"Virginia, once the mother of presidents, is now the proud parent of a boatload of political figures who insist there is “no higher honor” than serving as governor.

Virginia also is the only state remaining with a one-term-and-gone governorship, perhaps to en-courage the long line of would-be governors who seek to occupy the two statewide governor-in-waiting positions.

Those are the LG, or “Light Governor,” and the AG, or “Aspiring Governor.”

Democrats and Republicans are racing to line up early and jockey hard for statewide positions, all in hopes of becoming governor.

Stepping stones to top

The last elected attorney general of Virginia (the official title of the AG) who was not interested in running for governor was Robert Y. Button. Button was elected in 1965 along with ticket mate Mills Godwin, who was then a Democrat when elected to the governor’s mansion.

There are so few Button buttons left that no one can remember what one looks like, except for the collectors who treasure their 1965 ticket buttons of “Godwin, Pollard, Button.”

“Bob Button had no interest” in running for governor, said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Univer-sity of Virginia’s Center for Politics. Button won the AG position in 1961 and in 1965, when the initials meant only “attorney general.”

“Every elected AG and LG since has been ‘ambitious,’ ” Sabato said.

That means that if Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, AG Bob McDonnell and Del. Brian J. Moran are running for governor in 2009, then the other Democrats and Republicans running for LG or AG next year are lining themselves up for bids for governor in 2013.

A 40-year supply

The General Assembly is so full of potential LGs and AGs that if they all decided, against human nature, to “wait their turn” and draw lots, Virginia could have a steady supply of ready-made governors for the next 40 years.

Former LG L. Douglas Wilder taught everyone that, unlike Don Beyer or Mary Sue Terry or Bill Bolling, they don’t really have to wait their turns for a chance at the Executive Mansion.

In the three-ring races for governor, aggression is truly the better part of valor, discretion being a largely unheralded virtue.

The list of aspiring LGs and AGs is thicker than the Gate City phone book.

On the Republican side, the list of potential attorney general nominees stretches from Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, to Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.

In between are GOP hopefuls John Brownlee, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia in Roanoke; Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli of Fairfax County; Paul C. Harris, a former GOP delegate from Albemarle now living and working in Northern Virginia; and Sen. Ryan McDougle of Mechanicsville.

Cuccinelli is the only announced AG candidate, but Harris has promised a decision by the end of May on whether he will jump in the race. Bell, who has more than $300,000 sitting in a fat campaign kitty, may wait to see what Harris does before deciding whether to jump in the contest officially.

On the Democratic side, Del. Steve Shannon of Vienna is universally considered the party front-runner for AG but may not have the party’s field to himself.

Jody Wagner of Virginia Beach, a member of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s cabinet as secretary of fi-nance, is considered a potential Democratic candidate for either “Light Governor” or “Aspiring Gover-nor.”

Democrats looking at the LG spot on a 2009 ticket include Del. Kenneth C. Alexander of Norfolk, Wagner and Jon I. Bowerbank VII, an at-large member of the Russell County Board of Supervisors in Southwest Virginia.

Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling helped set an early top-of-ticket stability rarely seen this far in ad-vance of a statewide set of elections by stepping back in favor of McDonnell’s run for governor.

By stepping back from a campaign for governor next year, opting instead to run for a second term as “Light Governor” (a nickname for lieutenant governor), Bolling is hoping to line up as Republican nominee apparent for governor in 2013.

He would be tough to beat for LG next year as he is already there and incumbency counts for some-thing in Virginia.

With a McDonnell-Bolling top of the ticket set, the only action for the next 13 months until nomina-tion time on the GOP side is the jockeying for AG.

That could change, of course, if Barack Obama wins the White House and chooses Kaine for a spot such as a Cabinet position.

If Kaine were to leave the governor’s mansion early, a newly sworn-in Gov. Bolling probably would be able to say to AG McDonnell something like, “Bob, I stepped aside for you until President Obama handed me no higher honor. How would you like to step aside for me as I run for re-election for gover-nor in 2009?”

AG McDonnell might have to say something like, “There is no higher honor than serving as gover-nor, but as you know I love serving with you as your Aspiring Governor.”

Of course, no one knows what Obama’s chances of winning the White House are at this point nor whether he would tap Kaine.

And Kaine could always look north to Washington, sigh and say, “Barack, that’s very nice of you to offer, but as any Virginian would likely tell you, there is no higher honor than serving as governor. And, you know, the General Assembly and I are, oh, so close to solving this tricky transportation fund-ing puzzle that has flummoxed every governor since 1986 when Jerry Baliles last successfully touched that third rail.

“I’m afraid, Mr. President, there is no higher honor,” Kaine might say. “Could you give me one year?”" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, April 13, 2008)