First Click -- Virginia

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009

Good morning, politicos! Though perhaps not if you're a Virginia Democrat.

Several new polls this week show Republican Robert F. McDonnell with a comfortable, even growing lead against Democrat R. Creigh Deeds -- and the word from Public Policy Polling, which releases new numbers this morning, seems to indicate more of the same. (Usual caveat: Our polling experts don't love the methodology on these polls).

PPP's Tom Jensen wrote in a blog item yesterday that even Democrats planning to vote are unenthused, and that many more are simply sitting this one out.

"We're looking at a McCain +6 electorate this year in a state that was Obama +6 last year," Jensen wrote. "There's no path to victory if that stays true through election day. We'll see how much good the visits from Obama, Bill Clinton, and other leading national Democrats do in the last few weeks but there is a lot of ground to make up."

Meanwhile, if Deeds had an opportunity to turn things around at Tuesday's final debate at Roanoke College, he seems to have missed the opportunity. Both candidates struck out at the other, with McDonnell accusing Deeds of planning to raise taxes and linking him to the controversial policies of President Obama, and Deeds portraying McDonnell as an election-year convert to moderation.

Before the debate, Deeds continued his last-ditch effort to turn the numbers around with an appearance with former president Bill Clinton in Tysons Corner. The Deeds campaign is focused on rallying core Democratic voters in these final two weeks, but the candidate may not have helped himself as he tried to articulate his position on a public option in health care reform after the debate.

Here's the video from the debate:

And here's the post-debate scrum:

Today, Deeds will greet voters at several stops in Newport News. McDonnell launches a four-day "New Jobs, New Virginia" tour with a stop in Lynchburg, and then addresses the state chamber of commerce in Richmond. Deeds surrogates will continue his "Educational Opportunity" school bus tour across Virginia with stops in Falls Church, Loudoun and Winchester.

In other news:

September state revenues came in below expectations, prompting Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to describe as "austere" the two-year budget he is preparing for Virginia before his departure.

College tuition continues to climb, including in Virginia.