I was thinking the other day about movies that, in classic Hollywood fashion, pit some hopeless, unloved schlub with a heart of gold against an elite, prettified, thoroughly contemptible gang of Kool Kids where — surprise of surprises — the loser triumphs in the end.

Last week’s elections in Virginia saw Democrats trounced by a Republican ticket that rode a wave of discontent into office. To quote from a certain former president: It was the economy, stupid. While I think Creigh Deeds would have made a fine governor, one cannot escape the reality he did a poor job articulating the case for his candidacy — in comparison to Gov.-elect Robert McDonnell, who proved anew the adage that you can fool enough of the people for a long enough time to win elective office.

So now what? Democrats got their donkeybacks handed to them Tuesday night in Virginia and New Jersey, although in true throw-out-the-bums fashion a handful of Republicans and quasi-Republicans got shown the door in Virginia and nationally, too. It was an anti-incumbent night, alright, which even incumbent Arthur Reynolds found out to his dismay running for Halifax County school board.

I figured this might be a good time to step away from our regular muckraking duties here at the Hughes & Record to touch upon lesser-noticed happenings in the community.

Too-cute-by-half plans for managing Virginia’s affairs not only fail to get the job done, they reveal deeper truths about the people who champion such tomfoolery. The shining example is Jim Gilmore’s no-car tax plank in the 1997 gubernatorial campaign. Gilmore rode the slogan to the Governor’s Mansion, then proceeded to wreck Virginia’s finances without even delivering the full tax relief he had promised. Ideological to the point of being serially dishonest, Gilmore today stands as the archetype of what Virginians should avoid in a governor