Congrats to my native state for electing Tim Kaine as governor last night. The 11th hour appearance of the president, his only swing into the state to support Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore, apparently didn’t help Kilgore as much as it did Kaine. I love this quotation from Mo Elleithee, the Kaine campaign’s communications director: “Can someone tell me where to send the thank-you note? The president fired up our base.”
The tone of the campaign is neatly summed up in the closing paragraphs of the New York Times article:
Mr. Kilgore tried to make character and ideology central ideas, portraying himself as a straight shooter who “doesn’t need a poll to make up his mind” and attacking Mr. Kaine as “instinctively liberal.”
Mr. Kaine tried to build his campaign on the issues of managerial style and bipartisanship, asserting that Mr. Warner and he had—with Republican help—made state government more efficient and effective. But he also questioned Mr. Kilgore’s honesty, and accused him of planning to outlaw abortion if Roe v. Wade was overturned by the United States Supreme Court.
It’s good to see that the voters of my state are too intelligent to fall for the same tired rhetoric of the “l-word” and accusations of flip-flopping.