The GOP Convention is starting ... a bit late

Your chance to decide

With all the decision-making going on today -- the Republicans choosing a Senate candidate in Richmond and the Democrats figuring out what to do about delegates from Michigan and Florida -- there's no reason for the rest of us to just sit on the sidelines. Cast your votes here!

For the RPV, there's a lot at stake today

It's a big day ... and a different sort of day ... for Republicans in Richmond. They'll be choosing a candidate to run against Democrat Mark Warner in November, and they'll be choosing a party chairman.

And they'll be making those decisions in an unusual atmosphere. After years of Republican dominance in Virginia, the RPV is facing serious challenges, not the least of which is, Can they work and play together?

Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, the heavy favorite for the Senate nomination, left the party sharply divided when he left office. And the chairmanship battle between John Hager and Jeff Frederick has become surprisingly bitter.

In case you missed it, here's a link to today's report from Daily Press political writers Hugh Lessig and David Lerman.

Let's Play Ball -- The GOP is in town

Daily Press convention bureau, reporting in.

Gilmore vs. Marshall, as measured by Web traffic

These charts may, or may not, be an indicator of what's going to happen in Richmond Saturday when the RPV gets together to choose a Senate candidate to run against Mark Warner in November.

They come from Compete.com, a Web analytics Web site, and what they measure is Web site traffic. If I'm Bob Marshall, I'm all over the first chart, where the green Marshall line shows an incredible surge going into April. The problem, if I'm Bob Marshall, is that the first chart is page views.

If I'm Jim Gilmore, I'm really happy about the second chart, which shows traffic in terms of individual visitors, and where the red Gilmore line has a decided -- maybe even a deciding -- advantage.

Here's a link to the Compete.com page where I scrambled these things together.

Join us for a conversation with Vivian Paige and Jim Hoeft

Stop by The Shad Plank Friday for an hour or so of pre-RPV convention conversation with two of our favorite political bloggers -- Vivian Paige (on the left) and Jim Hoeft of Bearing Drift (on the right).

Stuck in the middle will be Daily Press political writer and Shad Plank contributor Hugh Lessig.

Gather up your questions, comments and predictions and join the conversation, which we plan to start at 1:30 p.m.

Transportation may hinge on House Finance Committee

Start talking about the special session on transportation with members of the House of Delegates and it won't be long before somebody brings up the House Finance Committee.

This panel should play a major role in charting the course of the special transportation session in Richmond at the end of June, because any road funding plan is going to have to make it past that committee and House Speaker Bill Howell.

Now take a look at who sits on the panel.  Chairman Harry "Bob" Purkey, R-Virginia Beach, has insisted publicly that something has to be done on transportation, especially to kickstart stagnant projects with growing prices in Hampton Roads.

After that, you have 12 Republicans and 9 Democrats.

Republicans: Robert Orrock, Lee Ware, Kathy Byron, Mark Cole, Tim Hugo, Ben Cline, Jeff Frederick, Tom Gear, Bob Marshall, Matt Lohr, Chris Peace and James Massie.

Democrats: Joe Johnson, Kenny Melvin, Vivian Watts, Frank Hall, Lynwood Lewis, Chuck Caputo, Ward Armstrong, Brian Moran and Del. Albert Pollard. 

Anyone got a transportation plan that can get 12 votes on that panel - which is stocked with anti-tax conservatives?

First a quick history lesson for those who weren't tracking the General Assembly in 2004. That was the year that Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat, was able to push through the tax increase plan that became his gubernatorial legacy and raised his national profile enough for him to flirt with a presidential run.

Well, the bill that instigated that tax reform managed to pass a similarly hostile House Finance Committee in April of 2004. So how did that happen?

If you check the history of the bill (for the details click here) you'll see that on April 6, 2004, the bill died a 12-9 death in Finance. But miraculously the very next day the bill passed 10-8.

What happened to those numbers?

Four conservative Republicans - Del. Allen Louderback, then Del. Mark Cole, Del. John O'Bannon and Del. Bill Janis - magically disappeared and are listed in the system as not voting. Meanwhile, Purkey switched over in favor of Warner's plan.

This is reading the tea leaves to some extent, but Speaker Howell had to have gotten those lawmakers to take a walk - basically giving Warner a helping hand in getting his plan to the floor.

You have to wonder what sort of back room discussions and negotiations went on that week, and whether Howell regrets his role in handing Warner his legacy - especially now as Warner appears headed for the U.S. Senate.

As the House Republicans prepare to fight another Democrat in the Executive Mansion over tax increases you have to wonder what drama will play out in Finance.

Could Howell really let that happen again?   

Will these polls turn out to be accurate this weekend?

We had these polls up and running Tuesday and Wednesday. They're closed now, but I thought you might be interested in the results.

Let's talk ... now!