UPDATE: Candidates look to tomorrow’s debate to sharpen distinctions
Published: September 16, 2009
Updated: September 16, 2009
A top strategist for Democrat Creigh Deeds, Mo Elleithee, says his candidate -- still lagging in the published polls -- expects to spend a "significant amount of time talking about Bob McDonnell."
Elleithee, who spoke with reporters in a telephone conference call this afternoon, also says Deeds will address issues that directly affect Virginians, such as education and transportation.
Phil Cox, McDonnell's campaign manager, said in an e-mail that the Republican will have a lot to say about those topics during the face-off before the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. But, Cox adds, "it's no surprise Mr. Deeds doesn't want to talk about himself."
Cox then rolled out what's become the Republican take on Deeds: that he's too close with organized labor, having taken big contributions from union interests, and that he's a big spender, pushing for millions in budget amendments that, Deeds says, would finance the priorities of both candidates, including higher teacher salaries.
Elleithee says there's fresh momentum for Deeds, the evidence of which is Deeds' recent edge in fundraising and an independent poll showing Deeds trailing by only 5 percentage points.
While Deeds collected more money than McDonnell in July and August, the Republican has $1.5 million advantage in cash on-hand. As for polling, previous surveys have shown Deeds back 7 percentage points to 12 percentage points.
Elleithee also says Deeds would welcome President Barack Obama back to Virginia. Anti-Obama headwinds, largely rooted in anxiety over the economy, are generally acknowledged by Democrats and Republicans as holding back Deeds.
"There is a tendancy to nationalize this race," says Elleithee. "Ultimately, this race will be decided on Virginia issues, not national issues."
Among those state issues: McDonnell's controversial law-school thesis in which he was sharply critical of working women, unmarried couples, gays and contraception. McDonnell is disavowing some of his claims from the 1989 paper, which he wrote as a student at Pat Robertson-founded Regent University.
Reader Reactions
Regent and Liberty are politically pointed organizations with strong opinions of how other Christians should view the world. They’re founder’s have been explicitly interested in obtaining influential positions towards the institution of a political Christianity—there is no secret of these intentions.
It’s a radical disposition towards governance. That the one candidate has moved away from a Patty Hearst/Stockholm mentality doesn’t ease the impression of influence.
Draw your own lines I suppose.
ProudAmerican24,
Are you suggesting that McDonnell is a moderate northeastern Republican, ambivalent about women’s reproductive rights and open to mainstream ideas about separation of church and state?
Among those state issues: McDonnell’s controversial law-school thesis in which he was sharply critical of working women, unmarried couples, gays and contraception.
This is not a state issue. It’s not even an issue. What terrible, obviously biased reporting by Jeff E. Schapiro. And as some others have posted, Deeds needs to spend more time forming positions of his own, instead of playing the old politics of personal attacks as your running platform. I applaud McDonnell for having the class to rise above the political norm and not take personal attacks at his opponent. I haven’t seen ANY candidate from EITHER party do that in a long time.
R - then you should be just as uncomfortable electing a graduate of a school associated with the Baptist Church (as Deed’s alma mater, Wake Forest, was when he attended).
I’m sure there’s something about every politician that would make me uncomfortable. It’s the nature of those beasts. If you’re going to give someone your vote for one reason, I would hope that it was for an issue more important than just something that makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m not trying to be rude (it’s easy for posted comments to seem this way), I’m just saying that there are probably more important reasons to vote/not vote for each of these. I don’t claim to know a lot about either, but am trying to make my way through some of the *real* issues at stake here (something this newspaper doesn’t really seem interested in helping with).
I’m eager to hear McDonnell expound on his 12 frackin’ funding mechanisms. They are the intellectual-heavy lifting that he expect will propel him into the governor’s mansion. Let’s hear some details of those frackin’ proposals.
I’m politically uncomfortable with electing any graduate of Regent or Liberty University. They’re activist schools. It’s not a benign detail.
“There is a tendency to nationalize this race,“ said Elleithee. “Ultimately, this race will be decided on Virginia issues, not national issues.“
Somebody needs to tell Deeds this because he still thinks he’s running against Bush! His ads are so vague and sound like something out of “Running for Political Office 101”. I love how in his ads the folksy people refer to something “the newspaper” said against McDonnell. What newspaper? Shouldn’t they want to give themselves some credibility? Maybe they realize the Weekly Shopper doesn’t carry much weight.
Rookies!
I love how Mr. S. threw in “the thesis” there at the end. Do you think maybe there’s an *actual* VA issue, maybe something that could make a difference in the lives of Virginians, that could have been mentioned there instead? Maybe something substantive to tell us something about the differences between these 2 candidates? Hmmm…maybe not, maybe the thesis is the most important VA issue. Nah, there’s nothing big going on in our state right now, just that old thesis.
It will be interesting to dissect how much of Craig Deeds debate ammo surrounds his policies and what is best for Virginians and how much is distraction and talking points provided by the national Democrat Party for the purpose of advancing Obama/Pelosi/Emanuel’s agenda.
Post a Comment(Requires free registration)
- Please avoid offensive, vulgar, or hateful language.
- Respect others.
- Use the "Flag Comment" link when necessary.
- See the Terms and Conditions for details.
Advertisement