I guess they’ve entirely written off Virginia:

Sensing that victory in the race for Virginia governor is slipping away, Democrats at the national level are laying the groundwork to blame a loss in a key swing state on a weak candidate who ran a poor campaign that failed to fully embrace President Obama until days before the election.

Senior administration officials have expressed frustration with how Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has handled his campaign for governor, refusing early offers of strategic advice and failing to reach out to several key constituencies that helped Obama win Virginia in 2008, they say.

Rather ugly, isn’t it? The votes haven’t even been cast and the man groomed and selected by the Democrat establishment is already a political un-person in Democratic circles. Well, he did commit the only sin a Democrat acknowledges – the sin of losing. To be sure, he hasn’t actually lost, yet; but he will, and it looks like by a wide margin. Additionally, it looks as though the whole Democrat ticket in VA is going down with him.

So, Democrats, just one year after your sweeping triumph, you’re about to not just get beaten, but crushed, in Virginia. To be sure, you might eke out a win in New Jersey (I don’t think you will, but anything is possible), but a bare win in a heavily Democrat State will not take the sting out of losing a State you thought had fallen your way for good in 2008. Get used to it, Democrats – unless there is a massive turn around in the economy, November of 2010 will go just like November of 2009…except it will be nationwide…

The headline:

Clamor masivo en Madrid contra el aborto

I’ll translate for any of your liberals out there who can’t figure it out.

Here’s a link to the video. When that many people turn out for life and hope, then we have to say that, just perhaps, Europe can be saved – that there are enough Christians left on the Continent, even at this point, to turn things around.

Showing that she understands the political ferment of 2009:

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now.

The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it’s important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York’s 23rd Congressional district. It’s my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law.

Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a “time for choosing.”

The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas.

And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine.

Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.

That is it, in a nutshell – a few paragraphs and the entire campaigns of 2010 and 2012 are set in place. This is the lady our opponents ridicule. Have at it, lefties – she’s a lot smarter than you are, and far more savvy about how things are going.

Gonna be a lot of fun over the next couple years.

UPDATE: According to NRO, Hoffman took in $116,000.00 in donations yesterday. That is an astounding event given that, really, is just the right blogosphere and a few conservative outlets which are even seriously covering the issue. People on the right are fired up.

A stark indicator of just how bad it is out there:

Union Pacific Corp. reported a 26% decline in third-quarter profit Thursday, citing a persistent slump in rail demand, particularly from the auto industry, in the face of the global recession…

…The Omaha, Neb.-based railroad operator posted earnings of $517 million, or $1.02 a share, down from $703 million, or $1.38 a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue fell 25% to $3.47 billion from $4.63 billion, bogged down by a 30% decline in its auto-freight business and a 39% drop in industrial-products freight.

Analysts polled by FactSet Research were looking for earnings, on average, of $1.01 a share on revenue of $3.73 billion.

“As we enter the final quarter of 2009, business volumes seem to have stabilized, but at very low levels for Union Pacific,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Young, in a statement.

As in the earlier story we had of merchant ships anchored rather than plying the trade routes, it is indicators like this which show the true story of the economy. The froth of the DOW and banks cashing in on bail outs makes the headlines – but it is the fact that goods are not moving which shows our plight. No matter what the government or the banks say, until ship and rail traffic is up, we’re not getting anywhere on the economic front. You can’t even go entirely by industrial production numbers – the best measurement is retail sails, and goods being shipped. If people aren’t buying and retailers are ordering (and thus having goods shipped), then nothing is really happening out there.

For the past year we’ve merely spun our economic wheels – we’re huffing and puffing but not going anywhere. Moving money around from the Fed’s printing press to the Treasury vaults to the banks’ balance sheets doesn’t do a thing for the economy. It can get suckers to buy in to a stock bubble and it can get Obamaniac economists talking happy talk, but it doesn’t create wealth. It doesn’t, that is, create the situation where goods are made, shipped and bought. Until we start doing that – by making, mining and growing more of our own stuff – we’ll continue to waste our time…and slide ever further in to debt, making it ever harder for us to climb out.

HAT TIP: Mish’s

From frying pan to fire:

In fairness, Dick Cheney totally started it. But like our mom used to say, “Then you be the one who stops it!”

Last night in a speech to the Center for Security Policy, the former vice president called out President Obama for being “afraid” to make a decision on troop levels in Afghanistan.

“The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger,” Cheney told the conservative gathering. “Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries.”

Sounds familiar. What’s suprising is not so much the vim with which the former vice president repeatedly goes after the Obama administration — but how reliably the Obama administration responds. Has no one heard of a dignified silence? Oh, wait. This is Washington. Never mind.

“What Vice President Cheney calls ‘dithering,’ President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform and to the American public,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. “I think we’ve all seen what happens when someone doesn’t take that responsibility seriously.”

Gibbs and his boss will come out second best in this contest. We’ve got the lightest of lightweights daring to challenge Vice President Dick Cheney – arguably the most intellectually substantive man in politics.

This will be fun to watch.

You’d think they’d know to mind their own business, but when the Catholic Church is involved, I guess they can’t help themselves:

Well, the media mantra about the Vatican’s welcome to Anglicans has begun, and the anti-Catholicism is about as ugly as it gets.

Venues such as National Public Radio, the London Times, and the Kansas City Star describe the Church as “poaching.” USA Today says the Church is “rustling.” Other media outlets used the term “luring.” Some question whether the move was a “hostile takeover.” And London Times’ Columnist Libby Purves says that “converts may choke on the raw meat of Catholicism.”

Mainstream newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post have used the word “bid.” The Boston Globe uses both the words “lure” and “bid.”

No matter how you look at it, they’re all unsavory terms used by the secular media to describe the Church’s actions.

They just can’t stand it – that millions of Anglicans might decide to re-unite with Rome. But, seriously, where else were they to go? Sure, Anglicans could have become Baptists, but the plain fact of the matter is that any believing Anglican will find the Catholic Church to be most “home like” of all the Christian denominations. As the Anglican leadership – and especially the American leadership – has strayed ever further from Christian teaching it becomes a matter of survival for Anglicans who take the Bible seriously…stay with the current leadership and risk slow apostasy, or unite with the Church and meld the streams together in to a larger and stronger Church. Its really as simple as that – had Anglicanism remained firmly committed to Christian principles, this issue never would have arisen.

But, here it is – and the elite are angry over it. They know what will come of it – a tiny, absurd sect calling itself Anglican will have all the sexually active gay bishops and female priestesses they want…but everyone will know that whatever the group is, “Christian” isn’t the word for it. They wanted something they could call Christian to lay in opposition to Rome and the Evangelicals…now they won’t have it.

Interesting – via New Editor:

Roll Call’s Steven T. Dennis and Tory Newmyer report:

Three dozen moderate Democrats are warning Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) that they must show that their health care bill will cut long-term costs or they will vote it down.

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf has indicated that the bill being considered by the House does nothing to rein in the cost of health care, and therefore may not be sustainable outside the ten-year budget window, the Members say in the letter. We will be unable to support any health care legislation that doesn’t meet the president’s goals of driving down and holding down the cost of health care, as determined by CBO.

It just might be too much – especially for the common run of Democrat politicians, who most certainly don’t want to lose office.

From Real Clear Politics:

A dozen conservative publications and blogs are calling on New York 23 special election nominee Dede Scozzafava (R) to withdraw from the race. The online editorials, including from National Review, Washington Times, Washington Examiner and RedState.com, were all published at around noon today.

The calls for Scozzafava’s withdrawal come in response to her husband calling the police on Weekly Standard reporter John McCormack, who was attempting to question the GOP nominee on some of her policy stances following a campaign event. McCormack followed her into the parking lot for further questions, and a police officer later approached him, saying the candidate had been “startled.”

Conservative groups, including Club for Growth, are standing behind Doug Hoffman, who is running on the Conservative Party line in the Nov. 3 contest.

If she backs out now, we can almost be assured of a Hoffman victory – if she stays in, she might allow the Democrat to win in a district the GOP has held for more than a century and a half. If there’s an ounce of Republican in Scozzafava, she’ll get out. The time is past for the Scozzafavas of the political world – we want Republicans, not RINOs.

UPDATE: A new Rasmussen poll shows that 73% of GOP voters think the Congressional GOP is out of touch with the base. The nomination of Scozzafava proves this to be correct. Wake up, GOP leaders.

UPDATE II: The “stupid party” may be taught a lesson. Indeed.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to sit down with Rick Lazio, currently the only GOP candidate for governor in New York. The interview is posted here.

Some of you might be asking, “Why bother? It’s New York.” But, recent polls suggest that a Republican can not only win for governor (thanks to David Paterson’s incompetence), but also for the U.S. Senate (Kirsten Gillibrand’s seat.) So I think it be worth your while to check out my interview with Lazio. I found myself quite impressed from our chat. He’s really knows policy and has a good mix of private and public sector experience.

Nothing like speaking truth to power, huh?

Maintaining his stature as one of the most forceful defenders of the Bush Administration’s defense policies former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Obama of committing “libel” against CIA interrorgators on Wednesday

Mr. Cheney’s criticized the Obama White House in a wide-ranging address on foreign policy matters for abandoning commitments to allies in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of the Russians, sacrificing American intelligence officials to satisfy the political left and “dithering” on taking action in Afghanistan, among other things.

The speech, delivered to the Center for Security Policy, comes as the White House considers U.S. Commander of Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s request for an additional 40,000 troops and struggles with the legal consequences of shutting down Guantanamo Bay.

It is rather sickening to watch Obama try to have it both ways – “I’m proud of the CIA, but the CIA is staffed with torturing beasts”. Obama wants to be both hawk and dove, and the combination of the two is, indeed, a strange bird.

In 9 short months, Obama has managed to undo a great deal of what was accomplished under Bush. We’ve lost allies and made no new friends (unless you think Putin and the Mullahs are our friends, now); we’ve lost credibility over our military commitments; we’ve made it clear that if you’re against us, we’ll appease you…its all bad, and unless Obama changes course, its going to get much worse.