Candidates make final appeals

WEYERS CAVE - Pumped up by polls showing them with a large lead, the Republican statewide ticket urged a Shenandoah Valley crowd on Sunday to finish the job with victory on Tuesday.

Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell and his running mates, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general nominee Ken Cuccinelli, said turnout is a key.

"All that matters is do you have the heart to show up and play on game day. Elections are controlled by those who show up on Nov. 3. I'm asking you to give us another two days," McDonnell said.

All three candidates told the crowd of 400 supporters at the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport that the polls look good, but are not votes.

"Polls don't vote," Bolling told the crowd. "The only poll that matters is the poll we're going to take on Tuesday, Nov. 3."

A Sunday Richmond Times-Dispatch poll gives McDonnell a 12-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds. The newspaper gives Cuccinelli a 14-point lead over Democrat Steve Shannon and Bolling a 13-point lead over Democrat Jody Wagner.

Bolling said the polls do show that Virginians are concerned about the direction of the commonwealth.

"They know that we have the team to get the economy moving again and to create jobs and restore fiscal accountability to state government," Bolling said.

McDonnell said the private sector, not government, is the key to turning the economy around. And he promised, if elected on Tuesday, to spend the $76 billion two-year state budget more frugally and make government more transparent.

Cuccinelli produced a broom signifying a potential sweep of all three statewide races by Republicans on Tuesday.

"Thank you for the work you've done, but we need you to finish this out. We are counting on you," Cuccinelli said.

Today's final day of campaigning includes seven stops by airplane for the Republican ticket, concluding with a rally tonight in Virginia Beach, where McDonnell lived for 21 years.

Bolling said pundits were wrong to declare Virginia a blue state a year ago when Barack Obama ended four decades of Republican presidential victories with a Democrat win in Virginia.

"A lot of people are concerned about the future of our country and a lot of people are concerned about the future of the state," Bolling said.