Virginia Governor Kaine Tries To Stem Tide Of Red

OCCOQUAN, Va. (WUSA) -- Three weeks and a day before election night for governor of Virginia, and Democrats are desperately bailing against what looks like a possible huge red tide.

Trailing badly in the polls, Democrat Creigh Deeds needs a breakout performance in his first televised debate tonight against Republican Bob McDonnell.

But some experts suspect the GOP victories could extend far beyond the top of the ticket.

The election night moment when the networks declared Virginia for the Democrats for the first time since 19-64 -- that was the moment a lot of people realized Obama would likely win.

What a difference a year makes. Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va) is sweeping across Northern Virginia, doing his best to hold on to the suburbs he got so much credit for swinging to President Obama. "I wouldn't say dire," says the governor. "I'd say challenging."

Here in the quaint riverside town of Occoquan, first term Democratic State Delegate Paul Nichols is facing a tough challenge from the GOP.

Nichols offers a ringing defense of Deeds, but others in the party complain that the guy at the top of the ticket is making life difficult for Democrats in swing districts across the state.

"Everybody's got talent," says Del. Nichols. "And Creigh Deeds is a different guy than our governor or Mark Warner, the Senator and former governor."

Two recent polls have Deeds trailing by 8 or 9 points. And some pundits think the GOP could sweep the LT Governors race, the attorney generals race, and pick up some seats in the House of Delegates.

"There is a lot of concern in Democratic circles that this is going to be a difficult year for them," says Mark Rozell, an political analyst at George Mason University.

And not even a personal visit by an incumbent governor with a 60 percent approval rating may be able to recapture the energy the Obama campaign brought to Virginia Democrats. "I think it was a flash in the pan at the Presidential election. I think now people are settling down and looking at reality," says Occoquan shopkeeper Cathy Burnett.