My hometown of Clintwood was fortunate enough to host the tenth stop of the statewide Democratic candidates? pre-election swing through Southwest Virginia. We may have a lot less people down here at census time, but one could not have known that from the ten great events over the last two days. Record numbers across Southwest Virginia have turned out to see Tim Kaine, Creigh Deeds, and Leslie Byrne one final time before casting their ballots on Tuesday. At tonight?s event in Clintwood, Tim, Creigh, and Leslie were joined by Congressman Boucher, Senator Puckett, Del. Bud Phillips, UMWA President Cecil Roberts, former Governor Linwood Holton, and other local officials.
Folks in the crowd spent most of the time standing, cheering, and applauding. The statewide Republicans, to my knowledge, have not made any stops in Dickenson County and only a few across the region. I suppose they are just taking Southwest Virginia for granted. After seeing how fired up the crowd was tonight, they are going to find out that was a mistake. We may not have many ?votes? down here, but I have a good feeling that a lot of them are going to be for Tim, Creigh, and Leslie.
Tim mentioned the old saying ?if it ain?t broke, don?t fix it.? He said, adding to that, ?if it was broke, and we fixed it, don?t break it again!? I could not agree more. We are lucky enough to know exactly how the governor?s office will be ran if Jerry Kilgore is elected - just like Jim ?deficit? Gilmore. We can not allow Virginia to be sent back to those sad days. The Warner-Kaine Administration?s management of Virginia is ranked number one in the country. By electing Tim, Creigh, and Leslie, we can keep Virginia moving forward, not backward.
Governor Holton summed it up in four words - ?take ten with you.? This election is going to come down to voter turnout. Be sure and take your ten friends, neighbors, and relatives out to the polls to vote with you on Tuesday. Governor Holton said if he, an 82 year-old Republican, has already lined up 28 people to cast ballots for Tim, Creigh, and Leslie - surely we can come up with ten people.