'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II will formally accept the Republican nomination for governor Saturday, but he'll stand alone at the top of the GOP with neither the man he hopes to succeed nor his onetime rival for the nomination in Richmond to help him unify the party.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's major amendments to bills passed by the General Assembly this year are likely to survive a one-day veto session Wednesday in which lawmakers reconvene in Richmond to consider the governor's legislative changes, political analysts say.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell appeared last month to have brokered a landmark, legacy-making bipartisan compromise on transportation funding. But just three weeks later, the $880 million plan is facing withering attacks from Republicans, criticism from a regional transportation body and even questions about whether parts of the bill might be unconstitutional.
For the second time in a week, Virginia poll results suggest an independent gubernatorial run by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling would have little effect on likely Republican nominee Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II in a contest with Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell kicked off the 2013 General Assembly session Wednesday by outlining transportation and education proposals that he hopes will round out his legacy in his final year in office, but it remains to be seen whether the more conservative members of his party will push social issues to the forefront as they did last year.
At last year's 63rd Shad Planking, Virginia's annual spring confab for politicos and potential candidates to see and be seen, Gov. Bob McDonnell joked that Tim Kaine and George Allen were "two guys running for a job that neither one of them really wants. What a battle that's going to be."
President Obama's hope-and-change coalition powered his party to wins up and down the ticket in 2008, but the campaign this year has taken on a far more self-serving focus, as both Mr. Obama's campaign and his fellow Democrats see benefits in keeping their space from each other.
A new pro-life super PAC has launched a six-figure ad buy in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia targeting President Obama on abortion, while outside groups on the left are stepping up their own attacks on Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen on the same issue but at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Democrats unveiled a slew of female speakers Wednesday for their convention next month, an indication that they will continue to press Republicans on women's issues as GOP leaders furiously try to distance themselves from Missouri Senate candidate W. Todd Akin's recent comments on pregnancy and rape.
President Obama did a spectacular job in 2008 of registering and turning out tens of thousands of new Virginia voters — but the pace of registrations this year has dropped precipitously ahead of his re-election bid.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is looking to rebound from arguably his worst week since taking office after facing criticism on a wide range of issues both from outside and within his party.
A lawsuit filed over congressional redistricting in Virginia suggests likely partisan sniping in the state's upcoming General Assembly session, with Democrats already contesting Republican claims to a Senate majority.
Virginia House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong, whose Southside district was moved north to include parts of Prince William and Loudoun counties during redistricting this year, is among the most notable of the casualties of a process that has left some incumbents playing musical chairs in bids for re-election.
"This is the game," said Quentin Kidd, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University. "Everybody's attention is here; the vast majority of the money is going to be here."
