By most of the recent polls, the Democratic nominee for Virginia's next Governor, state senator Creigh Deeds, is trailing in the polls by around 7 points to his Republican challenger, Bob McDonnell.

When I watch the TV ads for McDonnell and Republican Lt. Governor candidate Bollinger, if I did not know which party they were with, I wouldn't be able to tell. The issues they push--reducing class size, raising teacher pay, addressing the northern Virginia transportation mess, and, oh, by the way, cutting taxes (look ma! no hands!) are, with the exception of the latter, *our* issues.

Even if we weren't in a major down economy, with almost all states having to raise taxes, cut services, or both, any candidate promising to increase education and transportation and cut taxes at the same time should not pass the smell test for being someone who could be a credible steward of Virginia's finances over the next few years.

Why isn't the Deeds campaign hammering on this point?

The Washington Post *loves* politicians, at any level of government, who speak the language of fiscal responsibility. If Creigh can get this thing a little closer, he might be able to pick up the Post endorsement late and if it's close that could tip it.

Why not make the case that Deeds alone is the person who as the next governor, will be a good steward of Virginia's finances and that we've heard the cut-taxes-and-increase spending flimflam before, so shame on us if we fall for that impossible math yet again.

I'm not a campaign consultant, but I would think that if they want to go that road they should be able to put together some punchy speeches and good ads for the home stretch.

I just don't know if Deeds at this point has enough time to really develop positive initiatives on education and transportation that he can establish as clearly his to the voters.  Maybe a way to pull this thing out is to make the case that those are fraudulent promises the Republican candidates are making and hope the voters have enough common sense to see that that is the case before they enter the polling places.

I'm definitely not favorable to federal candidates running on a fiscal responsibility theme at this time--that would be terrible economics and politics, both, in my estimation. The voters know the economy is bad--maybe they need someone to prod them into asking the logical question of how any candidate in this environment can promise to increase spending in these two areas and cut taxes at the same time.

My two pennies.  Maybe not in the cards.  But Virginia voters still don't know who Deeds is or what he wants to do.  If he can project himself as a responsible guy who will protect the spending Virginians want protected most...who knows?  I don't think voters in most states, including this one, are expecting miracles these days from their Governors.  Maybe this time they'd rather not be BS'd quite so brazenly as McDonnell is doing, and getting away with.  

There have been times, as when he recently raised questions about the wisdom of continuing the fighting in Afghanistan/Pakistan, when George Will seems to rise above his past, arch, too-clever-by-half partisan efforts to take Democrats and liberals down a peg. 

Then he writes a column like the one that appears today, where he applies a level of scrutiny to Obama's public words which he never showed the slightest curiosity in applying to Obama's predecessor.  The upshot of the column is to argue that the defining adjective of our President should be "vain".

How quickly Mr. Will seems to forget the stated views of the Bush-Cheney administration that we would be welcomed by the Iraqis as liberators.  And that democracy would flourish in Iraq because the Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds would hold hands, put aside their differences, and sing kumbaya on their way to establishing a model democracy in the Middle East because, because, well, because the Bush Administration really, really wanted them to, of course? 

So, sure, let's talk about vanity.  Granted that anyone who succeeds in getting that job probably does not have an ego of ordinary size.