The McDonnell F3H Demon was a contender (27 Photos)

Beautiful! How they never cooked the aluminum tail's off with the engine that far forward I'll never know.

Neil:Your points about McAuliffe are well taken. He will be ptanied as an outsider and even as a carpet bagger . I find that odd. George Allen isn’t a native Virginian. He came to Virginia when his Dad became the coach of the Redskins. Tim Kaine came to Virginia after law school presumably to marry Linwood Holton’s daughter. McAuliffe came to attend Grorgetown Law School and never left.The bigger issue (what ever the rhetoric) is McAuliffe’s Washington insider status. That’s a fair criticism. However, he largely earned that status with the same position that Tim Kaine took after (during?) his term as governor.He also never held elected office. Going from zero to governor is something more likely in California than in Virginia.I agree with Peter that Cooch, Connaughton and Bolling are the players on the Republican side.I see Cooch as more of a political opportunist than a conservative reactionary. He did (correctly, in my opinion) call into question the tax money spent on Michael Mann’s research at UVa. He also (incorrectly, in my opinion) tried to block benefits to gay couples. However, he also opined that George Mason’s ban on gun possession (on campus) was legit. A true conservative reactionary would never do that. A political opportunist however, after recalling the massacre at Virginia Tech, would have done exactly what the Cooch did.Bolling is a non-entity. He just hasn’t been able to get out of McDonnell’s shadow or Cuccinelli’s shadow.Connaughton is a bit of a dark horse but has some momentum. I also don’t see a lot of political tilt to Sean. While he may be a reactionary, he hasn’t shown it so he is well positioned to present himself as a slightly right of center moderate perfect political positioning in Virginia.McAuliffe will run. He has spent a lot of time downstate trying to demonstrate that he can bring jobs to Virginia. One assumes he wanted to counteract the once plausible theory that Bill Bolling would be the go to guy for jobs. I personally think Terry would be a good governor but he has the baggage we already discussed along with the lingering Atlantic Crossing / Global Crossing issue.Don McEachin is a plausible candidate. The overwhelming anti-liberal bias of the 2010 national elections seems to have abated somewhat in the 2011 state election. There are still headwinds against candidates perceived as liberal but it may not be the kiss of death by 2013. The 2012 national elections will tell us a lot about the state’s attitude toward liberals.I don’t see Creigh Deeds or Brian Moran taking another crack at the office.This leaves room for one or two more Democratic contenders especially moderate Democrats. I could easily see a young, energetic and moderate Democratic candidate running through the primary on the I can beat Cooch ticket and then pushing more toward the center during the run up to the general election.The tell tale sign is a Democrat pledging allegiance to the second amendment. Or, finding a Democrat pictured in a newspaper with a shotgun in his (or her) hands as goose and duck season gets rolling.It should be an interesting election in 2013.Any thoughts on 2012 s Kaine Allen match? Is there any way they can both lose?