RICHMOND — IF YOU want to know what it feels like to steal fire from the gods, talk to some Virginia Democrats as they awaken in Richmond to nurse their hangovers. It’ll probably take the morning to take stock of what happened. Last night here in Richmond, the victory unfolded as an anticlimax. Tim Kaine appeared ahead from the get-go in a way that made it easy to confuse the first signs of victory with early luck. While Democrats milled about, the only people biting their nails were reporters.

But the crowd ignited once Kaine was declared governor-elect by as comfortable a margin as current Gov. Mark R. Warner four years ago. Leslie Byrne, possibly the most liberal candidate for a Virginia statewide office in decades, came within a hair’s breadth of taking over for Kaine as lieutenant governor. And Creigh Deeds, a country lawyer from Bath County, has knotted up a well- (and questionably) funded Republican in an attorney general’s race still too close to call.

Yes, for Democrats, it can get better than this. But despite how they may feel this morning, their situation is pretty good. The Kaine victory has proven that if Democrats can do a good job in office –- as Warner has done in the previous four years –- that even a conservative state will reward them; that good government, and not cheap politics, can carry even the toughest states. For Democrats to win two governor’s elections in a row marks a turning point in recent Virginia politics. Virginia may have been the first southern state colonized by the Republican Party, but after four years of Democrats outperforming the GOP to win the hearts and minds of voters, it seems like the last place they could win.

A Democrat with a liberal record, a nonsensical position on abortion and with a huge tax hike under his party’s belt beat out Jerry Kilgore, whose fundamental campaign message seemed like a model of success: an appeal to Virginia’s core conservative values. Among down-ticket races, a less-known state senator and a self-proclaimed liberal were able to gain competitive tallies from a place on the ballot that depends heavily on party label. The Warner victory four years ago was not a fluke where an agreeable candidate faced down an incumbent party in a crisis. It was the beginning of a new birth for Democrats in the Commonwealth.

Unoccupied by other races, the national media will search for meaning in last night’s results. President Bush got the loudest boos of the night here, but despite what Democrats may like to think, the president’s stumping for Kilgore probably came too little and too late to affect the race much. As much as some may want to point to Kilgore’s loss as a blow to the effectiveness of negative campaigning, like Warner did in his introduction of Kaine, the race was dirty on both sides.

The major lesson of this race — for both the Commonwealth and the country — is the crucial second-stage victory of a moderate Democratic agenda that is making headway across the country. In the last three years moderate Democrats were took the governorships of several Republican states, such as Kansas, Louisiana, Arizona, Wyoming and Virginia. Most of them remain popular today. And as last night’s Kaine win shows, the electoral success of Democrats can stretch beyond these candidates’ election and re-election; they can foretell a new era for their party, now armed with new energy.

While Kilgore tried to fight his way into office by pressing all the hot buttons, Kaine was able to carry the day on the actual progress Democratic leadership has made in the last four years. Republicans’ strategy of avoiding leading the state and pushing issues off was turned down decisively; while Kilgore supporters were shown on TV praying for someone else to give them a miracle, Democrats celebrated thanks to their hard work.

But the good news ends there. Election day may have put Tim Kaine in the governor’s mansion come January, but it also placed General Assembly Republicans, Bill Bolling and possibly Bob McDonnell, armed and waiting for him. As Warner proved, it takes a special kind of savvy to govern in such a situation, and one that can’t be achieved by looking backward. Kaine’s victory speech was half a retrospective celebration of Warner’s achievements, and half hints at moving forward. While Virginia Democrats may celebrate at what they’ve already done, their mettle really comes into question starting now.
Democrats here last night, while watching the positive results come in without a climax, spent much of the time reviewing instead of reveling, wondering what comes next. The Richmond Marriott is chock full of them as they recover this morning, so dial some random extensions and ask them about what it’s like to steal the Republicans’ fire as the state’s top party; about the elation of victory over the perennially favored party; about having all the bragging rights but none of the pressure. You’d better ask soon. The party ends now.

Mike Slaven is a Cavalier Daily Opinion editor. He can be reached at mslaven@cavalierdaily.com.