Warner Stumps for Kaine In Days Leading Up to Election

In the final stretches leading up to the Virginia gubernatorial election on November 8, Mark Warner is aggressively campaigning across the state for Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine. Campaign stops in recent days have included southwest Virginia, where Warner is highly popular, but where Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore is the hometown son. Warner won this region in his campaign for Governor four years ago.

According to a New York Times article covering a recent Kaine rally, Warner "still receives the loudest applause when he appears at Democratic campaign events in the race for governor." In addition to hitting the campaign trail to bolster support, Warner has filmed new TV endorsement ads with Kaine and helped with fundraising.

The most recent polls show that the race for Virginia Governor is still statistically a dead heat--44 percent Kilgore and 42 Kaine. The Mason-Dixon Poll shows a nine percent undecided vote. A key endorsement from The Washington Post on Sunday should help Kaine.

The October 20 NY Times piece drives home the importance of this race to Warner, "because he not only hopes to extend his Democratic legacy in this Republican-dominated state, but also is mulling a future campaign, for president in 2008," the article notes. An October 21 Washington Post report seconds this notion: "[No] one has more riding on the outcome than Warner, a prospective 2008 White House candidate who bases his appeal to national Democrats on his ability to reach moderate and rural voters and help the party become competitive again in the South."

There's no question much is riding on this election. Make the most of your vote. Pile all of your friends in a van and drive down to your local polling station on November 8. Polls open statewide at 6 AM and close at 7 PM.