New Face Winning Hearts in Va. GOP In Senate Bid, Marshall Speaks To Conservatives

The Washington Post ^ | March 3, 2008 | Amy Gardner

[khnyny]

Republicans across Virginia are rallying with surprising vigor behind the U.S. Senate campaign of state Del. Robert G. Marshall, a quirky Prince William County conservative who is challenging former governor James S. Gilmore III for the GOP nomination to replace retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R).

Marshall's role as the lead challenger in the lawsuit that overturned several local taxes that were part of Virginia's landmark transportation package Friday has propelled him into the spotlight. But even before then, the 63-year-old policy consultant was quietly amassing support, from county committee chairmen in rural parts of the state to Northern Virginia GOP insiders.

He has done it by endearing the party faithful with his record on abortion, same-sex marriage and taxes, and by sidling up to the state GOP's anti-Gilmore crowd. Now Marshall has a fresh platform from which to reach those crowds, and he plans to take advantage of it, starting today with a fiery anti-tax speech he is scheduled to deliver on the floor of the House of Delegates.

"That money was illegally taken," Marshall said of the regional taxes imposed since January by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and thrown out Friday in a unanimous Supreme Court decision. "It's unconstitutional. To say we don't have to give it back is saying it's okay to steal."

It is difficult to measure how much support Marshall has among GOP activists who will participate in the party's May 31 convention. But whether Marshall might upset Gilmore to face Democratic former governor Mark R. Warner in the fall is less important, Republicans say, than what his nascent success says about the state of the Virginia GOP.

[Norman Bates]

Ping

[muawiyah]

These reporters have no idea how to deal with the tax provisions that were overturned by the court.

First of all, they were not "local taxes". Instead, they covered several localities and were to levied by an unelected entity.

The people had no recourse at the ballot box to get at the people raising the tax.

I think we fought a Revolution over this particular issue ~ and won!

Back then the people assembled as the militia were entitled to shoot the pukes who wanted to levy taxes without representation.

Today they'd jail us for putting holes in Governor Kaine, but if you ever wanted to know how stupid that guy is, he thought to overturn the results of the American Revolution.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

What are both GOP candidates views on both border security and amnesty for illegal immigrants?

[Clintonfatigued]

Bob Marshall sounds like he’s worth a try.

[Norman Bates]

I agree. In most cases I defer to the senior politician but in this case it’s clear Gilmore is not going to beat M.Warner. Time to try something new.

[AuH2ORepublican]

To beat the (inexplicably) popular Mark Warner in the general we need a candidate who will hit him hard on all of his liberal positions and policies, such as Warner’s pro-abortion stance and his proclivity for raising taxes. Sounds to me like Bob Marshall would be more effective than the less-conservative James Gilmore at that, and given the fact that Warner is trouncing Gilmore in the polls I don’t think it’s all that risky to try a new tack. And since Marshall is from Prince William County in the DC suburbs, he can’t be labeled a hayseed by Fairfax Republicans.