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Having been a resident of Fairfax County for the past 34 years, acted as a poll watcher, and been active in Rep politics, I can only say that demography is destiny.

While that's true, McDonnell was able to leverage strategic messaging to target audiences with a strong, albeit broad, economic message. That worked well with the hispanics, especially in NoVa -- he pulled more than 40% of their support without ever broaching the subject of immigration. The economic message of "we're in this together, and this is my play for job growth" played well.

play for job growth = PLAN for job growth

While that's true, McDonnell was able to leverage strategic messaging to target audiences with a strong, albeit broad, economic message. That worked well with the hispanics, especially in NoVa -- he pulled more than 40% of their support without ever broaching the subject of immigration.

Using the McDonnell example is really comparing apples and oranges. In 2009 the Dem candidate was a poor one and he did not have a huge funding advantage like McAwful. There was no real third party challenger.

The Dem turnout in 2009 set historic lows, which I attribute to the still lingering glow of Obama's massive thumping of McCain. The Dems were complacent and thought that they did not have to invest the kind of effort needed to GOTV. In 2009 Deeds got 818,909 votes compared to McAwful's total of 1,064,016.

In 2009 McDonnell got 1,163,523 votes compared to Cuccinelli's 1,008,596. McDonnell had the benefit of a united Rep party (Bolling was not a sore loser) and an energized GOP due to Obama's emerging agenda and an economy that was still suffering big time. Cuccinelli did not have a unified party (Sore loser Bolling threatening to run as an independent and the Rep mayor of Virginia Beach endorsing McAwful). EW Jackson was a drag on the ticket and a polarizing figure that helped the Dems energize their base around social issues.

I mentioned immigration as a demographic issue, not a political issue. Immigrants vote two to one for Dems. And they have been driving population growth. Each cohort that turns 18 each year becomes more and more Dem.

Immigrants, legal and illegal, total 911,119 or 11.4 percent of the total population of Virginia up from 5% in 1990 and 8.1% in 2000. 45% of the immigrant population are citizens. Virginia has the 9th highest number of immigrants in the country—more than states like Arizona and Nevada.

The unemployment rate in VA today is well below the national average. In Fairfax County it is about 4%.