Virginia May Spurn GOP in '08 -- Independents Leaning Democratic for President

From The Washington Post:

Virginia, usually a reliably Republican state in presidential elections, may become a key battleground in the 2008 election as broadly negative views among independents of President Bush and the war in Iraq have altered the presidential race.

Mirroring the national mood, Virginians' approval of Bush and support for U.S. policies in Iraq have eroded as the war has dragged on. Bush is the worst of the past nine presidents, say Virginia's independent voters, who helped him win in 2004 but now say they are more likely to prefer that a Democrat rather than a Republican be the next president.

Virginia has not supported a Democratic presidential nominee since 1964, when voters chose Lyndon B. Johnson over Barry Goldwater, who won only six states.

Like independents nationally, independents in Virginia are held together by a rejection of partisan labels, not an overriding shared ideology.