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David Sherfinski

dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com

David Sherfinski covered politics for The Washington Times.

Articles by David Sherfinski

** FILE ** Republican Sens. John McCain (left) of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina confer on Feb. 14, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

McCain and Graham invited to White House to talk Syria

President Obama has invited two of the Senate's leading Republican voices on foreign military affairs to the White House as he tries to make his case to Congress for the use of military force in Syria.

September 1, 2013
** FILE ** Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Some GOP lawmakers skeptical Congress will OK military force in Syria

Secretary of State John F. Kerry predicted Sunday that the U.S. Congress would not "turn its back" on the Syrian people and U.S. allies in the Middle East, but two leading Republicans on Capitol Hill said prospects for support for the use of military authorization are dim.

September 1, 2013
Secretary of State John F. Kerry makes a statement about Syria at the State Department in Washington on Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

John Kerry: Evidence of nerve agent sarin in Syria

Secretary of State John F. Kerry pledged Sunday that the Obama administration will persuade Congress to authorize the use of military force in Syria, attempting to bolster his case with new information that traces of the deadly nerve gas sarin was found in Damascus.

September 1, 2013
President Obama (left) and Vice President Joseph R. Biden arrive in the Rose Garden of the White House on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, in Washington to make a statement about the ongoing situation in Syria. Mr. Obama said that he has decided the United States should take military action against Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack but that he will seek congressional authorization for the use of force. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Syrian state media call Obama’s move a ‘retreat’

A Syrian state-run newspaper published a front-page article Sunday declaring President Obama's decision to wait for congressional authorization to launch any military strikes a signal of "retreat" by the United States.

September 1, 2013
** FILE ** House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. (Associated Press)

Congress in no rush to return for Syria decision

Faced with the most momentous foreign policy vote in years, Congress has decided on the go-slow approach, with leaders saying they will take their time in deciding whether to approve retaliatory strikes against Syria.

August 31, 2013
In a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday, 35 percent of those surveyed viewed Gov. Bob McDonnell unfavorably. (associated press)

Virginia voters split on McDonnell’s trustworthiness

New poll numbers show Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's popularity plummeting among Virginia voters, even as the GOP's gubernatorial nominee began running an ad Thursday distancing himself from the man he hopes to replace.

August 22, 2013
** FILE ** Virginia gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe (left), a Democrat, and Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a Republican, meet before a luncheon sponsored by the Virginia Public Access Project in Richmond on Thursday, May 30, 2013. (The Richmond Times-Dispatch via Associated Press)

Virginians don’t like their candidates for governor

More Virginia voters by a wide margin say they will vote for gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe or Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II than say they like them, according to poll results released Wednesday amid an uncharacteristically toxic campaign.

August 21, 2013
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a Republican now running for governor, has fought back over criticism he received for saying in 2008 "if you want to fight abortion, you've got to be willing to fill potholes." He signed a newsletter defending his remark "Sincerely, Ken Cuccinelli, II — Proud Pothole Filler." (associated press)

Politicians’ candor can cause them grief when caught on tape

Politicians, often attempting to distinguish themselves from their opponents and galvanize their supporters, are increasingly getting tripped up over language or ideas at odds with the image they've created for the general public's consumption.

August 20, 2013
Gov. Terry McAuliffe, the new Democratic governor, no fan of the civility-in-government movement, calls Mr. Black's measure "counterproductive and mean-spirited" and had threatened to veto it if the legislation passed. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Longtime GOP strategist Boyd Marcus backs Democrat Terry McAuliffe

Boyd Marcus, a longtime Republican adviser and strategist in Virginia who has worked for former Gov. James S. Gilmore III and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, threw his support behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday.

August 20, 2013
**FILE** Terry McAuliffe (The Washington Times)

Longtime Va. GOP adviser endorses McAuliffe

Boyd Marcus, a longtime Republican adviser and strategist in Virginia who has worked for former Gov. James S. Gilmore III and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, threw his support behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday.

August 20, 2013
The cumulative budget surplus under Gov. Bob McDonnell has been the largest for any administration in state history. (associated press)

Bob McDonnell reports nearly $2B cumulative surplus

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Monday that the state accumulated the largest cumulative budget surplus of any administration in state history — a feat that comes as an ongoing gifts scandal threatens to overshadow the Republican lame duck's final months in office.

August 19, 2013
The Republican Governors Association has given more than $4.6 million in contributions and in-kind donations to GOP gubernatorial candidate Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, shown speaking Tuesday at Maggie L. Walker Governor's School in Richmond. (Richmond Times-Dispatch via Associated Press)

Fundraising, attack ads stir up Va. governor’s race

The typically sleepy pre-Labor Day lull during Virginia election years has been upended this season by a deluge of ads and fundraising on behalf of Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who are vying to become the Old Dominion's 72nd governor.

August 14, 2013
Jindal

RGA hauls in $23.5 million in first half of year

The Republican Governors Association hauled in $23.5 million in the first half of 2013 — nearly double the amount they raised four years ago during a like cycle — and has more than $37 million on hand heading into the 2013 and 2014 elections.

August 14, 2013
"If you're on the road, and you listen to every speech I give every day, I walk through systematically for about 18 minutes exactly what I want to do with specifics on job creation, I talk about education what we have to do on transportation," Democrat Terry McAuliffe says. (Associated press)

Virginia candidates for governor try to turn campaign tide

Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Tuesday rolled out a proposal that would overhaul Virginia's K-12 education system as he and Democrat Terry McAuliffe try to debunk charges that the year's marquee political race has devolved into little more than a mudslinging fusillade of negative attacks.

August 13, 2013
Whistleblowers said Alejandro Mayorkas gave special treatment to some Democrats who were advocating for EB-5 investor visas for companies they backed. (Associated Press)

E-mails: ‘Political pressure’ in Gulf Coast visa case

President Obama's pick to be the next No. 2 at the Department of Homeland Security was involved in "political pressure" to influence a visa case linked to Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe's former car company, according to e-mails released Friday — documents that may contradict testimony nominee Alejandro Mayorkas gave last month to a Senate committee.

August 9, 2013
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe speaks Aug. 9, 2013, at the Battleground Forum at the Prince William campus of George Mason University in Manassas, Va. McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli met in another non-debate forum, a format that's become common among Virginia's two scandal-scarred candidates for governor. (Associated Press)

Va. gubernatorial rivals trade shots in debate

Virginia gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli mixed nasty with nice Friday morning as they made their pitches to a business-friendly crowd in Manassas at the latest forum in a campaign many have labeled a "race to the bottom" for both candidates' incessant attacks on one another's policy positions and personal character.

August 9, 2013
McAuliffe

Weiner, McAuliffe are ‘headaches’ for Clinton, GOP says

She's been keeping a low profile, but Republicans say Hillary Rodham Clinton's potential presidential ambitions can only be hurt by the heavily covered recent stories involving her scandal-plagued friend Anthony D. Weiner's sexcapades in New York and her close confidant Terry McAuliffe's tangles with federal regulators over a former business enterprise.

August 7, 2013