[Brilliant]

Kaine comes in when things are good. I'm betting that he leaves when things are bad.

[cope85]

Republican Party's next

[philsfan24]

surprised he didnt blame bush like forrester

[mosquitobite]

Don't tell the BushBots... we must meet in the middle to get the "moderate" vote *rolling eyes*

[thoughtomator]

The lesson of all US elections since 1994:

RINO = LOSER

[Blood of Tyrants]

Kilgore almost immediately began making decisions in light of his chances of becoming Governor.

Too damned many elected officials get into office with only one of two agendas, staying in office at all costs or advancing their political careers and ignore the job they were elected to do.

[brothers4thID]

Interesting take but I still maintain, in my professional political opinion, that Kilgore lost because he abandoned a supposedly "lost cause" Northern Virginia. A lackluster campaign in an off-year cycle dominated by bad news was destined to fail.

If you cannot motivate your base, how do you expect to motivate the legislature to pass a budget?

[anymouse]

So what do you call Kilgore's loss for social conservatives - a Pyhrric loss?

You guys must be taking strategy lessons from the French army. :)

[GeorgeW23225]

When asked if he would veto tax increases, Kilgore responded by saying yes. Russert responded by saying "That's a hypothetical".
Laughter broke out...........

All Kilgore had to do at that moment was to say to Russert: That is NOT a hypothetical question, Mr. Russert. You of all people should know how much the democRATS like to raise taxes. Therefore, the question is NOT hypothetical.

If Kilgore has said that, he'd be the Governor today.

His campaign was abysmal. Some of the dumbest commercials ever on T.V., and far too negative.
My favorite "stupid" ad, was the one where Kilgore said: "If elected Governor, I'll bring jobs to Virginia". DUH?????

Virginia already has the 3rd LOWEST unemployment rate in the U.S.A. at 3.5%.
There are already more jobs here than there are people to fill them.

His campaign was way out of touch with reality. Although I voted for him, I was less than thrilled about it!!

[sinanju]

Jeez, Loweez, I had no idea he was such a schmuck. My mailbox was bombarded by appeals from his campaign committee. Had I known all this I would have told them to go jump.

What is it with these people? After several decades worth of countless examples of watered-down, milquetoasted republicans cutting their own throats, so many ostensibly smart guys are unable to study recent history and realize that republicans only win when they stand on conservative principles (on the campaign trail AND in office). Craven pandering and difference-splitting simply will NOT work for republicans. Democrats are so much better at that game.

[Dems_R_Losers]

I hd a lengthy conversation yesterday with a friend who is a longtime conservative activist in Northern Virginia. He told me that he mobilized hundreds of volunteers last year for President Bush; this year he went to the same group of people and NONE of them would volunteer for Kilgore. Not one! The Kilgore campaign completely ignored Northern Virginia, ran on issues that actually hurt Kilgore there, and ignored people like Tom Davis and Frank Wolf who know how to win elections in NOVA. The RNC came in with its high-tech GOTV effort in the last 3 days, but their lists were so bad that some voters got 25 calls and some got none. This campaign was a disaster from start to finish. It's no surprise to me that Kilgore got his rear end handed to him.

[MissMagnolia]

Bottom line for me, Kilgore came across as "Kilgore Lite", whether it was because he actually became mushy or because of the pathetic campaign that was run on his behalf. Despite my disaffection with Kilgore, I held my nose and voted for him - Kilgore might have come across as a RINO, but I KNOW Kaine is a flaming lib.

[Criminal Number 18F]

The Human Events story says of Kilgore and his straddle on abortion:

Kilgore’s refusal to take a stand was just plain awful, and probably kept some “lazy voters”—a term Kilgore’s campaign coined to describe non-voters in this off-year election—home instead of casting a vote for the Republican.

You could also apply that to Kilgore's straddle on guns. He wouldn't even return the GOA or VCDL questionnaires. Here's GOA's Larry Pratt on that Kilgore wimp-out.

Kilgore waffled on abortion, on guns, on taxes, on immigration. A conservative with no stones is worth, exactly, what?

These are not failings of Republicanism or conservatism in Virginia. Indeed, Tim Kaine did all he could to obfuscate his own liberal record, and he'll certainly govern as a liberal -- it's what he is. What failed here is the backbone, if any, of Jerry Kilgore.

A coward from my party may be from my party, but he is not my man. The world is quite full enough of cowards without us advancing them.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[olezip]

I sincerely hope that Kilgore and other Republicans of his ilk learn something from this failure. I voted for him but not with a lot of enthusiasm. He was very slow to endorse the NRA position; seemed reluctant at first. He has not learned from the elder and younger Bushes.

[John O]

When a conservative runs as a conservative - he wins
When a conservative runs as a moderate - he loses

What's so hard to undersatdn about this?

[P8riot]

Isn't it interesting that a Rat won by giving the impression he had moved to the right, but a Pubbie lost by giving the impression that he had moved to the left?

The Kilgore campaign's efforts to appeal to "the middle" is what made it totally uninspiring for me. So do ya think the VA GOP will learn it's lesson before 2009? I sure hope so, but I am not holding my breath. I just hope that that of the two obvious contenders for the GOP nomination for Governor that year we don't make the wrong choice like we did in '01.

[sasafras]

This doesnt surprise me unfortunately. Rove has taken over in the WH and is as much a RINO as anyone. Bush had better wake up and start to fight back with supporting conservative causes (Alito was a good start) or his biggest critics will be the conservatives that he continues to ignore. This is a wake up call for other RINOs but I doubt they will get the message. Conservatives will not vote for a democrat who wears the Republican label. California, Mass and NY do not apply.