| Candidate | Registered Voters | Likely Voters |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Kaine | 40 | 41 |
| Jerry Kilgore | 38 | 40 |
| Russ Potts | 5 | 6 |
| Undecided | 13 | 10 |
The official Kaine Campaign Blog shows more of the findings of this survey:
* 56% of voters believe Virginia is moving in the right direction, as opposed to 28% who believe it is on the wrong track.
* Education continues to be the top issue that voters want their next governor to focus on (30%), followed by transportation (24%) and health care (21%). Despite Jerry Kilgore?s recent negative ad blitz, the death penalty is at the bottom of the list (2%).
* Tim Kaine leads among Independent voters by a margin of 33%-23%.
* While 85% of Democrats are supporting Tim Kaine, only 69% of Republicans are supporting Jerry Kilgore.
Overall, this points to a continued trend towards Kaine, although the race is still very tight. However, with recent inflammatory Kilgore ads energizing Kaine supporters, the trend may favor Kaine in the long run.
It's interesting also to see indications coming from both of the two polls that excess negativity can become a liability for campaign. The results seem to force Kilgore's options into a dead end: playing more negatives can only further erode his credibility; switching to positives will only look like pandering (also costing credibility).
Kilgore has proven that he is willing to squander integrity and honesty to win.Now he has to live by the consequences of his actions, since the electorate apparently are perfectly willing to judge him accordingly.
Update at 6 pm: Kilgore took the path of pandering.