GOP truce aids McDonnell

Virginia Republicans have stumbled through the past seven years, seemingly happy to waste their energies on internecine battles rather than on winning elections.

This week, the party came to its senses. Its top two leaders made a savvy decision that positions the GOP for its strongest gubernatorial bid thus far in the 21st century.

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling announced Monday that he will seek another term in his current job. That gives Attorney General Bob McDonnell an unobstructed path to the gubernatorial nomination.

McDonnell, in a written statement, correctly observed, "The first key to winning back the office of governor is returning unity to our party."

McDonnell and Bolling cannot afford to spend the next year locked behind closed doors with Republican old-timers arguing over which one of them is further to the right. The wiser course is to spend those crucial months outside party headquarters engaging independent and moderate voters who will determine the 2009 election winners.

The party is taking its cue from Democrats, who have outmaneuvered them in one election after another. Democrats have largely avoided intra-party strife and reached out from their power base to win new support in rural and suburban communities once dominated by Republicans. They've prevailed in the past two gubernatorial contests. For the Senate, Jim Webb derailed George Allen's presidential aspirations, and former Gov. Mark Warner is the heavy favorite this November over his Republican predecessor Jim Gilmore.

A new and restless generation of Republicans will not sit still if their leaders allow another election to slip from their grasp. With the top two slots on the GOP ticket apparently locked down, several youthful and ambitious contenders for lieutenant governor will be forced to sit out next year's race, while the announcement has heightened interest in the large field of candidates for the attorney general nomination.

The jockeying is a reminder to Democrats that Republicans still have the deeper bench in Virginia. It's also a reminder to GOP leaders that they are not indispensable.

Republicans are right to put their hopes in McDonnell, whose conservative credentials paired with his streak of practicality have served him well over a long and productive public life.

McDonnell has worked effectively with Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and, in his previous tour as a Virginia Beach delegate, showed a talent for assembling bipartisan coalitions to tackle transportation and law enforcement issues. His ties to Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia also give him a leg up in two vote-rich regions.

McDonnell enjoys an early strategic advantage that enables him to beef up his campaign coffers while Democrats Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran struggle over their party's nomination.

However, McDonnell would be foolish to assume he's a shoo-in at the governor's mansion. The winner in November 2009 will be the candidate with the most persuasive vision about where he wants Virginia to be when he leaves the governor's mansion in January 2014.