Jim Riley reports on an email from Del. Bob Marshall:

In fact, two well-connected friends have told me that Senator Jim Webb is interested in the Secretary of Defense position in the new Administration.  If he were offered the position and he accepted, that would leave Jim Webb’s U.S. Senate seat open.

Interesting.

On NPR’s Morning Edition this morning Steve Innskeep interviewed Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, about his auto industry bailout plan.  When talking about what will be expected of car companies, Frank says they will pay “No dividends can be paid, no bonuses for people over $200,000 and some other things” and will have to make cars more energy efficient by March 1st or they’d have to pay back the loan.  Nothing about what happens if they go bankrupt before then, or what quality measures might be placed on the industry to improve the overall product beyond MPG.

How will this be paid for?  Frank says that there will be plenty of money for bailing out industries once we end the War In Iraq and that the auto companies won’t have to worry about renegotiating their labor contracts because once the government takes on health care it’ll be less of a burden for all American industries.  Neither solution is going to happen right away, and that the health care “solution” may be a tax burden on individuals and working families was something Rep. Frank did not bring up.

You can read a transcript of the interview or listen to it here.

Yesterday a good number of people received an email from J. Kenneth Klinge calling for RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick to resign in face of the results of this month’s elections.  Klinge gives his credentials in the email, but one should also note that in addition to supporting Wolf, Drake and Fimian in this year’s house elections, Klinge also contributed $250 to Democratic Virginia Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw.

UPDATE: Norm Leahy gives his take:

Virginia Republicans have, since 2001 but with a vengeance since 2004, gone out of their way to undermine their own cause. Yes, things have gotten better for them, at the margins at least, with the departure of people like John Chichester. But they remain ill-served with a leadership that has no agenda, with members who, generally, tend to wait until January to focus on the road ahead and an overall message that is neither coherent nor energizing (quick…what does the GOP hope to accomplish in the next session? One priority…just one…will do).

UPDATE 2: Klinge was Executive Director of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1973-1974 under Richard D. Obenshain.

Klinge’s letter is after the break.

From Politics1.com:

VIRGINIA. Attorney General Bob McDonnell became the 2009 GOP nominee for Governor on Friday. That was the state party’s deadline to file paperwork to seek the nomination at next year’s convention. Nobody filed to oppose McDonnell. Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling (R) is unopposed for renomination. Three Republicans filed for McDonnell’s open AG spot. The Dem deadline to run is not until next year. Incumbent Governor Tim Kaine (D) is term-limited. Former Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe, State Senator Creigh Deeds and State House Democratic Caucus Chair Brian Moran are all actively seeking the Dem gubernatorial nomination.

Patrick Muldoon was looking to run for Lieutenant Governor and had filed with the SBE accordingly but it appears he didn’t make the cut with RPV.  Also registered last month was Muldoon PAC, though what this entails in anyone’s guess.

Virginia Republicans will choose between John Brownlee, Ken Cuccinelli and Dave Foster for Attorney General at next May’s convention.

1:09pm UPDATE: Or not.  Patrick Muldoon’s website is up and running and is taking petitions by November 28th so they can turn them in to RPV by December 1st.  Of note, the only sections currently working on Muldoon’s website is Biography, Petition and Contact.  Issues and Press Releases aren’t up yet.

2:50pm UPDATE: From RPV - Muldoon has filed to run and now must turn in petitions. The path is not 100% clear for Bill Bolling.

Boston.com - Obama victory took root in Kennedy-inspired Immigration Act

Tertium Quids - People or Things: The Left Invests in Both. The Right? Not So Much

TMZ - Barack Wants You, Unless You Did 63 Bad Things

Terry McAuliffe has tapped Mark Warner’s campaign manager Mike Henry to coordainte his exploration and eventual run for Governor in Virginia.  Perhaps he can advise McAuliffe how to best deal with responding to questions about his explored run for governor in Florida in 2005 or the $18 million he made with Global Crossing, the company known for filing the seventh largest bankruptcy in American history.

One question coming up in the navel-gazing aftermath of Election Day is what can the Republican Party do to appeal to young voters?  As one person put it, Republicans are at the point that they risk losing an entire generation of voters.

The problem with Republicans is that the perception of young people toward the party is not a good one.

18-24 year olds have no memory of Reagan or the Cold War.  To them Republicans are the party of impeachment for a sexual act with an intern, George W. Bush and the War In Iraq.  None of them have been in the workforce long enough to experience a tax cut.  None of them have been paying attention long enough to remember a balanced budget (or give the credit to a Republican controlled Congress).

Republicans have done nothing positive in the last 16 or so years that is memorable enough that young voters can associate it with them.

What 18-24 year olds do know, though, and agree with, are Conservative values.  As has been pointed out time and time again, when Conservative values are on the ballot they win.  When Conservative candidates are on the ballot they win.

And, not a slight to the Social Conservatives, but I’m talking FISCAL Conservative values here.

Look at the popularity of South Park.  South Park is a Libertarian minded show, they mock both parties and a lot of social norms, but at its root the morals are Libertarian in value: the Government doesn’t get it, leave us alone.  That’s something kids can get behind and they do.

But we have not had a Conservative candidate come forward to excite them in a very long time other than, yes, RON PAUL.  Ron Paul was able to tap into that young excitement and fish for a lot of money and movement, but he wasn’t electable because he also failed to appeal higher up the food chain within the party.  Also he was crazy.

Republicans need to start rediscovering their Conservative roots. Their FISCAL Conservative roots.  Joe The Plumber was a popular ploy not because he hated “The Gays” or because he was pro-life but because he represented a fear of government intrusion into our pocketbooks. But he was a middle aged, middle class appeal that was too little too late.  Start talking Conservative values and putting them in terms young folks understand: education tax credits, tax cuts that put more money in their pockets to do with as they please, a government that is smaller and less intrusive in their lives - push the issues that not only matter to them but transcend age.

And show them that they have a voice and am impact.  Sure they make good foot soldiers, but also let their voices be heard.  Mobilize them not only to get the word out but to get the word in.  Right now the party is viewed as being run by crazy old men who don’t get it.  Young blood needs to be sought out, cultivated, and promoted.  But that only comes by finding the issues that matter and bring even these activists into the fold.

Too often young activists have been dismissed or used as ready volunteers and then abandoned post election.  The Party needs to be more open to them, needs to allow them a seat at the table, and needs to take them under wing to help cultivate a youth movement of its own.

Otherwise, yes, we do risk losing an entire generation of voters.

Thinking of the GOP on the state level we have two immediate options on the table (and a bunch more within those, but those are shades). We are faced with whether the state GOP needs to rebuild or merely stop the bleeding for now. Nationally they can look at two to four year plans and the tin cup pundits and specialists are going to focus on that but we have an election next year that will hugely impact where Virginia goes for the next ten years thanks to redistricting.

Rebuilding in the long term is a must do option.  The party as it stands now within Virginia as well as the nation is not one that will beat the path to victory in the future.  But can it hold the fort so there is a chance of fighting back?

People may say that fighting for a House of Delegates majority next year is all well and good but what kind of majority are we talking about?  Certainly a majority that is raising our taxes is not a majority any of us want to see, but if it’s a Republican majority that can then help craft districts that still give Republicans a chance and a seat at the table then the party has a chance to rebuild and reassert its values later, in a position to also maintain a majority when doing so.  If it’s a Democratic majority that starts crafting Democratic districts to lock us out, we may be facing a Blue Virginia from a state to national level for at least the next ten years.

If we focus on rebuilding now, focus on shedding our own squishes while finding solid candidates to field in blue districts, can we successfully hold the House of Delegates in 2009 or are we setting ourselves up for an even bigger loss?

While the party needs to definitely figure itself out and perhaps needs a change throughout, should our immediate focus be more on doing what we can to make it not nearly as bad as it will be?

On the way back from lunch I ran into a trio of Obama supporters handing out literature for their man.  I’ve been curious about how much people know about Barack Obama the man compared to Barack Obama the hype.  So I conducted a purely unscientific survey.

Q1: What is Barack Obama’s current job?

A1: All three - Senator

Q2: Senator from which state?

A2: One had no idea, one said Chicago, the third agreed with Chicago.

Q3: Who is his running mate?

A3: All three - Biden

Q4: What is Joe Biden’s current job?

A4: All three - Senator

Q5: Senator from which state?

A5: All three - No answer

Admittedly, these are not policy questions.  Nor do I assume that these three individuals represent every Barack Obama supporter.  But this does display how Obama’s appeal transcends politics and knowledge of who Barack Obama is.  Why they are voting for Obama - Change?  Hope?  His health care proposals?  A nice smile? - I do not know.  I do hope that they know, though.  And that they’re more informed in that opinion than they are of the candidates themselves.

On the eve of election day we’ll just ask you three questions:

Who are you voting for president?

Who are you voting for U.S. Representative?

Who are you voting for U.S. Senator?

Zogby’s latest poll numbers put Obama over McCain 49.1-44.1 over the last three days, but that includes a Friday that saw McCain outpoll Obama 48-47.  McCain’s surge comes despite Obama’s Wednesday night informercial and expanded operations across the nation.  Whether McCain can continue this upswing (or if it’ll be reflected in other polls) or if it’s too little, too late we’ll have to see.

11/2 UPDATE: Zogby’s Sunday morning numbers has Obama leading 49.5-43.8 with a special note from John Zogby himself:

“Remember, as I said yesterday, one day does not make a trend. This is a three-day rolling average and no changes have been tectonic. A special note to blogger friends: calm it down. Lay off the cable television noise and look at your baseball cards in your spare time. It is better for your (and everyone else’s) health.”