Collegiate Times

by Tim Edson

regular columnist

In just over nine months, Virginians will head to the polls to choose a new chief executive who will lead the Commonwealth of Virginia for the next four years. What several months ago looked like a clear cut race between former republican Attorney General Jerry Kilgore and Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine has taken a sudden twist; liberal republican Senator H. Russell Potts of Winchester announced Friday he plans to enter the race as an independent. Conventional wisdom would dictate that Potts's candidacy could tilt the electoral results in Kaine's favor in November. I've been doing a little thinking, and I'm here to tell you, especially you loyal republicans, Potts's announcement could turn out to be Christmas in February for Virginia's Republican Party.

Up until last week, this years gubernatorial election appeared to be a classic Virginia political battle between the conservative republican candidate Kilgore and the liberal democratic candidate Kaine (not a Massachusetts liberal, however). The campaign I anticipated playing out was one in which Kaine wrapped himself in the relative popularity of Mark Warner's administration while trying to cloak his true record as a tax-raising, anti-gun liberal. Meanwhile, Kilgore could have been expected to campaign on a platform of tax cuts, which would possibly give Virginians back the budget surplus that existed before Warner and liberal republicans hammered their tax increase through the General Assembly last year based on dubious accounting. He also could have campaigned for tougher penalties for criminals and a general adherence to traditionally conservative values.

So, throw Potts into the race, and at first glance you have a liberal republican running an independent populist campaign. It would appear Kilgore could be in for some serious trouble, especially if Potts can garner some funding and exposure in the press. With both Kilgore and Kaine sitting atop substantial war chests, it would seem highly unlikely Potts would have any realistic chance of winning. He could certainly be a spoiler though.

Though Potts stands little chance of winning the election, he seems intent on sending a message to Virginia republicans that there must be space in the party for moderates (i.e. liberals). The Associated Press reports that Potts believes ?the GOP has drifted too far right for a ?middle-of-the-road? state like Virginia,? but he is not abandoning the party.

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