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It should be noted that three potential Democratic candidates and at least one Republican candidate for governor are already gearing up for the election races of ’85.
It must, however, be acknowledged that 1984 could be, at best, a difficult year for a Democratic senate hopeful in Virginia.
Presumably Sen. John Warner will stand for reelection. There is no doubt that Sen. Warner won his seat in 1978 with vital help from his wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom he has since divorced.
But there is also no doubt that since his election he is generally perceived as performing well in the Senate and will therefore be a tough opponent for any challenger to unseat.
When this is coupled with the fact that his race may be run in tandem with a reelection bid by President Reagan, a challenge might look even less inviting to a prospective opponent.
The point is that in the years immediately ahead, the Democratic party faces a very difficult and very dangerous period.
Unless it actively seeks and grooms candidates to replace its retiring warhorses, it stands to suffer a severe erosion of its strength in the General Assembly.
And unless a candidate of substance - in every sense of the word - emerges in the next few months to stand for the Warner seat, the Democratic gains made by the Robb, Davis and Baliles 1981 sweep will be placed in extreme jeopardy when the 1985 statewide races roll around.
Without aggressive and organized movement on these and other fronts, there is justified concern among some Democratic loyalists that what appears now to be the Democrat’s bloom of health may be, in reality, the flush of a dangerous and debilitating fever.
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