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The Lesson of Bob McDonnellby Charlie SpieringA week before the election, Virginia candidate for governor Bob McDonnell was asked in a radio interview if he would veto state funding for Planned Parenthood.“We shouldn't be doing that (funding Planned Parenthood) in Virginia,” answered O’Donnell. “That's common sense I think, and that will be part of what we get done.”Pro-choice activists were furious and quick to condemn his remarks. To them it was one more reason why McDonnell was “out of step and out of touch with voters.” But McDonnell, with his common sense approach to politics, proved that you can still...

A Video Tour Of The Virginia Governor's Mansion

Fox News just called the Virginia gubernatorial race for Republican Bob McDonnell. Exit polls show him defeating Democrat Creigh Deeds in a landslide. Republicans also have captured the Lt. Governor and Attorney General spots, making it a clean sweep.

McDonnell just declared victor in VA Governor's race by the Associated Press. Just reported on WNIS-AM in Norfolk.

An early voting report from Virginia's 1st Congressional District, epicenter for today's expected GOP tsunami in the Old Dominion. I reside in York County, not far from Fort Eustis and the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center. The district is heavily Republican; John McCain got more than 60% of the vote here last year. Polls open in Virginia at 6 a.m. I arrived at my voting place (a local elementary school) at 6:45. The parking lot was 80% full at that hour, and more cars were arriving by the minute. The level activity seemed comparable to what I saw during the...

3 Points in 3 Months: VA Gov Contest Polling Ends Just About Where It Began, with GOP Sweep of VA Races: Three months ago, when SurveyUSA began polling on the Virginia Governor race, Republican Bob McDonnell led Democrat Creigh Deeds by 15 points. Today, 3 months and 7 polls later, McDonnell leads by 18 points, essentially unchanged over the last three SurveyUSA releases, and essentially unchanged since late July. Today, it's McDonnell 58%, Deeds 40%, according to this latest SurveyUSA poll conducted for WJLA-TV Washington DC, WDBJ-TV Roanoke, WTVR-TV Richmond, and WJHL-TV in the Tri-Cities. McDonnell has never polled below...

If the economy and transportation are the two top crises facing Virginia, then the question is: Which candidate for governor has the best chance of solving those intertwined problems? And the answer has to be: Bob McDonnell — although there are portions of his platform that we question. We say this with great respect for his opponent, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, whose district includes portions of our community. We know him well and admire his record of service. But for overall strategy and capability, the nod goes to Mr. McDonnell. Let’s take transportation first. Mr. Deeds would tackle the...

The latest SurveyUSA poll showing Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell with a 19% lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds (which would be the biggest win for any Virginia Governor of either party since 1961) has some interesting internals. One of the strangest findings is that McDonnell is getting 31% of the African American vote. Is this possible? Well, the smart money would say no. But if you want to construct an argument for SurveyUSA being correct, consider the following: (1) In 2006, George Allen came about as close as he could have come to dropping an "n-bomb" on a person...

In the final days of the gubernatorial campaign, a new poll shows Bob McDonnell with an 18 point margin over his Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds, according to a statewide survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University. The poll finds 54 perfect of likely voters support or lean to McDonnell, 36 percent support or lean to Deeds. A 56 percent majority of independents are siding with or leaning to McDonnell, 29 percent of independents are siding with or leaning to Deeds. The poll also indicates both candidates do well with rank-and-file members of their respective political parties. Even though some observers have...

McDonnell expands lead again Raleigh, N.C. – Bob McDonnell now leads the race to be Virginia’s next Governor 55- 40, up from 52-40 a week ago. Democratic voters have been showing gradually less interest in the election over the last month as it has becoming increasingly clearer McDonnell is the likely winner. A month ago 37% of likely voters were Democrats. That declined to 33% a week ago and now to 31%. McDonnell is winning 94% of the Republican vote while Deeds is at only 84% of the Democratic vote. McDonnell also has a 59-34 lead with independents. Deeds’ favorability...

ARLINGTON, Va. - With one week until Virginia's gubernatorial election, an exclusive poll for WJLA-TV shows Republican Bob McDonnell retaining his commanding lead. The SurveyUSA poll dated Oct. 27 shows McDonnell with a 17-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds, 58-41. McDonnell maintains his lead across most demographics, including age, sex and income. Independents are breaking 2-1 for McDonnell, 60-38. Thirty-eight percent of abortion rights supporters say they will vote for McDonnell, twice the percentage, 19, of anti-abortion voters who say they will vote for Deeds. The poll also shows McDonnell with a 58-41 lead across Northern Virginia, where Democrats have...

It is surely one of the most unusual pitches in this year's gubernatorial elections -- a Tony Soprano-like figure defending New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent efforts to close the gun show loophole and warning Virginians not to get too attached to their Second Amendment freedoms "if ya know what's good for ya." Bloomberg underwrote a commercial in April that attacked former Virginia Atty. Gen. Bob McDonnell for his pro-gun positions and pushed for the closure of the state's "gun show loophole." Now Bloomberg is running for re-election, McDonnell is running for governor and the nation's larger gun lobby --...

With one week to go before voters in Virginia head to the polls, Republican Robert McDonnell has a double-digit lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds according to a new Washington Post poll. Here are selected crosstabs from the new poll of 1,206 likely voters. Q. If the election were being held today and the candidates were Creigh Deeds, the Democrat and Bob McDonnell, the Republican, for whom would you vote? Deeds McDonnell All likely voters 44% 55% More results and question wording from the poll can be found here. Men 39 59 Women 48 50 White 34 64 African American 89...

Republican Robert McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll. The Republican, briefly buffeted in the polls by voters' initial reaction to the publication of his 1989 graduate school thesis, has rebounded to big advantages on the top issues, particularly taxes, and is now seen as the more effective leader, more honest and more empathetic. McDonnell is also buoyed by support outside of Northern Virginia, where he is currently outperforming all other top-of-the-ticket Republican candidates this decade. Statewide, McDonnell now leads Deeds...

Arlington, Va. — Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell faces a challenge pretty unfamiliar to Republicans lately: What do you do when things look good for your campaign? The polls showing McDonnell up by double digits over Democrat Creigh Deeds are starting to come in bunches — 14 percentage points in the Virginian-Pilot poll, 12 points in the Public Policy Polling survey, a jaw-dropping 19 points in SurveyUSA. Even the closer polls put McDonnell up by a margin wider than those by which the last two Virginia governors (both Democrats) won their races. Polls on the lower-ticket races for lieutenant governor...

A new state political action committee called Working Women for Virginia will start airing TV ads in Northern Virginia today to oppose Republican Bob McDonnell's views in his race for governor against Democrat Creigh Deeds. We told you last week that the group registered with the state three weeks ago, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. It has been raising money through word of mouth, social networking and online advertising to pay for the TV commercials, said Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster who helped form the group. Watch the ad here [click on link to go to ad]:

In an interview earlier this month, Creigh Deeds (D) blamed, in part, the Democrats’ national agenda as he trails Bob McDonnell (R) in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. “Frankly, a lot of what’s going on in Washington has made it very tough,” he said. But now the White House is blaming Deeds. A senior administration official tells the Washington Post that Deeds made several mistakes in his campaign. "I understood in the beginning why there was some reluctance to run all around the state with Barack Obama," the official said. "You don't do that in Virginia. But when you consider the African...

Former Virginia Sen. Brandon Bell endorsed Republican Bob McDonnell for governor Wednesday after spending most of the summer and fall in support of Democrat Creigh Deeds. Bell, a Republican, served two separate terms in the Senate but was defeated twice, first by Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, in a general election and later by Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Botetourt County, in a 2007 primary. Bell was among seven Republicans who endorsed Deeds in July. Bell said at the time that he had worked with both men but that Deeds "simply will make better decisions on key issues facing the commonwealth." In a...

In Virginia, New High For McDonnell, Comfortable Leads for Other Republicans in VA Statewide Contests: Two weeks until votes are counted in the election for Virginia Governor, Republican Bob McDonnell continues to dominate Democrat Creigh Deeds, according to a SurveyUSA poll for WJLA-TV Washington DC and WDBJ-TV Roanoke. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released two weeks ago, McDonnell is up 5 points; Deeds is down 3. Today, it's McDonnell 59%, Deeds 40%. McDonnell leads among both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, educated and less-educated, and in all regions of the state. In the contest for...

A new poll out this morning shows Bob McDonnell extending his lead in the Virginia gubernatorial race two weeks before Election Day. McDonnell now leads his Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds 49-41. Ten percent of voters remain undecided in the contest. The poll of 605 registered voters was conducted by Clarus research over the weekend. In Clarus' last poll, taken in Sept., McDonnell led by 5 points with 20% undecided. Internals from the poll show McDonnell gaining among women, independents and voters outside the populous D.C. suburbs. Despite weeks of Democratic attacks over his 1989 master's thesis -- attacks which focused...

NORFOLK – Election Day is November 3. A new poll from WVEC, the Virginian-Pilot and Christopher Newport University shows Republican Bob McDonnell is comfortably ahead of Democratic challenger Creigh Deeds in the race for Virginia governor. If the election for Governor were held today, for whom would you be most likely to vote? Bob McDonnell: 44.7% Creigh Deeds: 30.9% Undecided: 21.9% CNU professor and pollster Quentin Kidd says with so many voters on the fence, Deeds has a chance, albeit a slim one at this point. "It suggests the Deeds campaign has room in the voting population out there to...

Bob McDonnell has spent the last several years on the path of moderation. By keeping to that middle path, he can be the governor Virginia needs in these tough economic times. He is, make no mistake, conservative. But despite the baggage that a fringe of the Republican Party has heaped on that term, and despite some aspects of McDonnell's past, it isn't synonymous with intolerance and mean-spirited social crusades. It should connote a commitment to conserving. Now and in the future, Virginia needs to conserve and protect tax dollars, core government services, our natural resources and our business-friendly reputation. McDonnell...

Gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell have toured, tailgated and twittered to win an elusive, college-age voting bloc. Efforts from the campaigns, both Democrat and Republican, to improve student voter turn-out, however, may only go so far at the University, where apathy, registration confusion and pre-voting numbers seem to foreshadow a potentially low turnout. Charlottesville General Registrar Sheri Iachetta said gubernatorial races historically bring in fewer voters than presidential elections, and that this year, absentee turnout might fall to 40 percent, lower than what it has usually been in previous years.

In preparation for last night’s call — great fun, by the way, and if you’re not calling in, you ought to — I called around to my Virginia sources, and what was interesting was how little they had to say about the governor’s race. The conventional wisdom, it seems, is that the drama is waning, and even liberal bloggers are starting to write as if the race is over. Not Larry Sabato wrote that Creigh Deeds “is clearly completely lost with zero vision for what needs to happen to win this election” and predicted a Republican sweep of all statewide...

Republican Robert F. McDonnell still holds a seven-point lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in the race for Virginia governor. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows McDonnell ahead of Deeds 50% to 43%. Six percent (6%) of Virginia voters remain undecided. The survey was taken Monday night as the two candidates clashed in their next-to-last debate of the contest. McDonnell’s lead is roughly the same as two weeks ago when he was ahead of Deeds 51% to 42%. After closing to essentially a toss-up in mid-September, the previous survey found the contest back to where it...

Two new polls -- one conducted for the Washington Post and one for the Richmond Times-Dispatch -- show former state attorney general Bob McDonnell (R) opening up a high single digit lead over state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) with less than a month remaining in the Virginia governor's race. The polling reflects Democrats' increasingly negative view of their chances of pulling off a third straight victory in the Commonwealth and Republicans' optimism that a state that has swung heavily against them in recent years is moving back in their direction. But, since no race is ever over until all the...

The debate is being streamed live at the link above.

Democrat Creigh Deeds is not backing off negative campaign ads against Republican Bob McDonnell, at least in the Northern Virginia area. The campaign this morning releases a new spot already airing in the Washington area, which attacks McDonnell's claim, featured on many campaign signs, that he is "Fairfax's Own" because of his Northern Virginia childhood. "Bob McDonnell says he's from Fairfax County," the narrator says. "But that was before he attended Pat Robertson's law school. And served on its board." Before, the narrator continues, he wrote that working women are detrimental to the family, he introduced 35 bills on abortion...

Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which like the Post does live interviews and not automated robocalls, is out with a poll in the Virginia governor's race. And it shows a similar spread to the Post poll last week--Republican Robert F. McDonnell over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds by eight percentage points. Like the Post, Mason-Dixon, which was funded by the Richmond Times Dispatch and other Virginia press outlets, has McDonnell way up with independents, which will be encouraging to his campaign. The new poll shows him ahead by 15 with that group--a striking lead though not quite the 21 point gap the...

Earlier today, Politico published a story about the lack of communication between the Bob McDonnell campaign and Governor Palin's office about her making a campaign appearance on his behalf in the Virginia gubernatorial election. "The governor offered her assistance, the ball is in their court," Meg Stapleton is quoted as saying. So what gives? I spoke to one source with direct access to both the campaign staff and the candidate himself who said they've noticed a remarkable change in McDonnell's attitude towards Palin since the RNC selected Washington insider Ed Gillespie to head his campaign:

Republican Bob McDonnell has emerged with a commanding lead in the Virginia gubernatorial race over Democrat Creigh Deeds, according to a newly-released Washington Post poll. With less than a month until the election, the poll shows McDonnell leading Deeds by nine points, 53 to 44 percent – and contains a wealth of encouraging developments for the Republican nominee. By double-digit margins, voters said that McDonnell would handle nearly every major issue – transportation, taxes, education, the economy – more effectively than Deeds. Despite running a campaign defined by his attacks on McDonnell’s record towards working women, Deeds holds only a...

In Virginia, 4 Weeks Until Votes Are Counted, Republicans Remain Poised to Win 3 Top Statewide Contests: Middle-Aged, Women See Something in Deeds, But Little Else Is New : In en election for Virginia Governor today, 10/05/09, one month until votes are counted, Republican Bob McDonnell defeats Democrat Creigh Deeds, 54% to 43%. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll one week ago, Deeds has gained ground among women, among voters age 50 to 64, and in Southeast VA. In 4 identical SurveyUSA tracking polls conducted for WJLA-TV in Washington DC and WDBJ-TV in Roanoke, McDonnell has polled at 55%, 54%,...

The Arab American Institute is hosting Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds at its candidates night. Deeds will speak Sunday night as will former Rep. Tom Davis, who's attending on Bob McDonnell's behalf. The institute says it's hosting the event so Arab Americans can speak with candidates and hear from Deeds and others about issues important to their community.

If Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell thought he was going to get friendly treatment on "Fox News Sunday," he was in for quite a surprise. Fox host Chris Wallace grilled McDonnell - appearing without Democrat Creigh Deeds, who declined repeated interview requests from Fox - on topics from McDonnell's views on women in the workforce to whether he'll be able to fund road projects without raising taxes or cutting other services to child care. "If we do a good job on job creation and economic development, Chris, you don't cut anything because we expand the economy," McDonnell said. The GOP...

Fraternal Order of Police Endorses Bob McDonnell for Governor Roughly 8000 members; 50 lodges across Virginia -In Just Last Month McDonnell Endorsed by: The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation; Virginia Realtors; Virginia Credit Unions; National Federation of Independent Business; National Rifle Association; Fairfax Chamber of Commerce NOVABizPAC; Fraternal Order of Police- RICHMOND- Bob McDonnell, Republican gubernatorial nominee and former Attorney General of Virginia, was endorsed today by the Fraternal Order of Police in his campaign for governor. The announcement was made during a press conference in Richmond this morning. The FOP is the voice of our nation’s law enforcement officers. Virginia’s...

  NEW JERSEY (RCP Average: Christie +6.7)*Christie leads by 7 in a new Rasmussen poll, with debates looming.*The Republican called Corzine's investment in a hedge fund with ties to casino license holders a "colossal error in judgment."*It's Obama/Corzine on at least one billboard.*Rep. Rob Andrews (D) thinks the health care debate helps Corzine.*Human Events says Corzine is in "disarray."VIRGINIA (RCP Average: McDonnell +4.5)*Deeds lays out his transportation plan in a Washington Post op-ed after taking heat from McDonnell for not having a plan. At a debate last week he was unclear whether he would be willing to raise taxes, though...

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds is incomprehensive when is comes to raising taxes. He says he will not raise taxes - “general revenue” taxes that is. He is forced to admit he may need to raise the gas tax to fund transportation...

If you're a candidate for governor coming to debate in Northern Virginia, you'd better be able to say simply and plainly how you'd raise money to repair and improve the roads. Democratic State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (Bath) failed to do that Thursday. In fact, he bungled it pretty badly. He managed to sound both vague and two-faced about the most important issue in the race for the Washington region. It's too bad, because as governor Deeds would be more likely to actually fix the roads than his Republican opponent, former attorney general Robert F. McDonnell. That's because Deeds is...

The race to become the next governor of Virginia has gotten a lot closer. Right now, it’s effectively a toss-up between Republican Robert F. McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Virginia voters finds McDonnell attracting 48% of the vote while Deeds picks up 46%. Two weeks ago, McDonnell held a nine-point advantage. In August, McDonnell was up by eight. All of those figures include “leaners.” Leaners are those who initially indicate no preference for either of the candidates but answer a follow-up question and say they are leaning towards a particular candidate. Premium...

RICHMOND, Va. - Republican and Democratic operatives say the National Rifle Association will endorse Republican Bob McDonnell for governor. The gun rights group plans to announce its endorsement in a Monday afternoon conference call for reporters. Operatives with knowledge of the NRA's decision confirmed the endorsement on the condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made. Four years ago, the NRA endorsed Democrat R. Creigh Deeds over McDonnell in their race for attorney general.

The Washington Post on Wednesday expanded its attack on Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, branching out beyond the Republican’s 1989 master’s thesis to a hit piece on the removal of a 2003 judge and whether or not it was because of homophobia on the part of the then-state delegate. The story centered around Verbena M. Askew, a Virginia judge who had been accused of sexually harassing a female colleague. Post reporter Amy Gardner, who has written or co-written four of the Post’s 12 anti-McDonnell articles that have run over the last 11 days, stated that the 2003 removal of Askew...

Via Greg L. at BVBL, it looks as if the "For Lease" signs are already up in what is/was the Deeds campaign offices in Prince William County: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIl9Gia6er8&feature=player_embeddedUPDATE: The WashPo's Monday Labor Day edition does little to dispel the notion that Deeds is pulling out of PWC, citing his struggle "against anonymity in Northern Virginia" which has led him to a strategy of shoring up what should be his natural constituency in small towns. The amount of time Deeds spends in rural Virginia has also worried some Northern Virginia supporters, who say it would be a mistake to assume that...

All summer long, Republican Bob McDonnell has been urging Creigh Deeds, his Democratic opponent in the governor’s race, to join him in a series of 10 debates across Virginia. Let’s debate the serious issues Virginia faces in the 21st century, McDonnell, the state’s former attorney general, said. Deeds’ answer? Here’s a 20-year-old, law-school thesis. Debate that. How truly pathetic. The Washington Post broke the “story” of McDonnell’s law school paper last week. Written while he was a law student at Regent University in 1989, he detailed his views on divorce, single-parent households, homosexuality, abortion and women’s rights. It was pretty...

Has the Washington Post found its new “macaca,” the journalistic storyline to steer Virginia voters away from a GOP candidate? In 2006, the District’s major paper printed a rash of stories recounting something then-Sen. George Allen said during a public event about an opponent‘s staffer. The paper used Allen’s use of the word “macaca” as a cudgel to bludgeon his re-election chances. And it worked. The stories blanketed the paper, from the historical derivations of the word “macaca” to Allen’s attempts to explain precisely what he meant. Here’s the Aug. 15, 2006 Washington Post article’s initial attempt to whip up...

Back in 2006, during the height of that year’s election campaign, a Virginia Republican observed that he found the Washington Post’s coverage of local politics much more infuriating than its coverage of national politics. He suspected that the average reporter or editor on the Post’s political beat — either living in the northern Virginia suburbs, or having many friends who did — could live with the idea of the country being represented by George W. Bush, but seethed with disbelief at the thought of being represented by a Republican Sen. George Allen. Republicans could grouse about the frequency with which...

Virginia gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell's 14-point lead in the Public Policy Polling's survey one month ago has been cut in half. PPP's new survey finds the Republican leading Democrat Creigh Deeds by 7 points (Aug. 28-31, 596 RV, MoE +/- 4.0%). The survey was conducted over the last four days -- the last two days of the campaign have been filled with discussion about a graduate school thesis McDonnell wrote 20 years ago, which was reported in a front page Washington Post story on Sunday. McDonnell's favorable rating is unchanged from last month (54% down to 53%), though his unfavorable...

The cowards at WMAL are continuously reporting the thesis story of Bob McDonnell with no mention of no one allowed to see the thesis of Hillary Clinton or Obama. The cowards at WMAL hung up on my when I demanded why they don't mention this. The news room phone number at WMAL is 202-686-3020 if you want to call in. The talk show number is 202-432-WMAL, toll free 888-630-WMAL.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell has claimed a clear early lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in the race for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll. Widespread criticism of the direction of a state run for the past eight years by Democrats and an increasingly GOP-friendly electorate have propelled McDonnell, who runs competitively even in the Democratic strongholds of Northern Virginia. Less than three months before Election Day, the poll shows that relatively few Virginia voters are following the race closely, signaling that it could fluctuate considerably between now and November. Even fewer claim deep knowledge of McDonnell,...

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds stands to raise a pile of cash and energize his party's base at his first joint appearance with President Obama on Thursday, but it's an open question whether it will do anything to help his faltering gubernatorial campaign. Mr. Obama, his popularity sagging amid doubts over his handing of health care and the economy, could be a liability for the Virginia Democratic candidate, according a poll published Wednesday. Nine months after he shocked the nation by becoming the first Democrat to carry Virginia in a presidential election in 44 years, Mr. Obama has an approval...

Bob McDonnell now has a 14 point lead in the race to become Virginia's next Governor.