I call your Morgan and raise you a Warner

Democratic candidate Philip Forgit just upped the ante in the game of Five-card Stud Endorsements now under way in the 1st Congressional District.

Forgit countered Republican Rob Wittman's Harvey Morgan endorsement with a glowing endorsement from former Gov. Mark Warner:

Philip is an exciting candidate for the U.S. House. He is a nationally recognized school teacher who, as a member of the Navy Reserve, was called to duty in 2005 to serve in Iraq.... 

Now, he’s ready to bring change to Washington, and his first focus will be to bring fresh perspective to the Iraq war. Philip recognizes that we need a new approach – one that requires a new plan to bring this mismanaged war to an end. And Philip Forgit will bring his own on-the-ground experience in Iraq to this critically important dialogue in Congress.

Like many of you, Philip is sick of the bickering that too often cripples Washington. As a teacher and as a soldier, Philip Forgit has the right background to bring common sense to our government.

Anyone care to predict what face card Wittman will pull out to trump a Mark Warner?

I'll call your Northam and raise you a Morgan

Democrat Philip Forgit trots out Sen.-elect Ralph Northam, Republican Rob Wittman answers with Del. Harvey Morgan.

Morgan is a respected and long-serving member of the House of Delegates with a tremendously loyal following in communities like Gloucester, which are going to play an important role in the 1st Congressional District race. Morgan also makes a point near the end of his statement that underscores why this race is so interesting and at the same time so unpredictable:

"Every vote counts in any election; but in historically low-turnout special elections, your vote is absolutely critical on December 11, 2007."

So basically - Who's got the ground game?

RPV finance chair urges Virginia to rally 'round McCain

Frederic Malek, the finance chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, has an interesting op-ed piece in this morning's Washington Times -- a call for Virginia Republicans to get behind John McCain for president.

McCain is the only GOP candidate with the "unchanged and unshakable conservative principals and the proven national security experience" needed to carry Virginia in 2008, Malek argues. And a McCain candidacy, he argues, will help the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate, who will face a long, hard race against Democrat Mark Warner.

Both races, he says, will be helped by Virginia's top two elected Republicans -- Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Bob McDonnell.

I'm sure that, come 2008, both Bolling and McDonnell will rally solidly behind whoever turns out to be the GOP candidate for president. But at the moment Mr. Malek still has some convincing to do about who that best choice is -- Bolling is working for Mitt Romney and McDonnell has endorsed Fred Thompson.

Bill Bolling turns in petitions for Mitt Romney

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine did it for Barack Obama earlier this week, so it's no surprise today to find Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling handing in the signatures for GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

Bolling signed on with Romney's campaign earlier this year and the petitions are something of a formality for getting on the primary ballot, at least for serious candidates (we're looking at you Stephen Colbert).

But the signature turnover does do one important thing: It serves as a reminder that Virginia voters will go to the polls on Feb. 12.

This neverending presidential campaign could become nothing but background noise for people who aren't plugged in to politics all the time. Maybe if we keep having elections every couple of months, more people will pay closer atttention.... OK, maybe not.

Forgit says his polling shows 1st District race is a tossup

In a news release trumpeting an endorsement from state Sen.-elect Ralph Northam, 1st Congressional District Democratic candidate Philip Forgit says his polling shows the race to replace U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis is extremely close.

Forgit also mentioned his poll earlier this week during a meeting with the Daily Press editorial board, saying his pollster found that the race was a 50-50 tossup between himself and Republican Rob Wittman.

If his numbers are correct, it would definitely be a surprise because the 1st District usually chooses conservative candidates, most of the time opting for Republicans.

But Northam -- a Democrat who beat incumbent GOP Sen. Nick Rerras in November -- is one of the reasons that Forgit is optimistic about his campaign. Northam and Sen.-elect John Miller of Newport News engineered big Democratic wins this year, pushing the state Senate into Democratic control.

Fogit didn't mention how Independent Lucky Narain was doing in the polls, and his pollster may not even have asked. 

Will MTV play a role in the 1st District race?

The details are sketchy at this point, but it appears that independent Congressional candidate Lucky Narain of York County could be headed for an appearance on MTV.

Narain says he's been talking with some MTV News folks about his candidacy and the pop culture behemoth is interested in touting the 28-year-old as a potential voice in Congress for younger voters.

Narain could used the free publicity -- after all he's an political neophyte with very little name recognition and less than two weeks to run for office. Just ask the major party candidates trying to replace U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, Democrat Philip Forgit and Republican Rob Wittman -- they're having a hard enough time ramping up campaigns in short order.

Try pulling that off in your first run for elected office -- not to mention the fact that analysts are predicting that the turnout will be as low as 8 percent.

We're trying to find out more, but just the speculation raises some interesting questions.

1) People are always talking about wanting a "fresh face" in politics, but does that mean voters really want younger voices in Congress?

2) Is MTV really a good place to search for voters -- especially in a special congressional election?

3) Has anyone in the 1st Congressional District ever heard of MTV?

House Republican leader says he'll support Wittman

U.S. Rep. John Boehner, the House Republican leader, said this morning that he would push to secure a seat on the House Armed Services Committee for Rob Wittman, the Republican candidate in the 1st Congressional District.

Wittman is running against Democrat Phil Forgit and independent Lucky Narain in a special election to replace the late U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis. The election will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 11.

A seat on the House Armed Services Committee is a plumb for whoever represents the 1st District because of its large population of veterans and active-duty military members.

The weird marriage of Giuliani and religious voters

You've heard about his three marriages.

You've most likely seen pictures of him in drag (check out video of him with Donald Trump here).

You've probably even heard about him living with a gay couple and talking about performing their future marriage ceremony.

Pat Robertson heard all about that stuff and still endorsed Mayor 9/11 for president.

But this story -- linking him to a priest accused of sexually abusing several victims -- raises another round of really ugly questions about Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. 

H/t: Andrew Sullivan.

Kaine to turn in Obama's Virginia ballot petition

If you went to the ballot box in November in Virginia you probably met a volunteer working to get either Barack Obama or Ron Paul on the presidential ballot in Virginia.

I'm sure most if not all of the candidates had volunteers at the polls -- Dennis Kucinich might have even beamed some down from the mothership -- but it appears Obama won the race.

Wednesday morning, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is going to be on hand in Richmond as Obama volunteers hand over the signatures that make his candidacy official in Virginia.

Kaine's been way out in front of the curve on these things -- he endorsed Obama just after Valentine's Day earlier this year -- and now they'll be the first to turn in petitions.

Man, I can't wait until they finally start having debates....   

Will Gilmore make friends at this weekend's GOP Advance?

For those of us who view politics as a spectator sport, the Republican Advance, which begins Friday, is looking to be the best bet for a weekend ticket. If nothing else, it should offer a pretty good look at just how well Jim Gilmore and the state GOP are getting along as they head toward next year's Senate race.

Gilmore, the former governor and presidential candidate, became the leading GOP candidate to replace John Warner back in October, when U.S. Rep. Tom Davis announced that he wouldn't run. (Gilmore's front-runner position was solidified when the party decided to choose its nominee at a convention instead of during a primary election.)

Gilmore is trying to claim some ownership of the Advance, it seems -- yesterday, "Jim Gilmore and his campaign" posted an invitation to "all Republicans" to come to the Advance.

Mason Conservative went to bat for Gilmore yesterday, with a post that says "Gilmore's Biggest Hurdle" will be the media, and specifically the Washington Post. MC makes several good points, but neatly overlooks the divide in the GOP that can be traced directly to battles over Gilmore's attempts to eliminate the car tax.

It was members of his own party who, during the 2001 General Assembly session, tried to put the brakes on the car-tax phase-out because of declining state revenue. Gilmore would have none of it and the battle grew increasingly heated.

State Sen. Tommy Norment of James City County was one of the Republicans leading the anti-Gilmore battle. In April 2001, in an interview with the Daily Press, Norment talked about Gilmore's "arrogance of power" and his unwillingness to compromise.

"The arrogance was only reinforced ... by his complete inalterable unwillingness to discuss anything other than that which he said, because he is the governor," Norment said. "Well, I don't buy that. That's why Virtue is standing on the chest of Tyranny on the Virginia seal designed by George Wythe.

"George Wythe knew something about tyranny. And he knew that that was not something that we were going to tolerate in Virginia. We have a governor. We don't have King James III. We are partners in governance. We are partners in this thing. We're not subjects."

Norment went on to make a prediction for how Gilmore's term as chairman of the Republican National Committee would turn out.

"If this is his demonstration of leadership in Virginia, then Republicans nationwide should be very concerned that that same style in arrogance of power is going to be reflected on a national level, which could be catastrophic," Norment said.

Gilmore served one year as chairman of the RNC. He resigned the seat in December 2001, just before that year's Republican Advance, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family, and denying rumors that he'd left because of friction with the White House.

Gilmore has yet to show that he can unite the state GOP. Most recently, state Del. Chris Saxman of Staunton has said that he may challenge Gilmore for the Senate nomination.

And a post at Too Conservative urges Republicans to give Saxman a chance. "At the end of the day, I still do not believe that Governor Gilmore can be elected to the Senate against Mark Warner," TC writes. Saxman, on the other hand, "is shrewd, likable, and can serve as a much needed new face for the Virginia GOP.

"The Advance should provide a great opportunity for the party to begin taking his 'potential' candidacy seriously."

Like I said, it should be an interesting weekend.