No Democratic Presidential candidate has won Virginia since 1964. But a combination of demographic trends, local issues, Republican screw-ups and some solid rebuilding work by the state Democratic Party have combined to give Dems new hope for winning VA's 13 electroral votes next year.

For those who want to savor or better understand the Democrats victories in the Virginia elections last week, we have a trio of articles from Virginia websites. First, most Dems won't relish her conclusion -- that a "right-of-center message" will win VA's electoral votes next year -- but there is some interesting detail on key issues pertaining to local Democratic victories in Margaret Edd's "6 lessons from the 2007 ballot" in the Virginian-Pilot. Also check out Michael Sluss's Roanoke Times piece "Democrats see a possible blue Virginia," arguing that a centrist appeal is the key to future Democratic victories in the state. Finally, Tyler Whitley and Jeff E. Schapiro of the Richmond Times-Dispatch have the oppo take in their interesting article "Va. GOP debates direction to take: Party's conservatives and moderates disagree on why Senate shifted to Democrats."