Promoted from diaries. – Moe Lane.
First, it was a “we’ll see” about whether the President would do any more campaigning for Creigh Deeds. Today, it’s no way:
The White House is stepping back from lending its heft to a bellwether gubernatorial race in Virginia, party strategists say, seeking to conserve its political capital and avoid close association with a candidate who might lose.
And it gets even better. Or worse, if you’re Mr. Deeds:
In Virginia, a race with no incumbents, Mr. Deeds trails Republican Bob McDonnell by an average of 7.3 percentage points, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
Past White House efforts to assist Mr. Deeds haven’t worked too well. His opponent has tried to link Mr. Deeds with the president’s environmental and pro-union stances in a state that mostly runs conservative.
So has the president become as much of a lodestone as Bill Clinton used to be? Perhaps to some degree.
But it is interesting that the President is willing to expend (and lose) political capital on the Olympics rather than use any of it to support a fellow Democrat running for governor in the state right next door.
Then again, Deeds recognizes that any help coming from across the Potomac may be deadly:
“Frankly, a lot of what’s going on in Washington has made it very tough,” Deeds said in a “Battleground Virginia” interview sponsored by ABC 7/WJLA-TV, POLITICO, Google and YouTube. “We had a very tough August because people were just uncomfortable with the spending; they were uncomfortable with a lot of what was going on, a lot of the noise that was coming out of Washington, D.C.”
The noise, yes. But let’s not forget about the policies, either. And the polls show that independents — who determine the winners in Virginia’s statewide races — are flocking to Bob McDonnell. Why? As political analyst Charlie Cook noted, “Obama still has a reservoir of good will with Indies, but they hate Congress something awful.”
So long as that remains so, Creigh “the canary in the coalmine” Deeds will continue to struggle.
Steve Maley
Neil Stevens
Daniel Horowitz
Are you sure that headline isn't reversed?
bk (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 9:09AM EST (link)It works both ways
Norm Leahy (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 9:33AM EST (link)And really depends on which side can run away from the other fastest.
Agreed. Deeds may be a 2010 bellwether.
blooch Wednesday, October 7th at 9:42AM EST (link)Obama soon may be too toxic to have around at Dem Congressional campaign events. Also, Obama may throw them all under the bus for screwing up his infant legacy, and he won’t deign to use his precious “gift” on anyone’s campaign but his own.
“Lieutenant Dike wasn’t a bad leader because he made bad decisions. He was a bad leader because he made no decisions.”
Before 2010: A Deeds Loss Hurts Obama's Legislative Agenda
Swamp_Yankee (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 9:49AM EST (link)There is a lot of hard work before 2010. Obama wanted this race bad. If Deed is crushed it will turn Periello, Nye, Webb … and other Blue Dogs running towards the center and away from Pelosi, Reid and Obama.
The fact that Obama is bailing, and he is bailing, probably means they are conceding defeat and would rather not have much attention drawn to the race. They dont want it to be considered a bellweather. I bet Axelrod and crew will try to make it look like an outlier, especially if Corzine wins.
Swamp- Perriello is not even close to being a Blue Dog
Scope (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 12:51PM EST (link)And there isn’t even a small chance of him moving to the center, unless he gets approval from his owners/controllers, and, they are much higher and more deeply entrenched than even Pelosi. When the Cap and Trade bill was to be voted on in the House, I read a diary here, calling Perriello a Blue Dog, and, asking that everyone call him, as he was sitting on the fence. I remember a comment from someone who called his office, and was told that he had not decided how he would vote yet. I don’t doubt that that is what his staff said, but, right after the vote, he made statements here in the Charlottesville area that he was never sitting on the fence. Cap and Trade is his pet legislation. He campaigned on, and continues to be a major supporter of everything “Green.” A few months ago, he had a “townhall” on a private farm in south virginia, where he had Steven Chu as a speaker. They promised those in that rural area that they were going to build green companies there, and that they would bring a gazillion jobs to the very poor, and rural, area. Also, in June, he had “VAN JONES” for a photo-op with himself and other local Progressives, to celebrate the first “greened house” which was paid for by a group set up to help the poor in Charlottesville to make their homes more energy efficient. They sealed the cracks around the homeowners windows, and installed a tankless water heater. I dubbed the program “Cash for Cracks.”
I highly doubt that anyone who is a major supporter of Cap and Trade legislation, that will bankrupt this country (more than it already is), could be considered a Blue Dog.
Perriello, who currently is a mere foot soldier in the march to Communism, and will never be named or mentioned on Glenn Becks people who are dangerous to this country, he is working very hard to earn his badges, so to speak. If you doubt it, please read this article-
http://vagopcaucus.blogspot.com/2008/11/george-soros-tries-to-steal-virgil.html
It’s too bad this article came out just a few days before he won the 5th district seat. It’s also too bad that many Catholics in the 5th district believe he is such a good man. Recently, there was a campaign add on the local radio (for the 2010 election) with a Minister praising Perriello for all of Perriello’s good work in Congress. It was of course accompanied by the appropriate funeral music. Perriello is one of the 5 most vulnerable house candidates in 2010, and, that was even before there were any R’s entering the race. There are currently 5 R challengers.
“We had a very tough August because people were just uncomfortable with the spending"
6eorge Jetson (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 10:06AM EST (link)Ummm…So stop adding more spending!!!
If Obama showed up then SNL can revise their skit
texas214 (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 10:53AM EST (link)by putting another failure in th eloss column.
Lodestone?
DamnCat Wednesday, October 7th at 11:19AM EST (link)You meant perhaps “millstone”? I suppose Obama might be a lodestone in that he seems to attract animosity.
The DNC just gave Deeds another million dollars, that is in addition to the 5 million already promised
Scope (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 11:48AM EST (link)The move by the VA Democrats to choose Deeds, over McAuliffe or Moran, was to put the one with the least bad baggage on the ticket. In so doing, they now have a very lackluster, uninteresting, and non-articulate candidate, who even many democrats can’t wrap themselves around. Except, for those of course that only look at the D, and ignore the Deeds. When Deeds makes the statement “We had a very tough Aug. because people were just uncomfortable with the spending; they were uncomfortable with a lot of what was going on, a lot of the noise that was coming out of Washington, DC” he put a nail in his own coffin. The picture of Deeds looking very freightened when Obama came to campaign for him, was also an affront to the Obama administration. Obama and company expect adoration and high accolades coming from those D’s they support, rather than to make statements that question what is going on in Washington. And, Deeds statement itself is laughable, as he is the biggest spender in VA, and has bragged about it. I’m not sure that the Democrats are distancing themselves from him to appear that they didn’t back a likely loser, but rather, he has broken a cardinal rule from the Liberals- You never say anything remotely bad, or even question the powers that be, and Deeds did just that. Deeds can be seen as the Joe Biden of VA. And, not only is Deeds being thrown under the bus, I suspect that VA Gov. Tim Kaine will join him there, because he couldn’t deliver for Obama as the head of the DNC. I wonder why Kaine just promised another million to Deeds from the DNC coffers? Would it be to buy additional ACORN vote stealers?
Plus yesterday Moran called Deed's out for his negative campaigning...
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Wednesday, October 7th at 11:52AM EST (link)which is ALL he has. There is no I will do this type of commercials they are all NEGATIVE mostly about McDonnell’s 20 yr thesis but stupid stuff like Rove, Bush etc which I guess the Democrats are as stupid as I know them to be because that dog don’t hunt anymore!
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