As presidential candidates Texas Gov. George W. Bush (R) and Vice President Al Gore (D) embark on whirlwind campaign tours to woo potential voters, both camps have blatantly omitted traditionally Republican Virginia from their campaign itineraries.
Virginia has voted Republican in every presidential election since Nixon's 1968 presidential bid, making the state an assumed Bush stronghold and a Gore write off.
But in the most recent election in 1996, President Bill Clinton came very close to winning Virginia's electoral votes, said Robert Holsworth, professor and chairman of the department of international and public affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Despite Clinton's apparent appeal among the Virginia electorate, Gore presently has not scheduled any visits to the Commonwealth.
"Virginia is not a targeted state in the Democratic campaign," said Steve Vaughan, communications coordinator for the Democratic Party of Virginia.
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"The vice president cannot be in all places at the same time, so this does not mean that Virginia is less important," Gore spokeswoman Ellen Mellody said.
Even so, the state's Democratic Party has appealed to the Gore camp for some type of scheduled campaign visit in order to gain potential voters, Vaughan said.
The Virginia Democratic Party requested a place on the Gore campaign's secondary state list.
If placed on this list, Gore will campaign in the state only if it is clear he is winning in the national polls, Vaughan added.
The Gore campaign does not plan on accepting Virginia's bid, Mellody said.
But Sen. Charles S. Robb said he does not mind Gore's absence in the Commonwealth.
"I don't think it will have any sort of an impact at all," Robb press secretary Mo Elleithee said.
Since the presidential race in Virginia is not hotly contested at this time, Bush does not plan on spending much time campaigning in the state either, Bush spokesman Tucker Eskew said.
Bush will concentrate much of his effort in battleground states such as Washington, Wisconsin and Oregon, Eskew said. But the Bush camp has not completely ignored Virginia along the campaign trail.
In conjunction with the Virginia Republican Party, the Bush camp has developed Victory 2000 - a campaign strategy to help Virginia remain a Bush stronghold.
Victory 2000 will organize phone banks, yard signs and campaign literature distribution around Virginia, said Ed Matricardi, executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.
"For average Joe six pack, he won't ever notice that Bush is not in Virginia because for all intents and purposes, he will be," Matricardi said.
Most pundits said they agree with both candidates' decisions to forgo intense campaigning in Virginia.
"From Gore's perspective, if he believes he can win in Virginia, he believes he can win in a landslide," Holsworth said.
But Larry J. Sabato, government and foreign affairs professor, said he believes the Virginian electorate could swing either way in the November election.
"There is still two-party competition in Virginia, which happens to lean Republican in presidential elections," Sabato said. "This is a phase. The pendulum could swing both ways"
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