Despite Deeds’ best effort, Virginians still remember the actual year is 2009

The first poll to be conducted exclusively after the Washington Post tried to turn the clock back twenty years has been conducted by Rasmussen:

In the race to become the next Governor of Virginia, Republican Robert F. McDonnell retains a steady lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Virginia voters finds McDonnell leading Deeds 51% to 42%.

. . .

The survey was conducted shortly after news stories broke about a thesis paper written by McDonnell in 1989.

That would, of course, be the thesis, the one that is so old it was written before Creigh “What’s in Your Wallet?” Deeds voted for his first tax increase.  Still, the Deeds campaign, desperate for momentum (or, if BVBL’s theory is correct, desperate for cash), is trying to milk this for all it’s worth.

If Rasmussen is any indication, it isn’t worth much.

In fact, if I were any Democrat not named Creigh Deeds, I’d be even more panicked right now.

For starters, if the WaPo has decided to bring back the 2006 playbook, that will also include a high-profile Republican endorsement as cover for their actions.  In 2006, that was Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich, who was still target number one for local Democrats that year (national Democrats were far more interested in knocking off Allen).  The Ehrlich endorsement is stillthe most unexpected MSM endorsement since 1997 (when the Postendorsed Mark Earley for Attorney General – still the gold standard for I-need-to-get-my-eyes-checked moments).

The Post has already done more than a few rounds with AG nominee Ken Cuccinelli, but has little (if anything) invested in Jody Wagner.  I’d be more than a little worried if I were here right now.

Not that Steve Shannon has reason to cheer.  His entire campaign strategy – paint Cuccinelli as “outside the mainstream” – was just stolen by Deeds and aimed at McDonnell.  If, as the poll above suggests, Deeds’ plan falls flat, it will be much harder to Shannon to try the same thing with Cuccinelli – who has already stole the march on just about everybody in his handling of the Melendez-Diaz issue.

Delegate and local Dem candidates ever further down-ticket may think hurting McDonnell will help them, but if it means strengthening Bolling and Cuccinelli, it’s at best a wash, and more likely an accidental boost to GOP nominees down-ballot.

In other words, Deeds (and the WaPo editors) basically threw the rest of the Virginia Democrats under the bus to fire a shot at Bob McDonnell - a shot that missed.

Nicely done, Creigh.  Nicely done.

Advertisement