If the Democratic candidate can take Virginia, that pretty much makes the math necessary for the Republican to win impossible, right?

the astonishing thing is to look at how many seats are being contested -- in the Senate, only 4 out of 17 Democratic Senate seats are being challenged by Republicans, whereas 13 of the 23 Republican Senate seats have Democratic challengers. in the House, 5 Democratic House seats are being contested by the Republicans, out of 41 (including one D-leaning independent), whereas 28 of the 59 Republican (including two R-leaning independents) seats are being challenged.

and yes, that does mean that a majority of seats are unopposed or just have third party challengers. hooray for gerrymandering.

Concerning illegal immigration, there are no Tom Tancredos in Virginia. You can't compare the results from Texas and Arizona in 2006 to Virginia in 2007; you also can't compare an issue in a federal race to an issue in a state race. They're inherently different policies and different debates. Finally, every year that goes by and nothing is done creates more and more people who consider it a top issue.

The problem for the GOP on illegal immigration is that the most vocal opponents of it are extremists. The issue is simmering underneath the surface, and most people are aware of it. But when you ask them about it, they feel pressured to say "I'm not a racist..." or "I support legal immigration". Those distinctions shouldn't have to be made, but they are because of the stigma being attached. Some Democrats have tried to categorically label everyone and anyone who is concerned about illegal immigrants as racist. That is a losing strategy. The GOP is on the right side of the issue with the vast majority of the population, the problem is getting a good message out through the crap that Lou Dobbs and others spew constantly.

If you want to compare election results, however, look at the city of Herndon. In 2005, they built a day labor center with taxpayer funds that basically served as a meeting ground where undocumented workers and employers could meet to arrange work. In the 2006 elections, the mayor and all but one of the city council were voted out of office.

I agree that Davis's 11th district will be tough for the GOP to keep, but Drake seems well-poised in VA-02. After defeating Ashe in '04 and Kellam in '06, two tough opponents, she is now more established in the district and I don't know if she's going to face a strong challenge in '08. The next best opportunity for a pick-up in the district will be if its gerrymandered to include Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Finally, if Mark Warner does indeed jump in the Senate race (something I'm not sold on, but we'll see what happens), the GOP will be favored to win the Governor's mansion in 2009.

And by the way anti-immigration groups such as FAIR and CIS who purport to support the US workers are racists. Why? They only show up when the issues is immigration. They dont care if the jobs are outsourced and there is no minimum wage for the workers. Secondly these groups make a big deal when the American workers are displaced by those in Asia or Latin America. Every year, at least 7,000 American actors are displaced due to Hollywood recruiting people from the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to play American roles such as a sitcom based in Indianapolis. So much so, some of them are living on the streets in Hollywood and Greater LA. But, these anti-immigration groups dont give a hoot, because these imported foreign actors happen to be mostly if not all white. So, yes, there is indeed a perception that people who oppose immigrants, and even illegal immigrants, are racists.

I should say, so yes there is a perception that people and groups who oppose immigration and even illegal immigration are racists, and rightly so.

They seem like a good idea to me.  Whatever works to get bad drivers off the road is fine by me, including bankrupting them.