Around midday, I went to the next-to-last primary rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brian Moran in downtown Alexandria.

A poll out today puts Moran in last place with 24 percent, but with turnout expected to be in the neighborhood of 6 percent, one has to wonder if this race is a bit tougher to poll accurately than most.

Sure, Moran comes across as a middle-aged Irish guy doing a JFK impression — his removal of his jacket and rolling up his shirtsleeves was as drawn-out as a striptease — but there’s something charming about a guy who’s willing to tell a story about misquoting Robert F. Kennedy, while speaking to Ethel Kennedy, during a visit to Hickory Hill. He showed that he wrote his speech on the back of a drawing his six-year-old son made for him. Moran’s wife told the crowd that the first date he took her on was to an Alexandria City Council meeting; voters will see that fact as either a testament to his dedication or a sign that romance is indeed dead.

Noting the closeness of the race and the multitude of useful metaphors, Moran described the race as “a jump ball, it’s like a scramble for a fumble, right, Coach Boone? [Herman Boone, the coach of T. C. Williams High School portrayed by Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans, attended the Moran rally.] The most scrappiest and most dedicated player’s going to get it, and we’re going get that ball and get across the finish line!” Some campaigns are compared to marathons; this one, apparently, is a triathlon consisting of basketball, football, and a foot race.

He hit the Washington Post for basing its endorsement of rival Creigh Deeds on his work on transportation issues, noting that “if I don’t fix the transportation issues in Northern Virginia, you guys won’t allow me back into Northern Virginia.” Interestingly, Moran is making a fairly big deal out of his support for “equal rights for all Virginians, including gays and lesbians,” which I presume has to include gay marriage. That may play well here, but one has to wonder if Mark Warner or Tim Kaine could have won in 2001 or 2005 running on gay marriage.

One of the elected officials introducing the candidate called him “Alexandria’s favorite son.” Somewhere, Brian’s brother, Rep. Jim Moran, is grumbling. (I’m picturing Tommy Smothers’s “Mom always liked you best” routine.)

I’ll give Moran originality points for the shamrocks, but the slogan sounds familiar.