Colgan is running after all

The wave of retirements to hit the Senate has stopped, at least for the moment.

Sen. Charles Colgan, a Democrat from Northern Virginia, issued a press release Friday to say that yes, in fact, he would seek re-election. It had been rumored that Colgan would step down, joining Senate Republicans John Chichester, Charles Hawkins and Russ Potts on the porch swing.

A senior member of the party, Colgan has served as a budget negoatiator for 16 years. He and his family organized and built Colgan Air, a regional airline at the Manassas Regional Airport. The company was sold recently to Pinnacle Airlines of Memphis, but the family will continue to operate the airline.

He was elected to the Senate in 1975, and if the Dems have any hope of regaining their majority in that body in November, having Colgan stay definitely works in their favor.

Is there a party switch in the works?

Gov. Tim Kaine is decidedly upbeat about the Democratic Party's chances come November, when all 140 seats in the state legislature are up for election.

Meeting with the Daily Press editorial board over lunch today (tuna for the governor, who can't eat meat on Fridays during Lent), Kaine said that with the looming passage of a state transportation, his recommended catch-phrase for the fall would be, "Democrats get things done."

He conceded that Republicans could offer up a very similar line, diplomatically adding that Virginia should be happy with a campaign in which both parties tout their accomplishments. With Democrats hoping to pick up seats in both the Senate and the House of Delegates -- perhaps even regaining a majority in the House -- don't be surprised if the rhetoric gets somewhat less civil by October.

Kaine said he is recruiting candidates and even hopes that some current Republicans will switch parties.

"I have two or three Republicans in my cabinet, depending on how you count," the governor said.

He also said he's had conversations with "one very prominent Republican who is thinking about running as a Democrat."

Who might that be?

"I have to be very coy about that," the governor replied.

Wilder wows 'em in Roanoke

Former Gov. and current Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder was in Roanoke Tuesday, headlining a fund-raiser for Democratic state Del. Onzlee Ware (who is facing a primary challenge for his 11th District seat from former Roanoke City Councilman Mac McCadden).

While he was there, he showed that "he is the original 'rock star' politician," writes Roanoke Times columnist Shanna Flowers.

Check out her column here.

McEachin to challenge Lambert for Senate seat

First we had a slate of retirements, now we've got a couple of delegates eyeing Senate seats.

At least seven ranking members of the House of Delegates and the Senate have decided to retire rather than face the re-election campaign trail this summer and fall. Rumors are swirling that at least one more senator and perhaps another delegate are on the way out too.

Enter Dels. Donald McEachin and Robert Hurt. McEachin, a Richmond Democrat, is planning to take on a fellow Richmond Democrat -- Sen. Benjamin Lambert.

Lambert has been in the Senate since 1986, but has caught flak for endorsing Former Sen. George Allen in his failed re-election campaign last fall. McEachin served in the House in the '90s, left for an unsuccessful run for attorney general in 2001, then re-elected to the House in 2005.

This race is likely to be settled in the primary because the 9th Senate District is heavily Democratic with voters from Richmond and part of Henrico County.

Hurt, a Republican from Chatman, is running as the replacement for retiring Sen. Charles Hawkins, who has spent the past 16 holding that seat.

Hurt has been in the House since 2002, but has raised the ire of the GOP before, when he broke with the House caucus and supported then-Gov. Mark Warner's tax hike package in 2004. But that sort of attitude would likely serve well in the Senate. 

Any way you slice it - seats keep opening up and the faces keep on changing. This fall just keeps getting messier.

Randy Forbes and the power of prayer

U.S. Rep. J. Randy Forbes and 40 other members of Congress from both political parties and representing 19 states are planning a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol today to issue a call to bring "America back to prayer," the Washington Times is reporting.

"Every politician says, 'God bless America,'" the Chesapeake Republican told the Times. "But do you really mean that? If you don't, maybe we should start saying, 'Have a nice day,' or something like that."

He has a good point.

And here's another good point, made by someone else in a different context: "Perhaps the only scoffers at prayer are those who haven't tried it enough."

So no scoffing is intended here.

But I wish Forbes would have stopped while he was ahead. Instead, he took that one step over the line: "If we have several thousand people praying for five minutes for the future of the country, that creates a spiritual fire wall around America," he said to the Times.

A spiritual fire wall? It always worries me when politicians, no matter how well meaning (and no matter what nationality), try to get God lined up on their side. 

It also reminds me of the story about the priest who went to a boxing match. Before the fight began, one of the boxers bowed his head in prayer and finished with the sign of the cross.

A fan sitting next to the priest leaned over and said, "Father, you think saying a prayer is going to help that guy any?"

"I'm sure it will, my son," the priest replied, "if he can box."

Drake cancels fund-raiser that was to feature Tony Snow

U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake has canceled a fund-raiser scheduled for Friday that was to feature White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Snow is hospitalized and facing surgery because of a recurrence of colon cancer.

Pigs Smoking Cigars

Paul Jost has never been shy about taxes.

The Williamsburg businessman and Virginia of chief of the tax-hating Club for Growth isn't hiding his disdain for the Republican-authored transportation plan.

The plan, passed out of the GOP-dominated General Assembly late last month, includes a slew of tax and fee increases in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia. The bill is sitting on Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's desk.

Jost now is firing back at the lawmakers that he once supported because of their signatures inked on the "no tax" pledge. The Club for Growth is launching a 30-second television commercial that depicts lawmakers as pig smoking cigars, and urges voters to call the governor to tell him to veto the proposal.

Check out the video here.

You know it's an odd bill when Jost and liberal Democrats are calling for the same veto.

Who's throwing the Ronald Reagan Kegger?

College students itching to learn about the legacy of President Ronald Reagan are going to have one passionate new teacher - former U.S. Sen. George Allen.

Allen has been named the Reagan Ranch Presidential Scholar by the Young America's Foundation. The job description says the former governor, senator and one-time 2008 presidential contender will use the part-time post to speak on college campuses, write opinion pieces and promote Reagan's ideas.

Allen, 55, has long idolized Reagan and the new post is fitting considering the Allen's first political experience was organizing student support for Reagan while Allen was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

Allen has described the post as just about "perfect" but clearly he hasn't relinquished off of his political aspirations since losing re-election last November to Democrat Jim Webb.

Touring colleges and writing about Reagan is sure to keep Allen's name and profile cycling through conservative circles. The title might also give him a platform to repair his image which took a serious hit from a string of racial and religious gaffes during last year's campaign.

Here's hoping he doesn't mispronounce some student's haircut again. It's called a Mohawk not a macaca.

The list keeps on growing....

Institutional knowledge and seniority is jumping ship in Richmond....

As of today seven Republican members of the General Assembly have announced that they're not up for the re-election trail. The list includes five committee chairman and the heads of the money panels in both the House and the Senate. 

In the House:

Vince Callahan, 75, R-Fairfax, member since 1968, Appropriations Committee chairman.

Allen W. Dudley, 59, R-Franklin County, member since 1994.

Michele B. McQuigg, 59, R-Prince William, member since 1998.

John S. "Jack" Reid, 64, members since 1990, General Laws Committee chairman.

In the Senate:

John Chichester, 69, R-Northumberland, member since 1978, Finance Committee chairman.

Charles Hawkins, 63, R-Pittsylvania, member since 1992, Agriculture, Commerce and Natural Resources Committee chairman.

Russell Potts, 68, R-Winchester, member since 1992, Education and Health Committee chairman.

Now don't cry for the GOP because a lot of these seats are in strongly Republican Districts - so having folks leave could actually make the Senate a bit more conservative. And there are Democrats rumored to be on their way out too.

Everyone is waiting for the retirement announcement from Sen. Charles Colgan, D- Manassas. Colgan doesn't head up any committees but he is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and a budget negotiator - two powerful political positions. 

It looks like there are going to be a lot of new faces in Richmond next year, and with all 140 seats up for grabs, you never know who is going to be coming back.

He dreamed he saw Joe Hill last night...

According to USA Today, former Gov. and current Lngsht. Pres. Can. Jim Gilmore was one of the parade of candidates to "pitch their union ties to Fire Fighters" earlier this week.

Gilmore, the paper reported, told the International Association of Fire Fighters that "his father was a member of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters union for 'decades and decades and decades.'"

I guess if you're going to pander, the fire fighters would be the group to pander to: They're heroic, they risk their lives to save others and, because of their peculiar work schedules, they have lots of free time to give to, say, political campaigns.

No word on whether Gilmore mentioned that he was the governor of a "right to work" state, or that while he was a candidate for governor in 1997 he destroyed some of his own campaign bumper stickers because they were printed with the union label showing.