In today's WaPo, Lee Hockstader writes about gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine: "If the Democrat can't inspire some passion ... in rural parts of Virginia, his chances statewide against Republican Jerry W. Kilgore, the former attorney general, are doomed." www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091601657.html.
This scares the hell out of me. I realize that Virginia isn't a micrososm of America; it's a conservative Southern stronghold. But really, if the Democrats lose a governor's seat currently held by a Democrat to the GOP in this climate -- with the present governor's approval rating in the 70s, with Bush's statewide and national ratings at all-time lows, with the GOP in shambles -- how can we expect to pick up seats in the 2006 midterms? MORE BELOW
In today's WaPo, Lee Hockstader writes about gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine: "If the Democrat can't inspire some passion ... in rural parts of Virginia, his chances statewide against Republican Jerry W. Kilgore, the former attorney general, are doomed." www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091601657.html. That outlook reflects recent polls in which Kilgore is leading Kaine, a downstate yahoo, by 4 to 7 points with six weeks before the election.
This scares the hell out of me. I realize that Virginia isn't a micrososm of America; it's a conservative Southern stronghold. But really, if the Democrats lose a governor's seat currently held by a Democrat to the GOP in this climate -- with the present governor's approval rating in the 70s, with Bush's statewide and national ratings at all-time lows, with the GOP in shambles -- how can we expect to pick up seats in the 2006 midterms?
With only the New Jersey and Va. governor's races on the ballot this November, the outcome of this election will make international news. If the Dems can't hold this seat, the message will be loud and clear: Even when all the stars are aligned, the Democrats are still losers. I am not trying to be defeatist here, but any ideas on how we can turn this thing around -- FAST?