Yesterday, I spent a good porton of the day travelling around the Roanoke Valley going to various GOP committee meetings and mass meetings, concluding with the excellent Reagan Day Dinner put on by the Roanoke City Republican Committee. Congratulations go out to Roanoke GOP Chair Adam Boitnott for an outstanding event!

For many Americans, their only exposure to politics is going to the voting booth once or twice a year and whatever they get watching Fox News or CNN. However, for political junkies like myself, yesterday's events represent what is so great about our American political system. It is people giving up their Saturday to freely assemble in local schools and government buildings to elect their local party representatives, listen to speeches from candidates and their surrogates, and discuss the issues of the day with other political animals.

In addition to experiencing American government at its most essential level, I also observed some encouraging signs for our Party. First, Republicans seem to be coalescing around John McCain. While there is still some grumbling when his name is mentioned, for the most part, the Republicans I have talked to realize that 1) He is the most electable candidate that we could have nominated and 2) He is way, WAY better than the alternatives.

Second, Republicans are excited about our ticket in 2009. As I said before, Bill Bolling may now be the most beloved Republican in Virginia for sparing his party from a bitter nomination fight. The McDonnell-Bolling team looks extremely strong and I believe that Republicans are going to be super-motivated to get back into the Governor's mansion for the first time since 2001.

Third, Jim Gilmore is ready for a fight. I've heard Gilmore speak three times in the last week and what has impressed me the most is the way that he has gone right after Mark Warner. While I was not initially thrilled at the prospect of Jim Gilmore as our Senate nominee, to me, Gilmore looks more like Senatorial timber every time I see him. Of course, he'll need that fighting spirit in order to get by the vigorous campaign of Bob Marshall. Marshall's supporters are very committed and they are engaging in some heavy duty arm-twisting among delegates to the state convention. Gilmore's delegate counters are going to earn their money.

In any case, I feel that all of the above is good for our Party and the longer the Dems fight amongst themselves, the rosier things look for John McCain and the GOP in '08. There are many months ahead and a great deal of work left to be done, of course, but there is no reason for Republicans to be hanging their heads and predicting doom for November. Instead, we need to work that much harder to ensure that the playing field doesn't shift back the other direction.