Election Eve, Sort Of
From all the accounts I read, Virginia Democrats will not repeat their string of electoral victories on Tuesday. (The accounts are mostly Washington Post but I've seen the same consensus in other stories.) Not only will the Democrats not win the governorship but a truly dedicated conservative activist will replace winner-designate McDonnell as attorney general. My satisfaction in seeing Terry McAulife lose the primary in June is certainly dimmed by Creigh Deeds'lackluster, unfocused campaign.
McDonnell, on the other hand has been very focused. So focused that he tries not to look too much like the conservative activist he is. If the Republicans are looking for a come-back strategy, they seem to be doing pretty well by not talking about what they really believe. R emember Grover Norquist's statement about "drowning government"? That kind of rhetoric only appeals to a limited minority of zealots and tends to drive away the more pragmatic voters. It's best not to be too vocal about those beliefs, no matter how dear.
Out this way, something of the same is going on in King County, where a former news anchor turned conservative Republican activist presented herself as a non-ideological moderate to win one of two non-partisan nominations for King County executive. (King County is most Democratic county in Washington and the state's overwhelming largest. It is Seattle, its exurbs, suburbs and a whole lot more, including a severe budget deficit.) She was the top vote getter in the primary and has led in all the polls until just last week when it seems that voters are beginning to realize what a shipwreck she would we. I hope so.
I would like to hope that Virginia voters would be as prescient. But I don't think so. My (mostly) native state committed heresy last year by voting for Obama, not to mention two Democratic (no matter how conservative) senators and two Democratic (also conservative) governors in a row. I will not be surprised if Virginia voters step back from that Democratic abyss this time around.
Labels: elections
posted by Rez Dog at 6:59 AM
3 Comments:
Well, this could be a sea change in that they are no longer boasting about their nutso ideals, but hiding them.
It looks as bad as you think it does, believe me. But I never really thought Creigh Deeds had a chance. The only reason Obama carried this state is because the Bush administration was such a colossal failure, and McCain was looking like more of the same. Obama's first year at the helm has been spotty at best, and at bottom, this state is as red as it ever was. Add to that Tim Kaine's lackluster performance as governor, and McDonnell is all but a shoo-in. The bulk of Virginia voters are basically reverting to type now.
The good news (I suppose) is that McDonnell can't run again in 2013. We have a one-term-at-a-time rule for governors. The bad news: I'll probably have to go full-bore back into political blogging just to get through the next four years.
Son of a bitch...
Rezdog, I was on the AT over the weekend south of Rockfish Gap, and on the drive down I saw that McDonnell is clearly winning the U.S. 29 campaign sign poll. While it's a little skewed towards the Republicans in general, I didn't see a Deeds sign between Gainesville and Greene County.
Not good.
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