Kay Coles James for RPV chairman: A visionary for the future of the party

The announcement by Pat Mullins last week that he will step down as State Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) on January 31, 2015, has begun the usual flurry of telephone calls and email messages that range from “Who will run for RPV Chairman?” to outright requests for support for one candidate or another.

Before the RPV State Central Committee rushes to promote from within, Virginia Republicans should step back and ... (continue reading here)

Flashback: 'Virginia’s Eric Cantor ... a rising star in the GOP lives the American dream'

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

[Editor's Note: It seems a good time to reprint this article I wrote about Virginia's 7th Congressional District Congressman Eric Cantor in the Washington Examiner on November 10, 2010. The former Minority Whip is now Majority Leader of the House.]

Keep an eye on Congressman Eric Cantor, a rising star in the GOP. He was born and raised in Virginia's Henrico County outside Richmond, talks with a soft southern accent, and is known for his endless energy. He worked with fellow Republicans Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy to recruit Young Guns to bring the Party back to its conservative roots, co-authored the Young Guns book, and was number two on the 2010 Jewish Daily Forward 50 list of prominent Jewish achievers just behind Google founder Sergey Brin.

In October 2010 he looked from the stage while addressing his annual 7th Congressional District Republican Roundup in Richmond and called out, "Thirty-one days until this country gets back on track! We've got work to do!" A huge roar arose from the crowd of 4,600 supporters of the Minority Whip in the U.S. House as they got to their feet and cheered ... and then they returned home to their communities and went to work.

That work paid off when a Republican red wave swept across Virginia as well as the nation on November 2, 2010. Three Democratic congressmen in the Commonwealth were voted out, flipping the majority back to the GOP in an historic election that brought in the largest Congressional freshman class in 60 years.

Among those in the new Congress will be 47-year-old Cantor who sent a letter to GOP representatives last week announcing his desire to become the next Majority Leader. Much like the Young Guns that Cantor has taken under his wing, this rising star is young, energetic, and ready to take on the Democratic progressive agenda that was rejected by voters in the 2010 midterm elections.

Eric Cantor mixed determination, hard work, and a positive attitude as he went about the business of helping to regain the Republican majority. Those same attributes have also been seen while representing his constituents as a very accessible representative who often holds gatherings and townhall meetings.

Cantor, a Jewish conservative Republican, has not forgotten his roots and the struggle of his grandparents, something he talked about at his reelection kick-off breakfast in March, when he recalled the grandparents who immigrated from Russia to Richmond in the 1930s.

"America," he shared with the room of 1,300 supporters at the Richmond Convention Center, "is the place of hope and opportunity -- the only land where everything is still possible."

An in-depth story in the November 7 Richmond Times-Dispatch expanded on the background of this third generation American. His grandparents fled Russia and relocated to Richmond near other family members who had also escaped anti-Semitic persecution prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. They set up a small grocery business, saved for their sons' futures, and when Cantor's grandfather died at the age of 36, his grandmother held the family together and sent both sons to college. His father became an attorney, began a business in Richmond, and became involved in Republican politics:

In "Young Guns," Cantor said he became a rarity -- a Jew in the Republican Party -- because "it was the Republican Party that gave my father the opportunity to provide a better life for me and my family."

He said that in the 1950s and 1960s his father was turned off by the segregationist policies of Virginia's ruling Democratic Party.

"All [my grandmother] wanted was an opportunity to succeed," Cantor said at his well-attended victory party Tuesday night at the Hilton in Short Pump. "She took responsibility for her family. And, through her hard work, she saw to it that her two boys had a college education. She was a great believer in the promise of America."

The work ethic of his grandparents was passed down to their grandson Eric who became an attorney, got his feet wet in politics by interning for Congressman Tom Bliley while in college, then won a seat in the House of Delegates in 1991. He later ran for and won Bliley's seat upon his retirement in 2000. Cantor's rise up the leadership ladder began two years later when he was tapped to become Deputy Whip and then, in 2008, he was voted in as Minority Whip.

Now, with the 2010 Republican takeover of the House behind them, Cantor stands to be the next Majority Leader. He has listened to the people and is preparing to battle House Democrats over their unpopular legislation. Already making the rounds of news network television shows and working with John Boehner, the presumptive future Speaker of the House, a plan has been laid out to stop the liberal agenda by repealing the odious 2009 health care reform bill and keeping taxes low. The most immediate decision will be whether to keep the Bush tax cuts, an issue that will loom large over the reconvened Congress when members return to Washington on November 15.

Eric Cantor is a roll-up-your-sleeves leader who has a plan for the future of the Republican Party. In Delivering on Our Commitment: A Majorty to Limit Government and Create Jobs, he emphasized job growth, touted the popular YouCut.com program that allowed everyday Americans to suggest fiscal cuts to Congress, proposed entitlement reform and the demise of earmarks, and stressed the need to reduce the size of federal government. Eric Cantor, the epitome of the American dream sought by his grandparents, is ready to help lead the way.

Déjà vu in Virginia attorney general drama

Eight years ago my phone rang bright and early the day after the 2005 election. I was still sleeping after a hard-fought campaign that saw Bill Bolling elected as lieutenant governor, Jerry Kilgore lose as governor, and Bob McDonnell in a tight down-to-the-wire race for attorney general. I was needed at the Augusta County Government Center to witness the vote canvas, the beginning of a process that eventually led to my participation in a mid-December recount that saw McDonnell prevail with a mere 360 votes over his Democratic challenger, Creigh Deeds.

Fast forward to last week's election that saw Democrats Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam winning the governor and lieutenant governor spots. The end of the day, however, showed a tighter-than-a-tick contest between Republican Mark Obenshain and Democrat Mark Herring that fluctuated back and forth as a variety of events took place over the next seven days. When all votes were finally tallied, Herring was ahead by 163 votes in a contest that was probably headed to recount.

However, as happened in the 2005 race, recounts rarely change the final numbers by much. If Herring prevails, Virginia Democrats will have swept the top three offices that were won in landslide victories four years earlier by Republicans McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli.

NBC 12 has a report on the final count.

Greta Van Sustern and Maureen McDonnell

Maureen McDonnell is a gracious First Lady of Virginia, and now Greta Van Sustern knows it, too, as she wrote on her GretaWire blog:

We went in to the first floor of the Governor's Mansion where there are often historic tours and the Governor's wife came down to meet us. You would love her! She is extremely gracious and friendly. She is getting the Mansion ready for it's 200th anniversary.

Greata and Fox News had slipped into Richmond Monday to interview Ken Cuccinelli because of the judge's slap-down of the federal government's request to dismiss the Commonwealth's challenge to the federal health care bill.

Virginia House suspends overtime pay; Senate keeps theirs

Fiscal responsibility by Republican-controlled House of Delegates ... fiscal squandering by the Democrat-controlled Senate. From the House Republican Caucus blog:

As the General Assembly goes into overtime, extending its 60-day session by a day to complete consideration of the state budget, Frederick Kunkle’s post on the Washington Post’s Virginia Politics Blog makes clear the contrast on fiscal responsibility between the Virginia House and the Virginia Senate.

The House Republican Caucus followed its long-time principle—no reward for missing a deadline—by proposing House Resolution 40, which the House adopted today. The Resolution eliminates the $135 per diem payment for delegates during the extension of the 60-day session.

The Senate, which already gives its members a more generous $169 per diem, took no similar action.

This is the same Senate that dragged its feet on negotiating the state budget with the House. Having come up with over-inflated revenue estimates, the Senate conferees would not engage with the House Budget Conferees in serious discussion about revenue last weekend.

Having created a delay by its inaction, the Senators insist on reaping a reward for missing the budget deadline established on December 11. (See House Joint Resolution 9)

Legislators who live outside the Richmond metro area receive per diem payments to cover the expenses of living in Richmond during the legislative session. Under the Federal tax code, per diem in excess of actual costs can be kept as tax-free income.

The Washington Post also noticed the different attitudes between the Chambers:

Left unsaid was the obvious: When lawmakers were whacking $4 billion from state spending, forcing the layoffs of teachers and other public employees, it would not look good to have the state pick up the tab for legislators' meals and hotel rooms in Richmond because they failed to meet a deadline.

When Senate Majority leader Dick Saslaw was asked if the Senate would keep their pay, he responded, "Of course. Why not? We're here in session."

JR has more at Bearing Drift. Brian comments at Too Conservative.

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon

Set-up for 1,300 Cantor supporters

Rows and rows of tables were set up for last Friday's Cantor campaign breakfast in the second floor ballroom at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Tables were later filled with Cantor supporters.





The Pledge of Allegiance.

Reporter Tyler Whitley with the Richmond Times-Dispatch (left) looked over the room as servers hustled to put finishing touches on tables.

Coffee and orange juice were available as attendees waited for breakfast to begin.

The video screens (with 2010 on them) were used for a short video about Eric Cantor narrated by his wife, Diane. You know you've arrived when you are spoofed on Saturday Night Life.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
5 March 2010

Rep. Cantor's remarks at campaign breakfast at Richmond Convention Center

[Congressman Eric Cantor – Remarks for Annual Campaign Breakfast at the Greater Richmond Convention Center – Richmond, VA - March 5, 2010]

Good Morning.

Diana and I greatly appreciate your support for you being here this morning. And I’d like to thank you for the tremendous honor of serving as your voice in Washington.

In the brief time we have together this morning, I want to talk to you about the challenges before us as a country and the importance of the times we are in.

We are truly at a critical point of decision making in this country. We are at a crossroads. I know politicians say that often, but this one is real.

Deficits, spending, higher taxes, energy security, health care – all of these are important. But we have a greater challenge before us. It’s the challenge of our generation.

It’s about what kind of country we want to be. Either we become a country we hardly recognize or one that will fulfill the American ideal and continue to be the most secure, most prosperous, freest country in the history of the world.

That is the challenge of our time… the challenge for our generation.

To all of us, the America we know, started right here in Virginia. It’s about the colonist that came upon the shores of Jamestown, some 400 years ago, seeking economic riches and opportunity for themselves and their family.

America is about the waves of immigrants like my grandmother that have passed through Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

In my grandmother’s case, like many others, her family fled Eastern Europe and the Czars of Russia in search of a better life. She and my grandfather eloped and ended up here in Richmond.

The family opened up a grocery store, just a few blocks from where we sit in Jackson Ward.

Becoming a widow at a young age, my grandmother raised her two sons living on the second floor just above that grocery store.

She didn't have a lot of money, but she worked hard, day and night, believing in the promise this country had to offer. She wanted her two sons to have the better life that she came here for.

And through hard work and sacrifice, she succeeded, putting my father and his brother through college at Virginia Tech and eventually law school right here at the University of Richmond.

My Dad is the embodiment of that American dream. And from the beginning his mission was to provide a better life for his kids. And in this country, he was able to succeed. Because for him, as for most of us in America, there are no limits.

Just look at the American people. For the past thirty years, in good times and in bad, 600,000 businesses are started every year. That's about one new business per minute. Where else in the world can someone start a business in his garage and five years later be the biggest hit on Wall Street? Only in America.

Where else could people from humble beginnings like Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama grow up to become President?

There's a reason why you don’t see people in America running to escape and climbing into boats seeking refuge in some other land. It's the same reason that Canada doesn't find the need to erect a border fence to keep out unwelcomed Americans ... because America is the place of hope and opportunity -- the only land where everything is still possible.

But when you look around, there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty sweeping across America. Many folks in Washington have reacted by trying to seize more control over the economy and our lives. The agenda they propose takes shape in the form of cap and trade, card check, excessive spending and the government takeover of the health care and auto industries.

They want to replace free markets with layers and layers of bureaucracy. Then want to tell you how to run your small business through misguided tax policy and unprecedented mandates and regulations.

Instead of doing everything we can to encourage job creators, they have proposed to hit them with higher tax. They stand ready to seize control of 17% of the US economy and call it Health Care Reform.

And, of course, all of their new programs are being paid for with a mountain of debt which they are passing on to our children and their children. The Democratic agenda in Washington is a systematic attempt to remake America into the image of Europe.

And this begs the questions: Why would anyone want to become like countries where the shear guts and drive to push big ideas is not rewarded? Why would we want to be like countries where no matter how smart you are, or how hard you work, there are limits?

In these countries, your destiny can be controlled by a small group of elites or a massive bureaucracy.

Ronald Reagan would have been 99 last month. He once said that the meaning of life is to plant a tree you will never sit under. The goal of our lives should be to be a part of something that will long outlive us - to establish a legacy which will benefit people we will never meet.

So, when historians look back upon this trying period for our nation, the question is: What will they write about us? Will they write of the decline of our people, the end of the American dream?

Or will they write about the most prosperous land in the history of the world – the nation that summoned the strength of its people to regenerate?

I think it will be the latter. That’s what motivates me. That’s what motivates you. That’s why we’re here. And that’s why the upcoming November election is so critical.

America must grow, invest and innovate our way out of this recession. When we retake the majority, we will focus on jobs and implement common sense solutions to get this economy going again. We will cut taxes and reduce burdensome regulations on small businesses so that the entrepreneurs of this country can begin creating jobs again.

Let’s face it, the greatness of America lies not in the redistribution of wealth, but in the creation of greater and greater wealth benefiting all.

Washington needs to realize that we don’t need more and bigger government. It needs a strong dose of good old fashion fiscal discipline!

Simply put, we have to stop borrowing and spending so much money! As government shrinks, the private sector will grow, creating droves of new jobs. Think of the biotech park right across the street and the growth engine it has been for our region, and think of the potential there that remains untapped.

Just this week, many of us attended the dedication of a new corporate headquarters of Mead Westvaco here in Richmond ... proof positive that when the private sector leads the way we can provide new jobs in a tough economic environment.

One hundred years from now, I believe they will write of a Virginia and an America in which the generations that follow have an opportunity to live a better life than we have. As we head into November, we have an opportunity to stop the recklessness in Washington and put America back on the path to prosperity.

But we have to step up and seize the moment. It is really up to us. We have to engage our neighbors and our friends to join us in this mission.

I look forward to joining with you in the struggle ahead to insure a better tomorrow. Thank you. God bless.

Bloggers at Eric Cantor breakfast

Tom White (Virginia Right!) talks with Gov. Jim Gilmore as Steve Rossie (Family Foundation blog) and John Gunsolly (Chesterfield volunteer) watch.
Tom White talks with Rep. Eric Cantor while
Jane Dudley (Bearing Drift) takes photo.
Tom works on his laptop overlooking
the ballroom with 1,300 Cantor supporters.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
5 March 2010

Eric Cantor annual campaign breakfast ... more photos of supporters

Former Lt. Gov. John Hager and current Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling greeted supporters after breakfast.

Cortland Putbrese, Richmond GOP chair and member of Central Committee, and chairman of the RPV New Media Committee.

Navy veteran Kenny Golden, Congressional candidate for 2nd District and former Virginia Beach GOP Chair.

Peter Foster of Chesterfield County was collecting signatures on Cantor petitions. Peter has worked various campaigns throughout the state including Del. Matt Lohr's overwhelmingly successful 2009 reelection in Rockingham County.

Marie Quinn, dedicated long-time volunteer with the Chesterfield Republican Committee.

Sen. Ralph Smith from Roanoke.

Previous posts:
- Eric Cantor's annual campaign breakfast: A who's who in Virginia Republican politics
- Eric Cantor's annual campaign breakfast ... faces of supporters

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
5 March 2010

Eric Cantor's annual campaign breakfast ... faces of supporters

Congressman Eric Cantor, Republican Whip of the U.S. Congress, was relaxed and smiling as he mingled with some of the 1,300 supporters who turned out for the popular event.

Paul Galanti, Dr. Judi Lynch, Mike Thomas.
Paul Galanti was a POW during Vietnam and is a supporter of many Republican candidates over the years ... Judi is a member of Central Committee ... Mike Thomas is First Vice Chair of Central Committee.

Ted Brown with Gov. Jim Gilmore. Ted is part of the Chesterfield County Republicans ... Gov. Gilmore is a fellow blogger and President/CEO of Free Congress Foundation.

Lt. Gov. John Hager is a long-time public servant in Virginia and served as RPV Chairman 2007-08.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling greets Jeff Sili, Caroline GOP Chairman and member of the Board of Supervisors, after breakfast. In all my years of volunteering for Bill Bolling's campaigns, he has always been humble, grateful, and a fantastic speaker who can rally a crowd.

I love this photo of an always-smiling Jean Ann Bolling who looks comfortable with a gathering of young people around her.

Check out bloggers Tom and Jane who also covered the event:
- Tom White at Virginia Right!
- Jane Dudley at Bearing Drift

Cross-posted at Virginia Virtucon

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
5 March 2010

Virginia Republican Creed

We Believe . . .

That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice.

That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society.

That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government.

That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing constitutional limitations.

That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense.

That faith in God, as recognized by our Founding Fathers, is essential to the moral fibre of the Nation.

Fairfax County Republican Committee ... good news

Good news, indeed.

Pat Mullins "moves out and draws fire"

A military term I have often heard is, "Move out and draw fire." A good example of that is RPV Chairman Pat Mullins as he engages the Democrats in a taste of reality.

I knew he had hit a nerve when Blue Virginia responded immediately on his blog trying to undo the damage. The Democrats, who have spun their own version of Virginia history the past eight years, were finally being called on it after, of all things, their "unity" weekend in Williamsburg.

Kum-ba-ya, anyone?

Jim Riley had an excellent post on this subject along with Chairman Mullins' letter.

Chaz packs the house for First Friday in Harrisonburg

Chaz Evans-Haywood, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Clerk of Court

Chaz offered a slide presentation of the courthouse.

Rockingham County GOP chair Mike Meredith.

When he took office in 2008, Chaz Evans-Haywood fulfilled a campaign promise: catalog and inventory the contents of the Courthouse ... and what a treasure-trove of goodies he found. With the help of the Library of Virginia, documents dating back 200 years were discovered from such history makers as James Madison and Joshua Wilton. A hundred-plus years of wills and other legal documents are now being catalogued and restored.

With slides and commentary, it was an interesting presentation to a packed room of 60 folks who came out for Harrisonburg/Rockingham's First Friday lunch.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
June 5, 2009

GOP candidates to stop at Weyers Cave June 1

~McDonnell ~ Bolling ~ Cuccinelli~
Governor ~ Lt. Governor ~ Attorney General

Valley Republicans will have the opportunity to greet Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli, along with House Speaker Bill Howell, on Monday, June 1, when they fly into Weyers Cave Airport at 12:00 Noon.

Come on out and join in the excitement as Virginia Republicans march toward victory in November. Questions may be directed to Craig Orndorff, Harrisonburg Victory Field Director, at (804) 814-0926 or (540) 335-9428.