Some more interesting news out of the Virginia Democratic primary today. Yesterday's poll numbers showed Terry McAuliffe with a sizable lead over state Sen. Creigh Deeds and former Del. Brian Moran for in the race to be the Democratic nominee for governor. The news sparked a good discussion here about the politics and policies of the three candidates. Today's news will hopefully keep the chatter going, as Creigh Deeds just the Washington Post's endorsement for the June 9 primary. Full disclosure- I am supporting Creigh in the primary.
Read the whole endorsement here.
Here is a sample.
However, delve a bit deeper, and the answer might surprise you. In 18 years in the General Assembly, Mr. Deeds has time and again supported measures that might be unpopular with his rural constituency but that are the right thing to do, for Northern Virginia and the state as a whole. He has demonstrated an understanding of the problems that matter most, the commitment to solve them and the capacity to get things done. Mr. Deeds may not be the obvious choice in the June 9 primary, but he's the right one.
In endorsing Creigh, the Post makes the argument that many supporters have been making on Daily Kos and elsewhere- that he would do the best job governing the state and pose the best challenge to Bob McDonnell electorally. Creigh has a long record of accomplishment in Richmond, a keen understanding of what it takes to govern, and a commitment to good government and many progressive causes. Importantly, Deeds is the most likely to carry on the great work of the Commonwealth's two recent Democratic governors Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
While he may not be the flashiest of the candidates, he's shown the ability to compete state-wide in 2005 losing to McDonnell by a few hundred votes, despite being outspent 2 to 1. The only things to change since then is that Virginia has elected a Democratic President, two Democratic US Senators, and three Democratic members of the House of Representatives, and the state has thousands of new Democratic voters!
The influence of editorial endorsements is always up for debate, and Im' sure it will be debated here. It is still an uphill climb for Mr. Deeds to catch up to Terry McAuliffe. While Terry's ability to raise money was never in doubt (I'm not trying to be snide here), he has pleasantly surprised many with his spirited campaign and interest in the issues. Now is the time voters start to focus on the candidates. The more people look, I think the more they will be inclined to support a Deeds candidacy. Read the editorial, check out the candidate's websites, and most importantly vote on June 9th!