|
Bolling
Cuccinelli
McDonnell |
RICHMOND--
The election for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general isn't until November 2009.But in the past two weeks, two Republicans have made their campaign plans official. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced he would back away from plans to run for governor, and instead run for re-election. And Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, declared for attorney general.
It may seem early to announce plans for an election in 2009. But for Republicans, who have lost the last two gubernatorial races, a U.S. Senate race and control of the state Senate, lining up their roster early could be a benefit.
Although other candidates could still come forward for all three races, and are likely to do so for the attorney general race, Bolling's decision leaves Attorney General Bob McDonnell the only Republican currently planning a run for governor. (McDonnell won't officially announce his intentions until later this year.) The strategy already has discouraged some from challenging Bolling.
He said announcing his plans now allows him and McDonnell to begin campaigning as a unified ticket.
"All the way around, I think having those top two spots pretty much settled this far in advance gives us a significant advantage over our opponents in 2009," he said. "You'll see us run more as a ticket, and you'll see us lead more as a team. It gives us a 15-month head start on the other side, because it looks like for the next 15 months they're going to be fighting about who their nominee is."
AT LEAST TWO DEMS
That unity is something Democrats don't yet have. They have at least two candidates for governor--Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County and Del. Brian Moran of Alexandria, who hasn't officially announced his candidacy--and there are no indications that either would step aside for the other, at least not yet.
Republicans hope that while Deeds and Moran duke it out, Republican voters will rally behind an already united message and ticket, at least in the top two spots.
"Obviously, it gives them an opportunity to craft, at least with McDonnell and Bolling, a fairly consistent message about where they want to be," said Virginia Commonwealth University political analyst Robert Holsworth. "It's probably a leg up [Republicans] need, given the shifting demographics in Virginia."
Bolling, who announced his plans the day after Easter, said people were choosing sides between him and McDonnell, and he wanted to make official his growing feeling that a run for governor wasn't best for him this time.
"It was better for the party to get that decision out there now, rather than having people picking sides and circling the wagons for the next eight months against each other," Bolling said.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA IS KEY
Bolling knows the GOP has to do better in Northern Virginia than it has in the past few elections.
"To win statewide campaigns in 2008 and beyond, we've got to do a better job than we have in the past, particularly reaching out to the changing face of Virginia north of the Occoquan," he said.
Holsworth agreed, saying Republicans have had a "tremendous regional erosion in Northern Virginia" and that they'll have to find a way to stop it to win.
Chelyen Davis: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com
