Former Governor Jim Gilmore and State Delegate Bob Marshall battle it out at the state GOP convention in Richmond – the winner gets to take on Dem Mark Warner to replace U.S. Senator John Warner. Gilmore is in the role of Goliath, but Underdog Bob is pretty accomplished with the political sling and the policy rock. He’s principled, pro-life, and populist (while Tom Davis and his brand of Republicans have been sucking wind in northern Va., the election day numbers for Bob, who represents Manassas, have been growing annually). He’s also a very deft legislator / politician. F’reggzample: from Day One he fought the crazy, voter-detested “Abusive Driver” tax legislation, and after it passed (over his diligent efforts), Bob led the legal fight to kill it (the VA Supreme Court declared the scheme unconstitutional this February).
What’s the support of National Review’s publisher worth? Yes, a club soda on an NR cruise. But whatever its worth, I hope it helps: I’m backing Bob Marshall, and I hope to heck he wins tomorrow and in November to become the Commonwealth’s next senator.