Gubernatorial race could reverberate beyond the Old Dominion

All eyes are on the the Old Dominion Gubernatorial Race. Fredericksburg.com has this. A couple excerpts.

• National eyes will be on this year's Virginia governor's race.

  Virginia is one of only two states that elects a governor in an odd year, and usually, while gaining a little attention, neither party at the national level really loses that much sleep over the result.

  However, this year the situation is radically different. Both sides, the national Democratic Party and their GOP counterparts, have something to lose, and quite a bit to gain, depending on the outcome. The Democrats, however, probably have the most at stake.

I found this very interesting in the article.

• Also, while it's not uncommon for a sitting GOP president to make a visit to the commonwealth to help out the Republican candidate for governor--Democratic candidates for governor tend to keep their distance from their national figures--this year it's likely that President Bush will make several campaign visits to Virginia.

I am happy that the President will come to Virginia to aid the Kilgore campaign, but that is not my focus. Why would democrats distance themselves from national party figures? Why would they not claim Howard Dean as their leader? Preach the rhetoric of their icons Boxer and Kennedy? It seems they could do just that as the 527 group A.C.T. has expressed interest. Brian Patton has the story here. It could be that their message will not carry well in the Old Dominion. It seems that national support for the Democratic candidate is a bad thing. I don't think this will "Raise Kaine" to the Governors mansion.