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I hate to link to Kos, but his site is the most immediate place I could find these numbers on the VA-Sen race, which I was provided with yesterday (but didn't have time to post on):

Rasmussen. 9/5. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (No trend lines)

Gilmore (R) 34
Warner (D) 54

Davis (R) 30
Warner (D) 57

Kos seems to be construing these polls not as a sign of early, and unavoidable victory for Warner. He's right on that.

The reason Davis' numbers are low probably...

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I'll resist saying more than that. Except to say that I do think that the Democrats are idiots to not be taking a closer look at Bill Richardson for their nomination. And that I do believe the West is more libertarian-inclined than South Carolina or Connecticut.

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This one's on the GOP, the West and the environment.

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I've been tied up over the last couple of days, prepping for taking off to South Africa on Friday (sister-in-law's wedding, followed by safari excursions). That's prevented me from posting much, but I've come back online to weigh in on what's going on vis a vis Iraq.

First off, let me say that I was extremely pleased to see yesterday, during the House hearing, General Petraeus make clear that we have made some progress in Iraq-- and enough that we can begin withdrawing from Iraq in...

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"This latest episode only serves to prove what many voters are already figuring out: Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip flop on any position in order to win."

Quite. Perhaps other candidates or their staff can find the cojones to say the same sometime soon.

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Check it out here.

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Ross Douthat at the Atlantic has an interesting post up today about the GOP candidates and what to expect in terms of foreign policy. I highly recommend it.

Here are the most interesting bits, for me:

Rudy Giuliani, for instance, seems to have the most hawkish advisors of any candidate, and the particular hawks he's chosen suggest that a Giuliani administration would drop at least some of the Bush-era democracy-promotion business, and take a view of the War on Terror that's...

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Giuliani: 34% (+2)
Thompson: 22% (+3)
McCain: 15% (+4)
Romney: 10% (-4)

Looks like Thompson is taking support from Romney.

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First up: Cesar Conda, a member of Team Romney, is blasting Rudy's economic record, apparently claiming that he's not just moderate on social issues, but also economic ones, and that Romney is much more economically conservative. This marks the first time that the Romney camp has sought to attack Rudy on a non-social issue, and I don't think it's going to work out very well for them. Those paying attention will remember that the Club for Growth assessed Rudy's economic/fiscal record as quite...

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Ryan Sager: "[Thompson] can come off more like Eeyore than the Gipper."

Ouch.

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