Kilgore Letter Concedes Vital Fight for Bush in Va. (WP)

[Nambe]

Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore (R), who is chairman of President Bush's reelection campaign in Virginia, might be changing his mind about whether Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry could win the state's 13 electoral votes.

For weeks, Kilgore has dismissed the idea. At a rally with Bush in Annandale, he called talk of a Kerry victory in the commonwealth "crazy claims" and vowed that "Virginia is Bush country." At the Republican National Convention, he told anyone who would listen that the Democrats were full of hot air. ..

But in a fundraising letter mailed to Bush supporters last week, Kilgore repeatedly warns that Bush could lose the state in November. A Democrat hasn't won the Old Dominion's electoral votes since 1964. ..

Democrats in the state pounced on the letter, calling it a major acknowledgment validating their belief that Kerry can become the first Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson to win Virginia.

"It's huge. It's a profound concession," said Laura Bland, the spokeswoman for the Virginia Democratic Party. "There should be no doubt in anyone's mind now that Virginia is a battleground state because Jerry Kilgore has said so." ..

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[AlCzervik]

1. Or...it's a way to raise cash

thats how the gop uses Hillary CLinton, they send out letters that say she could rule and they get cash from scared supporters.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

2. Could this

POSSIBLY be a trick on the GOP part???

Why in the world would he say something like that?

A) He believes it is a possibility that bush will lose Virginia and he is covering his butt/preparing people for that possibility?

or

B) it is some kind of trick....get the Dems overconfident in Virginia?

Trying to figure this one out...

[punpirate]

5. No, I agree that it's a tactic to raise more money...

... in order to pay for more ads. After all, what do the Republicans do with everyone? Shower us with vague threats, from orange alerts to Cheney-ing suggestions that we'll be attacked again.

Why shouldn't they do it to their own supporters, as well? :think:

[Virginian]

6. Money equals Votes -- It's all about money, but I'll take it as concession

Send money so we can get votes. Kerry is gaining, Send more money so we can get more votes.

[yardwork]

I think it is true that Virginia is in play

Everything I hear indicates that people who work for the federal government are mad as hell at chimpy. The incompetence in this administration is mind-boggling.

[Philostopher]

3. Actually, there was an article about this in

Washington Monthly (I think), or one of the other liberal publications we get (we get about six). Apparently, some of the most affluent districts in Virginia seem to be trending Kerry because he comes across as a much steadier hand and a more traditional leadership type, and apparently that appeals to Virginians.

[WMliberal]

4. kilgore is a hack. it was a mistake putting him in charge

part of the reason kerry has a chance. Va GOP is in BAD shape lately.

[SaveElmer]

7. Warner took the Repugs out to lunch last session

Completely rolled them on the budget. GOP is reeling a bit, we have a very popular Democratic Governor, and I get the sense the Presidential race is closer than it has been in many years here. Bush will probably still take it, but it is gonna be a fight.

[WMliberal]

8. seriously. he rolled them with a legislative balance that would

give any Repuke a boner. The Va GOP doesn't have their shit together like they did in the late 90's.
Just a little bit more effort from Kerry and this state goes blue. The governorship will stay blue next year too, if Kilgore wins the nomination.

[last_texas_dem]

9. Who knows?

I was surprised whenever I read in The Emerging Democratic Majority that VA could be swinging our way in a short few years, but the polls I've been seeing from out of there seem to bear the authors' claims out. Maybe not this election, but definitely by '08. Funny how VA seems to be trending our way more than formerly reliable WV. I suppose it has a good deal to do with the type of voters the Dems have begun to appeal to.

[DuaneBidoux]

10. Increasingly old style Republicans are leaning Democratic

My subject heading may be an overstatement but you know the ones: they believe in humble foreign policy and balanced budgets. They increasingly tend to be liberal socially and are terrified (if not publicly then secretly) of Bush's religious right wing crazies. I used to be one (although now I've turned into a full blown progressive).

[gospelized]

11. it's true

the local news this evening reported that kerry is actually ahead in va at the moment.

kerry actually came to virginia a few months ago, and had a rally in norfolk that i went to along with several thousand others.

va is up for grabs. we had a republican governor who pretty much ruined the economy, and he was replaced by a democrat who has dramatically turned things around and even had buzz around him for a while as being a possible VP candidate. i think that's a huge contribution to the people here seeing the light.