DOOMWatch: Why Creigh Deeds is losing.

[UPDATE]: Welcome, Instapundit readers.

It’s because of this question, and the answers.

17. Can you name one good reason that someone should vote for your opponent?

DEEDS: [Long pause] You know, I can name you a thousand good reasons why they should vote for me. I’m the best-prepared person to be the next governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. … Bob is a guy that I’ve always gotten along with, but I get along with most people. I work hard to get along with people. I don’t agree with Bob on a great deal.

McDONNELL: He’s a good family man. He’s worked hard to represent his district well for 18 years. To me, he’s a good story of somebody living and accessing the American dream. You know, he tells the story about … first guy in his family to go to college with four $20 [bills] in his pocket and now he’s competing for the job held by Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. To me, that’s a great story. I think there’s a hundred reasons why I’d be a better governor than him, but for the way, and this is his own personal life story, the way he has told it — it obviously happened because of tremendous hard work, tremendous perseverance to be able to get to the level that he is at, and I think that’s very admirable.

Slightly contra Jim Geraghty, it’s not that Bob McDonnell can sincerely compliment his opponent; it’s that Creigh Deeds doesn’t dare.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor. No time to stop now.

Crossposted to RedState.

DOOMWatch: Let the Blue-on-Blue sniping begin in Virginia.

(Via @mattklewis) I would take it as a personal favor from the Left if they would [verb deleted*] Mudcat Saunders. He’s very unhappy about the upcoming Democratic abandonment of Virginia – to the point where he’s obviously indifferent to the fact that he’s openly cussing to CNN about how stupid both the administration and the national Democratic party is being right now. Usually all of this happens after the election, but then: there’s a reason why the title of this post is DOOMWatch.

Possibly the best part of the article – if not the most profane – is this paragraph:

“It’s a godd[*]mn shame when our center of government, the White House, won’t talk on the record. I discount all of it,” Saunders said of the Post article. “It’s a lack of courage. And it goes against transparency that Obama told us last year was going to come out of the White House. Anybody who makes anonymous quotes out of the White House should be fired.”

Remember. Democrat, saying that about Democrats.

Moe Lane

*Not for reasons of profanity: it’s merely that I don’t expect Democrats to do as I say, so I might as well let them look to their own judgment about what to do next. This strategy has paid dividends in Virginia so far, after all.

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor.

Crossposted to RedState.

DOOMWatch: Deeds infuriates base on public option.

Via the Blogometer comes this amusing footage of Creigh Deeds deciding, as Not Larry Sabato put it, “take out as many Democrats on the ballot as he can.” Check out the Blogometer link for some of the more entertaining meltdowns from the Left about this, not to mention a good deal of wishful thinking from them about… well, everything.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor.

PPS: I should note that the problem for Deeds is not that he’s wrong to be ready to consider opting out of the public option: it’s in his failure to understand the specialized theological leanings of the Democratic base. He might as well had offered to sacrifice a baby harp seal to Ronald Reagan, or something.

Line of the Day, Creigh Deeds edition.

From the Politico, on Democratic ‘help’ in that campaign:

Indeed, the event in a Tysons Corner office building about 10 miles from Washington was a vivid illustration of the powerful downward dynamic that often affects campaigns once they start to take on the scent of death.

Via the Corner.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor. The election isn’t over yet.

Crossposted to RedState.

It’s official: DOOM for Deeds.

When the trailing candidate’s campaign starts talking about GOTV as the primary strategy for victory, it’s over.

…the question that remains unanswered is whether they can prevail in a campaign in which Virginia’s many independent voters have turned against the national Democratic brand and with a nominee who many in the party privately believe has run a mediocre race.

The answer will be revealed on Election Night when the returns come in from northern Virginia, and particularly Fairfax County, the commonwealth’s largest jurisdiction. The Deeds campaign believes it needs to carry the region with at least 55 percent to win the election and at least approach the 60 percent threshold that recent Democratic candidates have captured in populous Fairfax.

As for turnout, the hope is to push the percentage of northern Virginia’s vote from 33 percent of the statewide electorate to above 35 percent.

I am a little surprised that this post can be written now, though: I had it scheduled for some time around the 29th. Obviously, turnout is very important; but it’s usually not until about a week or so before the actual election that losing campaigns start using it as a tool to backstop eroding enthusiasm. Seeing this happen this early suggests that Virginia Democrats are worrying about the downticket races.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor. Because it’s not over until it’s over.

PPS: The big question for Chris Christie in NJ isn’t turnout for him; it’s whether Daggett’s going to break double-digits on Election Day (at this moment, this question makes the difference between a 1-point win for Christie, and probably a 3-point one). Which I’ll believe when I see it.

Crossposted to RedState.

Booby Prize for Creigh Deeds.

He asked for the President; he got the Cubslayer.

Gore coming to Va. for Deeds

Former Vice President Al Gore will be coming to Virginia on Friday to give a last-minute boost to the Democratic candidate for governor, Creigh Deeds, a party source said.

Gore will headline a private fundraiser in McLean at the home of longtime Democratic supporters Al and Claire Dwoskin.

But surely this doesn’t necessarily mean…

Obama in Virginia, But Not For Deeds

President Obama is in Fairfax County today.

But not to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

Snap!

Instead, Obama visits the Fairfax County Parkway extension today with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to talk about federal stimulus spending.

Ah.

Well.

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor.

Crossposted to RedState.

DNC preparing to cut Creigh Deeds loose?

(Via The Campaign Spot) Not that they would ever, ever come out and say so – but when the one truly hopeful poll that one’s had in months for a particular campaign reverses itself the next time it’s taken again, well. Let’s just say that a handy excuse would be… handy.

The bad poll news comes on the heels of a story circulating in Democratic circles today that the Democratic National Committee is reportedly holding on to its $5 million financial commitment to the Deeds campaign out of concern that the Deeds campaign has focused too much of its attention on the controversial Bob McDonnell 1989 grad-school thesis setting out a hardline social-conservative political agenda for his budding political career and not enough on putting down a framework for what a Deeds administration would do for Virginia.

That’s so clever it’s almost diabolical. Remember: Deeds is the guy that the national party had the least preexisting ties with, so there’s less people to offend here. And telling him to come up with a new campaign narrative may sound reasonable – until you remember that we’re down to one month before the election. Also, five million dollars is suddenly looking like a lot more money, in this era of anemic Democratic fundraising; obviously, spending it on an election is what it’s there for… but throwing it away on an election is usually not considered smart.

Again, there’s no possible way that the DNC will ever admit that they’re going to cut Deeds loose. They’ll in fact angrily deny it. But ask yourself: in their shoes, would you be throwing good money after Creigh?

Moe Lane

PS: Bob McDonnell for Governor. It’s the only way to be sure.

Crossposted to RedState.

Jim Geraghty now trying to buck up Deeds campaign.

They could use it: as near as can be determined, the eye-rolling thesis story pretty much did its thing, with no significant change for the last month, and Deeds is still losing the race for Virginia governor 48-43 with just over a month to go. So Geraghty’s sort of trying to cheer them up about it: who says that Republicans are incapable of pity?

Moe Lane

PS: The PPP poll, by the way, assumes that the voter percentages is better today for Democrats than it was in the 2008 election. It’s also showing that the downticket races are going along nicely. Well, nicely for Republicans.

PPS: Bob McDonnell for Governor.

Crossposted to RedState.

Creigh’s Ms.-Deeds.

Isn’t there a television show that does this sort of thing? Countdown With Keith Olbermann Jackass, or something like that?

Bob McDonnell’s campaign received a call this morning from a woman who called herself “Jennifer” and claimed to be a freelance reporter from the Connection newspapers in Northern Virginia. She asked for information about McDonnell’s schedule.

The problem? She isn’t a reporter. She actually works for Creigh Deeds’s campaign.

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin, who took her call, said the caller ID showed Deeds’s campaign headquarters phone number and the words “Deeds for Va.”

Jim Geraghty’s right: this isn’t the biggest thing in the world. In that, it’s a perfect match to Deed’s campaign. I particularly enjoyed the fumble-fingered way that they got tripped up; you know, I’m pretty sure that Moran would have been able to play this particular dirty trick properly…

Moe Lane

PS: McDonnell for Governor. Donate here.

Crossposted to RedState.

Maybe Deeds could try to hit McDonnell with his car?

Ha! Got it right this time. Anyway, this video from the VA GOP:

…is a nice supplement to this WaPo article (via Jim Newell, who seems a bit bitter):

Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is running behind his Republican opponent in a recent Washington Post poll in large part because he has yet to win over voters in populous, Democratic-leaning Northern Virginia.

[snip]

In the Washington Post poll, Deeds had his best showing among suburban Washington voters, running about evenly with McDonnell, who is a native of Fairfax County.

Bolding mine, and let me translate what that means for the Deeds campaign if that’s not fixed:

DOOM.

Moe Lane

PS: McDonnell for Governor. Donate here.

Crossposted to RedState.