SWEET VIRGINIA-- TURNING BITTER FOR THE GOP?

The last time the state of Virginia gave its electoral votes to a Democrat running for president was in 1964, when Barry Goldwater took on Lyndon Johnson. According to a story in today's Washington Post George W. Bush may have turned around the trend. Virginia will be a battleground state in 2008-- unless the dispirited Republicans just give up on it altogether. "When asked to name the worst president since 1960, 46 percent of the state's independents cited Bush. No other president was mentioned by more than 15 percent of independents."

The Post conducted a poll of Virginia voters and there is nothing in it to cheer up Republicans in the Commonwealth, who have been losing statewide elections lately and are now aware that they are unlikely to deliver their state to the GOP-- no matter which one of the 10 or 11 or 12 (has McCain pulled out yet?) old white dwarves is the nominee-- in 2008.

The poll paid particular attention to independents, about 30 percent of Virginia's adult population. Results offer fresh evidence of a trend in Virginia politics -- that independents have played a critical role in electing Democrats in two consecutive governor's races and in last year's U.S. Senate race.

As Democrats and Republicans gear up for next year, the poll shows that Virginians are nervous about the economy and health care and are frustrated with politics. State residents' anxieties mirror those expressed by voters nationally, challenging the notion that Virginians are at odds with the rest of the country on key issues and giving Democrats an opportunity to win the state's 13 electoral votes.

And the independent voters agree that of the last 9 presidents, Bush is the worst-- and that they want a Democrat in the White House. "Slightly more than half of Virginia residents said they have an unfavorable view of the national Republican Party, including 60 percent of independents, according to the poll. By comparison, 55 percent of residents, including half of independents, said they have a favorable impression of national Democrats."

This afternoon Rove had Bush launch a vicious and desperate  partisan attack on Democrats, an attack that will drive his unbelievably high disapprove ratings even higher. Voters have grown accustomed to reading between the lines of his deceitful speeches and people all over America are pretty much aware that when his thin, bloodless lips are moving, he's lying again. He has accused Democrats of being unable to move legislation through Congress, conveniently forgetting that obstructionist Republicans-- himself, a newly devoted champion of the veto, included-- have been using parliamentary tricks to thwart the will of the majority-- in Congress and in the states. Members of the Bush Regime seem incapable of differentiating between Congress doing its job and Congress acting as a rubber stamp.

Bush even had the temerity to blame Democrats in Congress for his own abject failure in getting the Republicans he promised to pass his bipartisan immigration proposals. Virginians may be ready to vote for a Democrat for president, but much of the country has already decided they would like to see Bush impeached. "Nearly half of the US public wants President George W. Bush to face impeachment, and even more favor that fate for Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a poll out Friday. The survey by the American Research Group found that 45 percent support the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Bush, with 46 percent opposed, and a 54-40 split in favor when it comes to Cheney."