Marshall changes face of Senate race

The wind was blowing Saturday afternoon at Augusta Expo, bringing a slight chill to the air on an otherwise warm-for-winter January day.

Firearms enthusiasts were carrying weapons in and out of the gun show that continues today, and a white police cruiser was pulled up near the front of the main building.

The latter ordinarily might not have seemed noteworthy, some form of security being routine at such an event.

Thing is, though, that Crown Vic nowadays is piloted for politicking, not police work. The license plate gave it away: It said “House of Delegates,” and boasted the number 10, the owner’s place of seniority in that legislative body.

Del. Bob Marshall, who recently jumped into the GOP U.S. Senate nomination race, drove it to Fishersville.

Marshall is known throughout the Old Dominion for his strict conservatism and for his earnestness. And he’s also known in the Manassas area, which he represents, for buying used police cruisers at auction.

The lawmaker was in the Valley gathering signatures on petitions to get his name on the June Republican primary ballot. Until Marshall got in the race, George Allen, a former governor and U.S. senator, seemed to be on his way to a win over three other challengers.

Now, this newspaper won’t officially endorse anyone of any party for Senate for several months. But it’s clear that Marshall’s entry into the contest makes things interesting, as many pundits have noted in recent days.

And I know they’re right because I covered Marshall during two tours of duty in Northern Virginia, working for sister publications of The News Virginian.

If any officeholder is unmoved by sheer politics, it’s Bob Marshall. First elected in 1991, Marshall’s seniority normally would mean that he would not only be chairman of a House committee but probably of a significant one. But his own party disregarded that seniority after he took a stand against secret votes in legislative subcommittees.

Marshall also filed a lawsuit — and won in the Virginia Supreme Court — claiming that regional transportation authorities shouldn’t be able to levy taxes because they weren’t to be set up as elected bodies. In that fight, he took on not only then-Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, but also current Republican leaders such as House of Delegates Speaker Bill Howell and Gov. Bob McDonnell.

The delegate touts that victory as one of several in which he says he bested Kaine, the likely Dem pick for U.S. Senate this year. Others include his successful shepherding of an amendment to the Virginia Constitution defining “marriage” as between one man and one woman, and his law that Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli used to challenge federal health care reform. Kaine endorsed what Marshall and others call “Obamacare.”

 That’s why Marshall said he decided to run. For two years, he traveled the state, talking to a variety of groups, and many folks asked him, “Can you beat Tim Kaine?”

And, counting policy victories as proxies for public support, he figured he could and got in the fray. As a Catholic, he also believes he’s the best positioned to challenge Kaine, also a Catholic, on social issues.

But why the late entrance?

The boundaries of Marshall’s House district were redrawn following the 2010 U.S. Census, so he wanted first to run for re-election there. He said it wouldn’t have been prudent to fuss over a Senate run while also seeking re-election in a district that included several new areas, places he hadn’t represented and where he would have to work to get to know the voters.

Also, Marshall noted that the country doesn’t yet know who the GOP presidential nominee will be. If the top of the ticket in Virginia is undecided, he said, why should anyone feel that the U.S. Senate race already should be sewn up?

How the gentleman will fare with voters isn’t something that I can predict with surety, but as Marshall himself noted, his presence changes the dynamic of the race. He is one of a kind. He seems to take action only after carefully considering matters, and he doesn’t care who likes or dislikes his choices once they’re made.

“I’m not going to switch because of the poll,” he said Saturday.

And with Marshall, regardless of whether you agree with him, you really can believe that.