Building Bridges

Kind of lost in all the hubbub about the 20th District Republicans is the fact that seven respected Republicans who formerly served in the General Assembly endorsed Creigh Deeds for Governor. They include -

• Sen. John Chichester (R, Stafford) - Member of Senate: 1978-2008. Elected President pro tempore of the Senate, 2000. Former Chair of Finance Committee
• Sen. Russ Potts (R, Winchester) - Member of Senate: 1992-2008. Independent candidate for Governor in 2005.
• Sen. Marty Williams (R, Newport News) - Member of Senate: 1996-2008. Former Chair of Transportation Committee.
• Sen. Warren E. Barry (R, Fairfax) - Member of the House of Delegates: 1970-1983. Member of the Senate: 1992-2002.
• Sen. Brandon Bell (R, Roanoke Co.) - Member of Senate: 1992-96; 2004-2008
• Del. Anne G. “Panny” Rhodes (R, Richmond) – Member of the House of Delegates: 1992-2001
• Del. Katherine Waddell (I, Richmond) – Member of House of Delegates: 2006-2008. Former aide to Republican Lt. Gov. John Hager.
• Del. Jim Dillard (R, Fairfax) – Member of House of Delegates: 1972-1977, 1980-2005. Former Chair of Education Committee.

A distinguished group of Republicans who know Virginia government and the General Assembly inside and out. A group who cares deeply about the Commonwealth. Republicans who have worked with both Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell and know only one will keep Virginia moving forward. Sen. Russ Potts summed it up nicely:

"I served with him (Deeds) for 16 years - sworn in the same day - and get to see what a person's all about. There's no pretentiousness with Creigh. What you see is what you get. I think he'll be a Governor who'll throw caution to the winds and make tough choices."

Well said, Sen. Potts! And just the opposite could be said about Bob McDonnell. He's pretentious. He's hiding much of his political past, including being nurtured by Pat Robertson. With Bob McDonnell what you see, isn't close to what you'll get.

Chicken litter

We're 10 days out on the election and both teams seems to pulling out all the stops. A random selection:

The Daily News-Republican endorsed Bob Goodlatte and took a swipe at Sam Rasoul. No surprise in either. Their endorsement could have been predicted a year ago, even a decade ago because the facts and the campaign don't really matter to the editors there. Well, maybe I'll have to eat a little (very little) crow after we find out their views on the Senate race.

Speaking of the DN-R, their letters to the editor frequently are a rehash of libelous BS, many so obvious in their intent and apparent in their stupidity that I think they actually hurt their cause. Then the editors place certain letters in shaded boxes (print edition) or designate it "letter of the day" to, I assume, give them eye appeal and seem more important. Is it just my imagination that this favored treatment is more often given to Obama-bashing letters?

The News Leader has a story about hateful and racist literature showing up in newspaper tubes in the Staunton and Waynesboro areas. Staunton Democratic chair Bob Dickerman referred to the flyers and negative robocalls as "atrocious." On the other hand, Staunton Republican chair Anne Taetzsch denied knowledge of the literature and said it didn't come from the campaign. She said, "my whole thing is the negative approach doesn't work." What? How can she say that with a straight face? After all she's in tight with Chris Saxman the Virginia McCain co-chair whose campaign has used robocalls and mailers spewing the same negative and false information. And isn't Ms. Taetzsch a big supporter of state GOP chair Jeff Frederick, whose racist comments went too far for even the McCain campaign?

On another and more positive front, former Delegate Jim Dillard, a Fairfax Republican, is making calls for Barack Obama. He does get in a jab at McCain/Palin for their negative campaign and lies, but his message is overwhelmingly one of positive support for Obama/Biden. While there has been a lot of news about national Republican figures supporting Obama, there is a groundswell of Republican support among state and local politicians as well.

And the latest counter punch in the sign wars is "You can vote for the chick, but I'm rollin' with Colin." Haven't seen one yet, but understand a few have appeared around Staunton.