It Starts in Virginia!

[Hortensis]

10. VA and NJ elections are held in off years to keep interest

and turnout low, but interest is likely to be very high anyway. Here's another one, an op from WaPo from Mark J. Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

Get ready for your close-up, Virginia

Virginia’s political campaigns were already bound to command a fair share of national media attention in 2017.

After all, as Virginia is one of only two states (New Jersey is the other) to regularly hold statewide elections the year after presidential contests, gubernatorial elections here often are seen as an early referendum on a new president.

Although gubernatorial elections most often are driven by state issues, not federal ones, this year President Trump has already emerged as a major issue in the Virginia campaign. ... And the show is on here. The populist earthquake that heaved Trump into the White House in November is producing major aftershocks in Virginia. Insurgencies are shaking up both political parties. And there are eerie similarities between last year’s dramatic presidential contest and the races shaping up in Virginia.

Of course, the 2016 earthquake is devastating our nation, so let's hope it's an inapt analogy for the 2017 VA and NJ races. We need builders to replace the real and genuine extremist "revolutionaries" RW populism set running amok in Congress and the White House.