Virginians are putting their politics where their license plates are.
So don’t be surprised if a car with the vanity-license plate PRO TAX crashes into one with the NO TAX plate.
Both have been issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). TAX ME, however, is still available.
The presidential race is already on the road: Vehicles somewhere are sporting KERRY and GW BUSH plates, along with NO BUSH and GO BUSH. Even CHENEY and EDWARDS are being driven around the commonwealth.
Gov. Mark Warner might have the WARNER plate, and Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore might have the KILGORE tag, but the DMV will not reveal the owners of those — or any — of its vanity plates. Nobody has taken KAINE yet, not even Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.
The DMV sells the plates on its Web site, www.dmvnow.com, for $10 apiece per year. On the site, drivers can enter their message of choice to see whether someone else has taken it.
Messages can be no longer than seven characters, so don’t expect to see a KUCINICH plate on a Virginia car. But NADER is in use.
State law forbids any obscene or offensive messages on license plates, which narrows the selection for Jimmy Buffett fans. Several of the specialty “Parrotheads” plates — JIMMY, PARTY, WASTED and STONED — have been taken; however, no one is allowed to drive DRUNK.
But when it comes to politics, Virginia drivers have no problem expressing themselves. The plate VA GOP is taken, but VA DEMS is still available.
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