Winning in life involves good timing, having the right friends and not forgetting to dance with those you came with. The same is true in politics. Creigh Deeds lost his lifetime dream yesterday, as well as an 18-point landslide election, because he forgot these three simple rules.
First the matter of good timing and bad luck.
It was cool inside Bud Foster’s Restaurant in Blacksburg that hot August day. The Hokies’ defensive coordinator was not there. The small group of loyal supporters who gathered at Bud’s were more interested in seeing someone else. They expected that that someone would be the next governor of Virginia come one cold day in January.
Finally after many political conversations over the usual beverage, the man walked in the door, shook hands and spoke. It was his standard stump speech. Creigh Deeds is a politician who retails better than he wholesales. He is Jimmy Stewart’s double, except that Creigh does not have a love affair with the camera. Maybe that is one reason why the original went to Washington, while his double is returning to Richmond – as a state senator. However, I don’t think so, so let’s go back to Bud’s.
After our happy warrior spoke, the candidate walked over and glumly said, “Do you know that not since 1973 has a Virginia governor been elected from the same party as the president sitting in the White House?” No, I did not. There must be a reason. Candidates are not fond of trivia questions.
So in August, in spite of his June 9 crowning achievement in whipping two party foes on their home turf, Creigh Deeds had a feeling, that with a Democrat sitting in the White House, yesterday would not bring good news. Now you know the rest of the story – and a record of 36 years that is still intact. Without Obama in the White House, would Deeds be governor? I don’t know. But what a difference a year makes.
“Change” is the magic word in politics. Maybe that is because it is how our nation survives – by constantly reinventing itself. One year we make a party change in the White House, the next year a party change in the state house. Virginians like their changes cooked slowly, like their barbeque. We have watched too much fast food being dished out of Washington. We prefer 400 year old recipes on how to govern. Or as Paul Goldman, a former state Democratic Party chair, says about the change his party promised a year ago, “This isn’t change we can believe in, but the same old, same old we voted out of office.”
On to friends. It is always good to have friends, but not necessarily half your age with a quarter of your wisdom. Creigh Deeds surrounded himself with those so young that they never made friends from the other party. So they laid out a general-election campaign against Republicans just like their primary one against fellow Democrats.
The hapless campaign preached only to its choir. The gospel that was read came out of a D.C. newspaper. And why not? The paper knocked off George Allen. The Posties thought that Bob McDonnell would be an easy target. The sermons leaned to the left, making uncomfortable the congregation who learned to the right. So as the weather cooled they began to squirm in their pews. “Amazing Grace,” was not in the hymnal. There was little sweetness coming from the pulpit, no forgiveness of a long ago sinner. And there was no tolerance for a Roman Catholic who was simply following his faith. (Unless the Catholic is a Democrat and the Governor of Virginia.) Then just seven days before the big day the campaign played its final card. A president carried it with him to Norfolk, along with commercials spreading condescending words. Last year we were told that the race card was being thrown out of the deck. Oh, how we were fooled! Sheila Johnson was not fooled. The billionaire cofounder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) put her money on the Virginia elephant.
Now to point three, having dance partners who have earned your loyalty. Last Spring, Mr. Deeds put together an impressive list of the commonwealth’s leading business leaders endorsing his candidacy. Once summer began and the whiz kids (25 under the age of 30) took over, the list was nowhere to be found. Also last Spring Mr. Deeds had long private conversations with those who gave good advice. Two were former key GOP state senators, John Chichester and Russell Potts Jr. (Potts also ran for governor in 2005 as an independent.) Was the advice used from these loyal Virginians? What do you think?
I’m reminded of the Jimmy Carter presidency, a man who brought north a few trusted advisers (We called them the “Georgia Mafia”), but they had weak ties to the national party. Deeds, with headquarters in Alexandria (McDonnell’s was in Richmond) failed on both counts. He imported all his key campaign staff and was not able to build strong party ties during his 18 years in state office. Would the Carter weaknesses in Washington crop up in an Deeds administration in Richmond? Likely.
There is another reason why Mr. Deeds lost. If you truly believe in the workings of the democratic process, by definition he was not the the better man. In the private sector the customer is always right. In the public, the voter is always right. What a great country!
– Column by David Reynolds
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