There is hope in the VAGOP…

“Less taxation, less litigation, greater energy independence in this country. These are the foundational ideals that [Americans and Virginians] believe in.”

Several other party leaders also spoke during the two-day conference. The Republicans called for unity and reaffirmation of conservative principles, even as they continued to assess last month’s loss by GOP gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore to Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D).

On Friday night, former governor James S. Gilmore III said that division over taxes was the chief reason for Kilgore’s poor showing Nov. 8.

Gilmore, who campaigned for governor in 1997 by promising to eliminate the car tax, said the party needs to get back to unabashed support for lower taxes.

“We stand for promises made and promises kept,” Gilmore said at a reception hosted by Sen. Bill Bolling (R-Hanover), who will be inaugurated lieutenant governor in January. “We will be doomed to minority status if we do not.”

Many Republicans believe that Kilgore ran a campaign too close to the political center and didn’t criticize Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) enough for raising taxes last year.

Add Abu Hamza Rabia, the number three man behind Osama bin-Laden in the al-Qaeda network, to the long list of al-Qaeda operatives captured or killed in Pakistan. He was apparently killed in an explosion in Waziristan - the remote, mountainous tribal region of Pakistan where bin-Laden and other terrrorist heavyweights are thought to be hiding. It’s nice to know that this area isn’t completely impenetrable. We can only hope that bin-Laden is next.

There are also unconfirmed reports that the missile that destroyed Rabia came from an American, unmanned aerial drone (probably CIA). This attack reminds me of the U.S. Predator attack that eliminated one of bin-Laden’s security guards back in November 2002 in Yemen.

Stand-by for more details.