The bill in Virginia requiring all abortion seekers get a mandatory ultrasound is now in peril, after the right-wing Senator who introduced the trans-vaginal ultrasound requirement rebelled against changes asked for by Governor Bob McDonnell.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is now in full retreat mode on that bill mandating that women seeking an abortion in the state must get a trans-vaginal ultrasound (colloquially known as “state rape”) beforehand. We saw hints of this earlier today from a spokesman. But McDonnell has now put out his own statement, asking for amendments to the bill that would modify the ultrasound from trans-vaginal to trans-abdominal

The Virginia abortion bill, which would mandate that the women seeking an abortion get a trans-vaginal ultrasound – a forcible assault at the very least – before having the procedure, has received entirely too much notoriety for the tastes of conservative lawmakers in the state. Today, as Laura Conaway reports, protesters held a silent demonstration outside the Virginia legislature, which was enough for them to delay the vote on the measure.

Virginia is on track to be the next state where the Republican Party creates new restrictions on voting access in the name of preventing “voter fraud.” The new law would require voters to show proof of ID before their vote will be counted. Not surprisingly groups that are less likely to carry IDs (minorities, elderly and people who don’t own cars, etc.) are also groups that tend to vote for Democrats.

The fight over whether to offset emergency spending on disaster relief, as Eric Cantor wants, could end up being the most interesting upcoming battle in Congress. The lines aren’t drawn in an entirely partisan way on this one. In particular, Republican Governors in the states affected want to see that disaster relief, and don’t care about offsets.

At this point of the evening, let me remind you that Tim Kaine, former Governor of Virginia, is the DNC Chair presiding over this debacle tonight. I mean this guy has presided over the loss of his entire state– much less significant swaths of our country–to the Republicans.

“It’s a lasting scar mainly for its combination of stupidity, insensitivity and ignorance about the civil war,” said one senior [GOP] party strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly. The source did add, however, that McDonnell “has a lot of time to make amends and put it behind him.” Unless Sheriff Haley Barbour talks about it some more, and makes unwanted headlines for you, Bob McDonnell.

I don’t live in Virginia, but I would’ve loved to hear how tax cuts help the unemployed and uninsured. Another clip worth watching from the Sunday talking heads shows: Frank Luntz explains that because conservative leaders are worried about our future, they have no choice but to make Nazi references at protests. Or something.

Polls in New Jersey and Maine are now closed. Leaked exit polls show New Jersey to be basically a tie, FWIW. There are no exit polls out of Maine. Virginia remains too early to call, which shocks me. The networks are being ultra-cautious. The latest numbers: 26.19% reporting McDonnell (R) 62.86% Deeds (D) 37.03% Deeds [...]

MSNBC is calling the Virginia Governor’s race for the Republican, Bob McDonnell. This is not surprise. The polls are closing in NJ and ME at this hour. New Jersey Governor is reported “too close to call”–also not a surprise at this stage of the evening. More on all this soon.