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From the diaries -- kos)
For me, the most touching moment of the Virginia election was Mark Warner declaring that Creigh Deeds would be our next Attorney General on election night and, to emphasize his point, leaving his podium to find Creigh in the crowd, grab his hand, grab Kaine's in the other, and lift them both in solidarity.
It was an important moment. Heretofore, the mutterings had been that while Creigh was close enough to request a recount, winning it was another matter. But, at that moment, Warner said it is not over, and he's right about everything else, so, by God, let's do this thing.
At the time, Deeds was down by I guess something like 1,200 votes (gets fuzzy as I was drinking). On November 28th, when the results were certified, Creigh was down by 323 votes out of 1.9 million cast. The recount is scheduled for December 20th.
THere are many obvious reasons why this recount is important and deserves our utmost support and visible action, first and foremost because every vote should fucking count for something. But I thought I'd highlight the points that mean the most to me.
- Creigh Deeds is a good man. He likes the Beatles (a lot), has a tendancy to forget whether he's met you or not, and helps his volunteers carry signs. He's a good fit for the state, which granted is more conservative than some may like, but is the kind of candidate that really does represent mainstream Virginia. He has the chance to be a unifying force in a poisonous partisan atmosphere that has enveloped Richmond since Warner "stole" the rightful property of the Virginia Republican party (hehehehe). He ran a hard campaign, outperforming expectations, and faced with swarmy and villianous ads indicating he wanted to release sexual predators on our suburban (white) children.
- Virginia is rather unusual in her elections. Remember that pesky non-succession clause that was the reason Mark Warner wasn't on the ballot. Well, the result of that law is that the top of the ticket for the next election is almost always decided by the result of the current one. In other words, should Creigh win, he will face Lt. Gov elect Bob Bolling in the 2009 elections. If Creigh loses, the story changes. On the Republican side there would either be a primary between Bolling & McDonnell or the field would be cleared for McDonnell. Bolling, who has every right to argue he won by a higher margin, is a nut, even for Virginia standards, and the GOP would much prefer McDonnell as their candidate. Hell, the state party really wanted Connaughton to win the primary (which could've changed everything, as Connaughton is from the exurbs that Kaine won so resoundingly in). So we want Bolling to be the candidate. On the Democratic side, there will be an open primary, with no clear legacy candidate to build name recognition over the coming couple of years. I have some ideas on who might enter such a primary, and it's not a pretty picture. Regardless, we lack a candidate with a statewide office or a claim to dynasty, something that is very important in Virginia elections.
- Creigh Deeds will be a superior AG. Well, duh, you say. But its worth pointing out that the AG has more power than the Lt. Gov's slot, and is the primary person involved in such cases as, oh, say, the death penalty. It is better to have someone in that seat who is not going to put Kaine in a rock and a hard place in regards to his oath to carry out the death penalty, and coming casing with legitimate cases for pardons, specifically this case involving three sailors. It also should be mentioned that Virginia is a right to work state, and labor laws and corporate practices are entirely in the AG's hands.
Now, as far as I can tell, the biggest potential for turnaround in voting is in Henrico County (Richmond). This is a Democratic leaning area that is sorta notorious for not having their shit together. The voting machines used on election day were optical scanners. The problem with the scanners is that if any vote is tallied on the ballot, said ballot is assumed to be completed and any missing votes are counted as undervotes. Thus, if it registers a vote for Leslie Byrne or Tim Kaine, but the Deeds vote is smudged, the Deeds vote is not counted, but the ballot is counted. On visual review, these votes will be added. In addition, there is the large numbers of absentees, which come largely from the Virginia Beach area, where Kaine also did well. Given that it is only a tiny 323 votes, and that the trend since election day has been a fairly steady decline in the difference in Deeds favor, there is a more than solid chance Deeds will be proved to have won this election.
So what can you do? Well, recounts aren't free. There's a legal team to support. But, most importantly, don't let this story die. Keep it afloat, in the news, and don't allow the coverage to simply be a footnote whenever a victor is declared regardless of whether every vote is counted. People need to know damn well that this race is not over and that acquiescing is not an option.
I have covered this election since before the primaries. It would be an injustice to everyone involved not to see it through.