• By essays from the entry 'McDonnell urges a fast-track to the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrats blast Cuccinelli'
• By Nealo from the entry 'McDonnell to call for hushed rhetoric'
• By Jon Wong from the entry 'Reax to Governor's Proposed Budget Amendments'
• By Stafford from the entry 'Radtke: Reject debt ceiling increase'
• By OldCavalier from the entry 'Hurt, Griffith considering debt limit vote'
• By Varun Choudhary from the entry 'Young Dems take aim at Cuccinelli'
• By Steve Shepard from the entry 'Young Dems take aim at Cuccinelli'
• By Dean from the entry 'Cuccinelli Supports Repeal Amendment'
• By mojoguzzi from the entry 'Cuccinelli Supports Repeal Amendment'
• By Barney Reilly from the entry 'Griffith gets energy committee assignment'

      What’s Independence Day weekend without a little politicking?

      Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators—Mark Warner and Jim Webb—are sounding campaign themes, actual and perceived, in the run-up to the 4th of July holiday.

      Warner this morning is circulating an online fundraising appeal for four home-state Democrats standing for re-election in some of the nation’s most closely watched congressional races.

      “Fighting for change in this town is a long and frustrating process,” says Warner, referring to Washington, DC. “But we can’t turn back now. And this year, that means getting behild Congressmen Tom Perriello, Gerry Connolly, Glenn Nye and Rick Boucher.”

        Warner is already on record predicting that all four will survive, turning back some well-financed and aggressive Republican challenges.

        Perriello, a freshman who won the closest House race in the country in 2008, faces state Sen. Robert Hurt in the Southside-anchored VA5. Nye also is on the watch list, battling car dealer Scott Rigell in VA2 in South Hampton Roads.

        Out in Southwest Virginia’s VA9, veteran incumbent Boucher is opposed by Morgan Griffith, the GOP majority leader in the House of Delegates. Griffith doesn’t live in the district.

        Connolly may be in the best shape of the four. His opponent in Northern Virginia-based VA11 is Keith Fimian, a conservative who, Republicans say, may be out of step with the centrist district.

        “I can scarely remember a time in our nation’s history when we faced so many critical challenges in so many different areas—and we need to confront them head-on,” Warner says in an e-mail from his PAC, Forward Together. “The same old partisan gridlock is unacceptable.”

        Perhaps that’s why Webb, readying for a possible rematch in 2012 with George Allen, is emphasizing the perceived fruits of bipartisanship: Webb’s so-called new G.I. Bill.

        It’s been a year since the measure, backed by Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, went on the books. Webb says more than 250,000 post-9/11 veterans have used it to go to college or enroll in training programs.

      Webb marked the anniversary with a Senate floor speech in which he said, “When I ran for office, I spoke of the need to reclaim a measure of economic fairness in this country. Particularly in such dire economic times, the health of our country and society is measured by how the working people are able to make it through the different barriers—and achieve great things alongside those people who have had greater advantages. And this bill does that today.”

      Defense-rich Virginia has more military retirees than any state in the country. They’re politically active, too. Perhaps Webb, himself a Marine combat veteran of Vietnam, had that in mind.