Back in the day, Virginia pretty much ran stuff around Washington. Around half of the Mall is dedicated to proud sons of the Commonwealth who made their mark on this town and country, but there haven’t been many recent Virginians with the chops to earn a Washington pedestal. These days, Californians and Texans get all the good namings.

That might be about to change, with a resurgance of political muscle emerging from both the red and blue portions of our southern neighbor. You’d have to be incarcerated in a minimum security prison for sullied lobbyists and corporate fraudsters to not know that exiting Democratic Governor Mark Warner is a hot commodity as the 2008 Presidential election approaches, but Warner is not alone in considering a bid for national leadership. Former Governor and current Senator George Allen is considered a potential dark horse candidate for the Republican nomination, and now national news outlets are reporting that changes in the GOP’s House leadership may empower still another Virginian.