Great analysis of the Kaine/Kilgore Governors race in VA

[wyldwolf]

Back to the '80s in Virginia


A Republican gubernatorial candidate in a close race launches a vicious attack on his opponent as a weak-kneed liberal who coddles illegal immigrants and criminals and opposes the death penalty. Where are we? California, circa 1986? Nope, it's the Commonweath of Virginia in 2005, where Jerry (No Relation) Kilgore is bringing back the cultural wedge issues of a bygone era with a vengeance.

The rationale for this atavistic effort is a bit tangled. Kilgore's big problem is that incumbent Democratic Governor Mark Warner is very, very popular. Democratic candidate and Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine is his designated successor. Having spent four years fighting everything Warner has tried to do, ol' Jerry cannot exactly claim he'll build on the Warner legacy. To be sure, Kilgore is more than willing to make spending promises, especially on the critical transportation needs of Northern Virginia, based on using the tax revenues he fought to deny the Commonweath. And he's trying to coopt the Warner magic in more subtle ways as well. Down in central Virginia, the landscape is covered with big "Sportsmen for Kilgore" signs that are carbon copies of the "Sportsmen for Warner" signs of 2001.

But nobody really believes Jerry is a sensible centrist like Warner, so his only option is to claim that Kaine isn't either...

http://www.newdonkey.com/