Why I am sympathetic to Mark Sanford

In last night’s post, I tried to explain why I am sympathetic to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and his family, but I did so inarticulately after a long day of work. Yes, I think he’s been a extraordinarily ineffective governor. (See his stimulus grandstanding and his numerous overidden vetos by a legislature controlled by his own party.)

For your consideration, I offer the sharper obserservations of Gary Kamiya of Salon, John Dickerson of Slate  and William Saletan also of Slate. All did a better job than I did.

Come clean Congressman Moran

Tonight the House Ethics Committee announced that it was conducting a preliminary inquiry into the now defunct PMA lobbying firm and its relationships with House lawmakers. The firm, which was founded by former Democratic staffers on the House Armed Services Committee was shuttered after the FBI raided its offices last year. Basically its employees stand accused of making PAC contributions to members of the Armed Services Committee in exchange for earmarked appropriations which benefited PMA’s clients in the defense industry.

Eric Cantor, Bob McDonnell and GOP Rebranding

Last year former Virginia Congressman Tom Davis compared the GOP brand to dog food.

Virginia GOP Congressman Eric Cantor has brought the GOP “rebranding campaign” to Virginia. Today Cantor is hosting the first event of what he’s calling the National Council for a New America. Cantor even has a nifty URL for his rebranding campaign: www.wethepeopleplan.org. On the website and on Twitter, Cantor has invited you to nominate your town for an event.

That’s almost as exciting as the last Britney Spears concert I went to!

Gov. Kaine: Dems Will Gain at Least 2 GOP House Seats

According to the Washington Post, earlier today, Governor Tim Kaine predicted on WTOP News Radio that Virginia Democrats will win at least two GOP House seats next Tuesday. Along with a prediction that Gerry Connolly will win the seat held by the retiring GOP Rep. Tom Davis, Kaine expects the Dems to win at least one of the seats held by GOP Reps. Thelma Drake, Virgil Goode and Frank Wolf.

“They are all races that are doable depending on the size of the Obama turnout. In all of those districts, strong Democratic turnout should help the challengers. I think we will win at least two and maybe more.”

News Round Up from Across Virginia (Real and Fake)

There is a lot of news coverage of our Democratic candidates in today’s papers across the Commonwealth. Here’s a sample:

The Martinsville Bulletin describes Friday’s Henry County Democratic rally featuring Sen. Joe Biden in “Biden calls for change, unity at spirited rally”.

The Newport News endorsed Mark Warner for Senate. So did the Bristol Herald Courier. which has a companion analysis piece looking at the state of the Presidential race in the Commonwealth.

The Danville Register Bee reports that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will speak in Danville on Monday and Tom Perriello will debate Rep. Virgil Goode on Tuesday night. The Register Bee also has an editorial questioning the effectiveness of Rep. Goode.

The Winchester Star describes Friday’s debate between Democrat Judy Feder, Rep. Frank Wolf and independent Neeraj C. Nigam.

The Richmond Times Dispatch has details on Sen. Obama’s upcoming visits to Norfolk and Harrisonburg on Tuesday.

And GOP Rep Tom Davis tells MSNBC (on Friday) that “Virginia is still in play at the Presidential level.” Not if I have anything to do with it Tom!