Bob Barr for President

And so due to McCain's unpalatability, I support Bob Barr for President of the United States. He is by far the candidate with the best conservative credentials.

He has a bit of a blind spot on the war in Iraq, true. But I agree with him that it was a politically motivated move by the neocons to take us in there, I just disagree with his call for withdrawal. The REAL bad guys are there now, Al Qaeda and their ilk, as well as al-Sadr, and we can't leave before we wipe them out.

But by and large, he is head and shoulders above John McCain, to say nothing of Barack Obama. I stand with Bob Barr. The national GOP needs a wake-up call on spending and civil liberties. This is it.

Bye bye, Cannon!!!

Congratulations to Jason Chaffetz. He just did the party and the nation a BIG favor... Chris Cannon has been an unabashed amnesty hound since he got to Congress. Now don't get me wrong, Cannon was great on some things, but he's the kind of "conservative" that needed to be sent a message.

Perhaps the most overlooked element about illegal immigrants is the costs. Everyone likes to point out the sovereignty, security and cultural problems they bring, but the clincher is they cost us a lot of money. The remittances leaving our economy, the social services they absorb, the jobs they take and devalue, the list goes on...

This by itself is enough to prevent me casting my vote for John McCain.

The Convention

was an interesting, uproarious time... much more so than 2001.

Congrats to Jim Gilmore.It was very close. The 7th saved him at the end.

And BIG congrats to Jeff Frederick.

Gilmore does his Hillary "inevitability" impression

in an interview at the Washington Times earlier this month, apparently:

..."I think I'll be the nominee of the party, I don't think that that's gonna be an issue," Mr. Gilmore told editors and reporters at The Washington Times earlier this month. "But we have to get our people to the convention and make sure that they're there, and that they're voting. But we see no indication that I won't be the nominee."...

Keep telling yourself that, Gov. Gilmore.

Jeff Frederick for RPV Chair

I was hoping to avoid this moment, but I just can't.

Hager's people are apparently using official RPV resources to help him win re-election as party chair. Chris Beer and Waldo Jaquith (!) have the story. I should point out I got the same email Waldo did.

I've been leaning towards supporting Jeff Frederick lately anyhow, and on Wednesday I got a nice call from Mrs. Frederick asking for my support. It's time for the old bulls to step aside and let there be a new birth of conservative leadership in the party and in the Old Dominion. I like John Hager, but this tips the scales. Jeff will be getting my vote Saturday.

Cuccinelli for AG

With Mr. Brownlee's entry into the race, I thought it appropriate to make it official.

We need a principled conservative in the AG's office for the next four years. Let's elect him.

Bob Marshall For Senate

A few months ago, I endorsed Jim Gilmore's Senate candidacy on this blog. This campaign has shown me that he is NOT the man for the job. He is a classic glad-handing establishment politician. The Republican party, particularly here in the Old Dominion, is at a crisis point in terms of not only electoral success, but in terms of its identity. We have lost our way very, very badly the past few years by pandering to a very loud, very boorish social conservative minority, while at the same time making a Faustian bargain with people who are anything but conservative for the sake of winning. The worst part is that we keep losing despite that.

It's time for a change. Bob Marshall actually took the time to call me personally a week or two ago, and spent half an hour making a powerful case for his candidacy. I part ways with him on some social issues, but he is absolutely right on on just about everything else from fiscal issues to border security and immigration. He does not ever compromise his fundamental principles. It's just not close.

Bob Marshall for Senate. I plan to support him at the convention next week. Join me.