When they were young — Deeds, McDonnell. Special video report

From hunting deer as a child in Bath County to a short-lived stint as school newspaper publisher, Creigh Deeds’ early years were a reflection of rural Virginia.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, trailing in the polls, is getting a late push from President Barack Obama, with a new TV ad, an email plea and an appearance in Hampton Roads slated for a week before Election Day. Deeds, a state senator from Bath County and the Democratic nominee for governor, hopes the infusion will reignite voters who helped Obama become the first Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years to carry Virginia.

Part 2: Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell meet in the final gubenatorial debate of the 2009 campaign.

Part 1: Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell meet in the final gubenatorial debate of the 2009 campaign.

Republican Bob McDonnell said Virginia shouldn’t participate in a federal health-care program that contains a “public option.“ Democrat R. Creigh Deeds said it might save money for the state.

With Democrats trailing late in Virginia’s contest for governor, former President Bill Clinton lent his star power to R. Creigh Deeds yesterday during a lunchtime rally for the party faithful. “Never underestimate this man,“ Clinton said of Deeds, who soundly defeated a Clinton friend, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe, in a June 9 primary.

Virginia gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell are preparing to debate one last time.

R. Creigh Deeds’ handlers say the Democratic prospect for governor can overtake Republican frontrunner Bob McDonnell by harnessing the vote that tipped Virginia to President Barack Obama. “If we can’t get them out on Election Day, it’s game over,“ campaign manager Joe Abbey said in a conference call yesterday with reporters. Democrats are boasting that a vigorous get-out-the-vote operation could save Deeds on Nov. 3.

The Deeds-for-governor campaign is making a case today that it’s turning around the Virginia race and can overtake Republican frontrunner Bob McDonnell.

Last November, Bernard Peyton, a retired warehouse worker, was excited to cast his ballot in the presidential election. “Barack Obama being an African-American, that’s a natural thing,“ said Peyton, a black Henrico County resident. On Nov. 3, Peyton, 65, plans to vote for R. Creigh Deeds for governor. But he doesn’t detect the same kind of fervor for the state senator from Bath County.

My entire career has been focused on one goal: creating opportunity for everyone in all corners of Virginia. I am running for governor to continue moving Virginia forward by bringing opportunity, prosperity, and hope to the people of the commonwealth through the commonsense, bipartisan tradition of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine that has defined my time in public service and made Virginia what is today.

As a young Army lieutenant stationed in Germany, Bob McDonnell made the Guinness Book of World Records. He organized his hospital unit to carry a 120-pound woman on a stretcher on a record-breaking trek—93.4 miles in 32 hours. Thirty-two years later, McDonnell is doing a different kind of heavy lifting, as he seeks to break Democrats’ eight-year hold on Virginia’s governorship.

ECONOMY
Would provide a tax credit for every job created by a small business; would double the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to $20 million and put $10 million more into job training; proposes regular audits of state agencies.
TRANSPORTATION
Would assemble a bipartisan commission to craft a comprehensive transportation package. He is willing to sign a tax increase for transportation, as long as it arises from a bipartisan consensus.

Today the two candidates for governor, Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell make their direct appeals to Virginia voters.