I’m back after a refreshing week at the Outer Banks. The political landscape looks a little different from the one I left ….
Jerry Kilgore being in trouble for not debating seems to have vaporized in the summer humidity, while everyone is now all a-twitter over perceived problems in the Kaine campaign. “John Behan,” outed by the Washington Post while I was away, has a nice summary of the Kaine situation over at Commonwealth Conservative.
I suspect more is being made of Kaine campaign problems than is really there. The proliferation of blogs and comments on blogs magnify small dust-ups and natural disagreements. Still, being unable to capitalize for more than a day or two on the Kilgore debate story before your own campaign woes become the story is an indicator that something is amiss. National news trends–Supreme Court vacancy and terrorism–seem to favor Republicans right now and that helps Kilgore.
Third party gadfly Russ Potts seems to be flailing around a bit, too. He’s suddenly going to have a transportation plan before he’s elected and, in a bid to peel off some one-issue voters, is now a champion of gays being allowed to adopt. While I agree with his position, where has he been on this? Potts apparently wants to be the eclectic candidate–one who is experiencing all sorts of conversions now that he’s on the ballot statewide.