Would you be willing to take a subconscious test on prejudices?Hey, it’s a snow day … and there’s nothing better to do! You can self-test your unconscious levels of prejudice about age, gender, race, etc. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ A few weeks ago, the Washington Post published an article on Project Implicit, “See No Bias” by Shankar Vedantam.…

The Feb. 28, 2005, edition of Bacon’s Rebellion has been posted online. Contents include: Pitching a Fitch. Warrenton Mayor George Fitch wants to be your next governor. Outraged by waste in government, he’s the one candidate totally committed to cutting taxes and reining in state spending. by James A. Bacon Three Levels of Autonomy. Commonwealth…

After reading Northern Crown‘s experience trying to contact Republican candidates via their websites, I don’t know if the internet is wildly overrated as a campaign tool or if some candidates are so totally clueless they should be dismissed out of hand. Commonwealth Conservative gets it: “As a candidate, when voters come to you, you need…

Governor Mark Warner has turned state government upside-down in an effort to do more business with small, women, and minority owned (SWAM) firms and the thanks he gets are headlines like this one in the Daily Press: Warner’s plan to raise contracting diversity falls short. The article is full of innuendo that procurement officals are…

Well folks, no surprise here. The Washington Post is wasting no time–they’re already on record supporting Chichester’s proposed tax increase next year. “Taxes, fees, tolls — all must be in the mix if Virginia is to keep moving. Senate Finance Committee Chairman John H. Chichester (R-Northumberland) said that this year’s “minuscule” compromise “isn’t even a…

An old friend, Joseph Britt of Kennesaw, GA, recently emailed to ask about anti-immigration as an issue for Virginia Democrats. Joe had just read a George W. Grayson article in the William & Mary Alumni Magazine, “Myths About Illegal Immigration.” Grayson does not cite any Virginia examples, but among the “myths” he attempts to explode…

A recent email message sent by Paul Jost to Ken Hutcheson was just too good to pass up without sharing it on this blog. As most of you probably know, Hutcheson is Kilgore’s campaign manager. He also served previously as the campaign manger for the following heavyweight, tax-and-spend, State Senate Commissars: John Chichester, Tommy Norment,…

Governor Warner was on NPR’s All Things Considered this afternoon, talking about education, the issue he is leading as Chairman of the National Governors’ Association. He emphasized “career and technical education” for non-college bound students and insisted that the Governors were looking for real solutions: “We don’t need another study that sits on the shelf.”…

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate, Jerry Kilgore was interviewed on WTOP this morning. Since this is a call-in show, I tried to get on the radio to ask Kilgore why he hasn’t signed the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) pledge not to raise taxes–a pledge he had signed when he ran for Attorney General, but which according…

The Kilgore team is moving quickly to put its own spin on the soon-to-be-announced candidacy of Sen. Russell Potts of Winchester. In a press release issued 2:46 p.m. this afternoon, Kilgore’s office stated: The announcement today that Russ Potts (I-Winchester) will run for Governor [as] an Independent can only be seen as a tremendous setback…

Larry Sabato has a fresh edition of his Crystal Ball out on the Center for Politics web site. He handicaps the Democratic presidential field for 2008. Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Kerry, and former Sen. John Edwards constitute the top contenders. Gov. Mark Warner is high on Sabato’s second tier of potential candidates, just behind…

Tim Murtaugh, press secretary for Jerry Kilgore, has issued a press release attacking Tim Kaine for expressing his willingness to increase the gasoline tax to increase transportation funding, as long as there are mechanisms in place to protect the Transportation Trust Fund from being raided for other programs. Said Murtaugh: “Both Jerry Kilgore and Tim…

Anyone who has spent any time in NVA over the last 40 years is familiar with the Giant grocery store chain. When the chain passed from its private owners a few years ago, problems began. These problems multiplied when the New England chain Stop n’ Shop acquired Giant. Add new competition–Food Lion, Harris Teeter, and…

Del. Adam Ebbin (D, Alexandria) is the first openly gay member to serve in the House of Delegates. There’s a brief profile of Ebbin by Kristen Gelineau in today’s Daily Press. What I found interesting was the contrast in reactions to Ebbin from two colleagues: “I suppose that one of the concerns was that since…

John M. R. Bull of the Daily Press had a short interview yesterday with Ellen Qualls, Governor Warner’s press secretary. I happen to think Qualls has been one of Warner’s best appointments. She has been absolutely unflappable and her fierce loyalty to the Governor has served him well. She says she’ll be working on her…