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…

Tweaking NCLB: Republican delegation to ask feds to ‘back off’

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham When Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, brought up his concerns with respect to the No Child Left Behind education-accountability initiative during the news conference in 2003 in which he announced his candidacy for re-election to the Virginia General Assembly, it didn’t take long for fellow Republicans to paint a…

Don’t dump the Veep: Local Republicans advise president to stay the course

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham The talk that President Bush might want to look somewhere other than Number One Observatory Circle for a running mate for this fall’s election is just that, talk. “The streets of Washington’s political district are filled with rumors and scenarios where Cheney disappears from the GOP ticket. Yet if…

An interview with Michael Badnarik

Chris Graham

Story by Steven Sisson Poet Robert Frost wrote, “I never dared be radical when young for fear it would make me conservative when old.” But what about being a … radical conservative? That could be the best description for Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik out there. Badnarik, 50, is a baby boomer – nothing…

To the beat of their own drums: Leaders discuss nonpartisan nature of city-council elections in Staunton, Waynesboro

Chris Graham

The Top Story by Chris Graham City-council elections in Staunton and Waynesboro are not strictly nonpartisan – but they are so nonetheless. It might not matter to most people one way or the other – after all, most people won’t be voting in today’s elections. For the one in three who will be, though, there…

Violate this airspace

Chris Graham

Stop the Presses column by Chris Graham You’re out flying around the nation’s capital on a pleasant, sunny Sunday afternoon, minding your own business. And then out of the blue (literally), an F-16 sidles up next to your Beech 35 – thinking you’re some sort of terrorist or something. Aha. Very good. Yes? No ….