Larry Sabato Election Quotations

Usually this happens after the mid-term election of the second term -- during the start of the seventh year of an eight-year presidency.

There is nothing the Democratic leaders can do. It's the Democratic activists who are whining and complaining who could help themselves by shutting their mouths. They're distracting attention away from what the election will be and should be about - the president and Congress. They're just giving the press something to write about.

There's no way to spin this than anything other than a major defeat for Republicans and for President Bush. This is a red state, he came in on Election Eve and he had no discernible effect. ... If anything, he may have cost Kilgore some votes.

This is a red state, he came in on Election Eve and he had no discernible effect. If anything, he may have cost Kilgore some votes.

If Warner can't swing the election to his own lieutenant governor with a popularity rating of 75 percent, then Democrats have the right to ask, 'Can this guy really swing any Southern states or was this a fluke?

Absolutely, ... The Republican campaign in Virginia will tell you that, at least privately. The president chose to nationalize that election by showing up on election eve. You don't want to do that unless you want to be associated with the results. I think they thought genuinely Bush could pull him across the race. It wasn't close. The result: Bush has to take the spanking.

Absolutely. The Republican campaign in Virginia will tell you that, at least privately. The president chose to nationalize that election by showing up on election eve. You don't want to do that unless you want to be associated with the results. I think they thought genuinely Bush could pull him across the race. It wasn't close. The result: Bush has to take the spanking.

Every election is determined by the people who show up.