McDonnell’s unenviable position in this race.

Jeff Schapiro, as a part of a longer Richmond Times-Dispatch piece about the troubles faced by Bob McDonnell, makes this notable point, among others:

For a party in almost nonstop retreat since 2001, the Virginia GOP shows no sign of retreating from the well-right-of-center orthodoxy that has left it defensive and depleted its bench.

Why would the party stick with a losing formula? Because the rank-and-file demands it, and because there is genuine optimism McDonnell can win despite it.

Read through the whole piece to get Schapiro’s sense of the uphill battle that McDonnell has.

Right now, McDonnell is positioned to come in five points behind Creigh Deeds. (Rasmussen, I see, confirms this, giving Deeds 47% to McDonnell’s 41%, with lots of undecided Republicans and few undecided Democrats.) Virginia has come a long way in four years, uniformly in ways that benefit Deeds. A lot can and will happen between now and November, but I just don’t buy the conventional wisdom that McDonnell’s got the edge. This one is Deeds’ to lose.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

2 replies on “McDonnell’s unenviable position in this race.”

  1. Really-why face reality when the dream is so much better? I want the GOP to keep dreaming until the shock of Deeds winning in November wakes them up!

  2. The only reason McDonnell won in ’05 was the fact that it was an AG race. In AG contests, Republicans have a head start due to the nature of the office (or the perception of the office).

    In a gubernatorial race, this is definitely Creigh’s race to lose. He’s a moderate-right Democrat in a state that ADORES moderate candidates, especially Democrats.

    If Creigh loses, it will be on Obama. A summer/fall of bad public feeling towards the Democrats in Washington is the only thing that can stop him.

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