Breaking news from the Washington Post, Creigh Deeds pulls it through at the very end.
I have to admit, I love the underdog! I believe Creigh Deeds has a real chance to win against McDonnel.
Running with the least money and fewest ties to vote-rich Northern Virginia, State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds has won the three-way Democratic primary for governor, paving the way for a rematch with Republican Bob McDonnell in the fall.
“Three weeks ago, this was a two-man race between McAuliffe and Moran,” said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University. “Deeds was going to win the rural vote and that’s it. People are going to be talking about how he pulled this off for weeks and months.”
Deeds, a 17-year veteran of the General Assembly, lost by a mere 323 votes to McDonnell in the 2005 election for attorney general. His victory today presents Republicans with a different challenge than they were expecting: a moderate with strong ties to rural voters and a political apparatus throughout the state.
I would have preferred to face McAuliffe. But now that the Dem’s seem to want to stake out the moderate middle, McDonnell will be forced to steer clear of the far right extremists … even if they do provide a cheap source of votes … because this will mean more lost ground among moderates and independents.
Bad news for Corey Stewart and Greg Letiecq. Bad news for the Dem’s General Assembly candidates in NoVA (who would have preferred Moran and his liberalism or McAuliffe and all his money). Good news for moderate Republicans of Virginia (who want to see the party rebound).
Life is good. A Virginia Gentleman heads to the Governor’s Mansion.
Actually, 3 decent men ran. It isn’t often one can say that.
whwn, I agree about not having Terry McAuliffe’s money.
You would have thought McCain would have taken that approach, but something tells me the Republicans might not have learned yet. I believe Deeds has a better chance of rallying all voters, from left to independent. Those dem die hards who don’t want to see McDonnell win will still come out, those who like a proven moderate approach will come out for Deeds again as they had for Warner and Kaine.
Elena, who else do the die-hards have to vote for? They can either vote for Deeds or stay home.
Amazingly enough, Deeds got 50% of the vote.
From everything I have read, the Washington Post endorsement was critical to this win. It was logical and not like some of their past endorsements.
I hope you like your guns, Virginians. If you want to know how much of a gun supporter Deeds is? Last time Deeds ran against McDonnell, the NRA endorsed Deeds!!!
Also, I didn’t care for the fact that Deeds voted to allow Bob Marshall’s Hate Amendment to go on the ballot as an insurance policy so George Allen could keep his Senate seat and run for President. Whether he voted for it personally is not of importance here. He let a Republican vote getting hate campaign go on our ballot in 2006.
It’s just like the Presidential election to me in that we have two corrupt candidates in the bag on illegal immigration and I say to h-e-double-hockey-sticks with both of them.
Shellyb, tell us more about the hate amendment. You sort of lost me there. How can one person have that kind of control?
As for guns, Shellyb, Virginia does like its guns. If you want to get elected, that is just a subject you need to go easy on. Most moderate Virginians accept some limited gun control, such as 1 handgun a month which went in under Gov. Doug Wilder. I wouldn’t want to try to get too much heavier handed than that though.
Fox news certainly is reinventing what happened in Virginia. I was rather horrified at their analysis of our primary. Talk about spin. Since it was Fox News there was a great deal of ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ talk being thrown around.
Moon,
What was Fox reporting as “news”?
M-H, now that you want me to expand, I have to admit I don’t know any more than the attack that was going around. I looked on wikipedia and it said the opposite. It said Deeds and all Democrats voted against the Hate Amendment. So I have to back down because there are conflicting reports. I just have no sympathy for homophobic love canal weirdo’s like Bob Marshall.
ShellyB
Deeds and McDonnell both got A’s from the NRA, McDonnell will likely get the endorsement this year.
I think that you are right PWConservative. When it comes down to it, NRA will always try to put its finger on the scale to help Republicans.
It was the Washington Post endorsement, M-H. I had been hoping Deeds would win, but thought he didn’t have a chance because he was so far behind in fundraising. Then after the endorsement, I started to feel like it was possible. Deeds is the candidate that best reflects the values of most Virginians. I say that even though he is to the right of me on gun control for instance. We are governed by the people and we should respect the views of others even when we do not agree, and seek to incorporate their ideas into a leadership coalition. This is how Kaine and Warner governed as well, and it is how it should be in a state that is slowly becoming more open-minded and bipartisan.
I am glad you were wrong Shelly. Thanks for clarifying. I am trying to learn more. I would have a hard time voting for someone who supported that marriage amendment.
Witness, I am glad he won also. I could have lived with any of them but I really like Deeds. I have heard so many good things about him. Just good, common sense balance seems to be what he stands for.
I will say, it is hard to beat a moderate Democrat. Plus anti-union talk doesn’t play well in SW VA.
Good point, Juturna. Let’s not forget coal mining country.
My husbands family is from SW VA. They mostly vote Republican but union and guns mean more…….
Good on you, Deeds! Congratulations!
Slowpoke, do you always vote Republican regardless or would you consider supporting Deeds?