NOVEMBER 4, 2013

      There's a big gubernatorial election in Virginia tomorrow, Tuesday, that offers a lesson about the future of the Republican party.

      The Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, is favored over Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and that suggests a problem the Republicans face in other states too.

     Cuccinelli is a very conservative Republican. This probably helped him get the nomination, but is a less attractive quality in a general election, where appealing to moderates can be important.

     The kind of Republican with a better shot in a general election would be somebody like New Jersey's popular Governor Chris Christie, who is often talked and written of as a presidential possibility in 2016.  He is in fact a moderate, which might well make it harder for him to get the GOP nomination.

     Tricky business, politics  But tomorrow in Virginia, bet on the Dem.  Well, don't bet your life savings, of course, but you know what I mean.