Posted on 09/13/2013 5:38:57 AM PDT by markomalley
Spoiler candidate alert: Libertarian Robert Sarvis is a third-party candidate in the 2013 Virginia governor’s race. Although polling reveals that it is unlikely for him to win, will he split votes away from Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli in the process?
Election day is less than 60 days away, and Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe are in crunch time. However, neither candidate option fully satisfies voters. According to a recent poll of likely voters, only 34% of likely voters hold McAuliffe in a “favorable” opinion, and only 35% hold Cuccinelli in this regard.
Reflecting the mood of the Virginia race, Barton Hinkle likened the choice to “choosing between Sauron and SpongeBob Squarepants.”
For Virginia voters torn by this dilemma, Robert Sarvis may be an exciting prospect. Born and raised in the Northern Virginia area, he possesses a background prime for Virginia politics. Impressively, he received his undergraduate degree from Harvard, went on to receive a degree in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, a J.D. from N.Y.U School of Law, and a Master’s in economics from George Mason University.
Sarvis champions the campaign slogan, “Virginia: Open-minded, and Open for Business.” According to his campaign website, he espouses ideals of personal and economic freedoms. Having a mixed race heritage, he promises to bring diversity to the position.
However, despite his impressive background, it is unlikely that Sarvis offers Virginians a plausible alternative winner.
Notably, his greatest obstacle is that as a third party candidate, he does not command the same media spotlight or campaign spending dollars as McAuliffe or Cuccinelli. For example, he was not invited to a recent Virginia gubernatorial candidate debate.
But, will Sarvis be to blame if Cuccinelli loses the election?
At this time, Cuccinelli seems likely to lose whether Sarvis runs or not. For evidence, compare polling data that pairs only Cuccinelli and McAuliffe against each other, to data that includes all three candidates. When only Cuccinelli and McAuliffe are paired, McAuliffe is in the lead at 48%-42%. Meanwhile, data that includes all three candidates depicts McAuliffe at 45.2%, Cuccinelli at 37.3%, and Sarvis is a distant third at 9.5%.
Judging by this criteria, it appears that McAuliffe is the front-runner, with or without Sarvis, for the time being. However, as the momentum of his campaign picks up, this may change in the future.
/johnny
Exactly
.
It’s a joke, relax.
my candidate!!!
OK
As for allowing perverts, homosexual marriage, no sex age laws, make all drugs legal , well which candidate and party would advocate that
that is my understanding too, he;s hardly a RINO for VA.
What are you doing to make sure your party puts up strong candidates? Are you working to close primaries in your state? How are you being part of the solution? Or do you just want to rant about libertarians?
/johnny
I don’t think the VA Democrats will have to use much fraud in the future, as a previous poster said, “VA is stuck on stupid”, trying to imitate MD and NYC.
I am one of those who think Perot helped Clinton but that Clinton would have won in a two-way race as well. The first GHWB just didn’t have the desire to expose his “son” Clinton.
/johnny
Cuccinelli needs to hammer home that McAuliffe is a gun grabber and is supported by Bloomberg. Bring in people from Colorado to make the case.
There is little reason from history to think that will happen. The only good VA senator they have had since the senior Harry Byrd was Bill Scott, the one who held a press conference to deny that he was "dumb". After after Scott, it was the first Warner, who turned more liberal every year he was there. I don't know of any particularly good VA governors probably since the senior Byrd either.
We get good people and selfish Libertarians screw it up.
I said he was a strong conservative. The unfortunate reality is that Virginia is trending blue in statewide elections due to the infestation of northern Virginia. Odumbo won VA twice. Many people, including GOP-e, feel that a conservative like Cuccinelli can't win in a purple state and are pushing moderates as a result. Virginia Republicans gave the finger to GOP-e and did what everybody on this board wants Republicans to do - nominated a real conservative. Being concerned about the third party candidate doesn't mean Cuccinelli isn't a strong candidate, but reflects a belief that the third party candidate will take more votes from Cuccinelli than McAuliffe. We'll just have to see how it plays out.
It is very good that VA closed their candidate selection and didn't hold open primaries.
/johnny
Nobody is less of a crook than McAuful.
Oh good.
More of a crook
I should clarify: There is no crook out there who is less of a crook than Terry Global Crossing McAuful.
Some, like Jon Corzine, Chris Dodd, Hillary Rodham, Anthony Rezko, are equally crooked. But as a crook he is right up there with any crook you can think of...
Johnnie, What/Who are the “GOP-E?”
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