Kaine wins

The AP just called the Virginia governor's race for Tim Kaine. The Democrats needed that win.

I went out today and voted for Kaine. Until three weeks ago, I was not very motivated to vote and I didn't really care who would win the race.

There will be a lot of different spins on this race over the next few days. Some will say it was a referendum on Bush; others will credit Mark Warner with being a successful governor. For me it really was the gut-wrenching feeling I felt the first time I saw Kilgore's ads attacking Tim Kaine's position on the death penalty.

Kilgore's consultants said the goal of the ad was to grab at people's emotions. They succeeded, but not in the way they meant to. The ad was a political low. It attacked a candidate's moral and religious beliefs rather than his policies.

In American Politics 101 the average college freshman learns that negative advertising works. This campaign may be the one where they need to rewrite that lesson. Kaine just won and I think the polls will show that Kilgore's ads are what brought the votes home.