McDonnell’s line in the sand

Chris Graham

The Bob McDonnell campaign isn’t taking the attention being placed on its candidate’s record on women’s reproductive freedoms very well, and for good reason. “Bob McDonnell has also made his priorities clear: He would restrict womens’ access to safe birth control and roll back a woman’s right to choose,” Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds…

Health-care reform and the ’09 elections

Chris Graham

You tell a tea-partier that a key element of health-care reform is reducing overhead costs, and they counter that the overhead costs of private insurers include spending money to investigate allegations of fraud and abuse of the system and collecting on delinquent accounts and that sort of thing. I mention this to Greg Marrow, the…

Don’t call it a comeback

Chris Graham

“Which one of your candidates is the one that fired his campaign manager?” I happened to be standing at the Staunton-Augusta Democratic Party booth at the Augusta County Fair last week when that question was directed at a volunteer. The reference was to a report from University of Virginia politics professor Larry Sabato from earlier…

Crabill: Lose-lose for the GOP

Chris Graham

Twenty-nine days. That’s how long it took Republican leaders and the three statewide campaigns to distance themselves from wingnut Northern Neck Republican House candidate Catherine Crabill, who has said in her campaign for the seat currently held by Democratic Del. Albert Pollard that the federal government might have played a role in the Oklahoma City…

Valley Dem campaigns could feel heat from Deeds stratagem

Chris Graham

So I’m discussing with the campaign manger for a local Democratic House of Delegates candidate the new push from the Creigh Deeds campaign that has the Deeds camp talking up Republican Bob McDonnell’s social-conservative advocacy and ties to controversial televangelist Pat Robertson one afternoon this week, and I’m relating how much I think the move…

Deeds camp stakes campaign on reproductive-freedom issue

Chris Graham

Do you want as the next governor of Virginia a Pat Robertson ideologue who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest? Democratic Party nominee Creigh Deeds seems to be staking his candidacy on the notion that most of you don’t. “My opponent’s rhetoric can be confusing. One day, he says his campaign is…