November 10th - A windy Thursday in Roanoke, Virginia.... only 6 more days until I leave this town for awhile; I'm guessing I'll come back to visit volunteers and political contacts when I get a chance to vacation or travel down the road. These folks have a lot to be proud of because they stood up for what they believed in. Quite frankly, I had no idea that we could win this race by over 100,000 votes. I had the county Democrats ready for an expected recount in the Kaine vs. Kilgore matchup. I knew it was over and we had won when I started hearing rural county precinct returns and we had won places by sizeable margins (i.e. Windsor Hills, Northside, Ogden, Penn Forest, Mount Vernon, etc.) and had almost won in places like Peters Creek and Garst Mill. In fact there were only a few instances where we lost by a sizeable margin, but they were in extremely small precincts so it just goes to show you that prioritizing your vote goals in accordance to persuasiveness does go a long way.

There really can not be one single factor that helped us get to this point. We had an amazing field staff that worked very hard throughout the state, and if you look at the Virginia Board of Elections website you can definitely see that we hit our vote goals pretty much everywhere.

I had so much fun down here in Roanoke because it was so much of a challenge. Going door to door here was difficult because some folks just were bound and determined to NEVER give you a chance, but we still kept coming back to their homes, giving them calls, and sending them personal notes in the mail. I know for a fact that a ton of Republicans voted for Tim Kaine because of his positive message, but mostly because we treated them like Virginians instead of "the other party's base."

I'm so happy that Tim Kaine will be the 70th Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia because he is such a great person to be in a prominent leadership position. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine are great at helping people because they care enough to ask people what matters in their lives, rather than to force political agendas down on the masses. I honestly wish that Jerry Kilgore would have been honorable enough to run a clean and positive campaign, but he represents the extremely negative section of the Republican party that gives conservatives a bad name. I think that if the VA GOP had nominated Russ Potts for governor and had run a clean and positive race than they would have done better against Tim Kaine. By giving Virginians an amazingly clear choice this year, the Republicans continued their trend of negative messaging, wedge issue tactics, and overall horribleness.

Hopefully the Republicans can change their ways. Now granted, the Democratic Party has some things it needs to work on as well.... but just think.... wouldn't it be great if we could see some major races that included quality candidates and positive messages on both sides of the aisle?

Yes, Virginia.... there is a Santa Claus. And right now his name is either Governor Mark Warner or Governor-Elect Tim Kaine. Take your pick.... either way Virginia is moving forward.

That's my rant. Good day.