Virginia Governor Race Seen As Tea Party’s First Big Test

The Virginia governor race heats up as Tuesday’s vote draws closer. Many across the country are watching the contest closely as a test for the rising Tea Party movement. This is how Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats see the election, at least. Others are looking to the poll results as an indicator of whether the spotty roll out of new healthcare legislation has damaged the Democrats.

Biden appeared at a rally in Annandale, Virginia to show his support for the Democratic nominee for governor, Terry McAuliffe, on Monday. The vice president told attendees that he sees the race between McAuliffe and Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli as “the first major race between the forces and faces of the new Republican Tea Party,” reports CNN.

President Obama appeared the day before with Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe in Virginia to show his support. Obama spoke about the recent government shutdown, linking Cuccinelli to Republicans in Congress, reports ABC News. The president says the GOP were playing an ideological “game” that ended up having “very real consequences.”

Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli, the commonwealth’s attorney general, is running in the Virginia governor race on a socially and fiscally conservative platform. The core of his support originates from Tea Party and grassroots Republicans.This could spell disaster for the GOP in the polls. Some believe it could give McAuliffe an edge, as Republican Virginians are not completely behind Cuccinelli. Polls show only 85 percent support for Cuccinelli coming from Republicans, according to CNN.

Those recent polls show that Democrats are rallying behind McAuliffe with 93 percent supporting the nominee. Polls are also showing that with less than day left to go before the polls open McAuliffe is leading Cuccinelli by six points, 46 percent to 40 percent.

The rest of the nation will be watching Tuesday, as the Virginia governor race could be a preview of the senate races coming in 2014.