Shad Planks and Possum Pulls

Last week Virginia kicked off its political season with the traditional "Shad Planking"--a sort of grand, speech-laden fish fry--down in Wakefield country.

Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner apparently won the 'sign war,' planting thousands of those blue flashies for miles leading up to the entrance to the event.

Like the annual Wausau Possum Festival in small-town north Florida, these events distinguish a Lawton Chiles or a Bob Graham from a nothing-burger, stuffed shirt politician.

I'm surprised Virginia doesn't have more hold-a-possum-by-his-tail-and-see-if-he-smiles political events, given the frequency of the furballs in the Northern Neck and other rural parts.

These events make for good reporting and even better literary description of politicos at their glad-handing best.