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I attended the convention and voted for Marshall just to send a message. Marshall lost by about 80 votes, which really amounted to just a few delegates since they are awarded by county and by the way those delegates who attended voted. In one county with 104 votes, only two delegates showed up and voted for Gilmore. If Marshall had had two delegates or more show up for that county, he could have won.

Mark Warner will probably win anyway, but Gilmore will have a better showing than Marshall in the state election. Gilmore is a former governor and chairman of the RNC. He is a more forceful speaker than Marshall and makes a better visual impression. On the morning of the election, Gilmore circulated his signed no amnesty pledge that was similar to the NumbersUSA pledge signed by Huckabee. Gilmore needs to play the immigration issue hard to distance himself from McCain and Bush and Mark Warner. This will help him in NoVA, which is turning more Democrat.

Gilmore is really pushing the energy issue. He is against cap and trade and is for drilling in ANWAR, unlike Marshall and Mark Warner and John McCain. This is another winner for Gilmore.

The best thing that happened was that VA Delegate Jeff Frederich was selected as the new chairman of the VA GOP. He is young, energetic, and conservative. He will in the long run revitalize this party.