Best Speech From This Weekend's RPV Convention

I strongly encourage every single person out there to watch this speech by Adnan Barqawi. Clearly the best speech given all weekend.

Part 1



Part 2



H/T to Rick Sincere

Come Meet The GOP Ticket (Updated Location)

Come meet Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli

Monday, June 1st
10:15 am
Landmark Aviation Private Terminal
Pass the Roanoke Regional Airport, turn left at the fire station.

RSVP to Brent Perrin at brentperrin@yahoo.com
or Trixie Averill at gopgirl2@aol.com

Convention

I am heading up to the Convention Friday morning and will be updating Twitter the whole time so please follow along if you want. Also the updates will be in the right navigation of the blog.

What I love about Conventions are as soon as the votes are over it is like one big Group Hug that cures all the silly in fighting. For those of you that know me I enjoy a good Group Hug!

Though I have my favorites all of our candidates are great. The summer and fall should be better for us than our liberal opponents.

Roanoke Valley GOP Ticket Ralley (6/1/09)

As everyone knows, the much anticipated RPV Convention is this weekend. This weekend we'll officially nominate Bob McDonnell as our candidate for Governor, Bill Bolling as our candidate for Lieutenant Governor and we'll be choosing an AG candidate and an RPV Chairman.

Once the ticket is set, all 4 of these folks will be hitting the road hard starting with a "Ticket" barnstorming tour around the state. This will probably be the only time we'll get to see all 4 together so please make every effort to attend. All the information is below.

WHAT: GOP Ticket Rally
WHEN: Monday, June 1st 10:15 am
WHERE: Roanoke Regional Airport, (Main terminal meeting room)

RSVP to Brent Perrin at brentperrin@yahoo.com
or Trixie Averill at gopgirl2@aol.com

GOP Forum

This post is a place for you the readers to provide your thoughts on the GOP forum last night. Since I have endorsed Josh Johnson my thoughts would seem biased so I will let the readers respond to how the forum went.

I would be interested in thoughts from undecideds who were in attendance last night.

Just Some Random Pre-Convention Thoughts

Back from Costa Rica and I'm trying to plug back in. Time to turn our attention to the Convention coming up in a couple days. Here are just a few random thoughts as I look towards this weekend.

1. Man am I glad the last 12 months haven't been filled with McDonnell and Bolling fighting tooth and nail for the Gov nomination. Their agreement (especially Bolling's sacrifice) has strengthened our Party, strengthened them as candidates and set us up well for this fall.

2. There is an exciting tension returning to our Party. Almost 11,000 delegates. People debating the direction and future of our Party. Good candidates competing for AG and Party Chair. I have very high hopes going forward.

3. I didn't really enjoy last year's convention. I expect this year to be completely different and I can't wait to get to Richmond. Maybe that's because Christy and the boys will be there.

4. I'm very disappointed to hear rumblings that the Muldoon "campaign" is going to try and monkey with the Rules (hopefully it's not true). If true, it's especially disappointing because all the campaigns previously agreed on the rules and the Muldoon campaign was the only campaign to leave the Rules Committee meeting early (immediately after a bizarre rant about how limiting Muldoon to 10 minutes was disrespectful to our troops dying on the front lines).

5. I have publicly endorsed Bill Bolling and John Brownlee. I will NOT be publicly endorsing anyone for Chair and I think that demands an explanation. First, I'm not a quick endorser. I think too many of us rush to endorse the first and not the best. Second, between work and Costa Rica I have not had a chance to fully evaluate these candidates and have not had a chance to sit down with either. Frankly, it would be unfair for me to throw out an uneducated endorsement just for the sake of endorsing.

6. While I've endorsed John Brownlee, I've grown very comfortable with our 3 AG choices and will aggressively support the winner.

7. Prediction time - Bolling wins in a landslide. Cuccinelli wins the first ballot but does not get to 50% and Brownlee wins a close race, probably on the 3rd ballot. I think Mullins wins but I don't have a good feel for that one.

That's all. See you all in Richmond in a couple days.

Convention Week

With the Convention coming up this weekend I wanted to let everyone know where my head is on the votes:

Bob McDonnell- Governor
Bill Bolling- Lt. Governor
John Brownlee- Attorney General
Pat Mullins- RPV Chair

I met with both Pat and Bill Stanley last week and let me assure you this decision was tough for me. I think Pat has the edge in fundraising and experience but Bill had the edge on attracting new voters to the party, new media, and energy. It was a tough decision but after I found out Bob McDonnell and the 5 VA Congressman supported Pat this made my decision. We have to win the Governor's mansion this year and turn VA red again. If Bob thinks Pat is the guy to lead RPV during this campaign then Pat has my vote. I hope to see Bill run for chair in 2011 as I am hearing that Pat is probably going to finish the term out then turn over the riegns.

Live From Costa Rica

Folks, I'm taking a little break from work and politics (and fatherhood for that matter). Christy and I are relaxing in Costa Rica for a couple days. There have been a lot of interesting comments to our post below about the 5th District but, frankly, I'm having too much fun down here to deal with them now. We'll focus a little more on that and other 2010 races (and of course 2009) after the Convention next week. Time to get back in the pool.

Conventions vs Primaries

The conversation has come up a lot in the last week or 2 if the party should have Conventions or Primaries. Please use this as a place to give your thoughts and see the poll.

Twitter

Well I have now joined the Twitter age. If you are on Twitter my site is:

http://twitter.com/Boitnott

If you cannot go to the convention I will update you through Twitter during the weekend. I will be there on Friday morning and provide info on overall momentum, votes, and my thoughts.

Edited by Greg - Adam is always trying to copy me. I've been on Twitter all of 3 weeks now and, if you check out my page, you'll see that I've been VERY active. Check it out here - http://twitter.com/SalemRepublican

Rumors From The 5th - New Challenger For Perriello?

It is pretty well accepted by both Republicans and Democrats that Tom Perriello will be at the top of the Republican "hit list" and has very little chance of keeping his seat in 2010. Without Barack Obama's and Mark Warner's coattails to ride, he should be pretty easy pickings for the Rs. Remember, he won the seat by only 727 votes at the same time Obama ran incredibly competitively and Warner won it in a landslide.

The conventional wisdom has been that Virgil Goode will run again and take back his seat. While that may be the case, I'm hearing some very interesting rumors about another potential candidate.

His name is Cordel Faulk. He's a lawyer, Virginia political commentator and Richmond Times Dispatch columnist. He's a 33-year old, conservative African American with degrees from Virginia Tech and UVA Law. If elected, Faulk would be the first black Republican to represent Virginia in Congress since Reconstruction (how embarrassing is that fact?).

Here's my take on Faulk's candidacy. First, the 5th is shifting away from Franklin County towards Charlottesville and this is Faulk's "neck of the woods." Second, Faulk is very accomplished and, at only 33, brings an energy that would be exciting. Third, let's face it, the African American turnout, especially in Southside, was a HUGE factor in 2008. I hate identity politics but it's just a fact that an African American R would, at the very least, add a new element to the equation.

My understanding is that Faulk is still in the exploratory stage but I expect we'll be hearing some interesting tidbits as we head towards 2010.

Radio Interview tonight

Tonight I will be joining liberal blogger Hank Bostwick of Star City Harbinger and we will talk live tonight with WVTF’s Fred Echols (creator of Weekend Virginia) from 7:30-8:30 on 89.1 FM.

According to Echols:
We will talk about political blogging and its growing importance and influence. If that means some sort of contentious political exchange breaks out, and chances are it will, that’s fine. It might be hard to achieve full sterility in a discussion of political activities, so I’m not going to try. We’ll have Waldo Jaquith on the phone for a few minutes in the first half and Jim Hoeft for a few minutes in the second half. If you want to have all your cousins and aunts and uncles call up and tell you you’re sounding great the number is 1-866-611-6397.

UPDATE TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW CLICK HERE

Bob McDonnell - Family

h/t Too Conservative

Bob McDonnell Coming To Salem!

Bob McDonnell (former AG and the next Governor of Virginia) will be coming to Salem THIS SUNDAY. Bob will be throwing out the first pitch at the Salem Red Sox game. The game starts at 2:00 pm and if you're late you'll miss all the fun. We'd love to have a huge turnout to welcome Bob to Salem and to cheer him on towards victory in November.

17th District "Cases For" Series

I hope my "case for" posts have been of some value for folks as they analyze our 5 fine candidates. I realize this isn't hard hitting journalism but that wasn't the point. The point was to introduce the candidates to the voters and set forth what I viewed as the positive reasons to support each. I've linked each of the posts below for convenience.

Bill Cleaveland

Mike Wray

Chris Head

Josh Johnson

Melvin Williams

I won't be posting much over the next few weeks as I'll be out of the country but you're welcome to use the comment section to this post as an open thread to comment on the race in the 17th.

Douglas Walker Gets Nomination

Last night at the Roanoke City Mass Meeting Douglas Walker was officially nominated to run for Commissioner of Revenue. Douglas is working very hard and offers a much needed contrast to the incumbent. I am very excited about his candidacy and hope you will visit his website at http://douglaswalker2009.com/


The GOP will not field candidates for Treasurer or Commonwealth Attorney.

Mass Meeting Today

Today at 6pm the Roanoke City Republican Committee will hold a Mass Meeting to elect nominees for Commissioner of Revenue, Treasurer, and Commonwealth Attorney. This meeting will be in the Roanoke City Council Chambers and you must register between 5:30pm and 6pm. See www.roanokerepublicans.org for the full meeting call.

Bob McDonnell Hits The Airwaves

The Case For Bill Cleaveland

Well, the last several weeks haven't gone as I expected. My intention was to do a "case for" each day and knock them all out in one week. Man did I miss badly. Suffice it to say that work has been crazy and I'm only just now getting a chance to post the the case for Bill Cleaveland.

For those who don't know Bill Cleaveland, he's been a lawyer in the Roanoke Valley for decades. While he has lived in Botetourt for sometime, most of his legal career has actually been in the City of Roanoke, both as a prosecutor, member of a highly respected small firm and as a solo practitioner. He recently moved his office to Botetourt County where he currently practices.

There is one word that constantly comes up from people who know Bill Cleaveland - INTEGRITY. Sadly, that is something that doesn't always exist in my chosen profession (the law) but it is the centerpiece of Bill Cleaveland's career. Most impressive, the people who sing his praises the loudest and trumpet his integrity most often are those lawyers who have opposed Bill. The practice of law, and especially litigation, can be a real contact sport. When you can practice at the highest level, keep your integrity and earn the respect of your adversaries, you've accomplished a lot.

Some anonymous supporters of Bill's opponents have taken to attacking his legal career as a way to attack Bill the politician. Frankly, they just come off as uninformed but a response is necessary. Yes, Bill takes Court appointed Federal criminal cases and sometimes has to deal with less than desirable clients. However, as someone who believes strongly in the Constitutional framework set forth by our Founders, I have the utmost respect for Bill's work in defending the Constitution, even when anonymous blog commenters don't. Also, like all lawyers who have a general practice, Bill has cases across the spectrum. He defends criminals (and used to prosecute them), handles corporate matters, represents individuals, etc. That's what it means to be a lawyer.

The best comment on his legal career and integrity is that the local Circuit Court judges have chosen him to be their substitute judge. That isn't a political appointment or popularity contest. Out of the entire universe of lawyers they chose Bill as the one they most wanted taking their place when necessary.

Now, all of that was an argument for Bill as one of the best lawyers in the area - does that make him a good potential Delegate? In a word - Yes. Integrity, accomplishment, knowledge of the law, respect in the Community, etc. are what we need. Bill knows what it means to run a small business, to meet payroll, to make difficult decisions. Bill has a great legal mind, a caring heart and is a true gentleman in every way.

For those of you who don't know Bill, I strongly encourage you to get to know him as you decide who to support on June 9th.

Okay folks, that's the last of the "cases for" series. I'll aggregate all 5 into a single post sometime this week for ease of reference. We appreciate all your feedback, even the anonymous negative comments. Even those are helpful in the process, if for no other reason than to identify the garbage our nominee will face in the fall. Don't forget, the primary is June 9th.

The Case Against Gwen Mason

We're up to part 4 in our "cases for" series but I'm taking a quick break to highlight a recent article in the Roanoker Magazine. I strongly encourage every voter in the 17th to read this article. It is a scathing indictment of the leadership of Roanoke City and its City Council, including Gwen Mason. It is a far better expose of the sins of Gwen Mason and her colleagues on Roanoke City Council than I could ever write. We simply can't afford to send these type of "leaders" to Richmond.

For those who say this is an article about Darlene Burcham, not Gwen Mason, you're missing the point. Gwen Mason has been a part of the "tax and spend without accomplishing anything positive" city government that has created the current economic, educational and professional mess we find in Roanoke. Read the article and decide for yourself - can someone who has been complicit in this mess be trusted to "lead" us from Richmond?

Click here to read a portion of the article and I encourage you to go out and buy the hard copy of the magazine to get the entire thing. Folks, the Commonwealth of Virginia simply can't afford Gwen Mason.

h/t Star City Harbinger