As I'm sure we all know, Virginia will be the key political battleground state of 2009. Republicans will be trying desperately for their first significant victory since their drubbings in 2006 and 2008. Democrats will be attempting to stop the Republicans from succeeding, while maintaining the tremendous "blue" momentum we've built up in formerly "red" Virginia with the victories of Mark Warner (2001), Tim Kaine (2005), Jim Webb (2006), the state Senate (2007), Mark Warner (2008), Tom Perriello (2008), Glenn Nye (2008), Gerry Connolly (following Tom Davis' retirement in 2008) and of course Barack Obama '08 (the first Democrat to carry Virginia since 1964).On the Republican side, we've got a man who's sure to stir up the national, progressive blogosphere into a frenzy when they find out how right wing he is (McDonnell's so extreme, he was even nicknamed "Taliban Bob" McDonnell by Jim Spencer of the Daily Press). I'm sure the national, progressive blogs will also love McDonnell's close ties to Pat Robertson and to Regent University. Not. :)
In short, with all that's at stake here in Virginia, and with the glaring contrast between "Taliban Bob" and whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be (Deeds, McAuliffe or Moran), I expect a big uptick in progressive blog coverage this year compared to 2005. Back then, Virginia was widely seen in the national, progressive blogosphere as a solid "red," conservative southern state. Not surprisingly, we could barely buy a story about Tim Kaine vs. Jerry Kilgore -- unless you count negative ones against Kaine for being pro-Lieberman, "DLC," and also for pulling his ads off of Steve Gilliard's blog in the infamous "Michael Steele blackface" incident).
Unlike the last gubernatorial cycle, in 2009 we're likely to receive a great deal of coverage from the national blogs. Already, Daily Kos has someone (Arjun Jaikumar aka brownsox) following the gubernatorial campaign on a regular basis. I had a chance to meet Mr. Jaikumar for the first time a couple weeks ago. He seems like a sharp guy, a good reporter, and very fair minded. I look forward to his coverage of the Virginia governor's race.
For Jaikumar's latest writeup, click here. The bottom line conclusions are: 1) "Right now, the Virginia Governor's race is a virtual tossup between the three Democrats;" and 2) "the Democratic nominee will face a terrific fight in November, with all the wrath of the national GOP on his head." I couldn't agree more.
P.S. Sam Stein at Huffington Post also has written about the Virginia governor's race.
