Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, June 25. Also, it’s officially the end of an era (or “error,” depending on your point of view – lol) with Ben Tribbett shutting down the unique, trailblazing blog, “Not Larry Sabato.” I remember when the blog started, before people knew Ben was writing it, how everyone was in a frenzy trying to guess who was behind it. The consensus seemed to be that it MUST be one or more of the top political reporters in the state to produce content so well sourced and obviously so knowledgeable about Virginia politics (including plenty of analysis, but also lots of “gossip and scandal”). And, of course, whatever else you thought of NLS, it had some of the best number-crunching around at the state level (or national level, for that matter) in the pre-“538” days. Finally, NLS was where the “macaca” story broke (note: the entire story, in blow-by-blow detail, is in Nate Wilcox’s and my book, Netroots Rising), even if the Webb campaign didn’t want it to break there. In the end it worked out just fine…with George Allen losing to Jim Webb and Democrats taking back the U.S. Senate. So, sure, Ben broke the rules, but you can’t argue with the results! 🙂
*Cochran beats tea party rival in Miss. nail-biter (Yet another loss for Ken Cuccinelli, who endorsed Cochran’s crazy Teahadist opponent. LOL)
*Thad Cochran Escapes Bitter Tea Party in Mississippi (Definitely not “sweet tea!”)
*Brown, Hogan win in Maryland (Congratulations to MD’s almost-certain next Governor Anthony Brown!)
*Rangel declares victory in tightly contested rematch (Too bad, he really needs to go at this point.)
*‘She’d Probably Get Shot at the State Line’ (Arkansas “local district chairman says there’s no love for Hillary in the Natural State.”)
*What To Watch Out For In The Supreme Court’s Big Remaining Cases
*Network Sunday Shows Ignore Capture Of Benghazi Suspect
*Wash. Post Debunks Fox’s Claim Linking GOP Letter To Crashed IRS Computer
*Prominent Republican Lawyer Says Ted Cruz Sounds Like A Racist
*Jeff Schapiro: Of politics and a brewing court fight (“Lost in the huffing and puffing over the application of the Virginia constitution, state law and legislative rules to the further expansion of Obamacare: The state courts, while an independent branch of government, are an arm of the General Assembly – a Republican-dominated General Assembly.”)
*Elections board rethinks allowing expired IDs
*Prosecutors rip McDonnell on expert witnesses
*Capitol police gave House clerks access to governor’s office (“Father’s Day budget delivery to the governor’s secure suite of offices prompts protests from the administration, which alleged an ‘unacceptable’ security breach.”)
*Partisan squabbling puts brakes on budget (Here we go with one of the corporate media’s favorite, albeit totally lame, phrases to describe when the Republicans are overwhelmingly at fault: “partisan squabbling.” It goes along with “both sides,” “dysfunctional legislature,” etc. as phrases that should be banned from the English language until newspapers learn how to use them properly.)
*Warner and Gillespie debate next month (“The two have agreed to square off at the Virginia Bar Association’s summer meeting at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs – a few miles over the state line.”)
*Our view: Reading more tea leaves in Eric Cantor’s upset (“The point being: Redistricting matters. Even when a safe seat for one party is made even safer.”)
*Virginia governor McAuliffe awaits Medicaid expansion plan from Hazel (“Gov. Terry McAuliffe is not stopping in his efforts to expand Medicaid.”)
*McAuliffe to visit China, including parent of Chesterfield paper company
*Dismissed: Recall effort against Delgaudio tossed out (The answer: vote this bigoted freakazoid out of office at the next possible opportunity.)
*UVa student urges Virginia officials to broaden health care coverage
*Local ship prepares to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons
*EPA fines Roanoke chemical company $612,000
*Sea level rise conference set for Norfolk
*Arlington board chair pushes streetcar gospel at speech
*Ryan Zimmerman’s homer in 16th inning caps the longest game in Nationals’ history
*Storm chances and higher humidity are here today, gone tomorrow
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