ONE WEEK AWAY - AND A GOOD CHANCE FOR A SMILE - AT 9:02 A.M. ET:  Elections will be held a week from tomorrow.  There is reason for guarded optimism:

PETERSBURG, Va. -- The Democrats' decade-long push into Virginia -- a national bragging point that they were moving into the once-solid Republican South -- may be coming to an end.

Polls suggest that the Republicans could win the governor's office on Nov. 3 for the first time in more than a decade. One of only two statewide races this year -- the other is the governor's race in New Jersey -- the Virginia contest is being watched as a referendum not only on the Democrats' appeal in the region, but also on the party's agenda next door in Washington.

But remember - the only poll that counts is the one on election day. 

President Barack Obama will campaign in the state on Tuesday to help boost fellow Democrat Creigh Deeds, a state senator from rural western Virginia.

This is after he comes back from a campaign trip to Florida.  See story just below.  Meanwhile, the centrifuges in Iran are spinning.

In a troubling sign for the Democrats, however, White House aides speaking on background already have started taking shots at Deeds as a poor candidate, lest pundits blame Obama for his defeat.

Yeah, that's the old Soviet style.  Watch Deeds get Photoshopped out of all pictures with Obama the minute he loses.

Virginia, increasingly, is seen as a bellwether:

"Virginia is the new Peoria," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, referring to the Illinois city once used as a sociological test lab because it so closely reflected the average American community.

COMMENT:  The GOP must win the race, and then move on.  No more sitting around celebrating, and settling for mediocre candidates.  The good guys can reverse the impact of the 2008 election, but only with great ideas and great people, and they don't fall out of trees.  Go searching!

October 26, 2009