The 'Nation' at War

"For the past seven elections in Virginia, voters have elected a governor from the party that doesn't hold the White House. Even if the president is popular, as Ronald Reagan was in 1981, he can't help his party's candidate much. But he can hurt the candidate if he's even slightly unpopular, as Bush is today in Virginia. Bush was a mild drag on the Republican ticket, especially in populous northern Virginia, where Kilgore did poorly.

"Was Bush a huge factor in the race? Not at all. The election wasn't a referendum on his presidency. But Bush's current troubles meant that Republicans weren't in a good mood."

A very different mood on the liberal side. Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum: "It looks like George Bush is now officially an electoral albatross."

Kos: "Let's hope more and more Republicans decide to let Bush campaign for them. Heck, the Democratic Party should pay Bush's political travel expenses, since they will clearly help us more than their own guys."

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Dick Polman jumps on one bandwagon:

"Unless you obsess over politics 24/7, or hail from Virginia, chances are you've never heard of Mark Warner. But that could change in a hurry, now that Warner has become the Democratic flavor of the week, a hot commodity for the 2008 presidential nomination.

"On Tuesday night, he was arguably the biggest winner in Virginia's gubernatorial race, even though his name wasn't on the ballot. He is the departing governor - a Democrat with a 70 percent positive rating in a tax-averse, socially conservative 'red' state - and he put his popularity on the line to elect a Democratic successor. His guy won big, beating President Bush's guy. Tim Kaine was down by 10 points when Warner stepped in and took a visible role; Kaine won by 5 points."

Fun fact: Warner goes to New Hampshire next week.

Obligatory Sabato quote: "He has shot to the top of the not-Hillary list."

Telltale sign: Kos's wife has switched from Hillary to Warner.

The Note riffs on why we all shouldn't get carried away:

"--The midterms are a year a way;