Del. Lionell Spruill has me wondering why he isn’t Governor of Illinois. It’s all about the Benjamins, it seems. After making headlines for endorsing Del. Brian Moran for Governor, and raking in $7,500 a month for the honor, he announced this week that he endorsed Jon Bowerbank for LG.

According to the Washington Post, Spruill is getting the cashola on that nod as well. Bowerbank’s campaign manager wasn’t even sure how much they are paying him (wouldn’t want to contradict any upcoming filings, eh?).

That just leaves one question. Which Democrat for Attorney General will cough up the cash to “earn” Spruill’s support?

Democrat Governor of Illinois who was arrested today on corruption charges for trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat, to which he can still appoint a successor from his jail cell, is showing us a great history lesson.

Before the 17th Amendment, this likely happened all the time. State legislators appointed all US Senators, and except for the many times that they deadlocked and didn’t send anyone to the Senate, accusations of bribery and corruption abounded.

There have been several calls to end the popular election of US Senators, arguing that with that change went the last vestiges of states rights and any state check on federal power.

But the brazen actions of Democrat Rod Blagojevich (”I want to make money”), and the fact that he can still exert his power, tells me that while the 17th amendment on balance was a good thing.

Imagine if he appoints himself!

Impeach him.

The party out of the White House picks up seats in the midterms. The party out of the White House wins the race for Governor of Virginia. These decades-long patterns have led me to feel a certain confidence about a Republican rebound.

I just didn’t expect it to begin before Obama even takes the oath of office.

Two GOP wins in Louisiana with an ousted Democrat in a heavily Democratic district.

Not bad for openers. Hint to Advancers - quit fighting with Republicans and defeat Democrats. If you accomplish only that, you’ll make a quantum leap towards having the success Louisiana is celebrating today.

In 8 minutes, Fred Thompson points out how dumb bailouts are.

Young people chose Democrats. African-Americans chose Democrats. Suburban voters chose Democrats. Middle class wage earners chose Democrats, and thought they’d be more likely to cut middle class taxes than Republicans. Hispanics chose Democrats.

So to reboot our Republican Party into a majority party again, we’re meeting at…the HOMESTEAD?

Far away from most of Virginia, well above the costs of the exact people we say we want to be active in the Party (it is a fundraiser, you know). Want to know how many people, the exact people who have either left the Republican Party or say that the Party left them can afford to travel to the Homestead and pop for a room during the Christmas shopping season.

The location of the advance used to rotate (we did an awful lot better back then, come to think of it).

Sure, the Homestead is nice. It’s very nice. It proclaims on its website to have played host to “Presidents and princes.” But for a Party stamped with the tag of the party of rich, white guys, isn’t our Advance too much of a playing to type?

And doesn’t a meeting in Hot Springs for a Party that needs a serious rebound from 3 years of electoral drubbings sound a bit too similar to billionaire Auto executives flying in private jets to Washington to ask for a bailout?

We’re going to need a full scale effort to turn our party around. Most of the nation won’t need to show results until 2010. We’re on the stage next year, friends. We have less than a year to turn this around. We should be broadening our tent and not basking in our selectivity.

Our usual leadership style of standing on the top of the mountain and expecting the voters to climb won’t work.

And the Homestead doesn’t make the mountain any smaller.

Is this the beginning of the Reagan Teenagers?

Politico reports the first wave of new Republicanism as Virginia’s Eric Cantor, Congressman and House Minority Whip, chose Rep Kevin McCarthy as his top deputy.

McCarthy is just completing his first term in the House. He’s a former chair of the Young Republican National Federation. And he’s the top deputy to the #2 Republican in the House. McCarthy’s 43 and Cantor is 45. This is the start of the next generation of leadership I like to call Reagan Teenagers, folks who cut their teeth in politics and made their first votes during the Reagan years.

House Minority Leader John Boehner is in an odd position. He was part of the Gingrich Revolution that authored the Contract with America and led an activist Republican party to leadership at odds with then-GOP leader Bob Michel.

Now Boehner has a Cantor-McCarthy tandem ready to do what Boehner and Newt did in 1994.

What does it mean? A Republican Party more in tune with blogs, the internet, and the issues that confront middle class America and a connection we haven’t seen, well, we haven’t seen since the early 90s.

The national generational shift of the Republican Party may have just begun today.

Yet again, Republicans let the people decide who runs for office as Republicans, as shown yesterday in the election that Barry Knight won over Paul Lanteigne and Tom Keeley. What are the Democrats doing?

Hand-picking in a smoke-filled room perhaps?

Virginia Beach Democratic Committee chairman Ollie Bates said the party will decide by midweek whether to field a candidate in the Jan. 6 general election. “We are talking to someone,” Bates said Saturday.(Virginian-Pilot 11-30-08)

I see this over and over in Virginia Beach politics. Never any competition for Democrat nominations. The “party” will decide whether anybody is going to run in the 81st. Republicans hold campaigns and contests where voters choose the winners.

That says more about Virginia Beach politics than anything.

First reports show Barry Knight turning out a commanding lead in the race for the GOP nod in the 81st district, well ahead of Sheriff Paul Lanteigne and Tom Keeley. Looks like the nominee will be Barry Knight.

I’ve seen a Tim Kaine special session, I’ve seen how Richmond runs Republican campaigns, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as disorganized and futile as shopping on Black Friday at a Toys-R-Us. I now know why God invented online shopping.

First, why do so many parents take their small children with them Christmas shopping? Will this new generation of short attention spans actually be surprised on Christmas morning to open the toys they went shopping for a month earlier?

And besides, since their parents have the shopping cart overflowing with giant toys, most of these young Americans were walking.

In a toy store?!?! “Bobby. Bobby. C’mon Bobby. Stop looking at the toys, Bobby. Stop holding up the 27 people trying to get passed you, Bobby. Bobby, put that down.” Multiply that by about 100.

And former VDOT executives must be managing Toys R Us nowadays, since half the aisles were purposely barricaded so that people couldn’t get to the cash registers except through one entranceway. That meant going down one aisle to a dead end, turning around and then going into another aisle with its own dead end. It was just like construction on the highway, except at least on the roads traffic moves and you aren’t forced into 15 U-turns.

I’m not sure what the Fire folks would think of such a setup. It got worse when they corralled you to the cash register. Employees actually directed you to a register, and God help you if you made a wrong turn, because the lines were blocked into sections. If you were in checkout line 13, you had a barricade next to aisle 15 and aisle 12.

I did find one thing interesting. You know the section with all the educational toys? It’s great for cutting through the traffic. It was like an HOV lane. High Occupancy brain cells? You can fly though! There were so few people in the educational section, especially the parts with books, that I swear I heard crickets. Without those smart toys, I would’ve easily added an hour or two to my shopping experience.

The fun part was listening to adults do math. I actually listened to one person verbally debate herself whether $19.99 was less than $29.99 with 10% off. At that point, I was wondering how much it mattered, since her inability to do basic math negates any benefit she’d derive from saving money.

And, no, it wasn’t in the educational toy section.

I do feel bad for grandparents, though, and there were a lot of them shopping today. Of everyone, they should really wait until Monday. The sales aren’t that great, and running the gauntlet of high-speed Demolition Derby via cart isn’t exactly what they’re equipped for.

Needless to say, this recession didn’t seem to stop toy shopping today. Of course, when I was a kid, inflation was over 14% instead of today’s 4%. Unemployment was 11%, instead of today’s 6%, and a 30-year mortgage had a whopping 18% interest rate.

Maybe we whine a bit too much. What we call “a depression and the worst economy ever” would be a boom compared what our parents went through.

But I did survive my toy trek, but not before wishing I did it all online, and thinking we really should give an online shopping tax credit to seniors, and people with small children, and for that matter people with large children, and for that matter….me!

Bearing Drift sent out questions to all three candidates for the Republican nomination in the 81st district. Tom Keeley’s responses are as follows:

BD: Why are you running for the House of Delegates?

What I experienced as the Commanding Officer of NAS Oceana, especially during the BRAC process, taught me that our area’s local, state and federal leadership truly do not understand or value the tangible and intangible contributions our military and veterans make to this area, state and country. There were lots of words but very little well thought out and planned actions to prevent putting a true economic engine in harms way.

I had the opportunity to personally look, listen, and learn how other areas of our country understand and value their military installations. Hearing how other areas actively embrace and foster growth of their communities with those contributions; I decided to stand up and represent the interests, which make the 81st District special: interests of the average citizen.

BD: Have you ever donated to any Democratic candidates?

I have never donated to Democratic candidates.

BD: What is your position concerning NAS Oceana and what role have you played in advocating that position?

I initiated a plan to get the local communities involved in a Joint Land Use Study for I knew realignment within the Department of Defense was coming due to budgetary constraints. NAS Oceana and its Dam Neck Annex are not only economic engines but also strategic assets when you consider this Nation’s defense. Therefore, I fought to help educate the area’s officials because it was the right thing to do. What would have happened if that Joint Land Use Study had not been undertaken?

BD: What is your opinion on the upcoming General Assembly budget and what makes you qualified to make these decisions?

Our economies impact on the upcoming budget is the biggest problem facing the General Assembly. I managed NAS Oceana, which has a multi-million dollar budget as well as a multi-million dollars impact on the 81st District’s entire economy. When necessary I made cuts to the budget of Oceana . . .

BD: What is your position on abortion?

I am a Roman Catholic.

BD: What solutions do you offer for the transportation problem in Hampton Roads?

Government cannot solve this ever-growing problem without the focused help of businesses and citizens. The budget crisis will require the General Assembly to cut spending. I will push for spending to focus on the true requirements of government, one of which is transportation. If we do not better maintain and make safety improvements on what we presently have, it will negatively influence the cost of doing business in this area.

We need to look at ways to cut down on congestion by reevaluating our present work culture. We need to find ways to incentivize both citizens and businesses to help affect these changes.

We need to support, manage and grow our port facilities in a way that would allow a portion of revenues to help fund transportation maintenance and new intermodal initiatives, which focus on reducing congestion.

We need to bring all elected officials, businesses and citizens together in a collaborative process to help solve these problems. We do not need an independent regional transit authority, which adds yet another layer of indecision to a solution we must develop NOW! I will strongly oppose formation of such an authority or any independent taxing initiative.

BD: What is your position on moving the H.W. Bush to Florida?

I again think back to my experience at Oceana and stress that this region as well as this state must become proactive in all matters pertaining to military and government businesses. Yes, they are businesses and we need must understand that. We must actively protect and foster processes to help them deal with the changes the war we are in will bring. Believe me; other areas of our country are looking for new businesses…

BD: What is your position on government and taxes?

I believe taxes need to be reduced to stimulate growth and allow people to keep more of the money they earned. Virginia’s budget continues to grow beyond the rate of inflation. We need to realign and refocus government resources on requirements based core functions.

BD: What is your position on the Back Bay?

It is a strategic natural resource. We must staunchly protect and foster its natural growth. We can reap far more benefits from it that way. I could see benefits, which would flow into and capitalize on in our educational system and economy.

It sends chills and quivers down my spine to even think about it. Maury High School in Norfolk has gone fightless since Oct. 21st.

It warms my heart to see such success! An entire month without a fight in school has got to be quite an accomplishment nowadays to make such a banner story in the Virginian-Pilot.

Tom Keeley, former CO of NAS Oceana, was endorsed this week by City Councilmember (and if rumors are true, a future candidate for the House of Delegates) Bob Dyer and former candidate for Virginia Beach Mayor Scott Taylor, who ran 4th out of 4 in the Mayoral campaign this year.

Together, they will launch Veterans for Keeley at a press conference 1 PM Tuesday at the Veteran’s memorial on 1000 19th st.

Keeley, Sheriff Paul Lanteigne, and Barry Knight of the Planning Commission are vying for the House of Delegates seat vacated by Terrie Suit.

Economy slowing, charitable services for meals and assistance are stretched, stock market shrinking, jobs in short supply, layoffs and closings abound, but what do Hollywood millionaire actors want to do?

Go on strike!

For all their talk about regular citizens, the liberal elite only care about one thing - getting your money. And to get it, they’re willing to stop their incredibly HARD work of memorizing a page of dialogue, standing still, and saying it near a camera.

I did think of a way to fund more money for disgruntled millionaire Hollywood actors.

A rehab tax.

Phyllis Schlafly launched a no-holds-barred barrage on Republicans and John McCain wondering “Where did the Reagan votes go in the 2008 election?”

“By a colossal 40-plus point spread, unmarried women voted for Barack Obama by 70 percent to 29 percent. One explanation is economic: The women who cast off husbands look to Big Brother Government to support them. They vote for the party that promises more benefits from the Welfare State…

The United States today has 24 million children growing up in households without their own father, and 17 million of those are in mother-headed households. Why is anybody surprised that the dissolution of marriage, depriving kids of their own fathers and the widespread acceptance of matriarchy produces eager supporters of Obama’s promise to “spread the wealth around”?”

Is it that simple? Is the changing structure of family changing the role of government?

Schlafly talks about several other issues, including trade, bailouts and youth, but none was so pervasive as her bit about Obama and unmarried women. Trade didn’t decide this election, and the bailout didn’t either (although I think what caused the bailout hurt the GOP on the critical competence issue), and young people have no reason to be conservative - they get more than they give from government.

But both unmarried men and unmarried women went for Obama (men 56%, women 70%) and unmarried voters have been about 35% of the electorate since 2000.

So, why have single people supported Democrats so demonstrably? Is it a big government shift? Are unmarried people more likely to support government safety nets, or even movement towards socialism? Absent the traditional support systems of marriage, or even the days when one salary was enough to provide for a family, is government becoming a more reliable support system than marriage and family?

I don’t think all Schlafly’s conclusions are correct. But, I do think this: While every party official is wondering about “outreach” with regard to race, I think we better plan an effort of outreach into “the marriage gap.”

Two things really bugged me about today’s story about the recommendation to add $7 million to the cost of Norfolk’s starter line light rail project to pay for upgrading the communications and train control networks, installing flashers and gates at all street crossings, and incorporating a public address system, variable-message boards and emergency call centers on station platforms.

First Problem - the safety recommendations were part of the original plan, but were taken out to get federal funding, according to HRT chief Mike Townes.

This is why government shouldn’t build things. We had to make light rail less safe in order to get the federal government to write a check? And what will the response be if we put everything back in after getting the federal funding? Lowballing costs, getting funding, and putting the costs back in - it may be “government as usual” but it’s why it’s almost impossible to gain citizen trust and support for projects like these.

Problem two - they think we’re idiots.

“Part of what’s driving the recommendations is Virginia Beach’s new interest in possibly extending the line into the resort city, said Matthew Tucker, director of the state rail department. (Virginian-Pilot)

Bull! New interest? It’s been called a “starter line” since it’s inception. What idiot thought that a starter line would not extend? It wasn’t called a “stopper line” - starters start. To suddenly proclaim that someone might someday expand a line that was specifically designed to expand as if it’s a surprise means either Mr. Tucker just found out about the Norfolk starter line this year or he’s obfuscating the obvious.

To me, it looks like they lowballed the budget, got their money, and now want to get more money to pay the real costs which are substantially higher.

Ever wonder why referendums fail?