In Virginia Senate Race, Allen, Kaine Seek Ticket Splitting Voters

Today's Washington Post has this story about how both Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Kaine are looking for voters who my vote for the presidential candate of their opponent's party.

When Mitt Romney and George Allen campaign together this Saturday, it will be the first time the Republicans have managed to do so in Virginia this year. Timothy M. Kaine says his support for Barack Obama is unwavering, but the former governor is careful to point out differences he’s had with the president, whether on taxes, Libya or offshore drilling.

Virginia’s U.S. Senate contenders aren’t exactly running away from their parties’ presidential candidates, but they are leaving enough wiggle room to appeal to two slim but vitally important slices of the electorate: Romney-Kaine and Obama-Allen voters.

Now, I can imagine a Romeny-Kaine voter because Kaine is trying to sell himself as the fiscal conservative in the race but an Obama-Allen voter?  Allen is vocal that he is against Obamacare, against raising taxes, and regularly states that Obama has spent way too much.  Allen explains it this way:

“People for whatever reason do like President Obama, and they do think things need to be changed,” Allen said as he campaigned at a rodeo show at the Loudoun County Fair. He cited support for veterans and funding for higher education as areas where his appeal and Obama’s overlap.

So, the way to changes things is to either elect Romney while at the same time elect Kaine, who would tow the party line as soon as he gets to the Capitol just as Mark Warner has done since arriving on the Hill?  Or they want to change things by keeping the current occupant of the White House while sending a Senator Allen who would most assuredly oppose Obama initiatives or face the certain rage of the most vocal Tea Party voters who opposed his nomination in the first place?

The job of campaigns it to reach out to every voter you can to get that 50% plus 1 to win.  But after reading comments from people interviewed for the article, I can only conclude the country is in the mess it is in because of people like this.  One of the Romeny-Kaine voters interviewed think's both are "straight shooters."  Kaine can speak out of both sides of his mouth with the best of them.  And one of the Obama-Allen voter thinks the country was so far in a rut when Obama took over that he should not be penalized for the shape the economy is in.