Next on the Mark Warner agenda: Is former governor, White House candidate ready to again be a player on Virginia political scene?

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   Mark Warner made it a point to tell Virginia politics reporters covering the final year of his term as governor of the Old Dominion that he really felt he was hitting his stride in the job – and while the focus of their editors seemed to be on…

O ‘Shenandoah,’ how long to hear you? Controversy over state-song pick rages on

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham   “Shenandoah” is a fine tune – on that point, few will disagree. As fine a tune as it might be, though, is “Shenandoah” – which is, depending on who you believe, either about the Shenandoah Valley, a Native American tribal chief or life on the Western frontier –…

Life by design: Debate heats up over new theory of how we got here

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The fact that President Bush thinks intelligent design should be taught in American public schools is more than enough for JoAnne Shirley. “I absolutely hope that this becomes an issue here locally and statewide. Students need to be given a choice, as the president said,” said Shirley, a former…

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…

Faith issues front and center in governor’s race

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham Tim Kaine doesn’t hide the fact that he is a Roman Catholic. “I am a Catholic, and I’m very serious about my faith,” said Kaine, Virginia’s lieutenant governor and the presumptive Democratic Party nominee to run for governor in the Commonwealth in the fall. “I took a year off…

Are the Dems giving up on Virginia? The lights aren’t out yet, but Kerry move seems to signal the end

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The summer of 2004 was the best time in a long time to be a Democrat in Virginia. The polls had presidential candidate John Kerry within shouting distance of George Bush, for one thing. Kerry, sensing the possibility of an upset in the heart of what Republicans throatily consider…