This week’s opinion marketplace

PORTSMOUTH — Local governments aren’t likely to escape the pain when the General Assembly attempts to eliminate an estimated $3.5 billion hole in the next two-year budget.

That estimate does not include the losses faced by local school districts to replace federal stimulus money that will dwindle next year and then disappear entirely in the second year of the budget.

RICHMOND — Big win notwithstanding, Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell will start his reign hampered by a slashed state budget, a politically divided legislature and a sour economy.

Less than 24 hours after he was elected Virginia’s 71st governor, McDonnell acknowledged that he will face tough economic times when he takes office Jan. 16.

Readying to slink off into the night, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine continues to bustle about the business of securing future employment. He has signed on for a part-time teaching gig at the University of Richmond to be coupled with his work as Democratic National Committee chairman.

Meteorologists, correct on occasion, say conditions will be favorable today for voters to venture from their homes and select mostly from guys with perfect hair as representatives to serve for the next four years. Here in the central Shenandoah Valley, it will be partly cloudy with highs near 60. For President Barack Obama looking on from the capital, it might be decidedly chillier. If it’s fall, leaves and the electorate’s mood must be changing.

Really? Now, Del. Landes?

Steve Landes clearly has noticed that he has a challenger in the House District 25 race, which presumably has something to do with the bill he announced Monday.

Prospects for a Republican sweep in the state’s marquee races brighten almost by the minute as Democrats struggle against drags at the top of the state and national parties. R. Creigh Deeds and President Barack Obama look like a dating service mismatch, each racing for the door as though fleeing an unwanted goodnight kiss.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine again has been compelled to slash money from his two-year, $77-billion budget, this time whacking away $1.35 billion.

FAIRFAX — Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds sought Friday to link his campaign for governor to Virginia’s most popular politician, promising to govern in the mold of Sen. Mark Warner and seek bipartisan solutions for transportation and economic development.

Having been hit with $1 million in state funding cuts over the last two years, Blue Ridge Community College is bracing for another round of reductions.

Contrasts continue to strike. The Golden Corral soon will open its gates in the West End, another indicator that development will not soon abate in that section of Waynesboro where pulses still can be detected. Eastward, Roses, the discount clothing and retail store, is venturing back into Willow Oak Plaza. A smattering of small shops has opened in the vicinity.

The state has closed 18 interstate rest areas and plans to close another by September. Traveling I-64 over the weekend, my family and I can attest to the need to keep all of the stops open.

Distant are the days when Gov. Timothy M. Kaine whisked across the commonwealth in the empyreal embrace of Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, or what may be called America’s Third Great Awakening, a time, like the second, when women swooned, spirits waxed euphoric and reason rested. His hopes of landing on the ticket with Obama cast into a state budget chasm, Kaine today plays out strings while muddy water seeps under the door. Now he hopes only to avoid getting wet.

A rough ride to recovery or further recession into the political backwaters advances Tuesday from trot to canter for Republicans here and elsewhere. This places upon the shoulders of the GOP’s carefully coiffed Virginia gubernatorial candidate a burden of hope that he so far appears able to carry though his party falters.