A lot of the so-called experts are theorizing why Creigh Deeds, the Democrat nominee for Virginia governor, lost to the Republican candidate Bob McDonnell on Tuesday’s off-year election. Now I’m not an expert and I don’t live in Virginia, but I’m not going to let any of that stop me from weighing in on the topic.
Creigh Deeds lost because he is Creigh Deeds.
Living in Maryland, I get to not only see lots of campaign ads for candidates here in Maryland, but I’m able to see all the ads for candidates in West Virgina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia too. I cannot begin to count how many ads I’ve seen on TV for both Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell. By election day, I was fed up with seeing both candidates for Virginia. If I was a voter in Virginia, I wouldn’t have voted for either candidate.
I would have stayed home on election day.
I’m tired of voting for candidates that I just don’t like. I’ve been forced to do this because the Democrats put awful candidates on the ballot. I told myself after having to vote for John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004 that I would never vote for someone I didn’t like ever again.
I don’t like Creigh Deeds. He’s against gay marriage. He thinks juveniles should be eligible for the death penalty. He voted to make English the official language. He’s against the public option, and he said that if he was governor of Virginia, he would consider “opting out” of any public option health insurance plan.
With Democrats like Creigh Deeds, who needs Republicans?
I think history has shown that when voters are given the choice between a Republican and a Republican Lite, more times than not, they will choose the actual Republican. If a voter is against gay marriage, pro-death penalty, thinks people should only speak English, and is against health care reform, they are probably a Republican.
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You’re absolutely right. Virginia’s “Democratic” candidate was really no different than Virginia’s Republican candidate, so therefore, Deeds didn’t mobilize the Democratic base into coming out and voting. I believe the same can be said about the race in NJ. These Democratic losses were not a referendum on Obama or his presidency, as much as they were a statement from the progressive base about not settling for a Democrat in name only (Joe Lieberman, anyone?…though I know he’s “techinically” an Independent). I think what the Congressional race in NY showed us was that people want a distinctive choice in their candidates…the Democratic candidate should espouse views and an agenda that supports the Democratic Party’s general platform, not some hybrid of the conservative Republican’s platform. And I also believe Democrats will come out in force to vote for a truly progressive Democratic candidate…i.e., Dem. Donna Edwards over Bluedog Dem. Al Wynn a couple of years ago, someone who offers something beyond the status quo. I think that’s why Obama won last year…he appeared to offer hope and change from the status quo and the progressives and liberals and independents were all on board and came out in force.