How the GOP lost Virginia

[DonViejo]

Ken Cuccinelli Making Bad Candidate History in Virginia

by Jamelle Bouie Oct 29, 2013 6:15 AM EDT

A week before the election Terry McAuliffe is on the verge of becoming the governor of Virginia. Jamelle Bouie says Ken Cuccinelli is one of the worst gubernatorial candidates in recent Republican history.

Ken Cuccinelli is losing, but his supporters don’t seem to know it. At least not yet. On Monday, around 200 people squeezed into a small banquet hall—located in his old state senate district—to kick off the last leg of the attorney general’s gubernatorial campaign. The crowd of supporters and former constituents was eager to see Cuccinelli, and his partner for the afternoon, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. “I’ve known Ken for eleven years,” explained Audrey Dutton, a local Republican activist, “He is a man of his word and I trust him completely as a political figure.”

Neither Paul nor Cuccinelli offered anything new in their rhetoric—and the former seemed to be establishing his brand more than supporting his ally—but Cuccinelli seemed like he was having fun. He railed against Obamacare, emphasized the near-losses of his previous campaigns—“What do you call a state senate candidate who wins by a small margin? A senator!”—told jokes about his opponent, Terry McAuliffe, and used playful voices to encourage supporters to make phone calls or go door-to-door. Audience members loved it, and eventually, a game of call and response developed between Cuccinelli and the crowd. “Government is the problem,” Cuccinelli said, with the audience finishing the quote, “not the solution”

But again, Cuccinelli is losing. Badly. According to the latest survey from ABC News and the Washington Post, he’s trailing McAuliffe by twelve points, 51 percent to 39 percent. He’s losing women by 24 points, barely winning men, and sinking in almost every region of the state, from the Richmond metropolitan area and its old Virginia suburbs, to the military hub of Hampton Roads, to the fast-growing communities of Northern Virginia. The only place where Cuccinelli has any sort of an advantage is in the southwest of the state, where Democrats have always struggled.

Overall, however, Cuccinelli is poised to lose by a larger margin than any Republican gubernatorial candidate since 1985, and his running mate—lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson—is on path for a more explosive crash. Mark Obenshain, the GOP pick for attorney general, is the only one of these men who might survive election night with a political career, but even that’s in doubt—the Post has Obenshain behind his Democratic opponent, Mark Herring, by 3 points

full article
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/29/ken-cuccinelli-making-bad-candidate-history-in-virginia.html

[StrayKat]

1. Yikes.

The title of this OP scares me. It's not a done deal yet. We still need people to turn out at the polls.

[Raine1967]

2. Excellent article BUT: We haven't WON YET!

GOTV is still very very critical in Virginia.

This isn't a done deal until polls close on election day. Complacency is not an option for Virginia!

[lame54]

3. No Blow-Jobs...

you'll lose every time

[DFW]

4. The only thing the Republicans have lost in Virginia so far

....is the polling.

I agree, it looks bad for them, but they will pull surprise voter disenfranchisement, phony counting in swing districts and whatever else they can to save their sorry asses. Only a big turnout ensures a Democratic victory. Anything less than that leaves a crack in the door for a "surprise upset." Ohio, 2004, anyone?

[bpj62]

5. GOTV

Virginia Democrats will get out and vote on November 5th, I can guarantee you that. Most of us are fully aware of just how extreme and dangerous Ken Cuccinelli is. We aren't Ohio and the major population areas in Virginia are much more blue than purple or red. This will not be a repeat of 2009 when many people stayed home because they felt Creigh Deeds had no chance against Bob McDonnell.

[DCPSR]

6. Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia is driving the changes in voting in Virginia. Turnout has to be decent there. If it is strong in NVA, then this race won't be close.

[struggle4progress]

7. Don't celebrate before the election: work before the election and only celebrate afterwards