Comments on: The final polls, my prediction, more

By: chrisgraham

chrisgraham — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:24:21 +0000

I’d rather my Democratic candidates be conservative on fiscal issues, not social issues, that’s all. I’m afraid that when people hear Creigh talk about investments in transportation and education they’re going to interpret that as tax increases to pay for investments in transportation and education. Maybe they won’t hear that.

I don’t know, either, that we need to play close-to-the-vest conservative on social issues here. I think if Democrats in Virginia don’t stand up on behalf of civil rights for gays and lesbians and a woman’s right to choose, then we’re doing our belief system a disservice.

That said, I understand the politics. Creigh’s victory was convincing, and I think it was convincing enough to give us the momentum heading into the general that we need to not only win the governor’s race but also be in a position to take back the House. And that’s all we can ask for as far as our interests in moving Virginia forward.

By: Frank Nolen

Frank Nolen — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:52:32 +0000

Chris, I am sorry I misinterpeted your remarks. I guess I can only blame my speed reading. Creigh proved the nay sayers wrong and I am glad. Do you think these other people think Warner and especially Kaine were not “social conservatives’? And who determined BM is a s-c? He is a Robertson/Falwell extremeist just like Mark Early and Creigh can beat him this time if we work hard enough
New Hope Pig Farmer

By: chrisgraham

chrisgraham — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:46:02 +0000

McDonnell sees Reagan. The rest of us see Mark Earley.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:35:07 +0000

Whoever put a picture of President Obama on McAuliffe’s mirror can take it down now. He may see Obama when he looks in a mirror, but no one else does.

By: chrisgraham

chrisgraham — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:58:22 +0000

I don’t know, Mike. Check out the Primary Day Live Blog. The McAuliffe folks are saying it’s a dead heat. (Which of course means they know they’re going to get their clocks cleaned by Deeds.)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:53:57 +0000

Man, all of my anti-McAuliffe ideas are going to go to waste.

By: chrisgraham

chrisgraham — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:05:16 +0000

Breaking news – what Eddie is saying here, folks, is that on the off chance that McAuliffe wins today, he’s going to roll up his sleeves and work hard to get him elected. Because he wouldn’t cut his nose off to spite his face. And because losing in November would allow the Republicans to crow.

A key difference between Eddie and me – I didn’t work tirelessly to get another Democrat defeated. My motivation was to get somebody nominated. Which is to say that it will probably be easier for me to transition if my guy loses. Especially if the guy that he worked tirelessly to defeat is the winner.

That said, I’ll be waiting to be convinced, and I can be convinced. It’s not easy, but it happens every so often.

By: Eddie Garcia

Eddie Garcia — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:44:59 +0000

Chris says:
I’m going to need to be convinced that it’s going to be worth the time and trouble to do the heavy lifting that will need to be done to elect a social-conservative Democrat running against a social-conservative Republican when I’m not sure that Virginia is going to move in the right direction either way.

Shorter Chris:

I’m going to cut off my nose to spite my face.
Don’t forget the national psychology of what losing the governorship to the Republicans would mean.
After the stunning gains made by Democrats in Virginia in the last two elections, losing in November would allow the Republicans to crow that their fortunes are reversing.
ANOTHER reason I worked tirelessly to insure the defeat of Terry McAuliffe in this primary: he would be one hundred percent incapable of defeating Bob McDonnell in November.

By: chrisgraham

chrisgraham — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:08:18 +0000

I didn’t mean to suggest, Frank, that I’m not going to go vote today. What I meant to suggest was that like those who aren’t going to vote today, my energy for politics is sapped right now, and is going to need to be revived by our nominees.

By: Frank Nolen

Frank Nolen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:49:32 +0000

Chris, I will be very disappointed if you don’t go vote. I can’t think of anything more important for a committee chair to do.
Please reconsider. My abilities are limited, but there must be at least one thing you have to do today that I am capable of besides doing your voting for you, so let me know what it is and I’ll do it so you can vote.
Most Sincere Frank
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