Posted on 10/20/2017 8:10:31 AM PDT by cotton1706
In the run-up to Virginias 2014 Senate election, Republican Ed Gillespie trailed Sen. Mark Warner (D) by double digits in almost every single public poll. Gillespie knew the polls were wrong, but to the GOP establishment, Warner seemed invincible, and as Election Day approached, the party focused its resources on more winnable races (such as Scott Browns failed Senate campaign in New Hampshire). Two weeks before Election Day, Gillespie tried to get the GOP to kick in just $350,000 for ads and get-out-the-vote efforts, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
In the end, he lost not by double digits, or even single digits. He lost by just eight-tenths of a percentage point. As Larry Sabato explained, Had outside Republican groups invested more than a pittance in Gillespie . . . he might be in the Senate today. Indeed, if Republicans had invested even a pittance just $350,000 it would almost certainly have put him over the top.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Virginia is the Dem firewall, if the pubs can take it, it’s all over for the rats.
Hardcore paywall at WashPost now. Desperate for dough.
The SOP will again sabotage Gillespie to get back at Trump.
They’ve done it before.
With Clinton crook Terry McAuliffe in charge of Virginia, Ed Gillespie better win by a 5%+ margin or, mark my word, the “missing” ballot boxes and other democrat shenanigans will go into high gear.
We’ll see. I agree that polling in my state is notoriously bad. Don’t know why that is. Democrats are always double digits ahead and then on election day they either squeak by or lose. Ask Doug Wilder.
A good story about Gillespie. Hope he wins. The alternative is extremely bad news for Virginians.
VA is a solid blue state. If the Dems turn out, they will win easily. And there are some real questions as to whether the Stewart supporters will turn out for Gillespie. The Dems have won the last 10 statewide elections in VA.
After all the hand-wringing over polling mistakes last year, the same suspects appear to be doing the same thing in 2017. Some of the recent polls that gave Northam a lead..wait for it..over-sampled Dims by at least 5-6%. As I recall, the electorate in Virginia was evenly split (36/36) last year.
When I heard Northam was bringing in Barry Zero to campaign for him in Richmond, I knew he was in trouble. Northam is as dull as dishwater; has no charisma and does nothing to excite the Democratic base.
If Gillespie wins it will be a symbolic victory against the Democrats but only symbolic. Gillespie is a Democrat(R)
The Washington Post wanting Gillespie to win is very telling. He’s a liberal democrat swamp creature, running on the Gop ticket.
But I’ll give this to Northam. His TV ads have been very persuasive. I was not thrilled about voting for Gillespie, but Northam’s ads bragging about his support for abortion completely changed my mind. Gillespie’s got my vote thanks to Northam’s advertising.
Gillespie is just as dull.
Yeah...I was very disappointed about that BUT would much rather have Corey Stewart in the Senate. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
Who wants to let these people win?? Please fence-sitters, lets get together and defeat these people.
~*~
Shades of the Old South: It is always important to vote, but it is more important than ever this year
By Kenneth R. Ken Plum State Delegate (D-36)
Just when you think things are changing you can be shocked to realize just how much they stay the same. Politics in Virginia are a prime example.
For more than a century after the Civil War the consistent factor in politics was race baiting. The then-called Democrats in the South, who later became known as Dixiecrats and today are the conservative wing of the Republican Party, were successful with a variety of laws that disenfranchised African Americans.
Even with the few African Americans who could get through the labyrinth of laws that included blank sheet registration forms, literacy tests and poll taxes the scare tactic employed by too many candidates was to suggest that their opponent was a lover of black people but using a derogatory term. That fear of black people has its roots back to the centuries where black people were enslaved and brutal enforcement and fear were used to keep them that way.
The Civil War did not resolve the feeling between blacks and whites, and slave codes were replaced with Jim Crow laws that whites could use to assert supremacy over black people.
For a candidate to take a position that could be interpreted as being favorable to African Americans would mean almost certain
defeat at the polls. Only Supreme Court decisions and federal laws like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act created a more level political playing field between the races. Continued efforts to suppress the votes of minorities and to unnecessarily complicate the voting process are still employed by some trying to maintain a structured society of white supremacy.
More recently those who want to keep or expand their political power have swept immigrants whatever their status into the realm of those who are to be feared and suppressed from participating in the democratic process.
Many strive to gain maximum political advantage through whatever means while at the same time wanting to keep the appearance of respect and patriotism. The recent television ad with scary images and references to fear and the MS 13 gang intends to scare voters into rejecting a compassionate medical doctor with an ad that fact checkers have found to be untruthful.
Another concern from the current campaign is the suggestion from a white female candidate for lieutenant governor that her black male opponent does not understand the issues well enough to discuss them intelligently. Disregarding the excellent academic credentials of her opponent, her comments had the tone of the past that one observer said seemed more appropriate for 1957 than 2017.
At the national level, there are daily statements and actions that hearken back to the racial climate of the Old South. This year In Virginia, we have a unique opportunity on Nov. 7 to make a statement with our votes that we reject the discrimination of the past. It is alwaysimportant to vote, but it is more important than ever this year. Despite efforts to romanticize the Old South and the Confederacy, we need to learn the truth and understand why we need to move on.
Write:
The Connection welcomes views on any public
issue. The deadline for all material is noon
Friday. Letters must be signed. Include home
address and home and business numbers.
Letters are routinely edited for libel, grammar,
good taste and factual errors. Send to:
Letters to the Editor, The Connection
1606 King St., Alexandria VA 22314
Call 703-917-6444
editors@connectionnewspapers.com
IS THIS A CURRENT RACE THERE?
WHEN IS IT?
Gillespie is pure GOP Inc.
I know Corey personally and have worked with him on immigration issues. Good man who would be a definite asset to Trump in the Senate.
WI more than makes up for the loss of VA.
Its gotten redder with every election cycle. Practically the same number of EV are on the table.
I’ll take it.
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