Potts is no threat to Kaine.

Friday, Sen. Russ Potts (R-Winchester) is due to announce that he’s running for governor as an independent, meaning that Republican Jerry Kilgore has not just a challenge for the Republican nomination in the form of Warrenton mayor George Fitch, but will have a real challenge from the sane wing of the Republican Party, too.

This is great news, because it means that Kilgore is going to have to move to the left to neutralize Fitch or, more likely, he’ll move farther to the right (to the extent to which that’s possible) to appease his Club for Growth masters.

The Kilgore campaign has accidentally released their defensive press release a day early (thanks to Sic Semper Tyrannis for the pointer), and it’s pretty funny.

RUSS POTTS – STRAYED FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SOME TIME AGO

Strayed: v: a. To move away from a group, deviate from the correct course, or go beyond established limits. b. To become lost. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

The announcement today that Russ Potts (I-Winchester) will run for Governor as an Independent can only be seen as a tremendous setback for the Kaine for Governor campaign. Now, the High Tax/Big Government Spending lobby has two liberal candidates to choose from in the race for Governor. What we have here today is not a split within the Republican Party, but rather a colossal fissure among the High Tax/Big Government Spending coalition.

Russ Potts will only take votes away from Tim Kaine’s base of supporters who believe a $1.4 billion tax increase and a $1.5 billion budget surplus is not enough for their big government appetite.

There’s just so much rich material here that it’s hard to know where to start. Using a dictionary definition in any piece of writing — an article, a paper, or a press release — is so pathetic and clichéd that it makes it hard to continue reading at all. Yet — boldly sacrificing myself for you, gentle reader — I braved onward.

Then they refer to Potts as “(I-Winchester)”. What a trip. The dude’s a Republican. He caucuses with Republicans. His Senate bio calls him a Republican. If Zell Miller is a Democrat, Russell Potts is a Republican, no matter how feverishly that Kilgore would like to present him as a Democrat so that Kilgore can continue to pretend to be a middle-of-the-road Republican, rather an extremist.

Sen. H. Russell Potts

And then — I love this part — the campaign tries to spin horseshit into gold be declaring that Potts’ entrance into the race is only bad for Lt. Governor Tim Kaine (D). If Potts only hurts Kaine, why is Kilgore’s campaign attacking Potts? If the Kilgore campaign was telling the truth, they’d be welcoming Potts with open arms. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a press release from the Kaine campaign condemning Potts — it ain’t gonna happen (if they’re smart). Why? Potts is the best thing to happen to the Kaine campaign yet. He’s the Kilgore campaign’s worst nightmare, short of, I suppose, former governor Jim Gilmore stepping up and declaring that he’s running for the nomination.

The Kilgore campaign’s flailing is all the evidence that’s necessary that they are seriously freaking out over the (presumed) entrance of Russ Potts into the race. Hopefully, they’ll proceed to waste lots of time on Potts, be reduced to infighting in the Kilgore/Potts/Fitch Republican ranks, leaving Tim Kaine looking clean-cut, strong, and untouched come November 8.

Run, Russ, run!