Ready to rumble

John Fund offers a preview of the Virginia governor's race on National Review's Corner.
Cuccinelli is a hated figure among the Left in Virginia for his efforts to reveal the details of global-warming research at the University of Virginia and to lead the fight against Obamacare. But they underestimate his straight-talking appeal with voters. In 2001 and 2005, he was able to win election twice to the state senate from a moderate district in Northern Virginia.

Help us, Obi-Warner Kenobi, you're our only hope

Black Friday shopping is turning into Black Thursday.
It might be a Black Wednesday for Democrats if Mark Warner officially closes the door on the 2013 governor's race.

And the decision will be....

Just two more weeks and the Mark Warner tease will be over.
Does he leave the Senate for another try at the governorship?
Why?
Help us, Obi Warner Kenobi, you're our only hope?
Does he think it's a path to the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016?
Vote for me and I'll leave again before my term is up.
Not a winning slogan.

Proud to be wrong

Legal Insurrection finds a car in Norfolk where the driver admits he was wrong - Obama is worse than Jimmy Carter.
And it's a Prius driver.

How to cheat Virginia voters

Rep. Jim Moran must be so proud - his son left the campaign after discussing how to vote illegally on a secret video.
It's terrible to be entrapped.
It's terrible to know things that get you entrapped.

Obama leads, but lean continues

Public Policy Polling's latest effort in Virginia has Obama up by two points.
In an electorate that's plus-five Democratic.
Their number voting for Obama - 49 percent.
Number who approve of Obama's job performance - 45 percent.
Number who have a favorable opinion of Obama - 48 percent, compared to 49 favorable for Romney.
So a few people don't like him, don't like the job he's doing, but will vote for him anyway.
Okay.

Math in Virginia

Legal Insurrection features a Virginia car this morning.
Paul Ryan does the math because Obama can't.
Can we go there?
Yes we can.

Romney takes the lead

Rasmussen Reports has Mitt Romney taking a one-point lead in Virginia with a poll taken Thursday.
That's with 10,000 or more Romney fans at Fishersville - not getting calls on an overloading system. Rep. Bob Goodlatte was too busy introducing the rally to be asked a poll question.

Virginia still tight

Powerline brings the results of a pair of Virginia polls - one by NBC12 with the candidates tied, and the second with Obama leading by two.
Both polls have a three-point registration edge for Democrats.
Closer to reality than most recent polls.
Likely closer to our current reality.

Rand Paul on Cuccinelli

What does Kentucky senator Rand Paul think of our Attorney General?
I think he’s one of the rising stars in the Republican party. He reminds me of Ted Cruz a lot – educated, erudite, an intellectual in the defense of the Constitution and limited government. He was right out there in front on Obamacare, I think filed the first case, I think they say he was waiting at the courthouse steps ready to go, an articulate defender of limited government. That’s what we need more of.
Guess we'll be seeing him around here this spring.

It started in Virginia

One of today's top Twitter trends is #EmptyChairDay.
Legal Insurrection began promoting it Saturday night, after getting a photo from Virginia Beach.
Time to take out the trash.

Polls hurt

Rep. Robert Hurt's campaign has an internal poll showing him leading by 18 points.
Keep your cameras away from John Douglass.

Kaine's sunk

Public Policy Polling has the Senate race tied 46-46 Thursday.
The sample gives Democrats a 7-point edge.
In the real world, it means Tim Kaine is losing big.

Public Policy leans left again

Another Public Policy poll Tuesday - Obama up five.
Another Democratic lean - D+7 in a state with Republican leadership throughout the legislature.
When asked who they voted for in 2008, it's 51-44 for Obama. A bigger margin than the actual 52.6 percent to 46.3 percent.
The May poll also had D+7, and Obama led that poll by eight points.
So Romney's gaining even as the polling remains skewed.

More Tracker fun

SWACgirl saw an old friend at the Homestead Saturday. Alan the tracker. All of those hours following George Allen - has he found anything to use yet?

Leave me alone

A car from Charlottesville gets the featured space on Legal Insurrection this morning.

Old Town, smart view

Legal Insurrection's bumper sticker of the day comes from Old Town Alexandria.

Found in Harrisonburg

A Legal Insurrection reader finds an interesting bumper sticker in Harrisonburg.
And shares it with the world.

Kaine's campaign will soon go down the drain

Public Policy Polling brings out its Virginia Senate numbers Wednesday.
Kaine up by one.
In an electorate with a seven-point Democratic advantage.
That's nothing to celebrate.
And yet I enjoy Blue Virginia's comment on this.
My main takeaways from this poll? First, it's yet another one showing Barack Obama out-performing Tim Kaine vis-a-vis their opponents, Willard and Felix. Which raises the question, why is supposed political "genius" Karl Rove running ads tying Tim Kaine to the relatively popular Barack Obama? Is this actually a bizarre attempt by Karl Rove to help Tim Kaine? What am I missing here?
What's he missing?
Maybe Obama's not as popular as he thinks.
If they'd check the internals of the polls, Democrats might be running scared.
It's nice to lead a poll in May. The one that matters comes in November.

More crappy polling

Public Policy Polling has another lousy poll out.
Obama up eight.
Voter ID?
Democrats up seven.
Get real, guys.
Blue Virginia thinks it's good news for Obama that the voters polled break only 47-43 for Obama when he won by seven points in 2008.
Maybe 10 percent are embarassed to say they voted for Obama. Or didn't vote at all.
Get closer to the 2009 Virginia electorate - basically evenly split between the parties - and we'll consider your poll worth something.
Until then, you're just dreaming if you think Obama has any kind of lead in Virginia. Now or in November.

Romney, Allen lead polls

Via Ace, Rasmussen has its latest Virginia polling.
Mitt Romney holds a slim one-point lead among the 500 likely voters polled on Monday.
George Allen has the same one-point lead in his Senate race.

Chantilly car

Another Virginia car shines at Legal Insurrection.

Proud Virginian

A car from a parking lot in Richmond makes an appearance Sunday in Legal Insurrection.

Virginia looking red

The latest Christopher Newport University poll looks good for the Republicans.
And look at the internals - 28% Republican and 28% Democratic. Probably an undercount of Republican support overall.
And on page nine, it's a matchup between George Allen and Tim Kaine. Allen leads this poll by two points after being down by two in October.
Rick Santorum may not be on the primary ballot, but he beats President Obama by four points in this poll.

More choices for us?

Will Virginians have more than two choices in the March Republican primary?
PJ Tatler thinks it's possible.

Fix it in the future

Smitty posts the letter from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, saying it's too late to fix the primary ballot for 2012.
My intentions have never focused on which candidates would be benefited or harmed, rather I have focused on what is best for Virginia’s citizens, as hundreds of thousands of Virginians who should have been able to make their choices among the full field of presidential primary contenders have had their number of choices reduced significantly.
We'll be watching.