Election Day in SWAC area ... ongoing updates

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jj4EZIaBRTzmY0S1p6zcxvD-GTkkxhB98dC7CybLP1ChSotCZRvnXlPMPoOWBEA7iiOtSpMZM6rEm6ppGzPXUYk5sToF7tHAokkyiHIde6lELSFZbkNT2IcybM6NwPhxuX9m5vZcREDa/s1600/voting+booth+graphic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8jj4EZIaBRTzmY0S1p6zcxvD-GTkkxhB98dC7CybLP1ChSotCZRvnXlPMPoOWBEA7iiOtSpMZM6rEm6ppGzPXUYk5sToF7tHAokkyiHIde6lELSFZbkNT2IcybM6NwPhxuX9m5vZcREDa/s1600/voting+booth+graphic.jpeg" /></a></div><br />It's Election Day 2013 in Virginia. The polls are open ... voters are voting, candidate supporters are greeting them, and volunteers are sending them out the door with "I Voted" stickers.<br /><br />The weather is good ... a cold, frosty start to the day with temps in the 20s is expected to lead to a high in the 50s under overcast skies.<br /><br />What an odd year it has been with some newspapers <a href="http://www.swacgirl.blogspot.com/2013/11/no-gubernatorial-endorsements-from.html">refusing to endorse anyone for governor while others encouraged write-in votes for Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling</a>. Many are happy to see this election cycle finally come to an end.  For many, it marks the finish of the daily barrage of campaign emails, robocalls, and television ads.<br /><br />Virginia is being considered a bellwether for the country. The tea party and Libertarian wings of the Virginia Republican Party have their dream team of candidates in Ken Cuccinelli, E.W. Jackson, and Mark Obenshain for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Four years after the Republican team led by Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling swept into office with historic leads, will it happen again?<br /><br />This is a notoriously red area of the Commonwealth so what's going on in the central Shenandoah Valley area that includes Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County? I'll pass along news as I hear it.<br /><br /><b>10:15 a.m.:</b> Churchville precinct had light but steady turnout. The voting location within Churchville Elementary School had been moved with only one table for check-in as opposed to the usual two. About half a dozen people were in line to sign in; two machines were in use. Interestingly, there was a card table set up with a McAuliffe sign and materials but no presence from the Republicans.<br /><br /><b>2:00 p.m.:</b> Wilson Precinct. Steady, light turnout continued.<br /><br /><b>7:10 p.m.:</b> Polls have closed and the wait begins for returns to be posted and announced.

Augusta County Bill Bolling Bob McDonnell E.W. Jackson Election 2013 Ken Cuccinelli Libertarians Mark Obenshain Shenandoah Valley Staunton SWAC tea party Waynesboro Election Day in SWAC area ... ongoing updates

It's Election Day 2013 in Virginia. The polls are open ... voters are voting, candidate supporters are greeting them, and volunteers are sending them out the door with "I Voted" stickers.The weather is good ... a cold, frosty start to the day with te…

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Editorial: 'Virginia Mainstream Project Seeks a Wider GOP Current, Which Would Benefit Us All'

<blockquote>If Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling hadn’t announced formation of the Virginia Mainstream Project prior to the GOP’s convention, he certainly would have done so afterwards.</blockquote>So begins Thursday's <a href="http://www.billbolling.com/2013/05/30/virginia-mainstream-project-seeks-a-wider-gop-current-which-would-benefit-us-all/">Farmville Herald</a> editorial by Ken Woodley as he noted the lack of transparency and lack of inclusiveness currently in the Republican Party of Virginia.<br /><br />Mr. Woodley continued:<br /><blockquote>There is nothing mainstream about the trio of Republican candidates emerging from the convention, which was held for the specific purpose of deep-sixing the gubernatorial aspirations of Bolling and handing the party nomination to Ken Cuccinelli.<br /><br />The attorney general is joined by E. W. Jackson as the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor and Mark D. Obenshain, who’ll run for attorney general. Jackson made the most headlines following his nomination, with reports he has called the Democratic Party “anti-God” and labeled gays and lesbians as “sick” and “perverted.” Writing an opinion piece last fall for The Washington Times, Jackson, a minister, wondered how Democrats have “managed to hold on to black Christians in spite of an agenda worthy of the Anti-christ.</blockquote>As the dust settles from the Republican convention held two weeks ago in Richmond, more are beginning to understand what Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling said after the convention:<br /><blockquote>Bolling issued a post-convention statement rightly saying that “some of the things he (Jackson) has said are simply indefensible. These kinds of comments are simply not appropriate, especially not from someone who wants to be a standard-bearer for our party and hold the second-highest elected office in our state. They feed the image of extremism, and that’s not where the Republican Party needs to be.” </blockquote>The entire editorial can be read here.

2013 Republican Convention Bill Bolling E.W. Jackson Farmville Herald Ken Woodley Mark Obenshain pragmatic leadership Virginia Mainstream Project Editorial: 'Virginia Mainstream Project Seeks a Wider GOP Current, Which Would Benefit Us All'

If Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling hadn’t announced formation of the Virginia Mainstream Project prior to the GOP’s convention, he certainly would have done so afterwards.So begins Thursday's Farmville Herald editorial by Ken Woodley as h…

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