So Liberal isn't a bad word after all

At long last, election season is over. Commercials can now return to selling beer, sex, and junk food and the news can finally cover all those house fires and car accidents we've been missing out on these last few months. Best of all, we can finally stop using the phrase "better of the two evils". But I bet if you're like me, you're already missing those zany Jerry Kilgore attack ads so for all of you out there, here's a little trip down memory lane...

Background Image: Fake photo of Tim Kaine in a Nazi uniform

Dramatic male voice: "He's Liberal. He's Tim Kaine. He's Liberal Tim Kaine and if elected he promises he will resurrect Hitler and hire him as the Commissioner of VDOT... Tim Kaine... Liberal on genocide, too Liberal to execute Hitler."

Jerry Kilgore: "Ah'm Jurry Keelgore and Ah sponsored this hur ad."

End of commercial

Well for one Mr. Smarty Pants, Hitler as the head of VDOT is actually a good idea. No more shovel-leaners, jackhammer-cheerleaders, or hole-watchers when the Fuhrer himself is in charge or it's off to the concentration camps with them. He'd have that group goose-stepping and the Mixing Bowl finished in no time flat. The I-64 project running a little behind? No problem. Erwin Rommel (aka Asphalt Fox) and his column of Panzer Steamrollers will take care of it in a jiffy! Joking aside though, I certainly hope I wasn't the only one insulted by the liberal use of the word liberal this past election season. Not that Kilgore was the only one partaking in the irritation blitzkrieg but I think he set the benchmark. You know it's bad when you've heard the word liberal so many times your ears start bleeding uncontrollably. Luckily for me the doctor says they will stop by the time election season goes into full swing next year.

To be honest, that Kaine won the election restores a little bit of my faith in humanity. There was a part of me that was certain those ads were going to work considering the success the Swift Boat Vets for Partial Truths and Outright Lies had in the last Presidential election. In the end, Kilgore's focus on attacking Tim Kaine and promising more executions was his downfall. But that's ok... anyone that makes killing people one of the focal points of their campaigns deserves to fade away into political oblivion.

If we are lucky, this may be the last time we have to hear such outright partisan ads, at least on the State level. If one thing was learned this November it's that Virginia is becoming less a Red State and more a Purple one thanks in large part to the population in Northern Virginia. Most of those in the rural areas will continue to vote Republican as they always have... welfare, mass transit, and saving the environment are usually of little concern to them. They want the government to stay out of their business and leave their money alone and I can't say they are entirely wrong but the times they are a changin' and lil Ol' Virginia is a changin' with them. Virginia becoming more liberal means that politicians concerned with trying to please all the people all the time can't get too blatantly partisan in their campaigns. This hopefully means campaigns like Kilgore's are a thing of the past. So here's to you Jerry. Thanks for tipping the scales, insulting the voters, and perhaps making politicians see that there may be a limit to how much B.S. the average voter can swallow.