I mean people in the media who you need to carry the "message" that conservatives were upset.
I know that Kilgore was not a true-blue conservative. I know conservatives who wanted Kaine because they were afraid that Kilgore would have an easier time getting stuff through a republican legislature than Kaine (frankly, I agree with them enough that I'm not all that upset by the outcome -- but I voted Kilgore).
I know some who didn't like his pro-tax-referendum stance. I know some who didn't like his refusal to answer the abortion question. Others who were turned off by his attack on lawyers defending clients.
Kilgore lost because he had no coherent message, not because of some backlash against conservatives. He lost to a man who promised to throw out his principles to get elected. This is what the Democrats are cheering.
But I'm just saying that the "message" conservatives tried to send on election eve didn't get to anybody.
That worsened his already bad position in NoVA. The voters here realize that enacting a local tax for roads will simply result in the Richmond gang siphoning off even more of our general-fund taxes to pave every cow path meandering along the North Carolina border. That's why they rejected the idea in the referendum a few years back.