Between the two imploding campaigns, it really is hard to tell which campaign qualifies as the worst of the cycle.
Creigh Deeds (D-VA)
Deeds emerged from a contested three-way primary after his two opponents -- Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran -- nuked each other dead. One would assume that his candidacy for the office meant he wanted to run for governor, but his general election campaign has seriously tested that assumption. Listless, invisible, and lacking any energy, he's been far outcampaigned by his Republican opponent, and the polls show a widening deficit. What's worse, Republican voters are far more engaged than Democratic ones.
According to the new Public Policy Poll, more McCain voters are rallying to McDonnell than Obama voters are to Deeds and the McCain voters are more locked into their choice than the Obama backers.
A smart politician looks at those numbers and thinks, "how do I rally my base?" Deeds is not a smart politician. In fact, at a debate last night, he all but guaranteed they will stay home on Election Night:
Question: "Mr. Deeds, and would you go against some of your fellow Democrats and against the public plan?"
Creigh Deeds: "I'm not afraid of going against my fellow Democrats when I think they're wrong ... Public option isn't required in my view, I think we have to do two things with health care, we have to reduce costs so more people can afford insurance and we have to increase coverage. I share those broad goals. I don't think the public option is necessary in any plan and I think Virginia ... I would certainly consider opting out if that were available to Virginia. We have to find ways to increase competition in order to reduce costs..."
Way to rally your base, Sherlock. Of course, the CBO has now shown that a robust public option reduces costs, and voters in Virginia support the public option by a 48-42 margin, including 72-21 among Democrats and 49-39 among Independents. But instead of trying to create a distinction between him and the Republican Bob McDonnell (who did promise to opt out), he instead sided with bad, unpopular policy in a bizarre effort to appeal to voters who aren't going to vote for him in a million years.
In a post-debate press conference, Deeds attempted to claim that his public option position was somehow principled and pragmatic because he wasn't ruling anything out, and that all options were "on the table". Yet he came out so mealy mouthed and confused, that the Virginia GOP is gleefully distributing the video. A sure-fire political disaster.
Finally, for a guy who has claimed his poll numbers suck because of "what's going on in Washington", what the hell is he doing accepting campaign appearances with Bill Clinton (yesterday) and Barack Obama (coming soon)? Confused and contradictory messaging has been about par for this campaign.
This seat will go Republican in two weeks.
Chris Christie (R-NJ)
This kind of says it all:
Christie has seen his once-commanding lead evaporate, and a few polls have shown Corzine taking slim leads. The trend doesn't appear to be slowing, with almost daily bad news rocking the Christie camp. I mean, what kind of idiot gets in front of people and a camera, and admits he was hired as US Attorney not because of competence, but because of his political connections to Bush?
"There's no mystery to the fact that I was appointed to this job because, in part, I had a relationship with the President of the United States.
Anybody who receives a political appointment -- I am a political appointee -- there's going to be some measure of politics involved with that appointment."
But Christie was on a downward trajectory even before this video hit the news a couple of days ago. His tenure as US Attorney -- a supposed strength -- has become an albatross. He charged taxpayers to stay in ritzy hotels, used his influence to avoid a traffic ticket, had a suspicious (financial) relationship with a subordinate, who then attempted to block Freedom of Information requests into the office, and so on. Also not helping is the Christie's campaign incessant whining about references to his weight (he's a big guy). Whether those slights are real or perceived, fact is people don't like whiners. And really, all Christie is doing is drawing attention to his weight and making that the media narrative, not whatever message he's trying to sell to voters (probably taxes). He would've been better off ignoring.
So look at that chart again -- the race is tied. But here's the punchline -- Corzine's favorability rating remains in the 30s: 37-51, Manmouth. 33-49, NY times. 40-53, Quinnipiac. 37-53, Research 2000. 37-54, Farleigh Dickenson University. Christie is losing ground to a guy whose approval ratings are in the dirt.
The Democrats will win this race in two weeks.
So both these candidates are epically bad, but one has to be worse. What do you think?
