You might know the GOP, Noonan but I know the Commonwealth and if there is one thing for which I am certain of is that General Opus Dei will never be a senator from the Commonwealth. Can you hear Dixie playing in the background? This points me to one of the glaring rifts in the GOP. Do I really need to say it? The men in the gray suits, those powerful Baptists and Methodists who still pick GOP candidates would have no parts of him. As the boys in the back room smoking cigars and drinking bourbon after the convention next year when the send Gilmore forth would say, "Nassuh it ain't right but it damn sho' is so!" Now were Pace to run as a Democrat . . . see Tim Kaine.

To call Senator Warner gutless is like calling US Grant a drunk. Shame on you! The reason your party is coming apart at the seams Noonan is just that sort of blind loyalty to the party before country at any cost drumbeating. If the protestant Right flees and chooses Huckabee your party is not only split in 2008 it is destroyed because the repercussions of this loss [some here see the Democrats coming out of such an election with their 60 seat majority in the Senate and adding ten to twenty seats to their majority in the House. This is a best case scenario.] will reverberate into the 2010 midterms with the third party energized by its performance in 2008 at the top of the ticket will run anti abortion state's rights low tax unashamed Christian values candidates all over the South and Midwest where they can win. Take me on my word by 2012 if that's the case the GOP [big pharma, iraq war, terror fear, run on 9/11, big oil, bush legacy] will be the smallest of the three parties in Congress.

I had to laugh when I saw the banner on the NRO site that said "help us stop Hillary." The only way that's going to happen is by smearing her with facts [a serious scandal that goes deeper than bundler money or some sex dalliance in her youth but real corruption or deviance within the cone of her tenure in the White House and Senate]and if Rudy is the nominee that will only backfire. The only other way is to play “Politics for Keeps” to quote G. Gordon Liddy, as they used to in the 1960s. See Bobby K and John F K for references. But the Masters of the GOP do not have the stomach for that kind of vote anymore do they?

He'll be facing Mark Warner, an extremely popular ex-governor. Your quick condemnation of John Warner, a courtly, very popular Virginia gentleman, who has served his state with dignity for over a quarter of a century, shows how limited your understanding of Virginia politics really is.

With his close association with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld General Pace should stand about as much of a chance as Ollie North did in his ill-fated race for the Senate. The war in Iraq is as unpopular in Virginia as it is in the rest of the country, and Pace's run will just remind voters of the fact that we are still there after 5 years, with no end in sight. But go ahead, wingnuts run him in '08! LMAO

I think General Peter Pace would be an excellent candidate and one of the few who could actually beat Gov Mark Warner. I hope he gets drafted for the job.

Mark Noonan,
Interesting post.
1) you display complete ignorance of Virginian politics.
2) You call him 'Gutless Warner'.....

January 1945, at age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served on active duty until the summer of 1946 when he was honorably discharged as Petty Officer 3rd Class, electronic technician's mate.

...outbreak of the Korean War in the summer of 1950, Warner interrupted his law studies and commenced a second tour of active military duty, beginning in October 1950, this time as an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

....A year later, in October 1951, as a first lieutenant in communications, he volunteered for duty in Korea and served as a ground officer with the First Marine Air Wing.

.....Following his active service in Korea, he remained in the Marine Corps Reserve for 10 years and was promoted to the rank of Captain.

Like I said...you display a complete lack of respect towards a conservative, accomplished, military officer.

Guys like you are the Democrats best friend. You are splitting the GOP.

steve,

Military service isn't proof of courage - acting bravely is the only proof of courage, and Warner has shied away from every fight since he took office...he just wants to be popular with the elite, and so he is...and when he leaves office, he'll be forgotten in a week.

General Pace would make an excellent Senator!!!
:)

Not so. He took on the RNC and refused to endorse Oliver North for the US Senate because of his illegal involvement in Iran-Contra. When they withdrew their support in retaliation, Sen Warner ran for reelection without them, and won handily because of his great relationship with the people of Virginia. He also took on the president and the majority of his party in calling for at least the first step in withdrawing forces from Iraq.

Perhaps you think he's gutless because he's not partisan enough for you or because he doesn't fight dirty. That's the same reason he's respected by so many in the Senate and in his home state. Peter Pace has had his lips pressed to the butts of former Sec Def Rumsfeld and President Bush for years. He let politics override military concerns and often presented falsely optimiistic reports to Congress. For that reason and also because his confirmation would have been an uphill battle, Gates replaced him.He also had a clear anti-gay bias, expressing personal religious views that were inappropriate for his position on several occasions. Those are also the same reasons that he would be a dismal failure as a Senator.

"he'll be forgotten in a week."

Mark,
Your ignorance of Virginia and Virginia politics is comical. Why do you make such inane and foolish comments on a subject which you have absolutely no knowledge of?

I know nothing of Nevada politics, so I do not pretend to make comments concerning whether a politician will be forgotten in a week.

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"acting bravely is the only proof of courage"

Interesting comment. I watched my mother die a painful death from pancreatic cancer. She was terrified of dying and was in pain until the very end. Funny...she didnt act bravely, yet she was the most courageous person I have ever known.
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It is comical watching our GOP split because of people like you. The second a politician or soldier disagrees with you or the rest of the people on this forum...you immediately call them cowards, RINO's, etc.

People like you are the Democrats greatest friend.

I know John Warner. He's the first to tell you he's not a combat vet. But actually, thats irrelevant. He was a Marine, in Korea, and could well have seen combat. It's not like he shied away from it.

But as far as his votes go. I've disagreed with him for years and I've told him so. I disagreed with his opposition to North, and he's wrong on gun control. I even wrote him especially to let him know he wasn't welcome at my son's Eagle Court of Honor.

Our Patriotic tought guy leaders....

* Dick Cheney: did not serve. Several deferments, the last by marriage.

George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty.

* Karl Rove: did not serve.
* Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve.
* Richard Perle: did not serve.
* Douglas Feith: did not serve.
* Eliot Abrams: did not serve.

versus "I voluntarily served twice" Captain Sen. Warner

Noonan you are so ridiculus its not even funny anymore (with cheerleaders like you its no wonder GOP membership has dropped almost 20%)