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Grits

By Hastings Wyman
Southern Political Report

August 1, 2008 — Virginia: The Home of Vice-Presidents?

At least four Virginia political figures have been mentioned as possible running mates for either Barack Obama or John McCain. Two prominent Democrats, former governor and now US Senate nominee Mark Warner and US Sen. Jim Webb, were getting lots of attention as potential veep nominees, but took their names out of the hat, leaving Gov. Tim Kaine as one of the most talked about prospects to become Obama’s vice-presidential nominee. Kaine’s biggest pluses include the likelihood that he would bring Virginia’s 13 electoral votes into the Democratic column; that he would appeal to moderate voters -- including those in the business community -- especially in other Southern states; that he speaks fluent Spanish; his Roman Catholic religion, which provides a traditional counterpart to Obama’s controversial religious affiliation; and his relatively liberal positions on most social issues, which would keep the Democratic left more or less happy. Kaine’s big negative: If elected, a Republican, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), would become Virginia’s governor. One GOPer, ambitious and rapidly rising US Rep. Eric Cantor from Richmond, is also getting mentioned as McCain’s running mate. Admittedly a long-shot, Cantor would help McCain bring Jewish voters, already anxious about Obama’s views on the Middle East, into the Republican camp. On the down side, he’s only a congressman and has never run a statewide race.

Democratic Registration Drives Draw Fire

Republican leaders in two Southern states, Louisiana and Virginia, have complained about what they contend amounts to fraud in the Democrats’ voter registration drives in the two states. Democrats have responded with accusations of vote-suppression on the part of the GOP. In Louisiana, where registrars’ offices have been “swamped” with applicants, according to press reports, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne (R) is investigating whether some registrars have accepted incomplete or duplicate applications, or those with erroneous information, such as using the name “George W. Bush.” In Virginia, where Gov. Tim Kaine (D) is helping get pardons approved so those who have served prison sentences can vote, GOPers have complained about three paid canvassers who submitted false names to registrars. Democrats have responded that GOP complaints are really about the substantial increase in the registration of African-Americans.

Oklahoma: Rice Runs Poorly in Primary

In this week’s Sooner State Democratic Primary, perennial candidate Jim Rogers, who did no campaigning and spent no money, managed to hold the favorite, state Sen. Andrew Rice, to a 60%-40% victory.  Rice, who spent $720,000, lost the counties along the state’s Southern border and in the Panhandle, most of which normally vote Democratic. The conventional wisdom is that party conservatives voted against Rice, who has a liberal history. He is the underdog in November against US Sen. James Inhofe (R).

Tennessee: Cohen’s Slavery Resolution Passes House

The US House of Representatives passed a resolution this week apologizing for the ”fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow [segregation].” The measure, passed by a voice vote, was authored by freshman US Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and was viewed on Capitol Hill as an effort by House Democrats to help Cohen in his August 7 primary contest with attorney Nikki Tinker. Cohen is white and Jewish, Tinker is African-American. Cohen’s 9^th District (Memphis) is 60% black. Cohen won in 2006 with a plurality of 31%,  in large part because the district’s African-Americans were divided among a large number of black contenders.

North Carolina: Dole Skipping GOP Convention