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By CHELYEN DAVIS
RICHMOND--The parades are over, the grills packed away, and white is no longer a fashionable color.
In other words, it's after Labor Day. For the political campaigns, that means it's time to ramp it up.
Conventional wisdom has it that voters pay scant attention to politicians in the warm, vacation-filled months of summer. Not until schools start back and people settle down into fall do they begin seeing the TV ads, the pleas for votes, the policy positions and the backbiting.
The gubernatorial candidates--three of them this year--all say they'll be saying the same things in the fall that they said in the summer. They'll just be saying them more often and more widely.
Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore are both back on the airwaves, having both recently begun airing new ads after taking a hiatus from TV advertising for much of the summer. And independent candidate Russ Potts, who hasn't run any TV ads to this point, just finished taping three spots that will start running statewide soon.
"Same message it was in March, same message it was in June. The main difference in the fall is that more people start paying attention," said Kilgore spokesman Tucker Martin. "We're going to continue talking about the same issues. It's just we'll probably be talking to more people. I think more people will be listening. Obviously, TV and radio will be important components of the fall campaign."
Kaine spokesman Jeff Kraus said the Democratic candidate will be doing the same thing--talking about issues already raised during the summer.
"I think Tim Kaine's been working hard all summer, he's going to continue to work hard. You're going to see more on television, you're going to see us traveling more with Gov. [Mark] Warner," Kraus said. "We view Labor Day as the most important phase of the campaign."
Using the fall to expand on themes, rather than introduce new ones, is par for the course, said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato.
"I think they'll review most of the same issues. They've tried out most everything in their arsenal," Sabato said. "The difference being people weren't paying any attention before Labor Day, and now they'll pay some attention. Emphasis on 'some.' This campaign has certainly not grabbed people by the collar."
But while the major themes are set, that doesn't rule out any late-breaking issues that might come up if a candidate commits a gaffe or a new state or national issue arises, Sabato said.
That's what happened in 2001, when the Sept. 11 attacks disrupted the statewide races for several weeks and put a new spin on campaign issues such as public safety.
And TV ads, which have been absent from the airwaves for weeks after a flurry of them in the spring, will do a lot to shape the fall campaigns, Sabato said.
"It will be a rare day when all of us don't see at least a few ads for statewide candidates on television," he said. "A lot of the campaign will be driven by the story line contained in those ads."
Potts does intend to roll out a new policy position soon--he's holding a news conference today to detail his transportation plan. So far, he has said that he believes additional revenues will be needed to pay for transportation improvements, but hasn't expanded on that.
Voters can also expect to see more candidate forums--Kilgore and Kaine are set to debate in a forum sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce tomorrow.
Kaine has also agreed to participate in a second debate with Potts immediately following that one, although Kilgore will not participate. The second debate is being sponsored by a coalition of education groups.
Kaine and Kilgore also will have one televised debate, on Oct. 9. According to rules negotiated by Sabato, Potts can take part in that debate if he polls at 15 percent or better in two reputable surveys between now and that debate.
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