Links for July 19th

Sunlight Foundation: Use the Net!Both Sen. Jim Webb and Mark Warner are still filing campaign finance reports with the FEC on paper. They've presumably each got small staffs who do all of their data collection and number crunching on computers, only to them print out their campaign finance reporters, snail-mail them to the FEC, who …

Have there been any repercussions for Republicans supporting Warner?

One year ago I made a forecast about the Virginia U.S. Senate race: Warner will enjoy support from some key Virginia Republicans. Some will support him in obvious ways, such as endorsing him or hosting events for him. Many others will support him in quieter ways, by failing to support the Republican nominee and encouraging …

Fundraising numbers.

The latest fundraising reports are in for state and federal campaigns. (State campaigns file with the State Board of Elections, federal campaigns file with the Federal Election Commission. The two types of campaigns are held to entirely different laws, file different forms, and generally bear little resemblance to each other. TMYK ★.) Tim Craig runs …

Will nobody take the Gilmore Challenge?

Not one person can provide documented evidence that Jim Gilmore left the state’s government in good financial shape? It’s been three days, and nobody has even tried to support this oft-repeated claim. Is Gilmore so unpopular that nobody wants to defend him on this anymore? Or does it turn out that the story just isn’t …

The first 2009 governor’s race poll.

Public Policy Polling (whoever they are) conducted a poll of Virginia voters about the presidential race this past weekend, and also asked respondents about next year’s governor’s race. The results put Bob McDonnell up 5-6% above either Sen. Creigh Deeds or Del. Brian Moran, which is within the 3.3% margin of error. Honestly, I’m awfully …

A challenge to Virginia Republicans regarding Gilmore.

A standard talking point among supporters of Gov. Jim Gilmore’s candidacy for U.S. Senate is that he left the state economy in great shape, but Gov. Mark Warner went ahead and hiked taxes anyway. They say it’s a myth that Gilmore fudged the budget numbers. In my world, this is an up-is-down, black-is-white claim. It’s …

Top Republicans hemming and hawing on Gilmore.

Jim Gilmore, one week after his nomination for U.S. Senate, is having a bit of trouble gaining support from his party’s top men in Virginia. The Hill reported on Wednesday evening that Sen. John Warner and Rep. Tom Davis are both unwilling to endorse Gilmore. Sen. Warner’s refusal to endorse Gilmore would be pretty stunning …

A reminder about “Warner Republicans.”

Last October I forecast open rebellion in the Republican Party if they nominated Gilmore to run against Warner. Between now and November, let’s see how accurate that proves to be. I think it will be even more pronounced than I’d predicted. Hager, having served in Warner’s cabinet, would be understanding of Republicans who choose to …