A scene from this past weekend's Neighborhood Day Parade in Arlington, related to me by a good friend:
My girlfriend's car was parked three blocks from the parade route. As I was putting the Kaine sign in the trunk, a woman and her two children, both carrying orange Kilgore balloons, were walking on the sidewalk near the car. The woman said, "I saw your Kerry bumper sticker, and you've got a Kaine sign - is Kaine the Democrat then?" My girlfriend said yes, and the woman said, "I can't believe I let my kids take Republican ballons! But I didn't know which one starting with the letter 'K' was the Democrat and which one was the Republican. Argh!"
The reason I relate this story is that I do not believe it was an isolated incident. To the contrary, based on my own conversations with people who are normally well-informed politically, I would say that the confusion exhibited by the woman in Arlington was less the exception than the rule at this point.
If true, the implication here is that the state-wide candidates in Virginia this year have significant work to do in building up their name recognition. Let's face it, this is no Chuck Robb-Oliver North marquee showdown; these folks -- Kaine, Kilgore, Potts, Fitch, etc. -- are simply not very well known by most Virginians, outside of political junkies who write (and read) blogs like this one.
This situation undoubtedly will change by September/October, when the majority of Virginians will likely have formed an opinion -- positive or negative -- about the candidates. But for now, it's somewhat of a blank slate ("Which 'K' is the 'D' and which is the 'R?'"), a situation which provides both opportunities and challenges for the various campaigns.
Among other things, the tabula rasa characteristic of this race helps explain the ferocious early start to which it's gotten off. With the candidates not well known to many voters, the push has been on for weeks, even months, for the candidates: a) to set the tone for the race, and b) to make that critical "first impression" on voters. And this is likely to continue for many more months to come.
A lot can happen, of course, between now and November 8. Still, it won't be at all surprising to us if we look back in hindsight on these early battles as having determined the ultimate outcome of the war. That's just one reason why political junkies like us are so interested in what's happening 6 months before Election Day. Another reason is that we need to "get a life," but that's another story for another day. :)