the email goes as follows
September 2007Dear Friend,
The recent announcement that Senator John Warner is retiring after 2008 marks a pivotal moment in the history of Virginia's Republican Party.
We believe the person best-suited to represent our principles and keep the seat in Republican hands is Congressman Tom Davis.
Our nominee must have a long record of conservative accomplishments and a clear understanding of what it takes to win statewide. Tom Davis has both - so we write to ask you to join us in urging him to seek the nomination.
Tom has won eleven successive elections in some of the most Democratic sections of Northern Virginia, including defeating incumbent Rep. Leslie Byrne in 1994 and winning six successive House races in tough partisan terrain.
Tom's never shied away from the toughest of challenges. Prior to his election to Congress, Tom was the Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the governing body of the eleventh most populous municipality with the second largest county budget in the United States. In 1993, during Tom's tenure as Chairman, Fairfax County was recognized as the nation's best financially managed county - just one year after Tom inherited a $200 million budget shortfall. Tom did what leaders do: he established priorities and cut spending, and during his three-year tenure the average real estate tax bill went down.
Tom's list of legislative accomplishments began almost as soon as he came to Congress. During his first year alone, Tom authored and cosponsored several important bills that were enacted into law, including the D.C. Financial Control Board Act, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, the Federal Acquisition Reform Act, and the Securities Litigation Reform Act. That first year, Speaker Newt Gingrich tapped Tom to chair the D.C. subcommittee. Through Tom's oversight and legislative intervention, Congress brought the city back from the brink of financial collapse and the gross mismanagement that characterized the reign of former Mayor Marion Barry.
Ever since, Tom's reputation as a serious legislator and reformer has blossomed. He brought school choice to public school students stuck in failing District of Columbia schools. He's championed "competitive sourcing," so that government employees and contractors are forced to streamline their operations and save taxpayer money. He authored historic "sunshine" legislation that established a publicly searchable database for all federal contracts and grants. He's been a leader on legislation to cut taxes for middle class families. And he strongly backs legislation that would repeal D.C.'s handgun ban.
Over the past 10 months he's received the Sonny Montgomery Award from the National Guard Bureau and the Harry S. Truman Award from the National Guard Association of the United States for his tireless work on behalf of our men and women in uniform.
Tom's also viewed as one of Congress' most objective and effective investigators. He chaired the Select Committee on Hurricane Katrina that produced the widely-acclaimed report detailing the failures of all levels of government. He shed important new light on Sandy Berger's theft of classified documents from the National Archives. The Government Accountability Office reported that, as chairman of the House Government Reform Committee from 2003 to 2006, Tom's oversight saved taxpayers $6.5 billion.
As chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 1998 to 2002, Tom did more to help build the Republican Party around the nation than perhaps any other Member of Congress, defying the pundits and increasing our majority during two difficult cycles. And we're all familiar with his unparalleled efforts around the Commonwealth to help elect Republicans to local, state and federal offices.
Virginia needs a principled achiever like Tom in the Senate. Tom's is a record of getting things done in ways that are consistent with our best traditions and relentless in pursuit of a better future.
Tom has a 21st century vision for tackling the biggest challenges we face - entitlement spending, the war on terror, illegal immigration, energy independence, and the global economy. And he's the kind of pragmatic bridge-builder who can actually get things done on all of these fronts and more.
People in every part of the Commonwealth want the opportunity to compete, and win, in the global economy. That means a strong education system to attract, train and retain a modern workforce. That means repairing and expanding a transportation infrastructure capable of carrying our people to work and our products to the world. And it means tapping into stable energy sources to fuel productivity gains and continued economic expansion. Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement need to know the fiscal structure underpinning their income and health care is sound. Every citizen needs to feel secure against the menace of global terrorism. And every citizen deserves a government that's committed to protecting our borders and enforcing our immigration laws.
We believe Tom can step up and take the lead in formulating the policies and concrete proposals to solve the problems voters care about. In the Senate, he would be proactive in offering market-based, fiscally sustainable alternatives to the usual expensive, big government solutions offered by Democrats. And we know we can count on him to approve only conservative constructionists for federal judgeships.
We don't think voters are "fuzzy" about who we are, but they're understandably leery about what Republicans will do, or won't do, about their everyday problems. We need to convince them we can do the real work of governing.
Tom's best able to do that convincing. Please join us in encouraging him to become our candidate for the U.S. Senate by emailing him at Tom@tomdavis.org or calling his campaign office at (703) 277-9635. Additionally, please take a moment to forward this important message on to your friends, family and colleagues.
Sincerely,
Jerry Kilgore
Former Attorney General
Commonwealth of Virginia
It would give us a much better shot at taking the 11th CD back and I really think Davis will not do well state-wide against Warner or even Leslie Byrne (yes, state-wide). Virginia is changing, ever so slightly, but enough to make a serious difference.
Crediting Davis (a U.S. Congressman - supposedly focused on National issues and representing the 11th on National issues) with successes in Fairfax County is a sad misrepresentation of the facts. grumble