Garren Shipley has the story at NoVA Daily about Senate candidate Democrat Mark Warner admitting that he called members of the NRA and those that home school a threat to America. Warner says that he has learned a lot over the course of 14 years.

Gilmore For Senate communication director Ana Gamonal was suspended for two weeks without pay after trying to sign up for Mark Warner’s email list under a false name:

Dick Leggitt, Gilmore’s senior strategist, said Gamonal sent an email to Warner’s campaign under a false name and asked to be put on the Democrat’s email list. Leggitt said Warner campaign officials confronted Gamonal after they learned her real identity.

Gamonal told Leggitt and other Gilmore advisers about the incident earlier today. Gilmore decided to suspend Gamonal without pay.

“Governor Gilmore is all about transparency,” Leggitt said. “We don’t deceive people. We don’t pretend we are something we are not so it is not the kind of thing we want anyone on our staff doing.”

What’s especially embarrassing is that she used her personal email account to try and join the list, using a false name in the signature:

From: Ana Gamonal de Navarro [mailto:********@cox.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 10:15 PM
To: Emily Kryder
Subject: please add me to your press list

Ms. Kryder,

I am a free lance writer for several of the local Spanish language papers here in Virginia. Could you please add me to your distribution list for press releases.

Thank you,

Alexis Navarro

Not smart.

Both the Gilmore and Warner campaigns have handled this very well, Gilmore only giving a suspension, Warner accepting her apology and looking “forward to seeing her back out on the campaign trail.”  It certainly doesn’t help Gilmore, going into the final seven or so weeks of the campaign and having to deal with in-house issues like this.

Listen to the debate

:

 

 Warner/Gilmore Debate - Fairfax Chamber of Commerce - Sept. 18, 2008: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (149)

Candidates for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat, Republican Jim Gilmore and Democrat Mark Warner, both former Virginia governors, face-off in Fairfax today in one of two remaining debates this Senate campaign.

The debate at 10 a.m., before the sold-out Fairfax Chamber of Commerce in McLean, will be moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace and include panelists Jeff Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Kojo Nnamdi of NPR.

Drudge is reporting that the New York Times has found out that Barack Obama will announce his Vice President pick as early as tomorrow:

Obama has set an elaborate roll-out to announce his decision that will begin with an early morning e-mail to supporters, perhaps as early as Tuesday, Zeleny and Adam Nagourney have been told.

A top source close to Caroline Kennedy tells DRUDGE — the pick is more likely to come early Wednesday morning.

Wednesday Obama is hitting Martinsville with Mark Warner (by invitation only) in the morning and then Lynchburg with Jim Webb (open to the public). Thursday will supposedly see Obama in Richmond.

A Vice President announcement from Obama in the next two days that finds him spending an awful lot of time in Virginia might be a good sign for Tim Kaine’s chances.

UPDATE: The NYT article is up:

If all goes according to plan, the announcement will be made with text and e-mail messages to supporters early in the morning, in time to capture coverage on the morning news shows and take advantage of a full day’s news cycle. Mr. Obama and his new running mate will than begin a cross-country tour; current plans call for them to on the trail together for most of the time between the day of the announcement and when Mr. Obama arrives in Denver, a week from Wednesday.

Mr. Obama’s schedule calls for him to awake Tuesday morning in Orlando, Fla., and by the end of the day be in Raleigh, N.C. By Wednesday, he is scheduled to be in Virginia. The Obama campaign has cautioned against reading anything into his schedule, saying it could be changed in an instant to accommodate the plan to introduce the running mate.

Aides said the announcement would come at the earliest on Wednesday morning, and no later than Friday.

Next Thursday will see a Barack Obama event in Richmond:

To conjecture, of course, would be easy. Gov. Tim Kaine lives and works in Richmond… but

Virginia’s a swing state; it’s not unusual for Obama to campaign there. Or maybe it’s an event for Michelle Obama.

For some reason, I don’t think this is IT — THE vice presidential announcement. It could happen somewhere else… on another day..– Wednesday — in another state… and not involve anything related to Virginia. Maybe Richmond is a stop on the vice presidential tour — a tour that begins elsewhere the day before.

But: unless he’s planning a convention week surprise, Obama has to announce his vice presidential nominee next week.

Both Tim Kaine and Mark Warner have seen a bit of vetting by Democrats lately:

One of the sources said that the Obama campaign had conducted the tests; the other source would not disclose the identity of the organization conducting the focus groups but did agree to confirm the results.

The sources do not have direct ties to either Kaine or Warner, to the Democratic National Committee or to the Obama campaign.

They said that the focus group was held in a conference room in Norfolk, a city in Virginia’s eastern Tidewater region, a huge swing area of the state.

Warner came off well; Kaine did not, with respondents saying that he lacks substantive accomplishments and kisses up too much to Obama.

This may be more related to the keynote address (which Warner will be delivering) than the vice president slot.

So what does this mean? An awful lot of speculation more than anything else. This could be Obama coming to help his chances in Virginia. Or it could be Obama revealing the audacity of Obama/Kaine ‘08. Or it could be a big ol’ pat on the back of Mark Warner so his lead over Gilmore can break the 30 point barrier.

The last option is the one that makes the most sense. Obama’s success in this state will rely heavily on the coattails of Mark Warner. Boosting Warner with keynote addresses and campaign appearances boosts Obama’s chances. Tim Kaine could just be along for the ride.

Mark Warner is to be the keynote speaker at the Democratic Convention. The Times-Dispatch covers it, burying this excellent quotation at the very end:

Gilmore’s campaign spokeswoman, Ana Gamonal, said the choice of Warner “is an honor for him.” But, she added, “it puts to rest the false claim that he is bipartisan. What will he say to 20,000 liberal Democrats that will sound bipartisan to the working people of Virginia?

An excellent question, especially since he will be sharing the stage that night with Hillary Clinton and with Nancy Pelosi. So next time you hear Mark Warner calling himself a centrist who will represent all Virginians, keep in mind that a man is known by the company he keeps.

Virginia’s former governor and current Senate candidate Mark Warner will be delivering the keynote address at the upcoming Democratic convention in Denver. From an e-mail sent to Warner’s supporters around midnight last night:

“Friends: It’s late, but we couldn’t wait to share with you some exciting news. Governor Warner has been asked to address this year’s Democratic National Convention in Denver as the primetime keynote speaker on Tuesday night.

“According to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, ‘Mark Warner is not afraid to challenge the status quo to bring people together and get things moving. It’s that kind of spirit and innovation that resulted in his selection as keynote speaker on a night when the Convention program will focus on renewing America’s economy.’

“More details will follow, but we wanted you to be the first to know.”

Quite the stage for Mark Warner and this should settle any doubts about Virginia being in play, Tim Kaine as VP or no.

Glenn Nye, challenger to Rep. Thelma Drake in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District, unveiled his energy plan over the weekend.

The energy plan doesn’t deviate much from what he told Bearing Drift and state Democratic convention-goers in June, when he highlighted closing any tax loop-holes for energy corporations and diverting that money to alternative fuel research.

Seems like $4/gal. gasoline is getting the Democrats attention, despite objections from their left base.

Just like Mark Warner, who vetoed drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf while he was governor, is now running an ad that says he’d keep it open as an option, Barack Obama is now also saying he’d consider off-shore drilling. This in spite of uber-lib organization MoveOn.org now mocking Sen. John McCain with an ad, calling it a “gimmick” and Obama himself calling it a “scheme.”

Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, since 2004, Democrats have been all over the map when it comes to discussing the state’s financial picture. And two of the key players — former presidential candidate and now Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner and current governor and potential Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine — are among the worst offenders.

Update (10:15 p.m.): What’s MSM saying?

Virginian-Pilot
Washington Post
Daily Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Video Highlights from The Roanoke Times
Opening Statements
Energy Policy

—–

Update (5:12 p.m.): Here’s what the Warner campaign is saying.

—–

Initial post (1:30 p.m.): The Daily Press’ Shad Plank is reporting that the debate today was a wash, with the primary disagreement being over energy policy and personal credibility.

One item of note from the Shad Plank post demonstrates exactly why, well, blogging exists…and not by MSM:

“And you can read Sunday’s Daily Press for more details.”

Those of us that are junkies want the details now!

Update (2:30 p.m.): First report from The News Leader. Again, the report says that energy was the dominant issue. The report showed Warner’s new-found support to lift the moratorium on off-shore drilling, but showed Warner’s tough position at appeasing his left by calling offshore drilling a “gimmick.”

And, the AP reports virtually the same thing, with this nugget about the tone of the debate….

Gilmore, trailing significantly in both polls and fundraising and badly needing a break, attacked Warner’s veracity pointedly and often.

As far as I know, the only blogger at the debate was SWAC Girl. Hopefully she will post her thoughts later today.

Bet Mark Warner would like to have these 16-seconds back:

The Gilmore campaign sent this out in advance of tomorrow’s debate…presumably wondering what promises made tomorrow will be broken later.

I could have sworn Mark Warner said in this ad that he would advocate for offshore drilling.

Larry Sabato, University of Virginia professor and political pundit, has predicted in his “Crystal Ball” that former Governor Mark Warner will defeat former Governor Jim Gilmore in this year’s U.S. Senate race.

Sabato states:

In this week’s show, Shaun Kenney and Brian Kirwin join J.R. to talk the latest in politics in Virginia. This week’s show includes:

• Republicans: a house divided?
• Obama’s Virginia visit
• Warner’s campaign video
• Your emails! That’s right — you’re part of the show too, so drop your email to J.R. with the subject line “VPOD”
• The upcoming primaries in the 8th and 11th, including our thoughts on the “nut-roots”
• And a trip to the “Spin Room”

Shaun also has some special sentiments for the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

 

 Virginia Politics On-Demand w/Jim Hoeft, Shaun Kenney and Brian Kirwin - June 5, 20008 [30:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (418)

To listen to any of the previous podcasts, click here.
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