Del. Brian Moran resigned his House seat today to focus more on his bid for the Democratic nomination for Governor:

Moran, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, sent a letter of resignation to Gov. Tim Kaine today. A Moran aide said the announcement was timed so that a special election to fill Moran’s seat could occur before the assembly session begins on Jan. 14.

“I have come to this decision after long deliberation and discussions with my family,” Moran said in a letter sent to constituents of his House district.

“While the decisions made in the coming 45-day General Assembly session are important, the leadership of Virginia for the next four years is even more critical,” Moran wrote.”Today’s troubled times demand proven leadership. I believe that the best thing I can do for the people of Alexandria, Fairfax and the entire state, is to win this campaign for governor.”

Moran’s decision to leave his seat gives him an opportunity to continue to fundraise during session (which Criegh Deeds will not) and frees him from having to cast any controversial votes.  Whether or not Deeds will do the same has yet to be determined.  Terry McAuliffe is also running for the nomination.

Tim Craig from the Washington Post write:

By resigning the seat he has held since 1996, Moran will be able to raise money and travel the state this winter instead of being bogged down by the 45-day legislative session. Had he not stepped down, Moran would have been in Richmond in January and February while one of his chief rivals for the nomination, Terry McAuliffe, was free to campaign. Moran will also be able to avoid looming tough votes on budget cuts, as well as possible tax or fee increases, as Virginia grapples with a big budget shortfall.

Rasmussen released a poll earlier this week showing that all four candidates for governor are not only close heads up but that nearly a third of those polled don’t know enough to hold an opinion yet:

Rep. Brian J. Moran of Alexandria is the only one of three leading Democratic hopefuls who beats Republican Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell in a straight match-up, 41% to 37%, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey of Virginia voters. Five percent (5%) favor some other unspecified candidate, and 16% are undecided.

McDonnell, who is expected to be his party’s unchallenged gubernatorial nominee, runs dead even with Rep. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County at 39% apiece. Four percent (4%) prefer a third candidate, and 18% aren’t sure. This is a repeat match-up for the two since McDonnell defeated Deeds for attorney general in 2005 in a race so close it required a recount.

Deeds is also the favorite among Democratic voters who will select a gubernatorial nominee in a June primary.

The best-known of all four candidates, longtime Clinton confidant and fundraiser Terry McAuliffe, trails McDonnell 41% to 36%. Five percent (5%) like another candidate better, while 17% are undecided.

Moran’s numbers may reflect the strength of Northern Virginia, but that Deeds is favored by his party but only breaks even is an interesting stat.

Also key to note is McDonnell’s standing among independents - he beats all Democrats heads up among unaffiliated voters - and that his favorables and unfavorables beat every Democrat heads up as well:

Forty-nine percent (49%) of Virginia voters have a favorable opinion of McDonnell, with 18% saying their view of him is very favorable. He is viewed unfavorably by 19%, with 32% not knowing enough about him to have an opinion one way or the other.

…

Deeds is regarded favorably by 37% of Virginia voters and unfavorably by 24%. Thirty-eight percent (38%) have no opinion of him.

For Moran, his favorables are 33%, his unfavorables 31%, with 36% having no opinion.

McAuliffe, who served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, is seen favorably by 36% and unfavorably by 34%, with only 30% undecided about him.

All three Democrats are viewed Very favorably by 11% of Virginia voters.

Admittedly, it’s hard to take any polls at face value eleven months out from the actual election and with only one debate under their belts.  But the Democrats are going to face a tough fight for the nomination and those unfavorables - 24%, 31%, 34% - are only going to go up if things get ugly.

Deeds is in the best position being outside of Northern Virginia.  Moran and McAuliffe are fighting over the same base and while neither can outright ignore the rest of Virginia, they have more ground to cover there than Deeds would given his roots.  So if Moran and McAuliffe eat each other alive, Deeds can come right up the middle and beat both of them out fairly unscathed.

Bill Bolling’s speech from the RPV Advance lunch on Saturday, December 6th:

Bob McDonnell’s speech from the RPV Advance lunch Saturday, December 6th:

Word going around that Cuccinelli won the straw poll.  This despite Brownlee bussing in votes.  Confirmation will come with announcement at dinner.

5:33PM Update: Uncertified Straw Poll Results - Cuccinelli 47% - Brownlee 38% - Foster 15%

5:51PM Update: Cuccinelli 152 - Brownlee 123 - Foster 44 - The bussing of suporters for Brownlee supposedly never materialized.  Most of his supporters did seem to be sitting in the same few rows.

Should start shortly, hopefully my computer has enough juice.

Panel is hosted by Cyrus Krohn, RNC e-Campaign Director.

Bob McDonnell is currently giving a good speech. Video of this and Bolling’s speech available later today. New Media panel around 2. Will update as I can through here and Twitter.

RPV got us WiFi and we’re live at the Attorney General Debate.  Check below the fold for updates:

Catch them live through my Twitter feed.  Tomorrow I hope to hit the New Media panel.  Maybe I’ll learn a thing or two.

In reverse order so you may want to start from the bottom:

I’ll be coming to you all live (and sometimes not so live) from the Republican Advance this weekend out at The Homestead.  Stay tuned for details here at through my Twitter account.

Also, anything you want to know or find out, leave a comment and I’ll see what I can pass along.

You can see the intenary as they sent it out yesterday after the break (pardon the formatting, that’s how it came in the email):

Tim Craig looks at some interesting numbers for Northern Virginia Democrats:

First the bad news.

President-elect Barack Obama received 60 percent of the vote in Fairfax County and 72 percent in Arlington County and Alexandria, giving him a trove of support that made it nearly impossible for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to carry the state.

Now, the good news.

Obama drew 60 percent of the vote in Fairfax and 72 percent in Arlington and Alexandria, which are about the same percentages that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and Sen. James Webb (D) received in their races in 2005 and 2006.

So if Northern Virginia has leveled out all eyes then turn downstate.

For a while now Republicans have argued that if they can appeal to the Conservative base, the small government, fiscal responsibility base, they can win.  When they don’t, the base stays home.  These three races help demonstrate that - John McCain and Jerry Kilgore failed to excite the base and lost by larger margins than George Allen, who did excite the base but also hurt himself greatly with the M-word fiasco.

Virginia isn’t blue and is hardly purple.  It still leans red.  But there have been very few Republican candidates statewide to excite that color to come to the polls.  Mark Warner and Tim Kaine won not by being blue but by being purple themselves, by coming to the center to suck off some of the more purple right of center vote.  That combined with a Republican challenger who did not move the Republican base red votes to get out to the polls has led to a strong run as of late for the Democrats.

If Northern Virginia has peaked, then the Republicans have a way forward.  But it will take a candidate who can walk the walk and reinvigorate the party to make it happen.

During yesterday’s AP forum Brian Moran tried to hail the growth of the state budget by nearly 100% over the last decade as “investments” (at 0:24 mark).  Bob McDonnell strikes back (at 0:36 mark):

Petitions were due yesterday for candidates wanting to run for the Republican nomination for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General at May, 2009’s convention.  According to Virginia Virtucon, everyone made the cut but the Muldoon campaign may have to wait for it’s 11th CD signaturs to be verified:

Word is that Muldoon turned in enough petitions from each Cong. Dist., but only managed to gather 281 signatures in the 11th CD.  Although only 200 signatures are required from each of the 11 CDs, if a candidates submits less than 300 signatures in a district, then each individual signature must be verified to be a registered voter in that district.  This process is going on today.

Patrick Muldoon is challenging Bill Bolling for the Lieutenant Governor nomination.  Dave Foster, Ken Cuccinelli, and John Brownlee are running for Attorney General.  Bob McDonnell is unopposed for Governor.

On raising taxes:

Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who is eying a gubernatorial bid, disagreed. “You don’t raise taxes in a down economy,” he said.

McDonnell also rejected taxes, saying lawmakers should cut spending. “The worst thing you can do during a recession is try to tax yourself to prosperity,” he said.

Emphasis added.  How did Deeds and Moran feel?

“Everything should be on the table,” said Del. Brian Moran, D-Alexandria. His position was echoed by state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath.

At a time when Virginia is facing tough economic times two candidates for governor feel that sacrifices need to be made among Virginia’s working families instead of it’s bloated government that has grown exponentially over the last eight years.

Maybe McAuliffe is the moderate Democrat in this race.

WaPo has a write-up as well.

The death toll from Wednesday’s (and the ongoing) Mumbai attacks stands at 151 including two Americans from Nelson County, Virginia:

Twenty five members of the Synchronicity Community, a religious group based in Faber, were visiting Mumbai for a spiritual program at the Oberoi Hotel. That hotel is one of two that terrorists took over.

Eight members of the group visiting India live in Nelson County. Alan and Naomi Scherr, a father and his 13-year-old daughter who live at the Synchronicity compound, are unaccounted for since the attacks. Synchronicity reports on its website that eyewitnesses saw the father and daughter being shot in a restaurant and are feared dead.