Ruining One Man's Convention Fun - Okay, score one for Mike Rogers. He just ran his first closeted gay Congressman out of office. I know Rogers' preference would have been to wait until after the filing deadline for the November general election, so that the GOP could not put up a fall-back candidate, but Rep. Ed Schrock (R-Va. Beach) acted first and threw in the towel this afternoon. He did not admit to the gay sex allegations, but said they "called into question" his ability to represent the conservative distict.

While the AP carried the story, local news tonight is nothing but tropical storm warnings and convention news. Still, the local Republican Party is going to have to scramble to find a replacement against a strong Democratic candidate, Iraq veteran and retired Marine Corps Capt. David Ashe. Leading contenders are one right-wing state senator and a relative moderate delegate from Norfolk. Aside from the import of his party affiliation, Ashe is reported to be gay-friendly. With Schrock gone, the whole shooting match is now riding on his opponent's formerly-unlikely victory.