California Conservative

I wouldn’t say that the race for Virginia’s next governor is over but I heard a rumor that Creigh Deeds had to stick a sock in the fat lady’s mouth after reading this Washington Post poll:

McDonnell leads 53 to 44 percent among likely voters, expanding on the four-point lead he held in mid-September. Deeds’s advantage with female voters has all but disappeared, and McDonnell has grown his already wide margin among independents. Deeds, a state senator from western Virginia, is widely seen by voters as running a negative campaign, a finding that might indicate that his aggressive efforts to exploit McDonnell’s 20-year-old graduate thesis are turning voters away.

Much of the movement since last month has come in Northern Virginia, where Deeds’s 17-point lead has been whittled significantly, even in the area’s left-leaning inner suburbs.

The only worse news that Creigh Deeds could’ve gotten was that Charlie Rangel’s accountant was his new campaign finance director. This is horrible news. I won’t say that this is Deeds’ curtain call but I won’t say things are looking good for him, either.

What’s especially troubling for Deeds is that (a) Northern Virginia, the most liberal part of the state, isn’t giving him a big enough margin to offset the conservative parts of the state where Bob McDonnell should rack up big margins, and (b) women voters aren’t supporting the Democrats’ candidate. Anytime that the Democrats hope to win, they need to win a significant majority of the female vote. (more…)