You know, I thought after last year's scorched earth, hard feelings primary, we might get a little break from the same sort of circular firing squad nonsense. I guess not. In Virginia, with three strong candidates looking to succeed Gov. Tim Kaine, the partisans have been at each other's throats and tearing apart the Virginia blogosphere.
It's probably a futile hope that Democratic primaries can be conducted with class, and not in a destructive fashion. We're now the party of power throughout the nation, and these positions are important to powerful people. The last two Democratic governors of Virginia became serious presidential or vice-presidential aspirants. Mark Warner is now a U.S. Senator. Tim Kaine is heading up the DNC. Hoping for peace and kindness might be asking too much in the race for the governorship, but I was hoping that the scorched earth strategy might have been avoided given how close we still are to early 2008. Preaching "can't we all get along" is always going to fall on deaf ears when the stakes are this high.
So, this is more a warning than anything else. Get ready for more of this. If you can try some preventative medicine in your Democratic communities, now is a good time to start planning on that front. While most of the country's Democrats are many months away from their primaries, Virginia is a preview for what's likely to happen for many of the 2010 elections. Becoming a part of the Democratic ruling elite at whatever level will be a tantalizing prospect for candidates everywhere, an in this newly Democratic electorate we'll see some blood during the 2010 primary season. If the past few weeks in the Commonwealth are any indication, then it's going to be ugly everywhere inside the Democratic tent next year.