Kaine says Obama supporters key for Deeds

With a new poll showing Republican Bob McDonnell extending his lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said yesterday that energizing the Virginia voters who supported Barack Obama is a key to Deeds' chances in the governor's race.

"A way to win is to energize the huge upsurge in Obama'08 voters," Kaine said. "We registered an awful lot of people and got a lot of them to turn out."

The Washington Post's new poll shows McDonnell leading Deeds by 9 percentage points among likely voters, 53 percent to 44 percent. The Republican led by 4 percentage points in the newspaper's September survey.

McDonnell's ticket-mates for lieutenant governor and attorney general each led their Democratic rivals by 9 percentage points as well in the new survey, whose margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Democratic officials sought to send a message that Deeds can still prevail.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. attended a private fundraiser for Deeds yesterday in Alexandria. Donations ranged from $1,000 to $2,400 a plate, according to a reporter's account that was distributed to other journalists.

"I hope to God you understand this race is winnable," Biden told the 70 attendees toward the end of his remarks.

Meanwhile, Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, disputed a report in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal that quoted unnamed "party strategists" as saying that the White House is "stepping back" from the Virginia race.

"That's inaccurate," he said. "They're highly motivated and highly engaged."

The Post poll, which surveyed 2,091 adult voters Sunday through Wednesday, showed that voters view the Deeds campaign as negative and that Deeds' wide lead among female voters in mid-September had all but disappeared.

The survey also showed that Deeds has failed to energize people who backed Obama last year, leaving a large pool of voters open to voting for a Democrat, if Deeds can win them over.

"I believe it is still a winnable race," Kaine said after the poll was released.

"And one of the things I find heartening -- the president's approval ratings are very high. And there [are] clearly a lot of voters in there that are still open to changing their mind or making up their minds.

"So, we've got to work real hard to win."

To show that they have not given up on Deeds, the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, an Obama campaign arm, announced plans to launch a Web ad campaign and to e-mail 500,000 voters who had backed Obama.

The e-mails say the contest is between a candidate who promotes "fear and division" and a candidate who wants to move America "towards a more inclusive, prosperous future."

In recent days, both Rep. James P. Moran, D-8th, and Kaine have said that while Deeds has closed the gap by focusing on a 1989 thesis by McDonnell, Deeds must now present a positive message to Virginia's voters.

Terry McAuliffe, who lost the nomination to Deeds in the June 9 primary, made a similar point Tuesday night in a forum at Harvard University, saying that Deeds must "tell people what you're for," Politico reported.

Kaine, asked whether Deeds has said too much about McDonnell's thesis, said: "It's not thesis versus issues. It's who best represents who Virginia is."

Kaine said Deeds also needs to focus on issues such as education and emphasize college affordability.

Kaine reminded reporters that in the 2005 race for governor, he trailed Republican Jerry W. Kilgore in polls throughout the campaign, until late October.

"I was in the same place," Kaine said.

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .