Sins of the student

摘要

Sometimes it seems that the candidates for governor of Virginia aren't running against each other. They're running away from other people. The Democratic candidate, Creigh Deeds, is fleeing from Barack Obama and his health-care plan. His Republican rival, Bob McDonnell, is hectically distancing himself from-well, himself. Over more than two decades in public life, Mr McDonnell has been a reliable social and religious conservative. He successfully diverted attention from his flinty views by playing to voters' worries about the economy and too much change in Washington. At one point he held a double-digit lead in the polls. Mr Deeds struggled to compete with him-until, at the end of August, he was handed a gift by the candidate himself.