Bush Drag on Ticket in Virginia

Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, was happy to have President George W. Bush at his side at a fundraiser last July. Kilgore won't be there today when the president makes a speech in Norfolk.

Kilgore, 44, is in a tight race with Democrat Tim Kaine in the Nov. 8 election, and Bush -- weighed down by the prolonged Iraq war, criticism of the government's response to hurricanes, high gasoline prices and the legal troubles of top Republican officials -- isn't an asset anymore.

``Bush is a drag, even in Virginia,'' said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics in Charlottesville.

The Virginia race may have other implications beyond deciding who will occupy the governor's mansion in Richmond: It might influence the presidential hopes of two other leading Virginians, Democratic Governor Mark Warner and Republican Senator George Allen, in 2008.