VA-ALERT: Action Item: Senate needs new leadership!

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OK folks, if you live, work, or go to school in Virginia, click http://tinyurl.com/yv8494 and enter your name and your Virginia address!

Last weeks election has made both the Democratic and Republic Senate causes MORE PRO GUN!

Your massed email fires using the reflector will above will help both caucuses do the right thing and choose pro-gun leaderships who will then pick committee chairs which ultmately influence the fate of our pro-gun bills for years to come.

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VA-ALERT: Action Item: Senate needs new leadership! [Sent on Nov. 16, 2007]

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VCDL's Gun Dealer Legal Defense Fund -- help fight Mayor Bloomberg's
scheme to cripple Virginia firearms dealers. See:
http://www.vcdl.org/index.html#DefenseFund
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
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The election may be over, but the real action to make the Virginia
Senate pro-gun has just begun!

As reported on Wednesday in the Richmond Times Dispatch,
"Conservative Republicans in the Virginia Senate are plotting a
leadership coup, blaming moderate bosses."

(See full article, below, AFTER you accomplish the ACTION ITEM.)

The election showed generally that being very pro-gun helped
candidates, and being very anti-gun hurt candidates.

VCDL has been crunching the numbers for days and our analysis is that
both the respective Republican and Democratic caucuses IN THE SENATE
are now more pro-gun than they were before the election.

And it's the Senate which has been the graveyard of many pro-gun
bills for the last 2 years!

Here's how the cookie crumbles for all newly elected or removed
Senators where a 1 means the person is more pro-gun than the
pre-election caucus was on average, a 0 means the person is likely to
mirror the average view of pre-election caucus members on
average, and a -1 means the person is more anti gun that the
pre-election caucus; for removed or retired Senators, we reverse
the sign correspondingly.

Republicans
Devolites Davis (loss): +1
Williams (loss in primary): +1
Rerras (loss): 0
Bell (retirement): -1
Smith (win): +1
O'Brien (loss): -1
Chichester (retirement): +1
Stuart (win): 0
Vogel (win): +1
Potts (retirement): +1
---------------
SUM = +4 (this is actually a conservative estimate of shift of
opinion on gun rights - we could easily weigh Devolites Davis's loss,
and Vogel's win, as a +2 each)

Democrats
Petersen (win): +1
Miller (win): +1
Northam (win): +1
Barker (win): 0
--------------
SUM = +3

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ACTION ITEM:

Click the link below and fill in your name and address to tell your
Senator or your Senator elect that you want his or her caucus
leadership REPLACED with pro-gun leaders!

http://tinyurl.com/yv8494

Your message will be sent to your Senator or Senator elect
automatically - no need to find his or her email address!

This is VERY, VERY important that everybody does this ASAP to make
the Virginia Senate more pro-gun! If we have pro-gun Democrats like
Creigh Deeds and pro-gun Republicans like Ken Cuccinelli in charge of
the Senate party caucuses, we WILL be able to advance your gun rights
in the coming years!

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http://tinyurl.com/2tzm99

Conservatives in Va. Senate target Stosch
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007 - 12:08 AM
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Conservative Republicans in the Virginia Senate are plotting a
leadership coup, blaming moderate bosses -- among them, a veteran
Henrico County lawmaker -- for the Democratic takeover.

"The party needs new leadership -- from the very top to the very
bottom," said Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax.

"There will be a leadership challenge in the Senate, [and] the
details of that need to be worked out. If you're in the current
leadership, what's the rationale for staying there?

The top target of conservatives is Senate Republican Leader Walter A.
Stosch, R-Henrico, who this week apparently started soliciting
support for another term as head of the GOP caucus.

In a letter to fellow Republicans, Stosch said his goal is to unite
the reduced GOP ranks into a "finely tuned team." He also said
Republicans will remain "spokesmen for both families and business."

Cuccinelli, whose 92-vote re-election margin is headed for a recount,
did not rule out the possibility that he would oppose Stosch. Sen.
Stephen D. Newman, R-Lynchburg, also is mentioned as a potential
challenger.

Republicans this month lost the Senate after a decade, slipping from
a 23-17 advantage. When the General Assembly convenes in January,
Democrats will control the Senate, 21-19.

Conservative Republicans increased their numbers within the Senate
caucus, picking up a seat in the Roanoke area and another in the
Winchester area. But it's not clear if they can muster the 10 votes
necessary to tip the leadership elections.

The Republican caucus will meet this month to fill four positions:
leader, the job currently held by Stosch; whip, a GOP president pro
tempore, or vice-leader, and chairman.

-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org
***************************************************************************

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The DC Examiner today is now the 3dnews item in 2 days on the Senate leadership issue today:

http://tinyurl.com/2ddpem:

Two conservative Northern Virginia Republican lawmakers plan to challenge the GOP leadership in the General Assembly, saying the Democrats’ victory in the Senate demands change.


The Republicans’ loss of four seats and the party's majority in the state Senate and four seats in the House of Delegates revealed a weakness at the top, Sen. Ken Cuccinelli and Del. Bob Marshall told The Examiner Thursday.

“I think this party needs new leadership from top to bottom,” said Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax.

He plans to be part of a challenge at the leadership elections Nov. 26 against current Senate Majority Leader Walter Stosh

There should be a challenge Nov. 26 against Senate Majority Leader Walter Stosch for the minority leader position next year, Cuccinelli said, noting he could be the opposing candidate.

“They’ve been more inclined to make war with Republicans than with Democrats,” he said.

Marshall, R-Prince William, proposed a similar upheaval in the House of Delegates, saying the discussion itself will remind Republican leaders to focus on the party's core values.

“You can't say we're opposed to taxes and you can't say we're for cutting spending, because we haven't done that,” Marshall said. “We’ve lost our political label.”

But members in both houses are expected to stick with the current chiefs, leadership aides said.

“As people took each other's temperature, we didn’t see any fever,” said Scott Leake, a political adviser to the Senate leadership, referring to Senate meetings Thursday. “I think there is broad consensus for what they have been doing.”

Informal checking among delegates also shows House Speaker William Howell has the support to remain in the position, said G. Paul Nardo, Howell's chief of staff.

“We’ve been talking to people and we know we have a majority of the caucus with us,” Nardo

said.

The unrest Marshall and Cuccinelli are exhibiting demonstrates some feeling the Republican

General Assembly has not adhered strongly enough to its principles.

John Taylor, leader of the Gainesville-based Virginia Institute, a center-right think tank, approved of trying to oust Howell.

“I don’t know of any Democrat in the last four years who has done as much to help the interests of Democrats at Speaker Howell,” Taylor said. “If Republicans vote him back in, how seriously should we take them? It’s a joke.”

Examiner Staff Writer Joe Rogalsky contributed to this story.

--

here was the first news item:


http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.PrintView.-content-articles-RTD-2007-11-14-0085.html


Conservatives in Va. Senate target Stosch
Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007 - 12:08 AM
By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Conservative Republicans in the Virginia Senate are plotting a leadership
coup, blaming moderate bosses -- among them, a veteran Henrico County lawmaker
-- for the Democratic takeover.

"The party needs new leadership -- from the very top to the very bottom,"
said Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax.
"There will be a leadership challenge in the Senate, [and] the details of
that need to be worked out. If you're in the current leadership, what's the
rationale for staying there?

The top target of conservatives is Senate Republican Leader Walter A. Stosch,
R-Henrico, who this week apparently started soliciting support for another
term as head of the GOP caucus.
In a letter to fellow Republicans, Stosch said his goal is to unite the
reduced GOP ranks into a "finely tuned team." He also said Republicans will
remain "spokesmen for both families and business."

Cuccinelli, whose 92-vote re-election margin is headed for a recount, did not
rule out the possibility that he would oppose Stosch. Sen. Stephen D.
Newman, R-Lynchburg, also is mentioned as a potential challenger.
Republicans this month lost the Senate after a decade, slipping from a 23-17
advantage. When the General Assembly convenes in January, Democrats will
control the Senate, 21-19.

Conservative Republicans increased their numbers within the Senate caucus,
picking up a seat in the Roanoke area and another in the Winchester area. But
it's not clear if they can muster the 10 votes necessary to tip the leadership
elections.

The Republican caucus will meet this month to fill four positions: leader,
the job currently held by Stosch; whip, a GOP president pro tempore, or
vice-leader, and chairman.

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I sent my info in. Got it in the Alert.

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Sent it.

2nd Amendment......Use it........Or, lose it!!:X

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Just hit send button.
Yata hey