A Dem Golden Boy

IN the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the two men who were then running for governor of Virginia suspended their campaigns. The election was less than two months away, but calling off million-dollar fundraisers and canceling political commercials seemed like the right response to a national tragedy that included a disturbing local angle: The Pentagon, after all, is on Virginia soil.

The race resumed gingerly, as neither Democrat Mark Warner nor Republican Mark Earley knew how a shell-shocked public would react to the partisan jabs that had previously occupied so much of their time. For a short spell, they stuck to positive messages. Yet Earley was behind in the polls, and before long he did what trailing candidates often do: He hit the airwaves with negative ads. Earley accused Warner of planning to raise taxes.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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IN the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the two men who were then running for governor of Virginia suspended their campaigns. The election was less than two months away, but calling off million-dollar fundraisers and canceling political commercials seemed like the right response to a national tragedy that included a disturbing local angle: The Pentagon, after all, is on Virginia soil.

The race resumed gingerly, as neither Democrat Mark Warner nor Republican Mark Earley knew how a shell-shocked public would react to the partisan jabs that had previously occupied so much of their time. For a short spell, they stuck to positive messages. Yet Earley was behind in the polls, and before long he did what trailing candidates often do: He hit the airwaves with negative ads. Earley accused Warner of planning to raise taxes.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.