Poll Shows Kilgore Ahead of Kaine in Va.

In August 2001, Warner was leading Earley by 14 percentage points. That November, Warner won by 5 points, breaking the lock Republicans had held on state government through their control of both the governorship and the legislature.

In 1997, GOP candidate James S. Gilmore III rode anger about car taxes into the executive mansion. Four years earlier, Republican George Allen stressed parole abolition and welfare reform in his successful campaign.

Such dominant issues have yet to emerge this time. The poll shows that Virginia's electorate is not fixated on a single topic. As in past years, education tops the list of most important issues, but voters do not give either candidate a clear edge on that subject.

Both Kaine and Kilgore have been running for governor for years. Yet voters appear not to have formed strong opinions about either. Potts, who entered the race in February, is even less well known.

More than half of voters said they know "little" or "nothing at all" about Kaine, and a similar percentage said the same of Kilgore. More than four in 10 of those surveyed said they might still change their minds.

"Right now, basically, I'm at a point of confusion. I really don't know enough," said Wesley Fisher, 57, a federal worker who lives in Arlington County. "I know a lot more about Kilgore than I know about the Democrat."

A Republican Tilt

The poll, based on interviews with 1,036 self-described registered voters, including 571 likely voters, is good news for Kilgore, who appears to be benefiting from the state's Republican tilt, even as President Bush and the national party struggle.

In Virginia, where Bush won easily in his two elections, he appears to offer little help to the Republican nominee.

Just 47 percent of those surveyed in the poll said they approve of the job Bush is doing, and 52 percent of independents said they would be less likely to vote for Kilgore because of Bush's endorsement.

Bush attended a fundraiser for Kilgore in McLean this summer that raised more than $2 million, a Virginia record. Kilgore aides said Bush might make another campaign appearance, possibly in late October.

"If [Kilgore is] any kind of character like Mr. Bush, I definitely will not vote for him," said Mary Weston, 52, a former garment worker at a sewing factory in Lee County, at the western edge of Virginia.

Weston, who described herself as "mostly a Democrat, but sometimes an independent," said she will vote for Kaine. "I don't like Mr. Bush's war. I don't see any apparent reason for it. He is not a popular man around here at all."