War, economy, high gas prices? No, it’s the Second Amendment again

Chris Graham

The Politcs Beat column by Chris Graham [email protected] Why is Bob Goodlatte banging the drum on the Second Amendment? “You can count on me to fight to protect our rights,” Goodlatte wrote in a fund-raising letter dated May 16 that he began with mention of a case now in front of the United States Supreme…

Gilmore sides with Bush, McCain on Iran

Chris Graham

Item by Chris Graham [email protected] U.S. Senate candidate Jim Gilmore is joining President Bush and Republican Party presidential nominee John McCain in criticisms of Democratic Party presidential frontrunner Barack Obama on Iran. Gilmore, the frontrunner in the race to challenge Democrat Mark Warner in Virginia in November, said today that “Sen. Obama’s plans for presidential…

Webb lauds Hallowed Ground legislation

Chris Graham

Item by Chris Graham [email protected] Legislation sponsored by Virginia senators Jim Webb and John Warner to designate a 175-mile corridor along U.S. 15 in Northern Virginia and Central Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic as a National Heritage Area passed the U.S. Senate today. The region designated by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act…

Rasoul wants to ‘redefine politics’ in Sixth

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] He barely has to shave, and he wants to be your congressman. “In all honesty, it’s a shock at first,” said Sam Rasoul, 26, of Blue Ridge, who has been running hard for the past year for the Democratic Party nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Bob Goodlatte for the Sixth…

Warner addresses students at JMU

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] You don’t often hear the term radical associated with people in the political center. Mark Warner wants to get you thinking of moderates as radicals anyway. “This is driven by people who are saying, We’re tired of partisanship. We want to get things fixed. They know in their gut that…

‘Radical centrist coalition’

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] I don’t know how radical someone proclaiming himself to be a centrist can possibly be. Mark Warner is definitely trailblazin’ on a new path here. “Come January of ’09, we’re going to have a new president, obviously. I hope that it’s a Democrat, but regardless, that new president is going…

Saxman trying to help McCain in his uphill presidential battle

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Chris Saxman sees the political battle up ahead as “an uphill sled.” But the Shenandoah Valley legislator isn’t one to shy away from a fight. And no, I’m not talking here about his own dalliance with a run at the Republican Senate nomination in 2008. “John McCain is an American…

This week: Waynesboro referendum, JMU basketball, Staunton elections

Chris Graham

Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham PUSH: Waynesboro decides to hold fall capital-projects referendum I don’t know who will get the upper hand out of this one. Certainly the moderate majority on city council is thinking that it will be their side – and that a victory in November will spell doom for their…