McAuliffe Says Not to Senate Run

WWBT NBC12 in Richmond is reporting that Terry McAuliffe has ruled out a run for Jim Webb's Senate seat.  The list of other possiblities on the NBC12 list include:

Gov. Tim Kaine- The obvious front-runner.  The current DNC Chairman is close friend of President Obama. Kaine has said in the past that he wouldn’t be interested (he told me during his last month in office that governor would be his last elected office), but a lot can change now that the seat is open.

Rep. Tom Perriello- A close friend of the White House, with liberal credentials but has run well in conservative regions. Perriello has proven himself as relentless on the campaign trail. The question is, will he be interested. Conveniently he is traveling out of the country right now.

Rep. Rick Boucher- Boucher was a surprise loss for Democrats in Southwest Virginia. He left a lot of money in the bank, and didn’t seem ready to retire. Even though he is from coal country, his politics play well in Northern Virginia and he is very connected in D.C.

Rep. Glenn Nye- The one term conserva-dem from Virginia Beach was beat in November. However he is young and filled with ambition. Just like Perriello’s liberal side may play better statewide than in VA-5, Nye may think his moderate position makes him an attractive statewide candidate. Although, Nye has real issues with the Democratic party faithful.

Other names worth pointing out: Sen. Creigh Deeds, (whose run twice for statewide office) Del. Ward Armstrong (whose statewide ambitions are not a secret), Sen. Don McEachin (who has run statewide in the past), Mike Signer (former candidate for LG, close friend of Tom Perriello and ambitions)  and frankly.. just about every politician in Virginia who describes him/herself as a Democrat.

Note that other than Kaine and Armstrong, all of the other names have lost either a primary or general election in the last two years and McEachin was trounced by Jerry Kilgore for AG in 2001.  In other words, the Democrats don't have a very large stable from which to choose.

It should also be noted that Webb was 30 points down to Allen in 2006 and pulled off a stunning upset after the latter's "Macca" moment.

This one is wide open at this point.