Thank you LRR

NOTE: This is cross-posted at BS 08

Hello readers of LRR/BS 08-

Just wanted to say thank you to all of the readers who made this blog successful. While we didn't get the results we wanted, we sure gave it out best shot, defending conservatism and promoting freedom and liberty to America. 

While Barack Obama may not be our first choice for President, I urge you all to give him the respect that our commander in chief deserves. Over the last 8 years, the amount of disrespect shown to our President has been unthinkable. And I believe that this has hurt America. 

Thanks again to the readers and the folks at LRR and BS 08 for letting me share my views with the blogsphere. 

Until the next election, I urge you to check out the George Mason College Republican Blog for more post and commentary. Also, I am in the talks to create a blog to focus on the politics of Virginia's 8th Congressional District. If you are interested in VA or Northern VA politics, please check out the GMU CR blog, as well as the new blog (link coming soon).

Thanks again, and I wish you all the best-

Not Jim Moran

Local VA Races heating up!

Hey everyone! Thought that I would give everyone an update on VA-11 and VA-8.

VA-11

Republican Keith Fimian is out with a new ad that calls Gerry Connolly "too corrupt...even for Congress." With local taxes increasing, it will be interesting to see how effective this ad is. Watch below.

VA-8

Republican Mark Ellmore has been busy, trying to unseat Jim Moran. Ellmore has recently received the endorsement of Esquire Magazine, and is in the talks to receive an endorsement from the Washington Post. Below is what Esquire had to say about him:

Any half-decent opponent would get our nod over crude, pro-pork bully Jim Moran. ELLMORE IS MORE THAN HALF DECENT. And his goal to supplant the region's jammed highways with mass transit is positively progressive.

Check out the most recent Moran-Ellmore debate:

Should be interesting. I'll provide updates on the two campaigns in the coming days. Also, I'll update you on VA's Senate campaign.

VA 8th may get interesting...

After a four-to-one victory against Matthew Famiglietti in the June Primary, Jim Moran has another challenger to his Congressional seat. This time, its from the left. Running on the Independent Green ticket is Ret. Navy Capt. Ron Fisher, who previously worked on John McCain's campaign in 2000.

Both Moran and Fisher, as well as Mark Ellmore, the GOP nominee recently participated in a debate hosted by the Arlington Civic Federation.

Fisher strongly opposed Moran's record, citing Moran's support for free-trade, saying, "The so-called free-trade agreements Moran has supported over the years are hurting our economy, and they should be repealed."

At the debate, Ellmore noted Moran's disapproval towards drilling, saying, "We need to get off foreign oil within ten years," said Ellmore. "If we can get a man on the moon within ten years, we can do this." Ellmore supports drilling off the coast, as well as exploring nuclear, solar, wind, clean coal, natural gas options.

At the debate, Fisher also accused Moran of failing to support the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, criticizing the Democratic Congress for not using its appropriations authority to end the war in Iraq.

This could be what steals votes away from Moran. On just about every block in Arlington and Alexandria, you see "Impeach him" or "Impeach them both" signs. Ellmore could possibly catch up if Fisher steals these votes away from Moran.

Ellmore also stated that Moran " hasn’t done enough [for the district.]" He was referring to the Dulles Rail project, which is years behind schedule, and which Moran is a part of. During the debate, as well as in previous statements, Ellmore laid out his strong support for the military, by supporting the surge, as well as being against any timetable for withdrawal in Iraq.

Stop the pork!

In VA 's 8th, (Northern Virginia), pork-barrel spending is a big issue. Congressman Jim Moran has, in his own words, "earmarked the sh*t out" of almost every single bill with his name on it. Now, as we all know, John McCain has made a career out of fighting wasteful spending. On his website he has launched a game called, "Pork invaders!"

Play the game to learn some facts about McCain's and Obama's respective records on pork.

Click here.

Hopefully once McCain is elected he can stop Moran's record of wasteful spending once and for all.

NOVA Primary Results

Hey Everyone.

Here are the final results from yesterday's GOP primary.

8th district: (99% reporting in)

Mark W. Ellmore: 3,240; 55.88%

Amit K. Singh: 2,558; 44.11%

Since this is a Republican blog, I am supposed to support Ellmore in here. Although I am not happy. Ellmore won through lying, and making the district feel sorry for him. For once in my life we have a candidate who actually has a slim chance of beating Democrat James Moran, and the Republican Party of Virginia decided to elect the biggest idiot in politics instead. Just goes to show you that politics is full of crooks, liars, and idiots. At the moment I cannot endorse Ellmore, and I need to reflect on it to see if I can.

10th district: (99% reporting in)

Frank R Wolf: 16,559; 91.26%

Vern P. McKinley: 1,585;8.73%

This is not much of a surprise. Wolf has held on to this district for a while, and will probably win in the general election. 

It was raining in NOVA for a reason yesterday. It was one of the saddest days in politics.

A Divided Northern Virginia: Good for Republicans?

Hey Everyone!

I run a blog series called "It sucks to be a Democrat Sometimes" on the GMU CR blog. I thought I'd try it out here. Let me know what you think.

Anyways, It sucks to be a Democrat sometimes. I mean the chance of having a divided party in November against the unified GOP? That's not good. No, I'm not talking about the Obama-Hillary wars, I'm talking about the Congressional battles of Northern Virginia, especially the 11th district, where two Democrats are fighting it out. Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Connelly and Former Congresswoman Leslie Bryne are facing a tough, divided party. On one hand, Governor Tim Kaine has endorsed Connelly, while Senator Jim Webb has endorsed Leslie Bryne. A divided party is good news to Republican Kieth Fimman,  who is hoping to succeed retiring Republican Tom Davis.

Now some background: Bryne, who lost in a re-election bid for a 2nd term (to Tom Davis) is a pro-abortion Catholic, who believes that the district has missed her. Connelly, the perfect example of corruption has been the brainchild of massive tax hikes on Fairfax residents. What do Democrats want? The party is roughly split 50-50, with a few leaning to the minor, lesser know Democrats. 

In the 8th District, Jim Moran faces Matthew T. Famiglietti in a primary challenge. While Moran will probably win by a landslide, this is good news for Republicans. Democrats in the 8th are tired of Moran's pork-barrel spending tactics to get re-elected. Plus, his anti-semitism is not something Democrats want to advertise, especially with Obama not doing so well among Jewish-Americans.

In conclusion, it sucks to be a Democrat sometimes in Northern VA, as a divided party will never win.  CBS News Senior Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield said, "I've tried to find a time where a divided party wins in November...I'm still looking."

Amit Singh for VA-08 GOP

The Editors of TheNextRight.com have endorsed Amit Singh for VA's 8th district primary. They quote an endorsement from Tom O'Donoghue the 2006 VA-08 nominee and a veteran.

"As your 2006 Republican nominee for Congress, and a veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, I know we need a candidate with the national security experience to keep our country safe. I also know we need a candidate with the honesty and integrity to strengthen the Republican ballot and defeat Jim Moran.

That candidate - the only candidate who shares those values - is Amit Singh. Amit is the only candidate with the ability to strengthen the Republican Party and to lead us to victory in November. He is the only candidate with real national security experience. I am proud to support a candidate who works everyday with my colleagues deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan."

For more information read the full article or visit Amit Singh's web site

Virginia GOP picks Senate nominee, Congressional races about to start

Hello everyone!

Before I begin, let me do a quick introduction. I'm a sophomore student at George Mason University in Fairfax majoring in Government. I serve on the Executive Board of the GMU College Republicans. In addition to my writings here, I also write for GMU CR's blog, and the VA CR Blog. 

I hope you enjoy my writings.

Now that the introduction is out of the way, let's get to work shall we?

Last weekend The Virginia GOP elected a new Chairman and picked the Republican nominee to face Democrat Mark Warner this fall. They narrowly elected Former Governor Jim Gilmore in a close race between him and Delegate Bob Marshall. They also elected Jeff Frederick over current Chairman John Hager (father of Henry Hager). It is understandable that Frederick beat Hager. After all, after three years of failed elections, the higher ups normally get blamed. In my own opinion, Gilmore's name recognition helped him out some, yet the election was a lot closer than some would have liked.

It has been a tough few years for Virginia. (For more info on Virginia as a new "battle ground" state, check out the blog Battle Ground States '08 to see my upcoming posts on Virginia.) Just to give you an idea of how bad its been for Virginia, let me go over the last three election in VA. In 2005, the GOP lost the Governor's mansion for for a second term again. In 2006, Jim Webb defeated first term Senator George Allen in a hard fought election. Democrats are getting smart in VA in nominating moderate and conservative Democrats in order to win. In 2007, the GOP lost control of the State Senate, while only narrowly holding on to the House of Delegates.

The vote total was 5,222 for Gilmore and 5,156 for Marshall. Gilmore, a popular Governor has a lot of work to do, starting with holding on to his base. Strong pro-lifers are slightly dissatisfied with him, as he does agree with abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. As Governor, he successfully passed legislation that banned partial birth abortion.

In current polls, Gilmore is loosing heavily to Warner. However, there is some good news. In every campaign that Gilmore won, he was an underdog by a wide margin and did a quick turn-around to win. Also, Warner's broken promises, tax hikes, and failed transportation bills promise to be good campaign material.  For more on Warner's broken promises, click here.

While I will talk about all of VA's upcoming races in this blog, I will probably focus the majority of my time on VA's Senate race and the Congressional Races of Northern Virginia, which consist of the 8th, 10th, and 11th districts. 

On Tuesday, the the 8th district of VA will hold its GOP primary. Two candidates are running: Amit Singh and Mark Ellmore. Whoever wins will face Democratic incumbent Jim Moran. I'll post the results here Tuesday night. This could also be interesting for Moran. He is being challenged in a primary- a sign that Democrats are starting to get tired of him. This could help the GOP this fall.