Change we need isn't Terry McAuliffe

The National Democrats' Schmoozer in Chief is keeping Virginia atwitter with speculation that he may run for governor. But the idea of a Gov. Terry McAuliffe is jarring for the Old Dominion's old-timers.

Could the consummate name-dropper refrain from lacing his State of the Commonwealth addresses with anecdotes about his golf games with Bill Clinton, hunting trips with King Juan Carlos of Spain, bowling matches with Ben Affleck or sun-worshipping vacations with Julio Iglesias?

Would he hold signings for his memoir "What a Party!" in the Capitol bookstore?

It all seems out of character for Virginia, but the state's center-stage spot in the presidential election is changing the character of Virginia's home-grown elections.

Off-year gubernatorial elections meant lower turnout but also allowed local issues to dominate stump speeches. Now John McCain and Barack Obama are tromping through the Blue Ridge Mountains every couple of weeks, strewing the glitter of national politics far and wide. It will be nearly impossible to sweep it out behind them.

The upside is Virginia voters get to size up the candidates in person, rather than sulking while Ohioans hog the spotlight. The downside is that Virginia starts to look like Plan B for a bored political fundraiser whose favored candidate just threw in the towel. The speculation over McAuliffe, who lives in McLean, is a symptom of the anxiety Democrats feel about the two candidates already seeking the party nomination.

Neither is a lightweight. Brian Moran of Alexandria has served in the legislature for 13 years and leads Democrats in the House. Sen. Creigh Deeds of Bath County has 17 years' experience and came within 323 votes of defeating Attorney General Robert McDonnell in 2005.

McAuliffe has an impressive resume, too. He is a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee who raised $500 million for President Bill Clinton. That should get McAuliffe a nice job somewhere, but it doesn't making him qualified to be governor.

He's toyed with gubernatorial runs in New York and Florida. If he's dead set on running a state, perhaps he should reconsider those options. He'd probably fit in better on Broadway than he would in downtown Suffolk.