I've been going light on the blogging today, because I'm getting ready to set off to Africa tomorrow. More on that later.

In the meantime, I'm posting a hodgepodge of everything not related to hiking boots and mosquito repellent that has been attracting my attention today.

First up, everyone will have seen that Mark Warner is indeed running for Senate in Virginia. What not everyone will have seen is this website and this video, courtesy of the NRSC:



which accurately points out the Mark Warner is a tax-hiker. The only extra point I'd add to the NRSC video is that Warner actually hiked taxes by the largest margin ever during his term-- so he's not just a tax-hiker, he's an extravagant one.

While this is important for people to bear in mind as we head into next year's elections, I still fear that Warner's going to be tough to beat. And Chris Cillizza does too.

However, as Chris points out in his post at the Fix, weirder things have happened in Virginia (Jim Webb beating George Allen, for instance). So keep watching this race.

In other news, Tom Tancredo, one of my least favorite Republicans, has qualified for matching funds for his presidential bid. May I take a moment to say how ridiculous it is tha...

> Read more & share

I'm getting more and more comfortable with Fred by the day: today, his campaign confirmed that he thought the federal government had no role to play in relation to the Terri Schiavo matter.

Together with his position on gay marriage (note that the constitutional ban he's been discussing is a heck of a lot more limited than the FMA-- his ban would simply say state judges don't get to decide on marriage, still allow legislators to permit gay marriage, and then just suspend the full faith and credit clause in relation to gay marriage) and abortion, this guy is sounding like a pretty genuine federalist.

Which is a rare thing these days.

> Read more & share

It seems that the fighting has begun over at RedState over the VA-Sen race. The issue is that Erick Erickson thinks that Rep. Tom Davis, who will no doubt be running for John Warner's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat is too moderate and unpredictable.

My friend Mason Conservative has a good reply to Erick. I think for anyone following this race, it's worth reading.

Check it out.

> Read more & share