For every elected official, there’s a learning curve to get by. Bill Clinton lost the Congress before he recovered. George W. Bush was a different kettle of fish because of the five-year free pass given to him by the American public because of 9/11. In Virginia, governors have little room for error, being term-limited to one four-year period.

Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell, who campaigned on jobs and the economy, led off his term by stripping statewide legal anti-discrimination protection for gays and lesbians, something that was signed into law at the beginning of former Gov. Tim Kaine’s term. That was bad enough. Then, raging wingnut Atty. Gen. Ken Cuccinelli issued the opinion that homosexuals cannot be protected under state law as it applies to state universities. Really.

Keep in mind that these people were elected statewide in the Old Dominion, known as “the birthplace of presidents,” some of the best public and private universities in the nation and home to some of the country’s top businesses. It would seem to us that Virginia voters went to the polls in favor of jobs and turning around the commonwealth’s economy, not culture war.

Virginia Commonwealth University, where we started our experience in higher learning, had about 1,000 people turn up, spread out between four different forums, to express their complaints and grievances regarding the insanity coming out of the Virginia attorney general’s office.

In sometimes-emotional comments to VCU Provost Stephen D. Gottfredson, students and their teachers described Cuccinelli’s action as a threat that reaches beyond sexual orientation.
“This hits me personally and professionally,“ said Carol Schall, an assistant professor in the School of Education.

The opinion affects more than the gay and lesbian community, she said. “It is about the university’s right to establish its own scholarly community and its right to maintain academic freedom.“

Describing the opinion as “mean-spirited,“ Gottfredson said it was just Cuccinelli’s interpretation of the law. “I personally beg to disagree,“ he said.

Diversity and inclusion are “embedded in the very fiber of VCU,“ he said, and those policies will stand unless the board of visitors acts to change them.

“If VCU did not protect sexual orientation, I wouldn’t have come here,“ said Luke Schlimme, a graduate student in social work who pointed out that diversity protection is required in the code of ethics for his field.

It’s taken a little while, but at least McDonnell realized he fucked up, signing an executive order that bans workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians. This is good news, but it’s still a little too specific. For instance, let’s say you don’t get served at a business because, for whatever reason, the person providing the service knows that you’re gay. You would have no legal recourse.

Think it’s not a big deal? Columbia’s own Maurice Bessinger took a case against him to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to stop the government from forcing him to serve black customers the same as he served whites. Fortunately for justice, Birmingham barbecue joint Ollie’s had already been taken to court by the Federal government and required to serve everyone, regardless of color (the Court used the interstate commerce clause to justify Federal involvement).

Regardless, Virginia residents are stepping up and showing that they will not tolerate officials who feel it’s OK to give free reign to discrimination against an entire group of people. McDonnell may get out of this without a problem, and have a chance to challenge U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in 2014. Cuccinelli, however, has motivated people who didn’t like him already to work to make sure he doesn’t have a good election in 2013.

UPDATE: McDonnell continues to backpedal after being totally owned on the issue.

The controversy — it ignited protests online and on campuses as well as in the General Assembly — threatened to tarnish McDonnell’s fledgling administration; made the state an object of ridicule on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”; and could complicate efforts to lure defense giant Northrop Grumman, which has gay-friendly employee policies, to relocate to Fairfax County from Los Angeles.

“It has caused too much fear and too much uncertainty in the business community and the higher-education establishment and among young people in the commonwealth — and I simply won’t stand for that,” McDonnell told reporters.

Yes, sir. Conducting a gigantic fuck-up that extends to businesses and higher education just might be a mistake when you’re trying to create a job-friendly environment.

Just because you got elected to one term (by law) as the governor of Virginia does not mean you’re hot shit. You may just be a godawful person when it comes to policy, and you got lucky because the electorate was not interested in electing the person from the other party. Why, hello former Va. Gov. Jim Gilmore.

Gilmore was an unmitigated disaster as chief executive of the Old Dominion. Thanks to how he spectacularly fucked up, Democrats won consecutive gubernatorial terms and he got beat by about 2-1 by former Gov. Mark Warner in the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Any conservative organization worth its bank account should know better than to involve itself with this albatross.

But apparently the Free Congress Foundation is totally A-OK with hiring Virginia’s worst governor in over a generation to head up its effort.

Though it bills itself as nonpartisan, the studies that the group published over the past year, on such issues as global warming, stem-cell research, health-care overhaul and the Nobel Peace Prize, have a decidedly anti-Obama slant.

In a letter seeking money for the organization, Gilmore said “our goal will go beyond solely moving the debate in the right direction. We need to move the country in the right direction.”

Reached at his Henrico County home, Gilmore said he no longer practices law and plans to devote most of his time to the group. He will also continue to serve on four corporate boards.

Gilmore was governor from 1998 to 2002. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee for 10 months in 2000-2001. In 2007, he explored seeking the Republican nomination to run for president, but dropped out due to lack of support.

Gilmore ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and lost in a landslide to Democrat Mark R. Warner, who had succeeded Gilmore as governor.

In his fundraising letter, Gilmore said, “there’s no doubt that we need to aggressively respond to the liberal agenda currently dominating the political debate in our country.

“It’s not enough to say that government-run health care, cap-and-trade policies and higher taxes and deficits are the wrong approaches. We need to advocate a positive, conservative agenda that will expand freedom, protect our culture and defend our country from terrorism and other threats.”

If the FCF had any influence before, you can consider that at an end, now. Gilmore is like the inverse King Midas — everything he touches turns to shit.

If you’re involved in public education in this state, Will Folks probably dislikes you greatly (unless you’re superintendent of education candidate Kelly Payne). Or is paid to dislike you greatly. Whatever. All the same to us. His loose cannon on Tuesday fired off to Kershaw County.

The whole “problem” was educators getting raises. FOR SHAME! Look at all those wealthy people in their spats and monocles, twirling their pocket watches, coming out of the classes they teach, and the schools they manage. Yes, we’re rolling our eyes. Because it’s totally absurd.

One of the people he calls a “moron,” is county Superintendent Frank Morgan. We know Dr. Morgan from his days in Virginia. Previously, he was the head of the Goochland County schools. He did a great job at Goochland, and the close-knit community was sad when he left to come to South Carolina. He, unlike Willy Will, is not a moron. Morgan is a man charged with the responsibility of administering a rural, but growing, school district, much like he did in the Old Dominion. And he left a legacy of success in Goochland.

However, he must have had a screw loose to come to a state that has abandoned public education since integration, and has a very small but very vocal crowd that is pumped up by out-of-state cash to destroy public education forever. At least in Virginia, there is a commitment to making sure that children, no matter their financial background or family relations, get a good education.

It doesn’t happen that often anymore, thanks to the inclusion of lethal injection among the options, but a man condemned to death for murder got fried by Virginia’s electric chair on Tuesday. Gov. Tim Kaine, who is against the death penalty (he’s also pro-life, for what it’s worth), declined to stay the execution.

Death-row inmate Larry Bill Elliott was executed last night for the 2001 murder of Dana Thrall of Prince William County.

Elliott, 60, a former Army intelligence officer from Hanover, Md., died in the electric chair at Greensville Correctional Center, about 60 miles south of Richmond. He was pronounced dead at 9:08 p.m. He had met with his family, a spiritual adviser and his lawyers earlier in the day.

Elliott entered the room under the escort of correction officers who attached a metal clasp lined with a moistened sponge to his shaved right calf, affixed a metallic cap lined with a sponge to his shaved head and covered his face with a leather mask.

He was then strapped into the oak chair. In the presence of representatives of the attorney general and state corrections officials, an officer in a side room pushed the “execute button” at 9 p.m., sending 1,800 volts through Elliott’s body for 30 seconds, followed by a 60-second burst of 240 volts.

Elliott’s body tensed at the first surge and again a second time when the cycle was repeated for another 90 seconds. The room was silent.

Five minutes later, a physician entered and put a stethoscope to his chest. He looked up several seconds later at officials in the plain white room and said simply, “9:08.”

Good lord. That’s a full three minutes of juice. The man was probably barbecued. And here we get to the point. On Wednesday’s “Tony Kornheiser Show” on ESPN 980 in DC, a regular emailer sent in his haiku about the situation. It goes like this:

“Virginia justice
Time to fire up ol’ Sparky
Smells like hot dogs”

Believe it or not, South Carolina is the fourth-happiest state in the South. According to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, the Palmetto State is the only trails Virginia, Texas and Georgia in being the happiest state in Dixie. Of all the states in America, Virginia rocks No. 15, Texas shows up at No. 21, Georgia ranks No. 23, while South Carolina comes in at No. 26.

Happiest States in the South
15. Virginia
21. Texas
23. Georgia
26. South Carolina
30. Florida
33. Alabama
34. North Carolina
40. Louisiana
42. Tennessee
46. Arkansas
48. Mississippi
49. Kentucky
50. West Virginia

We’re not making assumptions based on the New Jersey results or the final in NY-23. But, we do know a thing or two about Virginia, and we’re fairly confident that the results in the 2009 elections in Virginia hold as much significance as a dog’s bollocks. Frankly, it comes down to some simple issues.

Mark Warner and Tim Kaine won their elections in 2001 and 2005 by the slimmest of margins. We weren’t in Virginia for the Kaine gubernatorial victory, but we do remember Warner. He was a very centrist candidate — he sponsored a Craftsman Truck Series vehicle, and was endorsed by the Wood Brothers. As well, Warner had name recognition. He had run a high-profile campaign against then-U.S. Sen. John Warner in 1996, while having a shit-ton of self-made money to dump into that race, the same as in his 2001 campaign.

Kaine was lucky enough to piggyback off of Warner. He was beloved as the Richmond mayor, then gained statewide recognition as lieutenant governor. As a pro-life Democrat with the Dem establishment solidly behind him, Kaine was in a great place to take on a Republican challenger in 2005.

Sen. Creigh Deeds did not have any of these advantages. Despite his 2005 run for attorney general, Deeds was not widely-known, and didn’t have the voter-rich constituency that Kaine had nor the connections with business and money that Warner had. The Virginia race could have been called two months ago.

Of course, a lot of conservatives are losing their shit about the wins in Virginia. To us, though, it’s not all that surprising. Barack Obama won the Old Dominion in the Electoral College because of very motivated Democrats, and especially very motivated black Democrats. It’s like a big win by an underdog in college football. Forgive us, but this is of what we think. In 2007, Alabama beat the total dogshit out of Tennessee. It was beautiful. However, the Crimson Tide went 0-for-November, including losing to UL-Monroe.

Obama winning Virginia in 2008 was like Bama taking out the Vols in 2007. It was a big win, and should have been left at that. Just because someone takes home a big win doesn’t mean that it’s the start of a trend. Virginia has been a conservative state for some time. Governor-elect Bob McDonnell ran a great race and capitalized where he should have and won a solid victory. Anything less would be something to worry about for the GOP.

Like Columbia, there was a minor league baseball team in Richmond, Va. until irresponsible city officials let the team take off. What’s worse about Richmond’s situation is that the team was the AAA Richmond Braves, where you could often see Atlanta’s next stars just before the leap to the majors. We saw Ryan Klesko hit home runs in both halves of a doubleheader, and met Francisco Cabrera before they moved to the Show and helped the Braves on their amazing run of NL East dominance.

And, like here, there had been talk of a new, nice stadium by the river. But, then-Mayor Doug Wilder bollixed it up to the last, and the next thing you know, there’s no team anymore.

But, Virginians love them some baseball and RVA is getting a new team — unfortunately, not a new stadium, yet. It’s a AA-level squad, in the Eastern League, which makes Richmond the Southern-most team. It’ll be a part of the San Francisco Giants organization. For a while, the team ran a name contest. The finalists had names like the Flatheads, Rhinos and Rock Hoppers. The name that won, you guessed it, is “the Flying Squirrels.” Our family has had enough issues with Richmond and squirrels of an animal and a banker variety, but that’s another story for another day.

So, Richmond, congratulations. You can now go to that concrete monstrosity-by-the-Interstate and watch your Flying Squirrels. The Times-Dispatch is already having fun with it, written by a person we’re going to have to call bizarro John O’Connor. The fact that there are two John O’Connors writing for mid-size Southern newspapers about six hours away from each other is just too weird. Regardless, the RT-D would like to know what the logo will look like.

Muscular squirrel? Baby squirrel? Angry squirrel? Cuddly squirrel? Squirrel with a bat? Squirrel with a tat? Squirrel with eye black? Squirrel with a nut snack? Squirrels with a curl? Squirrel named Earl? Squirrel soaring over the James River? Squirrel sliding into home?

Ahem. Yes, that was “nut snack.”

Because Richmond doesn’t have a large venue worth a damn to host an arena-rock show, U2 played at Virginia’s Scott Stadium recently, which is the most excitement that place has had since the Cavaliers were ranked No. 1 about 19 years ago (bonus trivia — name the starting quarterback, top wide receiver and type of turf on the field for that UVa squad).

WR correspondent Cam took in the concert, and she offered this dispatch:

Bono was not at his best. He spent a couple of minutes thanking the other guys in the band for allowing him to continue with them and he should have! He sounded really tired and very low energy on a few of the songs they performed. Compared with [the] Rolling Stones [concert] a few years ago, Bono’s performance was slow and quiet.

[The] Edge was great and even sang on one song really well. I was asking, “Why do they need Bono anyway?” He has no real talent except for the high energy and attitude that used to come with his performance, which is not there now. We had to endure about 30 minutes or so of his political human rights preaching, which I pretty much agree with, but it’s not what I paid $100 to hear. They used to put such messages into their music, and that’s OK by me, and if they want to do such preaching at a political/social/human rights conference, then that’s OK too. However, I paid to hear their music, not to hear a pathetic worn-out old rock star drone on about what’s going on in Iran, Burma, etc.

Bono could have ruined the concert, and probably would have if not for the strong talent of his band and the amazing production that comes with a mega-rock group performance. It was an amazing stage with all kinds of lights and smoke and the screen changed with almost every song, with cameras on track all around the stage and projected on the rotating screen, you missed nothing of the performance. We knew we were going to be up high, so we also had binoculars so we could zoom in and see stuff too. It was really great to be up high for that concert, because you got to see the big picture that would have been missed if viewing it from below.

Regarding Muse:
Muse was great, by the way. They were really high energy and gave a good 45-minute performance. They’re headliners on their own sold-out European tour now.

It’s not a good thing when your marketing strategy is discovered as AstroTurf — the derogatory phrase used in political circles for “fake grassroots.” The actual AstroTurf sucked more, because it was green fabric covering cement (which we blame for Alabama’s 1996 loss to Florida in the SEC Championship Game), but the group American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity went to work and AstroTurfed the shit out of Virginia elected officials.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, reprinting a story from parent firm Media General, wrote:

The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity said its longtime grass-roots contractor, the Hawthorn Group, hired Bonner & Associates to do “limited outreach” in opposition to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the cap-and-trade bill.

Stephen L. Miller, president of Alexandria-based ACCCE, apologized and said he was “outraged” that bogus letters sent to members of Congress originated at Bonner.

“There is no place for this type of deception,” he said.

Bonner & Associates has blamed the letters on a temporary employee who the company said was fired after it discovered the forgeries.

U.S. Reps. Katherine A. Dahlkemper and Christopher P. Carney, both Democrats from Pennsylvania, also received falsified letters that originated at Bonner, the coal industry group said.

Perriello voted in favor of the energy bill, but Carney and Dahlkemper voted against it.

Perriello’s office discovered six phony letters, one forged to look as though it came from Charlottesville-based Hispanic group Creciendo Juntos and the other five forged to appear as if they originated with the Albemarle-Charlottesville chapter of the NAACP.

The letters, sent on fake letterheads and signed by nonexistent people, urged Perriello to oppose the landmark piece of clean-energy legislation to prevent higher electricity bills.

Jessica Barba, Perriello’s press secretary, said yesterday that two other letters were forged to appear as if they had been sent by the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, a Charlottesville agency, and the American Association of University Women.

In a background document sent to reporters, the ACCCE said Bonner and Associates’ internal process identified the false letters and, “it was Mr. Bonner who first brought this to the attention of the Hawthorn Group…. It was only by reading last Friday’s media accounts that we learned that these matters had not been satisfactorily resolved.”

Lazy. That’s all this was. If you’ve done your job as a special-interest organization, you have contacts you can call on to write letters to the editor. We think coal is a dirty energy source, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a considerable amount of people out there who can write effective 300-word missives in support of coal-powered power plants.

These emails remind us of the bullshit “school choice” emails sent to The State by “Dennis Sinned,” a silly palindromic moniker that was attached to LTEs sent to S.C. papers by then-South Carolinians for Responsible Government executive director Todd McCauley. The imbecile was replaced after his gambit became public.

When you don’t trust the public to trust you, you’re not going to come out on top, no matter what nefarious means you employ. This is just another example.

In Virginia, Former Atty. Gen. Bob McDonnell holds the fundraising advantage on Sen. Creigh Deeds. As it stands, the Republican nominee has about $2.22 million more, at $4.92 million, while Deeds has $2.7 million on hand. The discrepancy can be directly attributed to the Democrat’s bruising three-way primary fight, which, according to his campaign, left him broke.

With McDonnell being uncontested, his campaign could accumulate its money on a regular basis without having any reason to do any spending early. However, spin control was in order.

“Despite the fact that we were on television for over half of the period, we maintain a nearly two-to-one cash advantage over our opponent,” McDonnell campaign manager Phil Cox said to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Since Deeds had to go into overtime to raise money after the primary, he was certainly able to, bringing in $3.4 million in a month. During the same time, McDonnell raised $1.8 million.

Deeds received $500,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and $400,000 from the Democratic Governors Association during the most recent period.

Deeds said he has received money from such contributors as U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, $25,000; $35,000 from Austin Ligon of Goochland County, former chairman of CarMax; $10,000 each from Norfolk businessmen David Goode and Josh Darden; and $5,000 from John T. “Til” Hazel, a Northern Virginia developer and a former GOP contributor.

McDonnell listed contributions of $25,000 or more from J. Douglas Perry of Norfolk, a retired retailer; Dwight Schaubach of Norfolk, a construction executive; Richard Gilliam of Albemarle County and Marvin Gilliam Jr. of Bristol, executives of Cumberland Resource Group; W.M. Jordan Co. of Newport News, a general contractor; Altria Client Services of Henrico County, the tobacco company; and Joseph Luter III of Smithfield Foods.