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The first feeling: dread. That’s what went through me as I was getting ready to go to bed early Sunday night before hearing that the president had a major announcement to make at 10:30 p.m., literally minutes away from when I heard the bulletin. Funny how we’ve been conditioned to the bad news anymore, isn’t…
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As Virginians prepare for a 2011 campaign in which every state legislator is up for election, many are probably wondering what the real differences are between the two parties competing for their votes. Fortunately, state government provides a clear contrast between the divergent priorities of Democrats and Republicans in the commonwealth. Democrats believe that making…
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By the time you read this column, you will have had an opportunity to see the proposed district boundaries for the House of Delegates, State Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. I write this column amidst much concern, angst, and fear among incumbents and potential candidates as rumors have been circulating about what the districts…
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Boy, I’m sure glad I live in Rockbridgeland . . . and not in Virginia. And that our three local governments can take the year off. After all, we were told that almost everything was accomplished in paradise during 2010. But that the Commonwealth has all sorts of problems, from textbooks to roads, from funding…
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Gov. Bob McDonnell on Monday signed an executive order creating the Independent Bipartisan Advisory Commission on Redistricting, though its powers are limited to a review and recommendation capacity. “As Virginia redraws its legislative districts later this year, the process should take place in a manner that is fair and open,” McDonnell said in naming the…
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In the very near future Virginia will receive its official population numbers from the 2010 census. Our numbers are among the first to be issued because our off-year elections require us to redraw our legislative district lines in time for the 2011 fall elections. Follow the progress of the census results being made available at…
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The much heralded and hotly contested mid-term elections are done. The ballot questions have been decided and the candidates are either grateful because they pulled out a win or gloomy because they didn’t. Either way, it’s time to move on. It’s time now to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Women have been waiting for a…
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The phone rang. No, it was not three in the morning. It was a far more civilized hour. And a more civilized time. It was 1992. However, as far as I was concerned it was a political wake-up call. “Dave, this is Vivian, how would like to be a Bill Clinton delegate at the Democratic…
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On Sept. 17, 1787, a group of visionaries and leaders signed our Constitution. They were intent on creating a functioning government based on universal truths and extraordinary principles in an environment complicated by disparate regional economies and wildly divergent parochial interests. Back then, differing proposals for the shape of our government divided our country into…
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Imagine joining friends for a late-night game of Monopoly, but in this game, there’s a twist: At the start of the game, one player gets an entire side of the game board, from Pacific Avenue to Boardwalk, including the Short Line railroad. Instead of pondering easy questions like whether to be the shoe or the…
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