In recent years, the very Republican state of Virginia has been slowly trending Democratic. It has elected two Democratic governors in a row. It elected a Democrat to the senate last year (Webb) and will likely do so again next year (Warner). But in the senate races especially those are the results of a particular set of circumstances and very good candidates rather than overwhelming generic support for the Dems.

But check out these numbers Eric Kleefeld just found over at TPM Election Central. A new poll shows nine match ups -- each of the three leading Dem candidates (Clinton, Obama, Edwards) against each of the three leading Republicans (Giuliani, Thompson, Romney). And 8 of 9 match-ups put the Democratic candidate ahead. The one exception is Thompson v. Obama, where Thompson edges out Obama by 2 percentage points, 47-45.

Significantly, Clinton is at 50% or over against each of the three candidates. Rudy does best against here, pulling 44% to her 50%.