Our nominee: Creigh Deeds

The polls closed a little over two hours ago and it appears the Sen. Creigh Deeds has won a huge victory in his campaign for governor. According to Politico, the Associated Press called the race for Deeds when 65% of the vote was reported. At that point, Deeds had 50% of the vote. I’ve seen some speculation on Twitter tonight from “Not Larry Sabato” that our nominee may end up winning every Congressional district in the Commonwealth.

By any measure, this is an impressive victory. Sen. Deeds enters the general election campaign with the support of the majority of Virginia Democrats and he is well positioned to defeat Republican nominee Bob McDonnell in the fall.

Let’s Vote, Virginia!

A couple of quick details about Tuesday’s Democratic primary elections:

• Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.
• To find your polling place, click here.
• All registered voters are eligible to vote in the Democratic primary regardless of whether you consider yourself a Democrat or not. Virginia doesn’t have party registration, so Republicans and Independents may join Democrats in choosing the Democratic nominee. (For what it’s worth, Republicans have already selected their nominees for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General in a state convention which featured Sean Hannity from Fox News — he’s “fair & balanced” you know. The Republican’s choice of Hannity tells you all you need to know about their slate.)

As for me, I am voting for Creigh Deeds. Here’s why.

Deeds Takes Commanding Lead in Final Poll

Just posted tonight on the Public Policy Polling blog: State Senator Creigh Deeds has taken a commanding lead in the final poll conducted by the firm. According to PPP, “Deeds is now at 40%, followed by Terry McAuliffe at 26%, and Brian Moran at 24%.”

Washington Post says Brian Moran “gets it wrong” on Creigh Deeds

Creigh Deeds is surging, Terry McAuliffe is faltering and Brian Moran is trying to take the lead back from Deeds. That’s probably what’s behind Moran’s latest criticism’s of Deeds and the gas tax.

For its part, the Washington Post, which has endorsed Deeds over the two Northern Virginia candidates in the race, is having none of it. In fact, they call Moran’s criticisms “demagoguery”.

The Post also says Moran has mounted a “dubious line of attack” against Deeds which they believe is “seemingly hypocritical” since Moran has voted for gas tax increases himself.

Read today’s editorial for yourself and find out why the Washington Post said, “…Mr. Deeds is the best choice among the Democratic candidates for governor…”

The Money Trail for Va. Gov. candidates between now and June 9

Earlier this evening, the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) released its analysis of the latest campaign finance reports submitted by the candidates for Governor.

Here’s what the latest numbers are for the 2nd quarter which began on April 1, 2009 and ended, for reporting purposes, on May 27:

Will Doug Wilder Endorse Bob McDonnell?

Yesterday Ryan Nobles of NBC 12 in Richmond had a thought-provoking post which looked at the possibility of former Governor and former Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder crossing party lines and endorsing Republican Bob McDonnell for Governor.

My take is that Wilder would only endorse in this race unless he believed his endorsement would make a difference in the outcome of the race. Given his apparent personal distaste for Terry McAuliffe, I think you can guarantee a Wilder endorsement for McDonnell if McAuliffe is the Democratic nominee.

But I think Wilder would sit out the race if Moran or Deeds is the nominee for the Democrats — he just wouldn’t have an impact.

Ryan also had a very telling interview with Bob McDonnell on the subject.

Bristol Herald Courier: Deeds is “best suited” to be Va. Governor

Creigh Deeds was endorsed by the Bristol Herald Courier this morning. The editorial board of the paper had good things to say about both Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe, but threw their support to Deeds. They write in part:

…we believe Deeds is best suited, with his 18 years of experience building relationships across Virginia and a deep understanding of rural challenges.

Ralph Nader accuses Terry McAuliffe of trying to buy him off

It's voter suppression in April; in May, it's not a big deal.

Today the Washington Post ran a blog post where Ralph Nader accused Terry McAuliffe of offering him an undisclosed amount of money to pull out of 19 battleground states in the 2004 Presidential election. (“Nader Accuses McAuliffe of Suppressing Votes”.) There is also a story out tonight which will be in tomorrow’s paper. (“Nader: McAuliffe Offered Money To Avoid Key States in ’04 Race”)

So what did Terry McAuliffe have to say about this? Did he deny it? Um, no.  He had his campaign spokeswoman respond to the Post on his behalf. She didn’t deny Nader’s accusation at all. Instead, she sought to dismiss it.

For Governor of Virginia, I’m voting Creigh Deeds

Sen. Creigh Deeds is my choice for Governor of Virginia.

As readers of this blog know, among the three candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for Governor of Virginia, from the beginning, I’ve only considered giving my vote to either former Virginia Delegate Brian Moran or State Senator Creigh Deeds of Bath County.

For reasons not worth repeating, I never considered the third candidate seeking the nomination, whom I see as a destructive force in Democratic politics. Brian Moran put it best in a recent ad when he said that candidate represents the kind of big money politics Barack Obama ran against. I couldn’t agree more.

Is Creigh Deeds the “Mine That Bird” Candidate for Virginia Governor?

Mine That Bird caught nearly everyone by surprise in winning yesterday's Kentucky Derby.

The Washington Post has an interesting blog post out today which describes how the campaigns of Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran reacted to yesterday’s above the fold A1 story examining McAuliffe’s past business dealings.

Amy Gardner, the reporter who wrote the Sunday story blogs that McAuliffe’s campaign distributed their rebuttal to the story at 10:51 p.m. Saturday night, just hours after the story appeared online, shortly after that, the Moran campaign issued a news release at 1:22 a.m on Sunday morning. criticizing McAuliffe for his past business dealings.

Dear Mr. McAuliffe: You’re Pretty Slick on Oil

Dear Mr. McAuliffe:

Your campaign consultant Mo Elleithee and some of your supporters are unhappy with my questions about your position on whether or not there should be drilling off the shore of Virginia Beach.

They have accused me of “false attacks” and “Rovian” tactics. I’ve been accused of “misrepresenting” your position. I’ve also been fingered as a supporter of your opponent Brian Moran. I am not. (At this point, I’m still trying to decide whether or not I will vote for Mr. Moran or Creigh Deeds.)

For reasons I’ve stated elsewhere on this blog and Twitter, I am strongly opposed to your candidacy. If you are our party’s nominee, I will not vote for you or Bob McDonnell.

That said, you may very will be the nominee of my party and you very well may become my governor.

That’s why I am writing you.

Offshore Drilling: Where Do Deeds and McAuliffe Stand?

Earlier this month, I posted a lengthier piece on why I am opposed to drilling off the shore of Virginia. After reading the environmental reports, I’ve concluded that the risks to our tourism and commericial fishing industries far outweigh the potential gain.

From what I’ve been able to tell Brian Moran is clearly against offshore drilling, while Bob McDonnell clearly supports it. I’m not sure where Creigh Deeds and Terry McAuliffe stand, but here’s a new YouTube video which uses McAuliffe’s new energy ad airing in Hampton Roads and questions his stance on offshore drilling.

I’d welcome comments from all the candidates to provide policy statements here. Frankly, I’d like to hear more from all the candidates on this issue, even Brian Moran, who shares my view. Are McAuliffe and Deeds aligned with Moran on this or McDonnell?

Meanwhile, what do you think about off shore drilling?