For months we've been telling you why to vote for Tim Kaine and against Jerry Kilgore. On the latter point, I have explained some of the most important reasons why progressives, moderates and "normal Republicans" needed to turn out en masse to vote against Kilgore - he's the Bush/Rove/DeLay placeholder in Virginia. In other words, Kilgore another arm of the radical right.Here's another reason that anti-Bush Virginians (and that's the majority of us, by the way) should vote Tim Kaine today: it's a great way to send George W. Bush a message:
President George W. Bush was due to address a crowd of several thousand on Monday night in Richmond at what was optimistically dubbed a "Virginia Victory Rally," ahead of Tuesday's vote in the tight gubernatorial race.Mr Bush's ability to mobilise the republican grassroots could play a key role in electing Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate, who has watched his double-digit lead shrink to zero. Yet the president's decision to attend also carries a risk for both men, threatening to make the Virginia election a referendum on Mr Bush's diminishing political and electoral appeal.
There is clearly concern among Republicans and the White House over the prospect that both of the two governors' races Tuesday ? in Virginia and New Jersey ? could be lost. That would add to fears about prospects for 2006 and reinforce the instincts of candidates to distance themselves from a president whose ratings have fallen to 39 per cent.
In other words, this election could be a death blow to the Bush/Rove/DeLay machine. This could be the start of a landslide electoral mandate for change and reform in 2006 and 2008.
Perhaps Karl Rove thinks that his client, George W. Bush, can still swoop in at the eleventh hour and mobilize his ultra-right-wing "base" (whatever's left of it) sufficiently to win close races in supposed "red" states. Well, forget it, Karl. Today, we're all going to show you that, mid-way through "Dubya's" disastrous second term, he simply doesn't have that power anymore. In fact, Bush's "diminishing political and electoral appeal" is more than diminishing - it's positively radioactive!
So, please vote for Tim Kaine today. It's not just a vote to continue Mark Warner's policies another 4 years. It's not just a vote for Virginia's future. It's also a vote against the politics of division, cronyism, and fake robo-calls (another yesterday afternoon on abortion, by the way!) as practiced by Jerry W. Kilgore and George W. Bush. Thank you.
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