Sportsmen for (insert candidate name here)

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   Either Virginia sportsmen are the key to winning the 2005 Virginia governor’s race – or Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are plumb running out of ideas. “Neither one has been able to get any traction with voters, so they’re grasping at straws. They’re grasping at the sportsmen issue. They’re trying…

Getting to know Tim Kaine

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine knew when he made his mind up that he was going to run for lieutenant governor in 2001 that he was committing himself to another political campaign four years later. “Honestly, when I ran for lieutenant governor, I thought, you know, if I am lieutenant governor, then I will…

Cranwell talks about Dems’ course

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Dick Cranwell was getting testy. He’d agreed to “give five minutes a day to this between now and the 18th,” said Cranwell, the former majority leader in the Virginia House of Delegates, who is set to take over the reins of the Democratic Party of Virginia on Saturday, during a conference…

Warner pushing Dems to center: But is that the right move for national party?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   Virginia Gov. Mark Warner wants to take the national Democratic Party back to the political center where it enjoyed success in the 1990s. A Shenandoah Valley political analyst, for his part, isn’t so sure that is the right course of action for the party’s future.

Reform? Or increase?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham   It was tax reform. It was a tax increase. The 2004 Virginia General Assembly session is being played out again in the 2005 Virginia gubernatorial campaign – and still the two sides can’t agree on even the most basic terms of what happened last spring. “My opponent is using all…

Abortion and votes: How will issue affect ’05 governor’s race?

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine and Jerry Kilgore are still feeling their way around the abortion-rights issue. They both might be well advised to find a path and stick to it – because the pending political battle involving John Roberts’ nomination to the United States Supreme Court promises to keep the issue in the…