given, to take a polite shot at some of his Democrat colleagues who’ve raised taxes in their states over the last year.

Friendly interview: Governor McDonnell had a receptive forum for his message — cut spending, don’t raise taxes.

As we speculated previously (here and here), Jamie Radtke, the organizer of the successful Virginia Tea Party convention in October, will run for office. Specifically, for the U.S. Senate in the 2012 Republican primary, eschewing a 2011 primary opportunity in the 10th Virginia Senate district against GOP incumbent John Watkins. At least, today, she filed the official paperwork to declare her candidacy for that office (see Anita Kumar at Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog).

In a statement, she said:

I am the mother of three young children, and my first priority is both to protect them today and protect their future. I truly worry about what the next five years holds for our children and the nation, given this climate of reckless and immoral spending. Someone must step into the gap so that our children and America are not crushed in the coming years under the weight of insurmountable debt and debilitating taxes. 

The front runner is former governor and senator George Allen, who lost the seat in 2006 to the incumbent, Democrat Jim Webb. Delegate Bob Marshall and Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart also are considering a run. Hampton Roads businessman Bert Mizusawa, who lost the GOP second district House nomination to now Representative-Elect Scott Rigell, also may throw his hat in the ring. However, former 11th district Representative Tom Davis seems to have taken himself out of consideration, preferring instead, “to have left Congress undefeated and unindicted. You like to keep it that way.”

I happened across a fascinating statement by our self-described “radical centrist” U.S. Senator Mark Warner in a well-done weekend post-election analysis piece in the Roanoke Times. Here is the paragraph:

But Democrats struggled with their message this fall, especially when it came to the economy. [Senator Mark] Warner said that when he would tell audiences about middle class tax cuts and homebuyer tax credits pushed by Democrats, “you still get people looking at you askew.” The party could not persuade voters that it had the country on the right track. (emphasis added)

Beside the fact that the Senator is parroting the Democrat talking points about “not getting our message out” (does anyone really buy that line anymore?), or the whole bizarre concept that Democrats actually think the country is on the “right track,” I find Senator Warner’s statement about tax cuts especially comical. I have a guess as to why no one would listen to our senior Senator on the subject — he lied about taxes the first time and Virginians remember.

Remember, then candidate for governor Mark Warner in 2001 swore up and down on the campaign trail that he had no intention of raising taxes — and then forced the largest tax hike in Virginia history through the legislature. Fast forward to 2010 and Warner is out there swearing up and down that Democrats really do want to cut taxes. And the Senator is perplexed as to why people looked at him “askew.”

What’s the line about people believing their own lies … ?

This hot-off-the-editing-computer ad from the Republican Governors Association says it all. From government takeovers, reduced freedoms, unfathomable debt, sky rocketing  unemployment, prohibitive taxes, incompetence, oil spills, arrogance and blame, and a general lack of standing in the world — and no end in sight (see BigGovernment.com) — it’s all compressed here into two minutes and 40 seconds:

A stark video compilation of the disaster of the last two years under Obama-Reid-Pelosi: America in decline while Obama vacations and the liberals bale on tax relief.

During the recent statewide campaign, we and our sister organization, TFF Action, ran an unprecedented — and massively successful — voter education campaign, Winning Matters. Although we anticipated a wind down after the election in November, Winning Matters remains in high gear for the crucial special election for the 37th district Virginia Senate seat (in Fairfax, January 12) vacated by Republican Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli.

Winning Matters retained a staff of three (two field reps in Fairfax and a project manager) which has produced, and is distributing, thousands of paper and online voter guides in English, Spanish and Korean to churches, civic groups and area businesses. It also is providing absentee ballot applications for people not be able to vote in person on the 12th. Winning Matters also is working with churches to announce the election and/or put it in their bulletins as a reminder to their members to go out and vote.

If you are interested in helping Winning Matters with this crucial special election, between Republican Stephen Hunt and Democrat Dave Marsden, especially within your church, please contact Roger Pogge at 804-343-0010 or e-mail him at roger@familyfoundation.org. 

Although the campaign is a short one, it has been hot for a while, probably because it is so crucial to the makeup of the Virginia Senate, which the Democrats currently control by one seat. Among the issues: Marsden now claims to be for lower taxes, despite his history of votes to raise them; the fact that he moved into a friend’s house to be eligible to run for the seat; and, of course, it wouldn’t be a campaign in Virginia if life and abortion weren’t part of the (misleading) discussion. If Hunt wins for the GOP, it will remain within striking distance of winning crucial votes, with Lt. Governor Bill Bolling breaking ties. If Marsden pulls it out for the Dems, the left will have a little leeway with a second vote to spare. One seat might not sound like much, but whoever wins the election can change the dynamics of the entire Virginia Senate. Which is why winning matters.

It may be December, and it may be a one month campaign, but it’s already a hot one in the 37th Senate District special election (to be held January 12) to fill the seat of Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli. It was guaranteed to be so from the beginning: The Dems think the seat belongs to them because of they way Fairfax County has trended recently.

As the number one targeted Republican in 2007, they thought they had Cuccinelli dead in their sights, but he escaped with a victory of less than 100 votes. (Now, he’s attorney general, surely to endless liberal heartburn, mental anguish, knashing of teeth and sleepless nights.) But a Democrat victory now would be a welcome buttress to its current one seat firewall against GOP policy initiatives.

However, the climate is much different now. The GOP did very well in Fairfax in November and has momentum and the weight of landslide victors Governor-elect Bob McDonnell and re-elected Lt. Governor Bill Bolling as well as Cuccinelli behind its nominee, Stephen Hunt. Hunt has been elected county wide before (to the Fairfax County School Board), while the best the Demscould come up with is Delegate Dave Marsden (D-41, Fairfax), who barely won re-election in November to his House seat, which partially overlaps the Senate district.

But it’s not only a matter of a changed political atmosphere, but also Marsden’s residency, at least for now. He doesn’t live in the district, but a couple of weeks ago took up in a room in a friend’s house that is in the district (see Washington Times).

But political climate and residency aren’t the only things that have changed. Now, Delegate Marsden claims to be a low-tax guy. Talk about reading political tea leaves, or at least election results. In a recent direct mail piece, Delegate Marsden stakes out the low-tax mantle, claiming he will  “Hold the line on taxes,” although he has consistently voted for numerous tax increases in the House of Delegates, including this $2 billion increase (click here) in 2008. It would have raised taxes on car and home purchases (just what we need in a recession) and encouraged a Northern Virginia sales tax increase.

When voters ask for change, residency and glossing over voting records isn’t what they have in mind. Virginia Democrats won several elections in Virginia prior to November by basically saying, “We’re not Republicans.” Now, facing a statewide catastrophe, they have to say who they are, for once. According to the mailer released by Delegate Marsden, they still aren’t.

This isn’t so much a slam against Creigh Deeds for his vague, indecisive, obfuscating way of saying he’ll raise our taxes in a recession, as it is the grammarian and rhetorician in me: Can we please cut out the cliches, people!

However, since it is election season, when you combine this with his infamous tax and other dodges, and his braggadocio on submitting the most budget amendments in the General Assembly — a billion dollars worth — it all kind of comes together nicely. Oh, one other thing thing not purposely vague about the Deeds campaign was the news of a late $25,000 donation from the United Association, a Big Labor group that works to dismantle Right-To-Work laws.

Disparate questions about his plans, but the same answer from Senator Deeds:

If it’s pro-Big Labor and means more taxes, spending and regulation, and less freedom, “it’s on the table” for Creigh Deeds. 

Annotations & Elucidations 

Which Is It?

As election day nears, the media starts to pay closer attention to the House of Delegates campaigns. Accordingly, we have articles on four of them today. Sounds like Ward Armstrong (D-10, Martinsville), the House’s top Democrat, is a bit rankled.

In a case study as to how people see the same object differently, the Washington Post claims Senator Ken Cuccinelli (R-37, Fairfax) is bringing much more attention to the office (attorney general) that gets the least coverage every four years. On the other hand, The Daily Press offers the more traditional afterthought coverage. Which is it? The Post article is amazingly fair and perceptive. It does the senator right.

The Virginian-Pilot offers up a poll which shows Virginians decidedly againsta tax increase for transportation. Sorry, Creigh. Expect the aforementioned House (Democrat) candidates to sprint like Usain Bolt away from that proposition.

Speaking of the Post and The Daily Press, each endorsed a candidate this weekend. The Post predictably stuck with the guy it brung to the dance, Creigh Deeds, despite his attempts to avoid using the T word. Rumors are that he’s buying up stickers to slap on yard signs in Northern Virginia that say, “Endorsed by Washington Post,” just as he did in May shortly after it sponsored endorsed him in the Democrat primary. It was what gave him the edge then. The Daily Press, on the other hand, was not so predictable. It endorsed Tim Kaine four years ago, but now endorses Republican Bob McDonnell. It had no dog in the hunt it seems, and went with its best judgment.

Finally, the Post runs an opinion piece by a local teacher, Patrick Welsh, who offers common sense not often seen in those pages or in the D.C area: It’s the parents, stupid, not the race.

News:

McDonnell, a poised presence, could lift the GOP (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

McDonnell moored by conservative values (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

McDonnell and Deeds: The men who would be Va. Governor (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Attorney general hopefuls offer stark contrast (The Daily Press)

Cuccinelli’s bid puts focus on a job often off the radar (Washington Post)

Deeds seeks to beat the odds (Charlottesville Daily Progress)

Deeds fights to hold Obama’s Va. Coalition (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Hopefuls Summon Spirit of ’08 Race (Washington Post)

Va. Lt. Gov. candidates spar over job records (The Daily Press)

Lohr, Hart Spar On Social Issues (Harrisonburg Daily News-Record)

94th House District: A civil disagreement between Oder and West (The Daily Press)

A rocky path for 11th District candidates (The Roanoke Times)

Armstrong questions 10th District opponent (The Roanoke Times)

Analysis:

Poll: Fix roads, but don’t raise taxes (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot)

Commentary:

Editorial Page Endorsement: Mr. Deeds for Governor (Washington Post)

Editorial Page Edorsement: Budget discipline and executive experience make Bob McDonnell the right choice in difficult times (The Daily Press)

Making the Grade Isn’t About Race. It’s About Parents. (Patrick Welsh/Washington Post)

Governor Tim Kaine, who doubles as the chairman of the Democrat National Committee, got a dressing down from a senior Congressional Dem the other day. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D – Minn.), a chairman himself — of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, one of the most important in Congress because of the mammoth amount of money it spends each year — sent Chairman Governor Kaine a harsh letter for Virginia’s 51st place ranking among the states and D.C. in spending of “federal” money for transportation projects.

You remember those projects, the ones that were “shovel ready” and supposedly would lift us out of the recession. You know, the same Governor Kaine (contact here) who is so concerned about Virginia’s transportation problems that he’s tried to raise our taxes ever year in office, including the first week of his tenure, even after campaigning that he would not raise taxes; the same governor who wanted to tax gas when it was $4.00 a gallon? The same governor Creigh Deeds says he’ll model himself after?

Here’s an excerpt from Rep. Oberstar’s letter (read the entire volley here):

Based on the State progress reports submitted to the Committee in September 2009, Virginia has fallen far behind other States in putting to work its Recovery Act Highway formula funds. According to submissions received from all States and the District of Columbia, your State ranks last among all States (51 out of 51) based on an analysis of percentage of Recovery Act Highway formula funds put out to bid, under contract and underway.

As of August 31, Virginia had begun construction of projects totaling only 17 percent of the State’s funding.

I strongly urge you to refocus your efforts to implement the Recovery Act and use the available funds to create and sustain family-wage jobs. These jobs are critical to Virginia’s and the nation’s long-term economic growth.

In August 2009, almost six months after enactment of the Recovery Act, I sent letters to the best and worst performers in putting to work Recovery Act highway funds. Since then, we have watched many states move aggressively. … 

Regrettably, Virginia is not among these States.

Anita Kumar of the Washington Post Virginia Politics Blog has the complete story in two parts: Her initial post (here) and a follow-up (here). We’re sure Governor Kaine will have a private response to Rep. Oberstar, who should know this is no way to address the chairman, especially when it validates the governor’s critics — the same critics he’s tried to ostracize, demagogue and steamroll the last four years — and undercuts his gubernatorial nominee.

Here are some key findings of the Rasmussen Poll which shows Republican Bob McDonnell leading Democrat Creigh Deeds by 51-42 percent (see RasussenReports.com for full summary). See how, if at all, it reflects how the Mainstream Media has portrayed the campaign thus far:

» Fifty-one percent of voters now say the thesis is at least somewhat important in affecting for whom they will vote, a negligible change from the last poll.  

» Deeds’ tax increase position is more poison to him than the thesis is to McDonnell. By 51-36 percent Virginia voters trust the GOP candidate more on the tax issue, which the GOP is using to hang around Deeds in conjunction with other unpopular Democrat state and national policies.

» By 45-32 percent, voters now trust McDonnell more than Deeds on Virginia’s most pressing economic issue, transportation. Previously, voters were split on the two candidates. 

» Fifty-three percent of Virginians view McDonnell favorably; 46 percent view Deeds. That’s one point down for McDonnell over the last poll, four down for Deeds. (Going negative brings down the instigator more than the target, sometimes, and that appears to be the case here.) 

» Among those with strong opinions, twenty-nine percent have a very favorable opinion of McDonnell; thirteen percent very unfavorable. For Deeds, it’s 20 percent very favorable and 23 percent very unfavorable.