More good news. According to a news reports by the Associated Press, Former Virginia Governor and current Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder will endorse Tim Kaine in a news conference tomorrow morning. This is, needless to say, an important endorsement. As Bob Lewis puts it in the DailyPress:
Wilder left the governor's office in 1994, but remains an influential figure among Virginia's minority voters. A year ago, he was elected mayor with 80 percent of the citywide vote.[...]
Though a Democrat, Wilder has an unpredictable, often conservative streak that means Democrats can never take his backing for granted.
The Kilgore campaign, which had heavily courted Wilder, reacted sourly, of course. According to Kilgore spokesman J. Tucker Martin, "This is a Democrat endorsing a Democrat. The only news here is how long it took to happen." Yeah, right, then why did Jerry Kilgore try so hard to get that Democrat's endorsement?
By the way, the key issue in Mayor Wilder's endorsement of Tim Kaine appeared to be guns. Jerry Kilgore's refused to pledge that he would keep Virginia's one-handgun-a-month law in place. Tim Kaine has stated repeatedly that he supports the law.
[UPDATE: The DailyPress reports that "Tim Kaine won a commitment Wednesday from former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to campaign at his side through next Tuesday's gubernatorial election..." Needless to say, this is great news! Not surprisingly, "Kaine beamed as he stood beside Wilder, now Richmond's mayor." Hey, I'd beam too if I had Doug Wilder and Mark Warner both on my side!]