By LIZ SIDOTI and BOB LEWIS
Associated Press Writers
Tue Oct 20, 2009
PURCELLVILLE, Va. – Just a year after this one-time Confederate state helped elect a black man president, Democrats are desperately trying to hang onto the governorship.
A lot has changed: Loyal Democrats are more subdued than last fall. Republicans are energized. Independents are proving to be … independent. Voters of all kinds seem disenchanted.
Just like Americans nationwide.
The contest between Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds provides a snapshot of sorts — 12 months after America elected Barack Obama as president and expanded Democratic majorities in Congress, and one year before midterm elections in every state.
And the picture, in Virginia as in the nation, is not pretty for Democrats.
Republicans are far more fired up than Democrats, and independents who leaned left just a year ago are tilting away. Frustration over the status quo, fear of the country’s direction, and disillusionment about political leaders span the ideological spectrum.
“I’m disgusted by everything. We couldn’t be at a worse place in this country,” said Maria Taylor, a waitress in Purcellville’s small business district. She calls herself an independent and hasn’t decided whom to support as Virginia’s next governor.
The article continues at Yahoo! News.
