Bush detours to campaign in Virginia governor’s race

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) – President George W. Bush
took a detour to Virginia on his way back from Latin America on
Monday to try to give Republican Jerry Kilgore an election-eve
boost in his deadlocked race for governor.

Despite his own political woes and declining popularity,
Bush hoped to rally Republicans to vote on Tuesday in a contest
that polls show is too close to call and in which turnout could
be crucial for Kilgore and his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Tim
Kaine.

“We’re not taking anything for granted. Laura and I are
here to ask you to turn out to vote tomorrow for Jerry
Kilgore,” Bush told a rally in a hangar at Richmond
International Airport after a flight from Panama at the end of
a Latin America swing that also included Argentina and Brazil.

Bush called Kilgore “a man of character and integrity” with
a record Virginians can count on. “And equally important, you
know he doesn’t need to run a poll to tell him what to think,”
Bush added.

Kaine and Kilgore, a former state attorney general, were
battling to succeed incumbent governor and potential 2008
Democratic presidential contender, Mark Warner, in the
Republican-leaning southern state.

Warner is barred by state law from seeking a second term.

With Bush’s poll numbers plummeting and beset by problems
like the war in Iraq, the bungled federal response to Hurricane
Katrina and the indictment of a senior White House aide in the
CIA leak probe, Democrats hoped the president’s 11th-hour
appearance for Kilgore would instead motivate their own
supporters.

Some political analysts have suggested that even
Republicans might try to distance themselves from Bush now that
his job approval rating is at an all-time low.

Kilgore welcomed Bush as “a great leader for our
commonwealth and for our country.”

“We are only hours away of bringing conservative leadership
back to Richmond,” Kilgore said, as he introduced Bush to
hundreds of cheering supporters at the airport rally.

Late last month, Kilgore avoided a Bush speech on
anti-terrorism in Norfolk, Virginia, a move that was widely
regarded as a sign that the president might do more harm than
good in a close race.

Kilgore, whose early lead in polls has slipped to a
statistical tie, has warned voters that Kaine will raise taxes
and is too far to the left on social issues such as gun
control, immigration, and, most prominently, the death penalty.

The governor’s race in Virginia and another in New Jersey
are the biggest contests in this election season and will be
watched closely for evidence of how the mounting political
struggles of Bush and national Republicans are influencing
voters.