In 2008, 74.5 percent of Virginia’s registered voters turned out to vote in the presidential election. In 2009, the last time Virginians elected a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and members of the House of Delegates, just 40.4 percent of registered voters came out to vote.

That is to say that 1.7 million voters went missing in the Commonwealth.

Last November, more than 70 percent of Virginia’s registered voters turned out. Will this November see 40 percent or less? Choices at the statewide level could hardly be more stark, and low turnout will make the outcome unpredictable.

It’s a mistake for people offended by the inflammatory and derogatory rhetoric by the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor E.W. Jackson to think that he is unelectable in Virginia or that his negatives will make Ken Cuccinelli, Republican nominee for Governor unelectable.

It all depends on who turns out to vote.

As an example, in November 2007, incumbent state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37) won re-election by less than one-half of a percentage point, with an edge of just 92 votes out of 37,185 ballots cast, beating Democrat Janet Oleszek. Approximately 32 percent of registered voters in the 37th District cast ballots at the polls in that election. Imagine what might be different today if that race had gone differently. Cuccinelli was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 2002 in a special election.