Republican canditate runs from Bush

Bellweather:

Republican candidate shies away from Bush

JERRY KILGORE, the Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia who has seen a double-digit lead over his Democrat opponent disappear since July, has drafted in some big names to save his campaign before Tuesday’s vote.

Last week he welcomed Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, to a fundraising lunch in Virginia. The next day he was out on the stump with Robert Ehrlich, the popular Maryland Governor. On Thursday night John McCain, one of America’s most celebrated Republican politicians, was the star attraction.

But there is one notable national politician, in a state that President Bush won easily when he retook the White House a year ago, who appears to have become so radioactive that Mr Kilgore refuses to be seen anywhere near him. That man is Mr Bush himself.