Virginia Tomorrow

I ran into C.T. Hill, Sun Trust’s Mid-Atlantic Chairman, at an event the other evening and told him how much I liked his company’s new ad, especially its “Live Solid, Bank Solid” tag line.

C.T. said that the response to the campaign has been extremely favorable and that it has had the added benefit of boosting employee morale at a time when the entire banking industry is in turmoil. C.T. noted that he’ll be trading in his BMW for an Impala to ensure that his own life fully reflects the values that Sun Trust promotes.

I’m not sure what I think about Chevy Impalas. But I’m convinced that most Virginians, indeed most Americans, are rediscovering the virtues of “Living Solid,” even if many of them will be driving Accords and F-150’s.

A few days prior to the conversation I had watched Terry McAuliffe’s initial appearance with the three announced gubernatorial candidates for 2009. He was on the dais with his two potential Democratic rivals for the nomination, Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran, and also with Bob McDonnell, the presumptive GOP nominee.

McAuliffe makes a great first impression. He’s done his homework. He can tell you how many chickens are on Virginia poultry farms. Yet he also has a big vision of how Virginia can do even better economically, attracting more jobs and more companies. In addition, the media savvy that comes from years of defending the Clintons and the Democratic Party on the national stage is evident. The reporters were smiling. It looks like they’ll have a BMW to cover. Journalistically speaking, they’re going to be “Living Large.”

This is McAuliffe’s strength. And also his challenge. McAuliffe brings a genuine excitement to the 2009 campaign (and a prodigious capacity for fundraising). And his presence will ensure that the campaign is about big issues- how to turn around a faltering economy, how to fix the transportation system, how to give a future to the kids in Southside and Southwest. His opponents will have to become even better candidates to beat him.

But Deeds, McDonnell, and Moran are all “Live Solid” type of guys, the Impalas, Accords, and F-150’s of Virginia politics. They’ve been toiling in the legislative trenches working on the day-to-day issues that matter to citizens. They’ve been enlisting the support of local officials for years. And while none of them have the kind of money to self-fund a campaign, McAuliffe wil have to compete on their territory as well. He’ll need to convince Virginians that he’s not just a political celebrity “living large,” but that he’s solid too (the irony that he may have upwards of $40 million to convey this message is not lost on his opponents).

I wouldn’t trust anyone who claims to know how the Virginia elections will play out in 2009. There’s too much uncertainty. And, at the moment, real anxiety. People are worried about keeping their homes. Jobs are disappearing. Savings evaporating. And no one will feel much better until they at least know where the bottom is.

But I think that Sun Trust might have it right. In 2009, helping Virginians “Live Solid” could have a lot of appeal.