Terry McAuliffe smirked recently when I asked him if Virginia Democrats were still bothered by his support last year for Hillary Rodham Clinton -- and his opposition to Barack Obama -- and his close ties to Clinton's husband. "Look, people in Virginia want to talk about the future -- about their jobs, their families and the economy," he said. "They're not talking about the past."

McAuliffe may be right. He's campaigning across Virginia every day and, as he made sure to remind me, I'm not. But thanks to a radio ad run by one of his rivals, the closing days of the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary campaign have revived the tensions of 2008 in a way that's forcing candidates to debate who loves Obama the most. Even more intriguingly, the election is shaping up as the first high-profile test of whether Democrats -- especially African Americans, who fueled Obama's lopsided victory there last February -- have welcomed the Clintons back into the fold.

While McAuliffe says Democrats' scars have healed, Moran's ad hit a nerve.

It's a tricky path for McAuliffe, whose appearances with Bill Clinton this month have drawn medium-sized crowds. In a different world, he would be riding Clinton coattails to victory this year with promises to do for Virginia what another southern Democratic governor did for Arkansas two decades ago. But the resurgence Democrats are enjoying in Virginia has little to do with the Clintons; Democrats have regained power here, but they've done so since Bill left the White House.

The radio spot was launched Monday by former state Del. Brian Moran, who remained neutral in the 2008 primary. (His brother, Rep. Jim Moran, backed Obama. But his campaign chairwoman, Mame Reiley, was a Clinton supporter). The ad's message is blunt; targeting black listeners in Richmond and Hampton Roads, it hangs one of the Clinton campaign's sharpest barbs against Obama around McAuliffe's neck. "Terry McAuliffe led the campaign that ran the '3 a.m.' attack ad against Barack Obama," a narrator says. "McAuliffe worked to put up the ads that questioned Obama's ability to be president. The fact is, if Terry McAuliffe had his way, Barack Obama wouldn't be our president today. McAuliffe even went on national TV and joked Barack Obama could, quote, 'kiss my ---.'"

While McAuliffe says Democrats' scars have healed, Moran's ad hit a nerve. Within hours, the McAuliffe campaign had fired off a statement in which former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, an early Obama backer in 2008, endorsed McAuliffe and said he "worked tirelessly to unify our party around Barack Obama and get him elected president." In a radio ad of his own, McAuliffe acknowledged that he campaigned hard for Clinton, but insisted that when the primary campaign ended he "campaigned just as hard" for Obama. He compared Moran to Republicans who waged "attack politics" against Obama last year. His campaign also produced a Web video highlighting post-primary speeches in which McAuliffe touted Obama.

In other words, McAuliffe voted for Obama after he voted against him.

Democrats may have moved beyond 2008, but it was McAuliffe himself who made Obama a centerpiece in this year's campaign. In a March radio ad, McAuliffe cozied up to Obama and argued that work he'd done as DNC chairman paved the way for Obama's election.

"Did you know that Terry McAuliffe fought to protect voting rights and led the effort to give Democrats in our region a stronger voice in deciding the party's presidential nominee?" a woman asks in the ad. "That's right," a man responds. "Terry McAuliffe defended our rights and was the leader who brought us together and united the party. And in 2008 our voices were heard when we elected our president, Barack Obama."

Judging from his own ad, and his response this week to Moran's, it sounds as though McAuliffe does think Virginia Democrats are still talking about the past. In a few weeks, we'll find out what they think.