And the winner is . . .

November 7 is election day.

We have no local elections. Just federal.

Senate

George Allen (R) v. James Webb (D). There is also an Independent candidate, Glenda Gail Parker, who is affiliated with the Green party.

Parker is a rail advocate and is for term limits. Both in her favor!

She is getting no press. The nasty race is between Allen and Webb. Allen (around here we call him "smiley") is for, well, Republican stuff. Webb is for, well, Republican Lite stuff. Webb is not really a Democrat in my mind. I suspect if Allen weren't already holding the Republican ticket, Webb would be.

I will be voting for Webb or Parker, but I haven't decided between Republican Lite or Sure Loser. Either one will be a vote against Allen. I didn't like him as governor, either. (I have met Allen, of these three.) I would like someone in there who knows how to use his or her brain, although that seems too much to ask these days.

House

The sixth district pits Republican incumbent Bob Goodlatte (who doesn't seem to have a campaign website) against two independents. This is getting zero coverage in our area, and Goodlatte is running an occasional feel-good ad noting all the wonderful things he's done for SW VA.

The independents are Andre D. Perry and Barbara Jean Pryer. I will be voting for one of these two, although I will admit that when Goodlatte first ran I voted for him. However, he has since turned into a true party-liner who stopped thinking after September 11. When I voted for him, he promised to only serve two terms, and then he "changed his mind" and ran again . . . and again (I think). He used to have good ideas when he first ran, too. I think Washington ruined him.

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As you can see, the choices in these elections are about as exciting as a fart in a hailstorm. If I didn't have a solid record of voting, I wouldn't bother.