Tuesday, August 23, 2005

At the candidates debate...

Well, Russ Potts will be in a gubernatorial debate after all! Yup, at the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce!

Won't it be so much fun to see all three candidates debate on the same day? It will be a picture of freedom, and will inspire confidence in the American electoral process.

WELL, almost. While it is true that all three will be debating, it just won't be AT THE SAME TIME. That's right, we get the Kaine/Kilgore scheduled debate, and then Kaine will be pulling double duty by debating just Potts afterwards.

Both Kaine and Potts sent out press releases trumpeting this second debate. Especially Kaine, who had a nice little jab at Kilgore by saying he was going to debate "both of my Republican opponents." Quite obviously he's trying to remind the voters of Virginia that Potts is indeed a member of the GOP, something Kilgore has not acknowledged at all. Potts had a nice little jab at Kilgore's refusal to include him as well.

What is this doing? Just getting more play for Potts. More sympathy, and more credibility. It almost makes you wonder about Potts' true motivation in this role. Does this go deeper than the Republican divide over tax reform (hikes)? Could it be that a deep divide between fiscal conservatives and the ones trying to make a radical social shift to the far right actually exists?

Tim Kaine has little to fear by bringing Potts in, it seems. He clearly thinks that Potts will mostly pull votes from Kilgore, and he wants Russ to have as much airtime as possible since he's not too much of a threat to his own candidacy.

Ol' Russ has stated that if he's polling at around 27% by the end of September he has an excellent chance of winning this race. Optimistic, but credible. However, if he's still hovering around 9-12% could he fold up his tent and throw his support behind Kaine? His rhetoric against his fellow Republican has filled with vitriol throughout this race it's clear he does not think much of Kilgore. But as you can read below, Dougie Wilder could throw a major monkey wrench into the works (by the way, he's meeting with Potts on Wednesday).

Weirder things have happened in Virginia politics. And my gut tells me that there's going to be more twists in this race before election day than a Patricia Cornwell novel. Now's when it starts to get fun.

Comments:
This election cycle has turned into a big joke!
I'm so sick of all the political whinning!
Virginia needs a true leader with integrity and the common sense to get something done. Two of the three candidates have used their previous offices as stepping stones.... Too much is at stake to elect someone who's looking at the governor's office in the same way.
Those Virginians who criticize Mark Warner for raising taxes will be begging him to return six months into the next administration.
-Concerned in C'ville
 
Whos complaining now? Sounds like you...
Virginia does need a true leader with integrity and common sense. Let me know when you see one around.
I dont think thats Warner.
-Federalist in Virginia
 
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