Cantor wrote:

In line with our underlying principles for legislation, the House will move forward this summer with a number of proposals aimed at addressing job creation and the economy, reducing spending, and shrinking the size of the federal government while protecting and expanding liberty. Above all, we must continue to focus on economic growth and small business—producing results that get Americans back to work. The summer legislative schedule is detailed below for your review.

Regarding the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, Cantor added that “before we leave for August, I expect to schedule a vote on legislation preventing the largest tax increase in history.” He appealed to the Senate to join the House so that there is certainty before the November elections (I’m not holding my breath – this is sure to be a lame duck issue).

Read the entire memo here.

You see, not a lot of thought needs to go into it. Especially since Kaine managed to get all of his Democratic opposition to quit the nomination race early, allowing him to focus on the Republicans running.

All the scheduler seems to have to do is see where a newsworthy Republican event is, like debates, and schedule a unique Kaine event there.

Make no mistake, this is intentional.

The Kaine campaign in each debate has attempted to hijack any media attention the debates might get. Doing so gives Kaine and his surrogates an unchecked platform to lob pot-shots at his Republican opponents (while the Republicans are busy arguing with each other).

The Republican debate schedule was announced in mid-April for Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and Northern Virginia.

* The first debate in Roanoke was Saturday, April 28th. Therefore, the Kaine campaign announced, “On Saturday, Tim Kaine will hold a roundtable with Roanoke seniors and retirees, followed by a downtown business walking tour with Mayor David Bowers.”

* The second debate was held Friday, May 11th in Virginia Beach. Conveniently, “First Lady Anne Holton, joined Congressman Bobby Scott and 2nd district congressional candidate Paul Hirschbiel, and more than 120 Virginia Democrats to open the Norfolk/Virginia Beach Headquarters of the Democratic Party of Virginia’s 2012 coordinated campaign,” according to a Kaine statement.

* The final debate, tonight, 6:30 p.m., is in Falls Church, Virginia. Of course, Kaine will be in Northern Virginia to “hold a forum with Northern Virginia women to discuss his vision for creating jobs and strengthening our economy.”

At some point, presumably June 13, the Kaine campaign will have to come up with their own schedule.

Regarding tonight’s debate, you don’t have to travel to Northern Virginia. Just grab some popcorn and get a head-start on your Memorial Day weekend by watching the last debate right here:

Stream videos at Ustream

We will also be covering/following the debate using the primary Twitter hashtag #vasen. However, you also might want to consider using #rpv, #vagop, or #bdrift. But #vasen is generally where the fireworks are though – just like Kaine, you’re bound to get some lurkers on the left who are quick to chime-in:

And, as always, there’s Cover-it Live:

So, from here on out…open-thread. Enjoy the debate!

While, perhaps, the IPO of Facebook has had it’s share of controversy, our marketing strategy has seen nothing but success.

We’ve gone from having less than 1000 likes on our page a month ago to skyrocketing to more than 4,000 as of tonight.

This means our Facebook page is more popular than senate candidates Bob Marshall, Jamie Radtke, and E.W. Jackson!

This is in large part because of you – our great readers – who share our posts and enjoy the conversation that we have on the page.

And kudos to contributors Andrew Schwartz, Alton Foley, Flint Engleman, and Norm Leahy for their efforts at keeping our page current – with exclusive information that you don’t always see here on the flagship.

Do you think you can help us get to 5,000 likes on Facebook by June 1?

Turns out Americans are a little too smart and a little too keen on capitalism to allow demagoguery to cause them to sway from their core beliefs.

Of what do I speak?

None other than the Obama’s attempted smear of Mitt Romney over his time as leader of Bain Capital.

Apparently Mr. Obama is running afoul of those who believe in a little something called “The Free Market”. I’m certain I have heard of that somewhere before.

The president decided that Romney’s past as a capitalist is fair game. Let’s go to the video tape regarding how ~evil~ Mitt Romney really is:

Bain is “not a distraction. This is what this campaign is going to be about,” said the president.

Bring it, Mr. President. I don’t think Romney’s business background is going to hurt him one bit. Even Obama’s supporters don’t think so:

“This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides…I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity…If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses — to grow businesses. And this to me, I’m very uncomfortable,” said Cory Booker, Newark, NJ mayor, Sunday on “Meet the Press”.

And, Monday, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. said:

“I would not have backed off the comments if I were Mayor Booker. The substance of his comments on ‘Meet the Press,’ I agree with the core of it. I would not have backed them out … private equity’s not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, private equity is a good thing in many, many instances.”

Certainly, Gov. Mitt Romney, did not take this lying down:

“President Obama confirmed today that he will continue his attacks on the free enterprise system, which Mayor Booker and other leading Democrats have spoken out against. What this election is about is the 23 million Americans who are still struggling to find work and the millions who have lost their homes and have fallen into poverty. President Obama refuses to accept moral responsibility for his failed policies. My campaign is offering a positive agenda to help America get back to work.”

What’s very interesting about all of this is our own U.S. Senator Mark Warner – a Democrat – made a fortune using private equity.

Is he also of the president’s playbook to attack free enterprise?

Not really.

Warner, just today, partnered with…drum-roll, please…Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida – yeah, you read that right…to introduce a jobs bill in the U.S. Senate.

Startup Act 2.0 picks up where the JOBS Act left off by doing more to create an environment in which entrepreneurs can succeed. Research has shown that for close to three decades, companies less than five years old have created almost all of the net new jobs in America—averaging about 3 million jobs each year. Startup Act 2.0 creates new opportunities for American-educated, entrepreneurial immigrants to remain in the U.S. where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs. The bill also alleviates regulatory burdens that make it more difficult for businesses to expand and create jobs, and seeks to more quickly move university-based research from the laboratory to the marketplace. Finally, Startup Act 2.0 makes changes to the tax code to encourage investment in startup companies.

So, it appears this act by Warner says that Americans, with an innovative spirit and entrepreneurial ability are a good thing? Is he saying that private enterprise and capitalism works?

If he is…then he is certainly saying something different from Pres. Obama. As are other Democrats.

It’s one thing to have a different policy. It’s quite another to have a different economic ideology. And it appears, even Democrats, realize Obama is too radical for America.

If you think we missed one, select “other” and let us know in the comment section.

Don’t forget to share the poll with your friends!

Apparently he would sign the Keystone pipeline into law, introduce tax reform, and repeal ObamaCare, to be replaced by his own health care reforms.

All good measures.

And he says as much in this ad, which the Romney campaign is releasing with much fanfare.

In my humble opinion, the ad is rather, well, bland.

To me, it lacks any sort of punch, humor, or significant inspiration to vote for the hopeful 45th President – as he begins to define himself and create bold contrast between him and the 44th.

Contrast the ad with the Reagan-Bush critique of President Carter from 1980 (after the GOP message) – which has issues strikingly similar to the current campaign:

The reality is that right now, Mitt Romney needs to be defining himself to the American voters.

With a bulk of independents probably not even paying attention yet, Romney needs to lay the ground work for the rest of the campaign.

Who is he? Why is he running? What is his vision?

As Ford O’Connell writes in U.S. News, Romney will not win unless he and his handlers can open up, create a narrative for him, and shape it to explain what he would do for the country and why. And to do this before the Obama attack machine does it for him.

According to a recent Gallup Poll:

Fifty percent of Americans now have a favorable opinion of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, up from 39% in February and his highest by 10 percentage points. His current 41% unfavorable rating, though, leaves him with a net score of +9, after being at -8 in February.

This is a good sign, but Gallup also cautions that this is lower than what most prior nominees have enjoyed. Which makes it even more imperative for Romney to get in front of the narrative of how he should be defined.

This ad, “Day 1″, seemed to fall very short of its intended goals – whether that was to draw sharp contrast with the president, unify and motivate the base, or to define who Mitt Romney is.

Romney’s campaign made contact with this ad, but hardly hit it out of the park, as they might have hoped.

But it’s very early in the game. There’s definitely still time to play long ball in later innings.

But you’d rather be playing with the lead, than trying to make up ground.

“I’ve been [in the General Assembly] 21 years. We’ve never appointed an activist of any kind along these lines, much less somebody who has a long history of this,” the legislator said.

Pressed by CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on how he couldn’t give a gay man a chance to be a judge in an age when black people are not forced to sit in the back of the bus and women can vote, Marshall shot back, “Sodomy is not a civil right.”

“Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks never took an oath of office they broke,” he said. “Sodomy is not a civil right and there’s an effort by homosexual lobbyists to equate the two. That’s wrong. It is a pattern of behavior.”

He added, “When I was in public school … we all said, ‘Keep us from temptation.’ This was because we said the Lord’s prayer. Nobody, nobody — should go where they’ll be tempted. That includes me, that includes you, that includes you, that includes a prospective judge.”

Brian Schoeneman has written a commentary for Bearing Drift on the issue. I do not want to speak for all of our contributors, but several of us are very disappointed in the outcome of this vote and agree with Brian. I won’t repeat Brian’s reasons here.

Personally, I think Thorne-Begland should be a judge. He’s certainly qualified to mete out judgement on traffic tickets and contract disputes in General District Court.

But I am also disappointed regarding what has transpired because of another reason…how conservatives seem to so easily lose the narrative whenever there is a controversy.

Let’s face it. Republicans suck when it comes to talking about race, gender, or sexual preference. It seems no matter what is said or done on these issues, conservatives will end up losing the debate.

For liberals, casting aspersions on Republicans for bigotry is second nature. So, does someone like Marshall really have to go on a global news network and provide liberals more ammunition?

Just more self-inflicted pain for the GOP.

So, while Rasmussen polls tell us that 65 percent of people are angry at the current government’s policies, 51 percent of Americans relate the economy as poor, 56 percent favor the repeal of Obama’s healthcare law, and only 37 percent of Americans give the president favorable marks on how he handles the economy – the narrative is Bob Marshall’s homophobia.

When the President’s budget was nuked 99-0 in the U.S. Senate, Jeff Schapiro, columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, attempts to portray Gov. Bob McDonnell – who said exactly the right thing about this issue – as a “culture warrior.”

When state Democrats are fighting for union-only labor for Tim Kaine’s monstrous creation, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which continues to spend taxpayer money on perks and benefits, NBC12 is trying to investigate which delegates did not vote regarding the nomination vote and why.

All of this is self-inflicted by the GOP. If we truly wanted to save America and grow the economy, then these continued distractions and unforced errors wouldn’t keep happening.

Liberals are only doing what liberals do best – distract and misdirect. If conservatives want to get down to business and make this country a better place, we need to focus on what matters.

E. W. Jackson is an African-American who is running for U.S. Senate – as a Republican.

There was a time where the Republican Party was the only party that black Americans supported — and the only party where blacks were able to run as candidates. Those times have changed.

So, these days, most politicos would consider Jackson to be somewhat of an anomaly.

“I am not an African-American. I am an American!” Jackson exhorts. “I am not hyphenated, bifurcated or demarcated. I am an American. I love my country.”

The extremely poetic and highly energetic evangelical pastor certainly knows how to work a crowd of conservatives and get them on their feet.

But while Jackson is motivating crowds of conservatives across Virginia, he knows that his race is unlikely to sway many of his fellow black Virginians to his cause.

African-Americans vote in overwhelming numbers for Democrats.

Just because a Republican candidate is black, doesn’t mean that they will be successful with black voters either.

In Virginia’s 3rd District, black Republicans Winsome Sears and Chuck Smith both attempted to unseat Congressman Bobby Scott. Scott easily cruised to victory both times.

Speaking of the 3rd District, a majority-minority district, Obama carried it by nearly 52 points in 2008.

So, if you’re a member of the “Party of Lincoln”, regardless of race, you have some work to do in the black community.

“I do not believe Republicans need to change our message or philosophy of government, but I do believe that we need to boldly make the case to minority communities that conservative principles will produce a much better life for them and their families because it works for all Americans,” says Jackson. “[Minorities] have been told for so long that they need some specific approach which recognizes their “victim” status and that we conservatives are against them…[we need] to help them see that Republican philosophy is not anti-minority, but pro-individual.”

Would a Jackson candidacy help outreach into the black community?

Probably not.

So, if you were even thinking of voting this June for Jackson because he might help Republicans beat Obama based on race – don’t.

Would a Jackson nomination get the GOP back to core conservative principles?

You bet.

Jackson is inspirational, gets great response throughout Virginia, and is a coalition builder.

Jackson’s ability to motivate and inspire with his speaking ability, combined with his aptitude to appeal to social, fiscal, and national security conservatives, puts him in a category that none of his competitors, perhaps even the likely nominee, George Allen, can match.

The reality is that Jackson is qualified to be a U.S. senator.

Here is a Marine Corps veteran, Harvard-trained attorney (but “didn’t drink the kool-aid”), successful businessman, and man of God, seeking only to serve.

That’s quite a resume.

But Jackson can’t compete with Allen in money. He can’t compete with Allen in party support. And he is almost out of time.

But Jackson and his supporters should be proud.

While Jackson may not win this GOP primary, he has emerged as a winner in this campaign. He has run his campaign with style, energy, and principle. And he has given himself a future beyond June — something the other campaigns that participated will not likely be able to claim.

My column runs every other Wednesday in the Daily Press Opinion pages. Get your digital membership today!

However, there does appear to be some challenges in other important positions within the party, including national committeeman and national committeewoman. From the official party email:

Per the Official Call for the 2012 Republican Party of Virginia State Convention adopted by the SCC and properly published, the filing deadline for individuals who wished to seek election at the 2012 RPV State Convention ended at 5:00pm today (Monday, May 14, 2012). The following is the report of those who met the 5:00 pm filing deadline and are eligible for election at the June 16th RPV State Convention:

RPV State Chairman (1)
· Pat Mullins*

RNC National Committeeman (1)
· Morton Blackwell
· Shelby McCurnin, Jr.

RNC National Committeewoman (1)
· Kathy Terry
· Donna Holt

Presidential Elector (2)
· 17 people filed for Presidential Elector

RNC At-Large Delegate (13)
· 85 people filed for At-Large Delegate to the RNC Convention

RNC At-Large Alternate Delegate (13)
· 48 people filed for At-Large Alternate Delegate to the RNC Convention

(*) According to the Official Call for the 2012 Republican Party of Virginia State Convention anyone who wished to seek election at the convention had to file their application by the filing deadline and no nominations could be made from the floor. Therefore, since only one candidate filed for this office, this person is the only individual who can be elected at the convention.

Both Donna Holt and Shelby McCurnin, candidates for national committee seats, are active in their support for liberty-minded causes. McCurnin has donated $1258 to Dr. Paul and is involved in the Republican Liberty Caucus. Holt is active in the Campaign for Liberty and Tea Party movements. Blackwell and Terry are the incumbents.

The national committee member plays a key role in the direction of the party with respect to party rules, election of a chairman, etc.

When Mitt Romney stopped in Virginia last week he said, “This may well be the state [that] decides who the next president is.”

At least he understands the stakes.

Barring a collapse by either Romney or President Obama, the popular vote will be close. Major polls are all within the margin of error and likely to stay that way. Romney supporters know they face an uphill battle to unseat an incumbent president. And, now that the primary season is over and Romney has emerged as the nominee, Democrats have begun to heed the call of former Clinton campaign aide James Carville to “wake the you-know-what up.”

But it’s not about the popular vote. It’s about the Electoral College – and there, President Obama has a decided advantage right now. Chris Cillizza, author of The Fix blog in The Washington Post, sees no way Romney can exceed 290 electoral votes. He sees a rough, but doable path for President Obama to win nearly 310.

Almost all prognosticators agree the election is largely over in at least 35 states. Cillizza says it’s largely decided in 43. He says Republicans can count on 24 states with 206 electoral votes and Democrats can count on 19 states, including giants such as California and New York, worth 247 votes. That leaves seven battleground states – Colorado (9 electoral votes), Florida (29), Iowa (6), Nevada (6), New Hampshire (4), Ohio (18) and Virginia (13).

That’s what makes Virginia so important. If President Obama wins the Old Dominion again, it would mean he could lose Ohio or Florida – perhaps even both – and still win re-election. Romney’s opportunities to flip a state and make up ground – Michigan and Pennsylvania – are longer shots. He must have Virginia to win.

It won’t be easy because both sides expect to win yet know it will require tremendous resources to do so.
Before 2008, Virginia was a reliably Republican state in presidential elections. It hadn’t gone for a Democrat since LBJ in 1964. Even Robert Dole, who absorbed a 31-state shellacking from President Clinton in 1996, captured the state by a safe margin.

But by the time the last presidential election rolled around, the Republican brand was in deep trouble in the state. President George W. Bush had seen his hard positives fall into mid-single digits in the centrist 11th District. College students, lured by rhetoric of hope and change and the opportunity to elect the first black president in American history, turned out as never before. Congressional candidates were in trouble even in traditional Republican strongholds. When it was over, Obama had defeated John McCain by 234,000 votes out of 3.7 million cast.

Sen. McCain held his own in the Southside area that abuts North Carolina, the Shenandoah Valley and the mountainous southwest. But President Obama dominated the Golden Crescent, which extends from the Washington suburbs south to Richmond, then east to the Beach area, as has no Democrat in modern history.

Obama not only carried the 3rd (Richmond-Williamsburg-Norfolk) and 8th (Alexandria-Arlington-McLean), traditional liberal strongholds, he took the 11th (Fairfax-Prince William), the heavily military 2nd (Virginia Beach-Eastern Shore) and 4th (Chesapeake-Chesterfield) and even the 10th (Great Falls-Herndon-Loudoun) – which had been one of the most Republican districts in the country as recently as 2000.

Republicans say it will be hard to repeat this success. They point to the Republican landslide in the 2009 statewide elections that swept popular Gov. Robert McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bob Bolling and firebrand conservative Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli into office and the fact Republicans now control both houses of the General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction.

They point to success in local elections in Fairfax County, where one in seven Virginians live, as evidence this polyglot jurisdiction with its wealth of corporate headquarters could respond to Romney’s economic and pro-business appeals. They say the Richmond suburbs, where McDonnell won by even larger majorities than House Majority Leader Eric Cantor usually enjoys, as evidence the Republican brand is back in the state’s sprawling and growing suburbs.

But Democrats have plenty of cause for optimism as well. After all, they can claim to have flipped a half-million votes in the last presidential election – going from a 262,000-vote loss in 2004 to a 234,000-vote victory in 2008.

Moreover, Fairfax-Prince William has elected Gerry Connolly, a left-of-center Democratic congressman, for two terms now, and he is a shoo-in to win again in 2012. The 10th, where Loudoun remains one of the nation’s fastest-growing counties, continues to trend blue. Large Latino communities – which traditionally vote Democratic – have emerged in the Richmond suburbs, particularly in Chesterfield and Mechanicsville, which could help curb Republican margins of victory in those areas.

And the state is becoming more urban throughout, which also could contribute to Democratic success. Even the 6th District, which hugs I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley, saw its margins of victory for the Republican presidential ticket cut from 76,000 in 2004 to 48,000 out of 320,000 cast in 2008.

So, what can Romney do to win? He’ll get some help from turnout, which should fall from its historic high of more than 70 percent in 2008 down to traditional levels in the high-60s. Other trends – big business is emerging as a critical anti-Obama force, and big business has become much bigger in Northern Virginia in the last four years – also will help.

But Romney must hold down margins in the districts where he won’t win – the 3rd and 8th. Obama doubled the Democratic margins of victory there from 2004. He must clobber the president in the 1st, 6th, 7th and 9th. Romney must also reassert control over the military-heavy districts in Hampton Roads, and he must compete in the Washington suburbs.

And he’s actually not a bad candidate for that last proposition. He should keep the focus off social issues and on a strong economic message that highlights entitlement reform, economic growth, energy production – a proposal to drill for oil off Virginia’s coast enjoys broad support – and the failure of the Obama administration to address energy or the economy.

It can be done. It won’t be easy. But failure is not an option.

O’Connell, a Republican strategist who worked on the 2008 McCain-Palin presidential campaign, is chairman of CivicForumPAC, an organization that promotes conservative activism. Hoeft is a blogger turned publisher of the online conservative magazine BearingDrift.com.

This column originally appeared at The Hill’s Congress Blog on May 11.

Reference Links:
Romney’s stop in Virginia

National polling – Obama v. Romney

James Carville

Larry Sabato – Electoral College is what matters

In at least 35 states

Chris Cillizza – Romney 290 Electoral Ceiling

Team Romney aware of fewer paths to 270

Helene Cooper – Virginia is key

Virginia trending blue

Virginia State Polling – Obama v. Romney

Obama’s organizing advantage

2008 Virginia General Election Results

2008 Virginia General Election Results by Congressional District

Other years Virginia voting statistics

Voter turnout likely to be lower than 2008

It was a hugely important moment in the 1980 campaign. Just a week before the election, Reagan made his case for “change” directly to the American people.

Because it was powerful, it has been used in one form or another over the last 32 years (who says politicians can’t learn?).

What’s interesting is to see how President Barack Obama has chosen to use the phrase.

In 2008, this is what your then future president said:

President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office of the White House Monday, November 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“It is time…to try something new. The question in this election is not ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ We all know the answer to that. The real question is, ‘Will this country be better off four years from now?’”, said then Senator Barack Obama at a campaign event in Canton, OH, on Oct. 27, 2008,

That phrase, again, very close to election day, reflected the hope and optimism represented by the Obama campaign.

My, how things have changed.

$16 trillion in debt. No budget for three years. Consistently over 8% unemployment. The greatest percentage of people not even seeking work (in other words, they’ve given up) since January of 1981 (Reagan’s first week in office!). It’s a mess.

So, what does Obama ask today?

“The real question, the question that will actually make a difference in your life, and the lives of your children, it’s not just about how we’re doing today, but how we’ll be doing tomorrow,” said President Obama at his campaign “kick off” in Columbus, Ohio, today.

I’m sure we’ll hear a similar refrain here in Virginia.

He still doesn’t want you looking back four years. Asking in 2008 to give him a chance at creating a better country in his first four years, we know now that he would prefer you forget them.

The president would rather you forget these last four years, with his war on energy, inability to create jobs and a strong economy, and the nationalization of 18% of our GDP.

So, “Forward“, it is, eh?

Not when the country has lost a cumulative 4.5 million jobs over the past five years and we need to create 125,000 new jobs per month just to keep up with population growth.

“The unemployment numbers today confirm several telltale warnings we’ve seen lately that the economy isn’t growing at the rate needed to get people back to work,” said Congressman Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader. “We need to foster an environment for economic growth that will allow business owners to keep more of their hard earned money, boost long-term growth and create jobs.”

Cantor advocates lower taxes, less bureaucracy, and reduced regulation to encourage small business growth.

As for the unemployment rate going down a tick? Well, that’s because Americans have never been more discouraged looking for work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 342,000 Americans dropped out of the labor force in April and the number of workers not in the labor force reached an all-time high of 88,419,000. The participation rate is at its lowest since 1981.

Other economic indicators give cause for concern too. According to today’s USA Today report:

* “House prices dropped for six straight months through February, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index. And Americans bought fewer previously owned homes in March.”
* Consumer spending is up to 2.9%, but economists don’t think that can be sustained
* And, while manufacturing job growth has been strong, economists also believe that it will slow down the rest of the year

An interesting figure is that corporate profits have improved, but they haven’t invested the nearly $2.2 Trillion in profits that they have to expand – mainly due to uncertainty and a lack of confidence in the economy says the report.

Perhaps some of that certainty could be restored if the U.S. Senate passed a budget, acted on federal taxes, or brought to the floor to debate and vote on the dozens of job-creating bills passed in the U.S. House?

Update (Statement from Tim Kaine):

“Today’s jobs report marking 26 consecutive months of private sector job creation is a continued sign of our economic recovery after 25 consecutive months of job losses, but there is still much work to be done.

“To spur immediate job creation and raise our country’s platform for economic success, I’ve laid out a vision that focuses on the Virginia economic lessons of growth, talent, and balance. This agenda calls for easing access to capital for small businesses, making strategic investments in infrastructure to transport goods and services at the speed of a global economy, and committing to an all of the above energy policy that develops all of our domestic resources, including clean energy like wind and solar. But if we truly aim for long-term economic success, we also must adopt a talent strategy – from pre-K to post-secondary and workforce development – to prepare our workers for the jobs of tomorrow.

“The all-cuts approach of George Allen and Tea Party Republicans would double-down on the economic policies that got us into this hole in the first place, and devastate resources for key priorities like education and infrastructure. Instead, I will take a balanced approach to our fiscal challenges that makes significant cuts, but also leaves room for important investments that are fundamental to keep Virginia and the nation competitive, and continue our economic recovery.”

In other words, Gov. Kaine advocates more spending when our nation already has a $16 Trillion national debt.

“One of [President Obama's] areas of failure, where he kept his promise, was to make energy more expensive. There’s no question about energy having gotten more expensive under this president, and part of that is because of his policies. He’s cut back on the number of licenses by 50 percent given to drillers in public lands. His policies have made it harder for us to take advantage of our energy resources. Right here in Virginia, the idea that you have powerful energy right off your coast, that you could be creating good jobs right here in Virginia and providing resources at reasonable cost to the people of America, that’s been lost by a president who said no. The Department of Interior says they’re studying it. Studying it. Didn’t study very long to get the money, $500 million, to Solyndra, did they? They got that out in a big hurry.”

The poll also shows that Allen leads his closest Republican rival, Bob Marshall, 66% to 8%. Jamie Radtke fairs worse at 3%; EW Jackson is at 2%. 20% of voters are undecided.

PPP writes:

“The angle Allen’s opponents seem to be trying to pursue is that the GOP needs a more conservative candidate but he actually gets his strongest support- 75%- from those describing themselves as ‘very conservative.’ He’s very strong with that wing of his party. Allen’s overall favorability with primary voters is 65/17, so there really just isn’t much desire there for an alternative to him.”

Looking back at the December poll, the primary numbers have not effectively changed, even with Marshall’s entry into the race. PPP found Allen at 67% then.

But back to Kaine v. Allen. According to PPP, Virginia is now a blue state.

In their survey, PPP said that there are more Democrats in the state than Republicans…7 percentage points more, in fact. So, the mere fact that Allen can be within one point and the margin of error is pretty telling. He’s even winning among Independents by +2.

Additionally, this same polling firm had Allen down five points of Kaine in December…so the trend is good for Gov. Allen.

Related articles

• Kaine, Allen tied in Virginia Senate race (examiner.com)
• Top Senate races: Va., Mass. lead list (politico.com)

If you love politics, and you are a Virginian, how can you not just sit back – regardless of partisanship – and just say, “This is cool.”

Virginia boasts the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor.  We have a former Democratic National Committee Chairman running for U.S. Senate in Tim Kaine.  Then there is George Allen, who was once considered a presidential prospect for 2008, but now is making his own political comeback to mirror his campaign’s “Blueprint for America’s Comeback.”

Governor Bob McDonnell is consistently discussed as a VP potential, but more importantly, he head’s up the Republican Governors Association.  Then there is Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who took Del. Bob Marshall’s “Health Care Freedom Act”, and led the charge against ObamaCare.

Terry McAuliffe, a former DNC chair himself and adviser to former President Bill Clinton, ran for governor in 2009 and seems primed to do it again in 2013, along with White House “Crasher” Tareq Salahi.

Not to mention that former Gov. Jim Gilmore was also Republican National Committee chair, and Ed Gillespie, the former Republican Party of Virginia chair, was a senior adviser to President Bush and now is advising Governor Mitt Romney.

Those are just a handful of the players.

How can you not love the politics here!

Let’s also set the scene for just this week: