August 8, 2005 [LINK]

Republican Hog Fest in Staunton

The local Republican party held a huge outdoor barbecue-rally this evening at Shenandoah Harley Davidson, which just opened a few months ago. On the podium, from left to right: George Allen, Marty Kilgore (wife of Jerry), Bill Bolling, Chris Saxman, The owner of Shenandoah Harley-Davidson [?], John Warner, Steve Landes, Ben Cline, Bob Goodlatte. In back is Speaker Morgan Griffith. Local party member Chris Green was busy selling T-shirts showing George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and all the other U.S. presidents from Virginia, including a possible future one: George Allen. Senator Allen grinned in a non-committal way when he was presented with one of the shirts. See freedomgear.com (WARNING: highly partisan humor! ) For more photos of the event, see swacgop.org.

Social liberalism and social conservatism

Guest blogging for Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, centrist Michael Totten explains why the Democrats are very unlikely to adapt to socio-political circumstances in this country in time to win the 2006 elections, or even the 2008 elections. Quoting Rick Heller, he says that "social liberalism is the core value of the Democratic Party right now." Changing that any time soon is very unlikely. A fifty-cent hike in gas prices might make a difference, however. Spot prices for crude oil have soared to $62 per barrel.