June 8th, 2009 | 
Author: VIRGINIA BEACH (June 7, 2009) -- - X-Marine JAG officer Chuck Smith, seeking the GOP nomination for the 2nd Congressional District seat, told supporters Friday afternoon:
- The GOP has had problems with infighting that helped make it its own worst enemy.
- Must now unite as one party.
- Return to conservative party principles.
He opposed the stimulus bail out plans and said he’d continue to do so. But despite his high hopes and genuine conservative credentials, Smith has a hard row to hoe.
Other candidates, who have or are capable of raising much more money, include Freedom Ford owner Scott Rigell and Kenny Golden, chairman of the Virginia Beach Republican Party. Others, yet unnamed are flocking to join in.
Rigell however has a problem: He was one of the top 9 donors from area code 23454 to Barack Obama -- the most liberal president in recent history and a Democrat. He is listed as donating $1,000 to Obama on March 10, 2008.
Although in all fairness, in the fashion of a double-dealing prospective politician, Rigell covered all bases, to make sure he had a winner: Romney, McCain, and Obama. See OpenSecrets.org
A lot of 2nd district Republican conservatives have a problem with people calling themselves conservative Republicans donating to Obama but Rigell, according to sources, would really like to be the GOP’s anointed candidate against Democrat incumbent Glenn Nye, whose first term has been almost flawless in its executive -- taking a page out of X-Congressman Owen Pickett’s PR playbook. (I know. I wrote the book! -- Ed).
There are others wanting to be Republican candidates and the campaign is down the road. Smith said there will be a primary and he will stay in the race til the last vote is cast.
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VNS goes to review a top vegetarian restaurant and mistakenly orders a beef burger! Yuk!
WOW! Bistro Roca & Antler's Bar Restaurant. Well off the beaten path in this beautiful mountain town, Bistro Roca was a surprising find in our search for fine cuisine and great service.
Psghetti's Restaurant in Blowing Rock, NC is overrated and overpriced for its pseudo Italian cuisine. A review. 
VIRGINIA BEACH – - Out-of-the-way, Margie&Ray’s Seafood Restaurant, 1240 Sandbridge Rd., provided for a nice drive out of the suburbs, for dinner this weekend.
Although we’ve passed the location many times over the past 2 decades or more, we’d never (1). had the time; nor (2). bothered to stop to investigate what it offered.
In [...]
Fresh, homemade, tasty, properly spiced and great service: What else could you want? Does not, however, serve alcoholic beverages.
Ed,
I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the article that addresses my donation in March of 2008 to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. At the time I wrote the check Obama was not yet the Democratic nominee. That point is relevant to this discussion.
I supported Governor Romney’s bid for the nomination because his values match mine and I believed that he had the best chance of prevailing in the general election against Senator Obama or Senator Clinton. When he withdrew from the race I was very disappointed and the reality that the Clintons had a good chance of returning to the White House for as many as 8 years began to sink in.
The only alternative on the Democratic side was Senator Obama. Yes, I was moved by his rhetoric and by the prospect of seeing a minority rise to the highest office in our land. If we were to end up with a Democrat president I wanted that person to be Obama, not Clinton; I was not indifferent to the two possible outcomes.
We are often faced with imperfect alternatives in life, as we were in this last presidential election cycle. Given the information I had at the time I did what I thought was best and I stand by my decision to support Obama over Clinton and McCain over Obama.
Thanks again for the opportunity to respond. I had heard about political blogs but seeing my name in one (yours) was a first!
Scott Rigell
Ed and Scott:
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Every professional and amateur political pundit I know believed in March of 2008 that Barack Obama was the gravest threat to the American way of life out there. In order for us to believe Mr. Rigell’s explanation here, we must believe he is a stupid man. Well, I do not.
I know who Scott Rigell is and what he has done in his life as a car dealer. To be as successful as he is, he cannot be a stupid man. Therefore, the only alternative is that he is lying about believing Hillary to be the graver threat. Maybe he was caught up in the rhetoric, but he can not honestly tell me that he believed Hillary to be the worse threat.
Therefore Mr. Rigell, I have 1 question for you: Are you a LIAR or just plain STUPID? Those are the only options, I await your answer.
–Ari Gold
Mr. Rigell has been selling new and used cars so long, he has the double-speak down to an art. In his decision to support Obama, he was taken by the charisma of the man, not the substance of what he stood for. For someone who broke ranks with our party and supported expediency over principle is hiprocacy. Mr. Rigell, how much have you made on the Obama/Democrat “Cash for Clunkers” program? I’ll bet your contribution to Obama was returned at many times your $1,000 contribution to the Obama campaign. It comes down to a matter of trust, so how can we trust you to do the right thing within our Conservative principles?
The man runs on a platform of conservativism, but donates to Obama. Runs as a family-man, but cheated on his wife. Runs as a populist, grassroots candidate, but donated money to every one of those politicians who have endorsed him. The only impression that I get from him is that he is manipulative, mean-spirited and has a massive elitist feeling of entitlement.
He cheated on his wife? That’s a deal breaker. Simply a deal breaker…that said, where are the facts? It’s not right to blast that out on the web without facts. I know who I’m voting for, but I need to help educate others in Virginia’s 2nd District. I am very tied into the military spouses, and I want to make sure that they know what’s going on when choosing a representative. If he did cheat, all bets are off.
I was just directed to this site from another. Frankly, I’m surprised that people level accusations without any kind of proof. It’s unconscionable and I’m disappointed that people I call fellow conservatives would resort to such a tactic. Sure, be upset about the Obama check. You don’t have to like his explanation, but unfounded rumors are not the way to win an argument.
As far as the check goes… get some perspective guys. There were a lot of us very upset about the very real reality that we would have the Clinton’s back in the White House. Acccess that long term memory and you’ll remember not only “operation chaos” and “the stop hillary express”, but you’ll also recall Marc Rich, Monica Lewinsky, Travelgate and Whitewater among the countless corrupt CLinton dealings over the years. Yeah, Obama turned out to be much more corrosive than we suspected back when Rigell wrote that check. I’ll admit that all day long, but all you political Nostradamuses out there might want to recollect the Clinton years and the surging of Hillary when Rigell wrote that check. It doesn’t justify it to most people, but it is understandable when put into perspective.
Oh someone please tell me that is not really Mr. Rigell’s explanation above. It makes me cringe. See my blog for why.