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Our most recent rating of Republican presidential contenders features a top tier of three notably different candidates: A Midwestern governor (Scott Walker) who is known best by the activists who will help decide the nomination; a leading national figure (Chris Christie) who has irked conservatives; and a firebrand senator (Rand Paul) with devoted supporters who would shake up the party’s platform and, perhaps, identity.Chart 1: Updated Crystal Ball Republican presidential rankings First Tier Candidate Key Advantages Key Disadvantages Since Last Update Scott WalkerGovernor, WI •Midwest GOP gov. in Obama state •Heroic conservative credentials •Shown political durability •Too bland? Next Pawlenty?...

Dear Fellow Republican: I'm writing to ask for your support for the Republican nomination to defeat Senator Mark Warner in next year's election. Senator Warner's 100 percent pro-Obama voting record - support for ObamaCare, Cap and Trade, Dodd-Frank, Amnesty for Illegal Aliens, Gun Control, unrestricted abortion, higher taxes, weakness on defense, and the assault on our Constitutional Freedoms - does not represent Virginia values. People say that Mark Warner's warchest and alleged "popularity" makes him "safe" - I don't buy that. I know that a strong conservative opponent who draws a line in the sand and stands up for what...

Friend -- Last week, Senator Warner emailed you in order to solicit your help in the fight for marriage equality, and I wanted to follow up real quick. The Supreme Court is currently deliberating on the constitutionality of DOMA, a discriminatory federal law that that denies same-sex couples legal rights like access to their spouse’s Social Security and insurance survivor benefits. As Senator Warner said, “That’s just wrong. All married couples should be entitled to the same legal rights – regardless of sexual orientation.” It’s critical we make our voices heard before the Court issues its ruling in June. Will...

I’m writing to ask for your help on an issue that has gotten a lot of attention recently: marriage equality. Even though many states now recognize the rights of committed same-sex couples to marry, the federal government continues to discriminate. Same-sex couples are denied all sorts of legal rights – like access to their spouse’s insurance benefits and Social Security survivor benefits – because of an outdated law called DOMA. That’s just wrong. All married couples should be entitled to the same legal rights – regardless of sexual orientation. The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments challenging the Constitutionality of...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com - Obama’s Benghazi PropagandistPosted By Matthew Vadum On May 8, 2013 @ 12:56 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 4 Comments A young White House speechwriter may be responsible for concocting the official lies about last September’s deadly terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.The Obama administration’s rapidly unravelling narrative about what happened at the U.S. consulate in Libya’s second-largest city may have been cooked up by creative writer Ben Rhodes, the president’s 30-something Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting.The origin of the administration’s desperate election-season fabrications may come up today as a congressional committee...

Just one day after the Boston Marathon bombings, Sen. Mark Warner said fiscal troubles hamstringing the nation are a greater threat to Americans’ well-being than terrorism. “In my mind, with the tragedy of yesterday, the issue of this national debt is a greater threat to our nation and our future than any terrorist action,” the Virginia Democrat told an audience at an awards dinner in Washington Tuesday night, Politico reported. “We will not be destroyed from the outside.” …

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia on Monday announced his support for gay marriage, making him the latest high-profile politician to state publicly that his opinion on the issue had changed. "I support marriage equality because it is the fair and right thing to do. Like many Virginians and Americans, my views on gay marriage have evolved, and this is the inevitable extension of my efforts to promote equality and opportunity for everyone," he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page, noting that he signed an amicus brief urging the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which...

By our count - and the day is still young - four Democratic U.S. senators have flipped on gay marriage in the past few days. Senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Mark Begich, D-Alaska - have joined Senators Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Mark Warner, D-Va., in renouncing their previous opposition to gay marriage, just since Sunday. They follow, of course, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio - still the only Republican senator to endorse gay marriage - to flip as the Supreme Court takes up the issue today and tomorrow.

U.S. Congress Files DOMA Brief Senators Mark Warner & Tim Kaine Last Friday, 212 members of Congress signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act. The brief also includes 25 members who voted for DOMA back in 1996. “Some States still criminalized same-sex relationships, inviting further discrimination against gay men and lesbians in employment, family relations, and housing,” the brief says. “…As a result, when the question of same-sex marriage arose in 1996, reflexive beliefs and discomfort about same-sex relationships dominated congressional debate. From our perspective—including those of us who voted for...

Why people call Mark Warner “Slick Mark” and “Bill Clinton with a bank account.” Here are a few facts that you and most of our Virginia friends, neighbors, co-workers and family haven’t heard about Mark Warner (but really need to before November 6th). He grew up in Connecticut, and, no, he is not just a “good ‘ol boy,” from Franklin County though he does like to rent their blue grass bands for his political campaign in order to give that appearance. He’s also been known to partly sponsor a NASCAR truck racing team (one team for only 2 races earlier ...

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has an A rating from the National Rifle Association — and a new perspective on gun control since Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. “I‘ve been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights,” Warner said Monday outside the Virginia Capitol, where he was attending an unrelated meeting. “I’ve got an A rating from the NRA. But the status quo isn’t acceptable. I’ve got three daughters. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at...

Michelle Obama will address Virginia Tech graduates at the 2012 commencement ceremony on May 11 at Lane Stadium. Mrs. Obama joins U.S. Sen. Mark Warner as commencement speaker. Both will deliver commencement addresses. This is the first time a first lady has addressed a Virginia Tech commencement, according to Tech's morning news release. Mrs. Obama will speak at three college graduation ceremonies this spring, including two in key general election battleground states. Her first commencement address will be at Tech. The White House says the first lady has been inspired by the school's resiliency following the deadly 2007 campus shootings....

Dem Keystone support creates tougher fight for Reid, ObamaBy Alexander Bolton - 12/16/11 04:08 PM ET Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting, given support within his caucus for the project. GOP leaders have made clear to Reid that they will not approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday unless it includes language to speed up construction of the pipeline. Senate Republicans estimate as many as 14 Senate Democrats support the project. Labor unions have also voiced strong backing, complicating...

On September 25, the 23rd Arab-American Candidates’ Night Dinner was held in Virginia, attended by 46 Democrats and Republicans seeking office, with former governor and current Democratic Senate candidate, Tim Kaine, as a major speaker. The dinner honored a top Muslim Brotherhood official affiliated with Hamas named Jamal Barzinji, an inconvenient and overlooked fact for Kaine’s campaign team. Tim Kaine was the governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010 and then was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He was on the short-list to become President Obama’s running mate. He is now running for Senate and will likely face...

RICHMOND — Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said he might run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, possibly setting up a race against one of Virginia’s most popular politicians, Democrat Mark R. Warner. Cuccinelli, who garnered national attention for suing the federal government over the new health-care law, had said he would run for reelection or governor in 2013. But in an interview with The Washington Post, he said for the first time that he could instead run for the Senate. In the interview, he accused Warner — a former governor who has expressed frustrations with the workings of...

The idea of such a bank has been around since the 1990s but has never gained significant attention until now. In March a bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate that gained the support of the US Chamber of Commerce, America’s leading business lobby, and the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labor federation — two groups on opposite sides of most debates. The BUILD Act, proposed by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Kay Hutchinson, R-Texas, and Mark Warner, D-Va., would create a national infrastructure bank that would provide loans and loan guarantees to encourage private investment in upgrading America’s infrastructure. There are...

Of the early potential Democratic contenders, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley says he supports gay marriage but stopped short of making a major push for the legislation earlier in the year, while Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is opposed. Hillary Clinton, if she runs, would still have her commitment to civil unions but not gay marriage from the 2008 race hanging over her — and at least until the end of next year, when she’s said she’ll be done at the State Department, she won’t be able to make any new comments on the issue. “It gives him an authenticity and a...

There is no gray area. Either members of Congress are liars or they are too stupid to serve in government. Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA) says: “The facts have consistently shown that President Obama was born in the United States. As a natural-born American citizen, he is fully eligible to serve as President of our country.” Anwar al-Awlaki was born on April 22, 1971 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He is an Islamic spiritual leader and an imam who has encouraged Islamic terrorism against the West. He is a senior talent recruiter and motivator, who has also become “operational” as...

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said Wednesday that he agrees with Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) in opposing President Obama's decision to restrict oil and gas drilling off the coast of Virginia for the next seven years. "Mid-Atlantic coastal oil and gas production does not represent a 'silver bullet' solution to our energy challenges, and while it is appropriate to take the time to incorporate lessons learned from the Gulf disaster, Senator Warner sees no reason to delay this process for what realistically could be another seven years or more,'' Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said. McDonnell is calling for the White House...