Redstate

Such a stupid move for Kaine... Potts is batty, and everyone knows it.

I know there isn't any evidence to support this, but given all the other unfounded speculation about Potts, I figured I'd throw it out there: what if Potts got in at Kilgore's behest to hem in Kaine by being liberal enough that Kaine's gotta stay to his left or risk losing his base? It makes it even harder for Kaine to pull a Warner.

I know that Potts has always been a moderate, and that he wasn't so well-liked in the Senate anyway, but the Kilgore folks have been a lot nicer to Potts than they were to Fitch in the primary despite the fact that Fitch said from the outset that he wasn't trying to win the primary, and that he mostly just wanted to keep Kilgore honest.

he can split the Republican vote?

Karl Rove's hidden hand at work.

How do we export this to MD, PA, OH, MN, and CA?

This doesn't address your theory, but I don't think we can say that "Potts has always been a moderate."

In 20003, Potts ran as a hard-right, pro-life, anti-tax conservative.  Then, as soon as he won, he moved WAY left, voting for the tax increase and becoming pro-choice all of a sudden.

The guy is a nut.

Just run Specter as an independent for Governor.

That way, the Republican base will go nuts supporting Swann, and Specter will take the vital suburban Philly RINO soccer mom vote away from Rendell.

I have to ask how Potts is perceived by the public.  That is, as a competitor to Kilgore or Kaine's base?

If Kaine thinks he'll pull from Kilgore then this makes great sense - it increases the cut in Kilgore's votes by making more people aware of Potts.

If the impression is that Potts pulls from Kaine, then the only reasoning I can come up falls into the category of really stretching if not pure stupidity.  That is, he's trying to get back the votes Potts would pull by showing he's the person those fringers really want.  Really dumb.

Either way there is one weak but definite advantage.  It's another hour in front of the cameras for Kaine that's free (relatively) and which does NOT include Kilgore.

But again, I'm ignorant of Potts's image to the Virginia voter so have no idea what the real deal might be.

...are most Virginians even aware there's an governor's election this November? I don't think so, or at least not so aware that they even know in any great detail who Potts is.

Outside of the various echo chambers, and the tiny little hallway between them where it's too loud to hear anything, it seems to me like this has been a really quiet election season in VA.

I am also uninformed, but the article linked above shows Potts at 9%, not the 3% stated.

So it seems like both of the scenarios you paint are reasonable.  If this race is close, which I beleive it to be, every % counts.

And as they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

That article said that that was the last published poll, but in fact, TWO polls have been released since that one.  The poll that showed Potts at 9% has been completely discredited, as it is an outlier.  No other poll (and there have been ten others) has shown Potts with as much as 5%.

The Virginia political media ignores all the other polls because they are desperate to create a story here.

thanks

By debating Potts Kaine is setting him up as a legitimate candidate in the gubernatorial race. By legitimizing Potts as an opponent Kaine is either worried that he will draw support away from himself or more likely hoping that by giving Potts exposure it will detract from Kilgore's numbers. Potts was after all a Republican state legislator before this race.

Those Republicans who'd vote for Potts wouldn't vote for Kilgore anyway,