The Washington Post has selected its winners and losers in Virginia for 2009.  Among the winners were Speaker Bill Howell and Fairfax County Republican Committee (FCRC) chairman Anthony Bedell.  Virginia Democratic Party chairman Dick Cranwell and Virginia smokers were selected as losers.

Read more from Anita Kumar at The Washington Post

Scholar Vivek Wadhwa makes the case that Twitter maybe the only social media tool you need.

Read more at TechCrunch

Heading into next year, former Pres. George W. Bush Deputy Chief of Staff, Karl Rove gives his thoughts on the state of the Republican Party and what the GOP should be doing to garner more victories in 2010.

Read more from Karl Rove at The Wall Street Journal

Virginia GOP Chairman Pat Mullins has appointed Dave Rexrode as the state party’s new executive director.  Rexrode recently served as a deputy campaign manager for Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell.  He succeeds Allison Coccia.

Read more from Bob Stuart at NewsVirginian.com

VA-37 GOP candidate Steve Hunt is following in Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell‘s (R) footsteps by touting lower taxes, while his opponent Del. Dave Marsden (D) is relying on Pres. Obama (D) to get votes.

Read more from Dan Roem at NationalJournal.com 

With thousands of races for public office across the country next year, journalists would be wise to immerse themselves in the various nuances of social media if they want to get it right in 2010.

Read more from Brenna Ehrlich at Mashable

Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell (R) is urging the Department of Interior to permit oil and gas exploration off of Virginia’s coast.

Read more from Anita Kumar at The Washington Post.

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) has asked Sen. Chuck Colgan (D) and Del. Bob Brink (D) to help raise the state’s income tax in the next legislative session.

Read more from Anita Kumar at The Washington Post

Congressional Democrats lost ground with independent voters in 2009.  Unless something changes, Virginia first-term Senator Mark Warner (D) believes that current Democratic policies, particularly those involving the economy, will continue to alienate this all important voting bloc.

Read more from Amy Gardner at The Washington Post

According to journalist Richard Warnica, "[s]ocial networks could be the biggest revolution in communications since the printing press."

Read more at the Edmonton Journal