Ed Gillespie holds Warner below 50 percent in second poll

Ed Gillespie last week on the campaign trail in Roanoke.

In the latest poll, this one from PPP/MoveOn.org, there is more good news for Republican Ed Gillespie as Virginia Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner once again polls below 50 percent.

Political strategist Glen Bolger commented that "while we do not typically highlight PPP polls, these results are noteworthy for what they say about Mark Warner’s rapidly eroding standing with the Virginia electorate."

A March 27 Quinnipiac Poll came up with similar results and noted that the political atmosphere in Virginia is toxic this year for Democrats. Mark Warner's Achilles heel has been, and continues, to be his vote and support for Obamacare.

Bolger pointed out the following from the Public Policy Poll which traditionally leans Democratic:

Mark Warner continues to operate in the danger zone for a well-known incumbent by failing to capture 50% on the ballot. He is additionally underperforming among several key groups. Warner trails among Independents (39%-41%), 30-45 year olds (35%-48%), and even among Hispanics (34%-39%). Twenty percent (20%) of Independents are undecided, and historically, Independents tend to break for the challenger.

 Bolger concludes:

The political environment continues to look bleak for Senator Mark Warner. He is struggling on the ballot among several key midterm groups versus a challenger who is not yet well-known. The Democrats have also overestimated their hand on Medicaid expansion. Not only do the numbers prove less than inspiring for Democrats in Richmond, they are hampering Mark Warner's re-election as well.

Last week's Quinnipiac poll elicited a similar response from the political strategist:

Senator Mark Warner faces a tough political environment in his fight for a second term. Frustration with the president and his administration are significant factors in Warner’s underwhelming showing on the ballot test, as is Warner’s support for Obamacare, which a majority of Virginia voters oppose. In an already-difficult year for Democrats due to those factors and more, Warner’s 46% on the ballot is a dangerous baseline heading into the November election.

Gillespie continues to crisscross Virginia on his campaign to become the Republican nominee, stopping last week in Roanoke before continuing on to Virginia Beach and the Republican Women's convention. It is generally expected that he will win at the upcoming GOP state convention although last year's free-for-all convention proved anything can and will happen in these closed events. Considered by UVa's Dr. Larry Sabato as a long shot for beating Warner, the polling numbers show that Warner is vulnerable, something Republicans plan to take advantage of in their question to chip away at Democratic office holders.

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 4, 2014

Ed Gillespie for U.S. Senate ... Roanoke stop on the campaign trail

 Ed Gillespie and Trixie Averill 

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Gillespie was in Roanoke Friday delivering remarks to about 65 Republicans who gathered at the Plantation on Sunnybrook to hear about his candidacy for the nomination at the state GOP convention that will be held on Saturday, June 6, in Roanoke. Many thanks to Trixie for organizing the lunch.

 Wendell Walker, 6th Congressional District Chair, and Roger Jarrell, Lexington-Rockbridge Unit Chair.

Fred Anderson, former 6th Congressional District chair (left).

Delegate Greg Habeeb with the beard he's growing until the budget impasse is resolved in Richmond.

Trixie Averill, Ed Gillespie, and Dr. Ed Lynch at lunch talking about cruises. Dr. Lynch teaches at Hollins College in Roanoke.

Fred Anderson offered the invocation.

Roger and Trixie

Tucker Davis with the Gillespie campaign in the 9th Congressional District.

Dan Webb with Congressman Bob Goodlatte's staff.

As Ed spoke, Trixie clicked and posted to Facebook. I did a bit of posting on Facebook, too, throughout the event.

Many familiar faces were there ... Molly and Larry Koon, Tucker Davis, Dr. Ed Lynch, Pete Larsen, Wendell Walker, Kathy Hayden, Roger Jarrell, Fred and Ann Anderson, Greg Habeeb, several elected officials, and many others.

The Plantation on Sunnybrook

Ed Gillespie is living the American dream. His father came to this country from Ireland because he found work here as a janitor. Ed grew up working in his parents’ grocery store. He went to college, is married, and has three children.

"I got to grow up to be Counselor to the President of the United States of America!" he said at Friday's lunch, and the words seemed incredulous to him even as he said them. After serving as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, he had been called to the White House during the administration of President George W. Bush.

Gillespie is a political consultant who has served as chairman of the Republican National Committee, worked with Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, worked with Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, John Kasich, Elizabeth Dole, George Allen, and Bob McDonnell. He also worked with Karl Rove to get Republicans elected. Read more about his background here.

He highlighted issues and opportunities, noting that years ago he started out parking cars in the congressional garage in D.C. -- running now gives him the chance to go from the parking lot to the Senate floor in the Capitol. He emphasized he is interested in seeing policies that will make life better, that he wants to be a candidate for all Virginians, a servant for all Virginians.


Gillespie became chairman of RPV while I was on State Central Committee; he advised George W. Bush, Bob McDonnell, and other men that I have admired throughout the years. I like what he's done. His leadership has helped Republicans win ... he has advised elected Republicans ... he has been very effective at raising money. He has my vote.


Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 4, 2014

It's spring in Roanoke

 I found spring this week, and it was in Roanoke. The flowering trees and forsythia haven't begun to bloom in my corner of Augusta County -- just jonquils and daffodils -- but in Roanoke it was a flourish of color and green grass.

 Azaleas were in full bloom at this house off Plantation Road.

We had driven to Roanoke Friday to join political friends and Ed Gillespie for lunch and I was surprised as we entered the Roanoke Valley with all the colors of spring.

Spring is finding its way to western Virginia....

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
April 4, 2014

Garnett Benson Whitt, Jr. ... best obituary ever?

I didn't know Garnett Benson Whitt, Jr., but his obituary appeared in today's Roanoke Times and definitely caught my attention. It reads more like a short story than the usual by-the-book rundown of a person's life in 20 words or less with names of survivors. I have to tip my cap to Mr. Whitt and his interesting adventures, after you read this, you will know him a lot better than any other obituary you read today. RIP.

WHITT, Garnett Benson Jr.
September 8, 1939-January 23, 2014

Garnett (Buzzy) Whitt Jr., was a Chevrolet man who would not be caught wasting money on anything less than the best. He held true to his principles on everything from race cars to basset hounds, tractors to generators, bourbon to leftovers. Buzzy liked his food fresh and his cars fast. He would be friendly to most anyone, and didn't need to steal a joke from any TV talk show to make you laugh. His wit was as fast as his ride, which he would not mind being mentioned before any family because what you drive is who you are.

Buzzy might have had a hard time growing up under the shadow of his older sister Wanda's swift mind. Wanda went to business school and learned shorthand, jotting down recipes for their mom Roxie in writing so beautiful and terse it looks like hieroglyphics, keys to secrets not yet unlocked. Buzzy left school in 8th grade, most likely deciding he was better off with engines than spelling. His younger brother Randolph joined the National Guard.

Buzzy married Judy, and they had Lisa. For a while it was Roxie and Garnett, Buzzy, Judy and Lisa. Roxie helped out a lot in taking care of Lisa. They had a huge garden that could feed a neighborhood, growing everything from rhubarb to zinnias. The garden was a wonder of color and natural mystery. Then Wanda and Linzie had Shaunda, and then Rhonda. Wanda and Linzie, and of course Roxie and Garnett Senior, all have passed on. Lakin Barnes, Rhonda's son with her ex-husband Mark Barnes, is the closest Buzzy has to a grandchild. Lakin looks enough like Buzzy to have been his grandchild, and Buzzy was closer to Lakin than to any child, so there is that.

While other boys his age were trading marbles and baseball cards, Buzzy managed to trade up, and into possession of a monkey. Roxie wasn't very excited about the monkey which she relegated to the basement, where the coal was kept, alongside canned garden vegetables and all the makings for homemade soap. If anyone knows what happened to the monkey it would be Bill Macy, Buzzy's oldest friend. Bill is the only person who could manage to stay on speaking terms with Buzzy for seventy years. For that we remain ever grateful, since Buzzy got pickier and pickier about the company he kept.

As a young man, Buzzy lived the NASCAR lifestyle long before it was a brand, much less a TV channel. His two front teeth were slightly knocked back. That happened when he was drag racing near the country club golf course. After the car wrecked, he took off running from the police on foot, over the dark terrain of the course. With the police in pursuit Buzzy stepped on an iron rake that smacked those two teeth into a position where they would stay for most of the rest of his life. Buzzy was driven. He always worked several jobs. He was a fireman, a mechanic, a welder. He used the welding rig he built to thaw pipes in the winter. He built a garage in his backyard and did work for all sorts of men, young and old, souping up their cars with Chevrolet big block V8 engines. He put a 427 into more than one Chevrolet SuperSport. He put a 427 into a Porsche. He put a 427 into a Camaro. He was, apparently, the go-to guy if you wanted a 427 engine in your anything. Buzzy could make things fast. It was his gift, or one of them.

Fueled by a lifelong and well-documented need for speed, Buzzy died with at least two points on his license, those a result of one of his many late-night trips in his red Corvette. When he couldn't sleep, a frequent occurrence in those last years, he made midnight forays to Tennessee. He bragged about the trooper who pulled him but didn't give him a ticket -- Buzzy speculated the trooper only wanted to see inside the shiny red hotrod. It's more likely that the trooper didn't want to give a one-armed man a ticket for driving just a little bit fast in a car that begged for it, but it's also just as likely the trooper decided he liked Buzzy because, well, everyone did.

Since Buzzy had lost his right arm to a bush hog in 1997, he developed a habit of using his mouth for things most use their other hand to accomplish. That's hard-duty on teeth, and as he continued to use them as tools one of them finally gave up the fight and exited the scene.

By the time he passed Buzzy was a sad-looking soul, missing an arm and a front tooth, but he continued fervently with the work of Living, even against all odds. Buzzy drove himself to safety after he lost that arm, and then did it again after the fire that led to his death earlier this week. More than one friend has helped pull Buzzy from a dire situation. All are remembered in our prayers.

Buzzy was no stranger to tragedy. The family hopes you might forgive him the cuss that he became at the end. He was a victim of circumstance, but he would not want to be remembered as such.

It is fitting that Buzzy's drive helped him save himself, not once but many times. Independent, stubborn, willful, and determined, Buzzy Whitt wouldn't have it any other way except his. May his drive be an inspiration, and a marvel to celebrate.

The family warmly invites you to celebrate Buzzy's life. Visitation will be held at Stevens Funeral Home, 815 Randolph Avenue in Pulaski on Sunday, January 24, 2014 from 5 to 7 p.m. A service will be held at Stevens at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening. Burial will be Monday at 11 a.m. at Highland Memory Gardens in Dublin, beside his mother Roxie and his father Garnett.

In lieu of flowers the family respectfully requests that memorial contributions be directed to the Pulaski County Humane Society, P.O. Box 1046, Dublin, VA, 24084. Buzzy had some varied opinions about people, but he loved animals, and Chevrolet.

Arrangements by Stevens Funeral Home, Pulaski.