Yesterday, with about 3500 other Warner supporters, I was out with the family on Mark Warner's farm that looks over the Potomac for the annual "pig roast" (though we opted for the veggie burgers). Heck of a kids affair too, from games with prizes to the pony rides and the swimming pool-- our 5-year old Taj is won over. I chatted with the WaPost's reporter doing their blogging on the race,
Michael Shear, about the state of blogging in Virginia (pretty strong).
The Governor, after doing a 2005 campaign rally for Democrats that chanted "2008, 2008", spent all afternoon under a tall tree in front of his house, as the people waited in line to talk with him. One after the other --this is how a governor gets a 76% approval rating-- he'd chat and politic with old friends and then move onto the next one of thousands.
And,House Democrats Hitch Wagon to Warner, it's paying off for Democrats. The Republicans have lost 4 delegate seats from their high of 64 in 2001:
"We as Democrats have shown what Democratic leadership can do in terms of moving our state forward," Warner told a crowd of about 200. "It was the commonwealth of Virginia, under Democratic leadership, that was named the best-managed state in the nation... I'm going to be out campaigning... virtually every week from now until this election," Warner told the Democrats."
Around 3 pm, Tim Kaine flew in by helicopter, hoped over the fence, and greeted supporters. Another
poll is out today, the second one by Mason-Dixon:
Sept July
Kaine (D) 40 38
Kilgore(R) 41 37
Potts(R-I) 6 9
Undecided 13 16
The poll
shows Kaine leading Kilgore in the vote-rich regions of Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. But it shows Kilgore leading everywhere else, including his native Southwest Virginia and the Richmond metro area where Kaine lives. Kilgore holds a 1-point lead over Kaine in the Richmond area after trailing the Democrat by 13 points in the July poll.
That seems a stretch, Kilgore leading by 1% in Richmond. Potts seems out of it, but he does have a new ad up, but it's not online. Kaine's new ad is out,
called Slice, pretty spooky stuff attacking Kaine for wanting to cut education.
