Virginia election roundupup

I'll try to write this with the least modicum of spin I can impart. The governor's race in Virginia was quite close, as you can see from these results:

Office: Governor
Precincts Reporting: 2418 of 2426 (99.67%)
Registered Voters: 4,451,487 Total Voting: 1,971,284 Voter Turnout: 44.28 %
Candidates Party Vote Totals Percentage
T M Kaine Democratic 1,019,366 51.71%
J W Kilgore Republican 907,212 46.02%
H R Potts Jr Independent 42,919 2.18%
Write Ins 1,787 0.09%
Total: 1,971,284

Close, but no cigar. 3 things seemed to be weighing on the Kilgore campaign: 1, A strong respect for current Democrat governor Mark Warner, 2, a strong discontent with current Republican president George Bush, and 3, a crappy campaign from Kilgore himself. Let's face it, if Kilgore had run a more positive "this is what I'm going to do, this is how I'll stay out of your way" campaign, he likely would have won. For a graphical representation of this point, see here. Don't believe me? Look at the results for Lt. Governor and Attorney General:

Office: Lieutenant Governor
Precincts Reporting: 2420 of 2426 (99.75%)
Registered Voters: 4,451,487 Total Voting: 1,936,960 Voter Turnout: 43.51 %
Candidates Party Vote Totals Percentage
W T Bolling Republican 981,495 50.67%
L L Byrne Democratic 951,812 49.14%
Write Ins 3,653 0.19%
Total: 1,936,960

Office: Attorney General
Precincts Reporting: 2421 of 2426 (99.79%)
Registered Voters: 4,451,487 Total Voting: 1,935,831 Voter Turnout: 43.49 %
Candidates Party Vote Totals Percentage
R F McDonnell Republican 968,937 50.05%
R C Deeds Democratic 965,265 49.86%
Write Ins 1,629 0.08%
Total: 1,935,831

Both went to Republicans, if just slightly. This election was not about pro-Kaine and much less about anti-Republican than it was anti-Kilgore.

OK - here is the slightly spun version. Conservatives and right-of-center libertarians can be happy with the results from last night. Republicans actually gained a top office: Lt. Governor. Yes, Virginia is one of those strange states (commonwealths) which can elect a Governor and Lt. Governor from different parties. This wouldn't matter much however, as Kaine will not have any coattails in 4 years to help another Democrat be elected as Governor. Fortunately, we will have a mostly sane legislature in-place to block any serious nonsense from Kaine's office. Good luck, guys and gals.

Now - there's something more interesting buried in the election results. That is that the election of Kaine would seem to give a confirmation of the popularity of Governor Mark Warner, and raise his chances of being noticed for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2008. At the same time, it would seem to rebuke Senator George Allen, who is rumored to have presidential aspirations of his own. Kilgore is said to be a protege of Allen and does seem somewhat in his mold.

Ultimately, Iraq will weigh the heaviest on the '08 presidential election. If our troops are still there at the level they are today and if we are still losing soldiers and marines at the rates we are today, the Republican - whomever he or she is - will soundly be defeated. If only there were a viable Libertarian waiting in the wings... :-)