Rubber, say hello to the road (UPDATED)

When Governor Kaine put the kibosh on executions, he claimed it was merely until the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutional validity of lethal injections.

Well, the Court has ruled, and lethal injections were upheld (Fox News, PWC, and Riley at VV).

We will now see if the Governor was serious about this being temporary, or just using the case as an excuse to break a campaign pledge.

UPDATE: The Governor holds to his word (Washington Post):

 Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said Wednesday that Virginia can proceed with executions now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the use of lethal injection in Kentucky.

Thanks to Rick Sincere (see comments) for alerting.

Yet another example of why John McCain is running so far ahead of the rest of the GOP brand

Many campaigns, when caught with an error like this, are willing to step up and admit the mistake.  Far fewer are ready with a wisecrack that turns it into a hilarious net-plus (Washington Post, h/t Below the Beltway, emphasis added):

Cindy McCain’s tuna recipe was actually developed and submitted to the Food Network by cookbook author and former “Cooking Thin” host Kathleen Daelemans. The recipe for farfalle pasta with turkey sausage, peas and mushrooms was a “quick pasta classic” from the TV show “Everyday Italian.” That old McCain standby — rosemary chicken — was a creation of TV chef Rachael Ray and was lifted, with a few changes, from the same Food Network site.

All three were listed on a McCain Web page titled “Cindy’s Recipes.”

“Apparently a Web intern added Rachael Ray to our policy team without her knowing it,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds deadpanned yesterday.

Can you imagine Obama or Clinton responding like that?  Me neither.

Whoa! The 11th suddenly looks competitive again

Virginia Democrats have been marking the Tom Davis’ old 11th district as a “pick-up” even before Davis announced his retirement.  For them, the primary to determine the Democratic nominee is tantamount to the election.  They may want to rethink that.

The two major Dems running for the seat (Gerry Connolly and Leslie Byrne) have released their latest fundraising numbers, as has Republican Keith Fimian.  So far . . .

Connolly has raised just over half a million, with $422K (roughly) on hand, while Byrne has raised just over a third of a million, with just under $238K on hand.

Meanwhile, Fimian has raised more than either candidate ($516K), and with over $742K on hand, he has more money in the bank than both Democrats combined.

More to the point, Fimian doesn’t have to spend his money on a primary battle for the next two months, as Connolly and Byrne do.

What was that line about counting chickens before they hatch?