Saturday's debate: The biggest winners were not there

For some in the ballroom at Saturday's gubernatorial Homestead debate, the two men standing at the podiums were not the ones they had expected, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch pointedly touched on that in Tuesday's editorial:

We said at the beginning [of this editorial] that the biggest winners were not at the Omni Homestead Resort. Their names were Bill Bolling and Robert Sarvis. Bolling, of course, is the lieutenant governor who (1) dropped out of the campaign for the GOP gubernatorial nomination after the party’s scheming sachems boosted Cuccinelli when they switched the process from a primary to a convention, and (2) declined to run as an independent. If he had joined the debate and had lived up to his potential, he would have run away with the crown. If Bolling were to ascend to the governorship, a write-in campaign could become feasible.

Sarvis is the Libertarian nominee. A June 23 Op/Ed column by A. Barton Hinkle described his virtues; a box on the same page listed his stands on various issues. Polls suggest Sarvis attracts more support than usual for third-party candidates in Virginia. He could become a factor in the race and deserves attention from analysts and citizens.

Touché.