Disclosure: Authored by Kurt

I think the city of Culpeper, VA has other things to worry about than closing down a McDonald's that has been operating for 23 hours a day since October 2007.

On June 8, Zoning Administrator Maxie Brown hand-delivered a notice to the McDonald’s informing the restaurant it was in violation of section 14-13 of the town code, stating retailers located within 150 feet of a residence must close no later than 1 a.m. and cannot open earlier than 5:30 a.m.

Amanda Campbell, director of operations with R.B. Drumheller Inc. — the Luray company that owns Culpeper’s McDonald’s — responded to the violation notice a week later in a letter to Town Manager Jeff Muzzy.

“I spoke to Maxie Brown … about the notice,” Campbell said in the letter. “I explained to her that we have been operating at 4 a.m. and staying open until 3 a.m. since the restaurant was rebuilt and reopened in October of 2007.”

In addition, Campbell said, the original Culpeper McDonald’s “had those hours for many years prior to the rebuild.” She also pointed out that there is only one residence within 150 feet of the restaurant, a home owned by Dr. Harry Burchard, who owns and operates the adjoining Amberwood Veterinary Hospital on Sycamore Street.

In a June 16 letter to the town, Burchard said he had “no problem with McDonald’s operating 24 hours a day.”

“They have made adjustments for my renters which should prevent any problems in the future,” he said. “All in all, McDonald’s has been a good neighbor for 30 years.”

While I understand there is a Town Code, I feel that many of these code's should be case by case.

You never know when they might come in handy.

MSNBC's First Read looked into their archives some four years ago and noticed the spin you're hearing from both the RNC and the DNC appears to have switched locations when comparing the 2005 sweep of New Jersey and Virginia for the Democrats versus the 2009 sweep of New Jersey and Virginia for the Republicans.

Rahm Emanuel must have had a fun time today contradicting himself from circa 2005.

[L]ooking back at First Read’s coverage the day after the 2005 New Jersey and Virginia contests, we had forgotten that Rahm Emanuel — then chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and now White House chief of staff — had called us to argue the very point Republicans are now making: that the two gubernatorial contests say something about the upcoming midterms.

Here’s what we wrote then:

Democratic House campaign committee chair Rahm Emanuel, calling First Read immediately after Kaine’s and Corzine’s victories were announced, argued that it’s clear Democratic voters were already energized earlier in the year when Democrat Paul Hackett nearly won a traditionally GOP-leaning Ohio House district. “I think that’s even more true today.” He also pointed out that the mayors of Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Paul, MN were all losing. “A lot of incumbents are losing to change,” he said (although he neglected to mention that these three mayors are Democrats, though the one from St. Paul endorsed Bush last year).

<sarcasm>Boy, this won't play into the Governor's race speculation at all.</sarcasm>

Bring out the tape recorder and set the DVR.  Things are gonna be fun for the next week or so.

We're roughly two weeks out from the Virginia Governor's election, and the Post reports this morning, the blame game has begun in the Commonwealth on who cost Democrat Creigh Deeds the election.

Sensing that victory in the race for Virginia governor is slipping away, Democrats at the national level are laying the groundwork to blame a loss in a key swing state on a weak candidate who ran a poor campaign that failed to fully embrace President Obama until days before the election.

Senior administration officials have expressed frustration with how Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has handled his campaign for governor, refusing early offers of strategic advice and failing to reach out to several key constituencies that helped Obama win Virginia in 2008, they say.

Democratic strategists said that over the summer, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) offered Deeds advice on winning a statewide election. Among other things, Kaine, who is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told Deeds that he should lay out more of his own vision and stop attacking Republican Robert F. McDonnell so ferociously. But Deeds did not embrace the advice, according to a national Democratic strategist.

A senior administration official said Deeds badly erred on several fronts, including not doing a better job of coordinating with the White House. "I understood in the beginning why there was some reluctance to run all around the state with Barack Obama," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak candidly about the race. "You don't do that in Virginia. But when you consider the African American turnout that they need, and then when you consider as well they've got a huge problem with surge voters, younger voters, we were just a natural for them."

A second administration official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Obama, Kaine and others had drawn a road map to victory in Virginia. Deeds chose another path."

A loss for Deeds in Virginia -- which for the first time in decades supported the Democratic presidential candidate in last year's race -- would likely be seen as a sign that Obama's popularity is weakening in critical areas of the country. But the unusual preelection criticism could be an attempt to shield Obama from that narrative by ensuring that Deeds is blamed personally for the loss, particularly given the state's three-decade pattern of backing candidates from the party out of power in the White House.

Deeds advisers insist the notion that he has distanced himself from Obama isn't true. "We've enjoyed a tremendous relationship with the White House," said Mo Elleithee, a campaign spokesman. "The campaign has worked very closely with them and the DNC and the [Democratic Governors Association] from the very beginning. They have given us just about everything the campaign asked for."

The "Obama's Distancing Himself Theory" makes the most sense.  This is a White House -- while saying they'll admit mistakes -- doesn't like to admit political ones.  Instead they tend to blame others (and Deeds deserves a lot of blame mind you) on that avenue.

That, or just attack their enemies.

The GOP is very well on its way to a sweep of the races in Virginia for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General (There's some talk of retaking the state's lower House of the legislature too.), but this just beyond the pale.

In video on Jim Geraghty's "The Campaign Spot," we show GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli destroying his Democratic opponent in a debate in which the opponents can ask the other questions.

Cuccinelli's question: Name the divisions of the Commonwealth Attorney General’s office and describe what each division does. (I.E. Describe the job you want people to vote you into.)

It isn't pretty and if this were a jury trial, one set of counsel will declare the witness as hostile for not answering the question asked of them.

Who ever is that non-lawyer the Dems in Wisconsin have going against J.B. Van Hollen, he might want to brush up on the duties of the office too.

Oh dear lord, cancel the Virigina Gubernatorial primary, we have a headline guaranteed to end the race hear and now; giving it to Democrat Creigh Deeds for sure.

Right...

Former Virginia GOP Governor Endorses Deeds

ARLINGTON, Va. - Former Gov. Linwood Holton has endorsed state Sen. Creigh Deeds for governor.

Holton was Virginia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. He endorsed Deeds on Tuesday, citing the need for Democrats and Republicans to work together to solve the state's transportation-funding crisis without sacrificing other core services.

At an appearance with Deeds at an Arlington subway station, Holton said Republican candidate Bob McDonnell's transportation plan is unrealistic.

Holy cow, that's news!

No, it's actually not.

Holton, Democratic Gov. Timothy Kaine's father-in-law, was governor from 1970-74 and was known as a centrist leader. As the state GOP has become more conservative, Holton has endorsed Democrats, including Kaine and Barack Obama.

The creditiblity of Kaine as DNC Chair is on the line with this election in less than six weeks.  All polling -- after a tightening after non-stop reporting by the Washington Post on McDonnell's 20 year-old college thesis -- now has McDonnell leading anywhere between 5 to 12 percentage points.

Wow...just wow.

Creigh Deeds, Democratic nominee for Governor in Virginia everyone.

UPDATE: (Yes, I am well aware of the new Rasmussen Poll on the race.  I think this level of flip-floppery is going to reverse whatever movement Deeds has had in the past few weeks.)

Yeah, at this rate, the November 2009 off-off-year elections could be a complete letdown in the competitive department.

A new poll by Research 2000, sponsored by Daily Kos, has Republican Bob McDonnell leading Democrat Creigh Deeds 51-43.

McDonnell's lead owes to his strong support from independents and a more solidified party base than his Democratic rival.

Haven't seen what the Lt. Governor and Attorney General races poll at according to the DKos/Research 2000 poll, but if they're like previous polls, they indicated a GOP sweep in the Commonwealth.

Hat Tip my good friend Jim Geraghty.

Holy Smokes indeed.  This was supposed to be the close one this November.

Republicans are set to sweep November's statewide election. That's according to an exclusive News7 poll.

The poll, conducted this week by SurveyUSA, found Republican Bob McDonnell with a 15-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the race for governor.  McDonnell leads among men, women and independent voters.

Republican Bill Bolling leads the race for Lieutenant Governor and Ken Cuccinelli would take the attorney general's race if the election were held today.

Here are the individual poll results.  Each has a margin of error +/- either 4.3 or 4.4 percent, question asked of 526 likely voters.

Apologies ahead of time for the font size.

If the election for Virginia governor were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Bob McDonnell? or Democrat Creigh Deeds?

55%	McDonnell (R)
40%	Deeds (D)
5%	Undecided

Asked of 526 likely voters

Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.3%

Virginia will also elect a lieutenant governor. If the election for lieutenant governor were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Bill Bolling? or Democrat Jody Wagner?

54%	Bolling (R)
42%	Wagner (D)
4%	Undecided

Asked of 526 likely voters

Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.4%

Virginia will also elect an attorney general. If the election for attorney general were today, would you vote for... (candidate names rotated) Republican Ken Cuccinelli? or Democrat Steve Shannon?

53%	Cuccinelli (R)
42%	Shannon (D)
6%	Undecided

UPDATE: Via Twitter, renowned Virginia political expert Larry Sabato points out via Twitter the above poll may have been weighted more to the Republicans than based on 2008 POTUS vote.

Of course, I've long thought the 2008 POTUS vote was in itself an anomaly, but Sabato's the expert in the Commonwealth, so I'll go with his word.