I am a Virginian. Virginia is unusual in that in three out of every four years we have a statewide election. In the fourth year we have General Assembly elections, and the outcomes of those elections are, to some extent, predetermined by the gerrymandering of electoral districts. Not so with statewide elections. These statewide elections show what the two political parties are capable of when they go head to head. These elections are the real test of party strength.
The last three statewide elections have been victories for the Democratic Party. In 2005, we managed to push Tim Kaine over the finish line, though we lost the Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor's races by narrow margins. In 2006, in a campaign driven almost exclusively by the spirit of grassroots and netroots activists, we upset heavily favored George Allen and put Jim Webb in the U.S. Senate. In 2008, Barack Obama's community organizer/netroots model crushed John McCain in Virginia.
So why are the Democratic candidates in Virginia this faring so poorly, as this poll would seem to indicate?
