Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell is filling out his transition team, largely moving key campaign personnel into similar jobs preparing the way for his January Inauguration.

Campaign chief operations officer Janet Polarek was named deputy director of personnel and administration.

On Thursday, we told you about the Republicans interested in the soon to be vacated senate seat of attorney general-elect Ken Cuccinelli. Now some news on the Democrats.

Janet Oleszek, the former Fairfax School Board member who challenged Cuccinelli for the seat in 2007, said this morning that Democratic leadership has asked her not to run for the seat and, in the interest of party unity, she has agreed. She didn't sound terribly happy about it but said she is a loyal Democrat who would not challenge the wishes of her party's top dogs.

"I actually think I am the best candidate for this seat, having won in that district for School Board handily, having come within 101 votes to winning in 2007," she said. "I've been working very hard for this. But in the interest of solidarity, I have to step aside so we can unite behind their choice."

And who is their choice? Oleszek said she was uncertain, but here's one possibility: Del. David Marsden, who was just reelected Tuesday and whose district includes 10 of the senate seat's 14 precincts. He said Friday that he's interested in the seat and will make a final decision about whether to seek it next week.

Ken Cuccinelli, who was elected the state's new attorney general Tuesday, announced today that his transition will be led by a pair of former attorneys general -- Democrat Andrew Miller and Republican Richard Cullen -- along with former state GOP chairman Pat McSweeney.

Miller who ran for governor and U.S. Senate in the 1970s is a lawyer in Washington.

Cullen completed Jim Gilmore's term as attorney general when he resigned to run for governor and now heads the McGuire Woods law firm in Richmond. He is close to Governor-elect Bob McDonnell.

McSweeney in a Richmond lawyer who challenged the constitutionality of a proposed transportation sales-tax referendum and the state's 2007 landmark transportation plan, including its high fees for egregious driving offenses.

Republican Bernie McNamee was named transition director. McNamee is Cullen's law partner and a lobbyist who worked for former attorney general Jerry Kilgore and former Gov. George Allen.

Virginia Republicans are eager to hold on to the soon-to-be open seats in the state Senate.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli from Fairfax County was elected the state's attorney general and Sen. Ken Stolle was elected Virginia Beach's new sheriff. Stolle's seat will likely stay in GOP hands but Democrats thinks they can pick up the increasingly left-leaning district held by Cuccinelli. He is the only remaining Republican senator in Northen Virginia.

Three Republicans are already running -- Marianne Horinko, a former George W. Bush appointee who runs a consulting firm, Steve Hunt, a former member of the Fairfax County School Board, and Will Nance, executive director of Greenspring Retirement Community. Their Websites went live after Tuesday's election.

Democrats who have been talked about for the seat include Dels. David L. Bulova and Dave W. Marsden (D-Fairfax) and Janet Oleszek, a former school board member who ran against Cuccinelli in 2007.

Gov. Tim Kaine has yet to call a special election to fill either seat.

Democrats hold a one-seat advantage in the state Senate, and Republicans are talking about whether the incoming governor Bob McDonnell would try to lure a couple of Democrats in GOP-leaning districts into his administration, paving the way to switch control of the chamber. McDonnell sidestepped questions about that possibility this week.

Governor-elect Bob McDonnell announced his transition team at a packed news conference this afternoon at the State Capitol in Richmond.

The five co-chairmen will be: Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; longtime friend Attorney General Bill Mims; Tom Farrell, a high school classmate and president of Dominion Power; Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council; and Kay Cole James, who served in George Allen's and George W. Bush's administrations.

Kilberg and James were not at the press conference, but Kilberg quickly released a statement saying she was delighted to participate. "The Governor-Elect clearly recognizes the importance of the technology industry to the economic growth of the Commonwealth and we look forward to working with him, his staff, and the incoming administration," she said.

Campaign manager Phil Cox will serve as McDonnell's transition director. Tucker Martin will serve as director of communications -- a job he held during the campaign.

McDonnell was laughing off questions today about a future vice presidential run, even as he fielded calls from President Obama, national Republicans leaders and TV networks clamoring for interviews. He also received calls from U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb and Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration.

His wife, Maureen, received a call from Virginia's First Lady, Anne Holton, who took her and four of the McDonnell's children on a tour of the Executive Mansion, this afternoon.

McDonnell is now being protected by State Police, who attended the press conference.

A morning-after press conference by Gov. Tim Kaine that was billed to be a discussion on transition plans was dominated by postmortem election analysis, as Kaine sought to explain the shellacking Democrats took Tuesday while attempting to shield the president from blame.

Asked whether Obama was a factor, Kaine said Obama was not on the minds of voters, but wondered why the president's popularity hadn't been more of a help. ... Huh?

Here it is in his own words:

"Voters said the races were decided on local issues, that the president was not really a factor in the overwhelming majority of voters' choices," said Kaine, citing exit poll data.

But...

"With 55 percent of independents nationally saying they approve of the job President Obama is doing, the fact that independent voters in Virginia in the race yesterday supported governor-elect McDonnell by a strong margin is something that we have to assess, and I don't really have an answer for that right now."

Kaine offered some explanations for R. Creigh Deeds's loss, saying Deeds was an underdog from the start. He said McDonnell's tenure in the attorney general's office for four years helped him with name recognition and with raising money.

"When Creigh won the surprise primary in June, it was a great win, but I don't think that there was much doubt that Creigh was considered the underdog because he was having to refill his coffers beginning in late June and he was running against a guy that beat him four years ago," Kaine said.

He went on to note the apparent consistent reaction Virginians have against the party in the White House.

"Also, historically, Virginia and Virginia voters have this quirk...the party that has the White House loses the Virginia governorship."

We just heard that President Obama called Republican Bob McDonnell, who won a landslide victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds last night in Virginia's governor race.

The two men spoke for about 10 minutes in what McDonnell's campaign called a "very friendly conversation."

Obama told McDonnell: "The first thing you need to do is thank your wife!"

The two also talked about their shared support for charter schools and McDonnell's support of Obama's "Race to the Top" program -- a federal grant for schools committed to closing achievement gaps and getting more students into college. McDonnell frequently parised those programs on the campaign trail.

McDonnell is spending the morning at the Richmond Marriott with his wife, Maureen, five children and assorted other family members. He declined multiple requests to appear on news shows today. He will hold a 2 p.m. press conference at the state Capitol.

Gov. Tim Kaine also called McDonnell this morning. McDonnell's staff has already begun moving into the state-funded transition office off of Capitol Square in Richmond.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at a gaggle this morning that Democrat Creigh Deeds was always the underdog in the race against Republican Bob McDonnell for Virginia governor.

He mentioned a fact that we are well aware of here in Virginia: Since 1977, no party that has won the White House has gone on to capture Virginia's governorship the next year.

"Given that sort of history, Creigh Deeds was always the underdog,'' Gibbs said.

If you were wondering what the Virginia and New Jersey losses mean for outgoing Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Gibbs's comments should help clarify.

"The President is enormously grateful for the leadership that Governor Kaine has and will continue to provide at the DNC,'' he said. "I think if you look at the record, again, of the president in these special elections involving members of Congress, the results are very positive for the DNC."

Kaine earlier called the Democratic win in a special election for Congress in New York the "most consequential race of the night'' after the Republican dropped out and left a conservative to run as a third-party candidate.

Anita Kumar and Rosalind Helderman, who spent the past several months trailing the Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds campaigns, will be online at 10 a.m. today to take your questions and comments about McDonnell's resounding gubernatorial victory and the rest of Tuesday night's results. Send in your questions now and watch the discussion at 10 a.m. or read the transcript afterward.

You might also want to check out Post columnist Robert McCartney's lengthy live session from Tuesday night. Here's a review sent to McCartney from a reader:

Vienna, Va.: No this is not your Dad or Mom -- you've been at this for four hours, and even though I don't agree with many of the opinions you express in your column, tonight's chat has been civil and interesting. Thanks to you and the Post for the back-and-forth. Kudos.

Fresh off his election victory, governor-elect Robert F. McDonnell said he was "ready to work for the people of Virginia" but sidestepped questions of his victory's national implications for the Republican Party.

We caught up with McDonnell as he left the stage Tuesday night and asked what this all meant for the Virginia and national political landscape. He gave what you might call a non-answer answer.

"I'm going to leave that up to other experts," he said. "I was just running hard."

The losing Democratic candidates and their supporters in Virginia had a common theme in their concession speeches moments ago: The party has had a good run in the state, and despite the loss, their work goes on.

"We lose an election but we don't give up," said defeated gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds to a crescendo of applause. "We still have fight, we still have spirit, we still have things to say. There's still people that need a voice!...This chapter is closed but the next chapter is yet to be written."

Former Gov. Mark Warner and Gov. Tim Kaine both played on the theme that Democrats have gotten "used" to winning in a state that was once reliably Republican.

"Eight years ago we started a streak in this state--in a state where Democrats didn't control either house of the legislature, any statewide office, and we turned Virginia around," Warner said.

"Who would have thought this ten years ago but you know, we've gotten used to winning most elections, and so that's a challenge," Kaine said. "Let's just be honest about it. We wish we were here under different circumstances and with a different result."

Virginia's last Republican governor said Robert F. McDonnell's election victory was a sign that the national political climate is shifting against President Obama.

Shortly after McDonnell gave his acceptance speech, James S. Gilmore III said McDonnell would return Virginia "to the type of government we had eight years ago."

"What you see is a reaction against the president, against President Obama," Gilmore said. "President Obama's policies have been rejected here in Virginia."

Gilmore, who served as Virginia's governor from 1998 to 2002, said the "national environment is very, very critical" to Tuesday's outcome. He said unemployment and government spending drove voters to the GOP ticket.

"The first and only time we swept is when I ran," Gilmore said. "Now we've swept for a second time and I'm really happy about it."

At 10:04 p.m., more than an hour after conceding the governor's race to Bob McDonnell, Creigh Deeds penned a letter to his supporters.

Here's the text:

First and foremost, I want to take a moment to thank you for your support over the course of this campaign.

Whether you donated your time volunteering in an office, gave up your weekend plans to make calls on my behalf, or gave up a few dollars to help our fight - I am truly grateful for everything you have done for this campaign and my candidacy.

This campaign has been a long journey, but one I would never give up. I am so touched by all the Virginians I have met in my travels across the Commonwealth and the stories they have shared.

I ran for Governor to bring opportunity, prosperity, and hope to every corner of this Commonwealth. While I fell short of my goal, I will not let these results stop me from continuing to fight for the working families of Virginia.

This chapter is closed, but the next chapter has yet to be written.

I will never be able to fully express my gratitude for all you have given me over the past few months, so tonight, simply I thank you.

Sincerely,
Creigh Deeds

Yes, that's right.

During his election night speech, attorney general-elect Ken Cuccinelli brought out a broom to signify the Republican Party's sweep of the top three statewide posts.

The blue-colored broom (oddly not red) was emblazoned with the name amalgam: McBollinelli.

Minutes later, a "Don't Tread On Me" flag -- a frequent presence in Cuccinelli's campaign -- was unfurled. It's a symbol, Cuccinelli said, of a "limited government that respects constitutional boundaries." It also got the core conservative crowd hollering.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell will give his first speech as governor-elect at 9:30 p.m., staffers say.

Right now, McDonnell is in his suite with family, friends and campaign advisers, said Crystal Cameron, a McDonnell spokeswoman. A Regent University official also says religious broadcaster Pat Robertson paid McDonnell a visit but the campaign has not confirmed it.

After his speech, McDonnell will not take questions from reporters but the ballroom where his party is being held will be open until midnight.

At about 9 p.m., the concession speech by McDonnell's Democratic opponent, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), flashed on two giant screens near the center podium. A chorus of boos could be heard until Deeds said, "This chapter is over." Then, as color commentators say, the crowd went wild.

The victory party is beginning.

The main ballroom at the Richmond Marriott is getting crowded, as we hear soon-to-be-governor Robert F. McDonnell might come down from the presidential suite within the hour.

Former Virginia senator George Allen called McDonnell the "GOP's next star," when we asked him about what the Republican's victory meant. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said a McDonnell win would inspire conservatives. "We're going to roll up our sleeves tomorrow," he said.

Cantor took the podium moments later, saying that Bob had stayed true to his conservative creds while "leading us out of the wilderness."

Moments after the Associated Press and Washington Post called the race for Republican Robert F. McDonnell, the mood at the Deeds event barely budged.

That's because, several in attendance said, this is the outcome they were expecting, deep down.

"Basically it's almost like the media has prepared us for this the past few days," said Mike Mohler, president of the Virginia Professional Fire Fighters union and a Deeds supporter.

He said he worked a phone bank right up until the polls closed, "in the hopes there might be a surprise."

The ballroom is finally starting to fill up, largely with Deeds campaign staff and volunteers, and word is Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) is somewhere in the building and may speak.

-- Jonathan Mummolo

Virginians elected Republican Robert F. McDonnell the Commonwealth's 71st governor Tuesday, halting a decade of Democratic advances in the critical swing state.

The state's former attorney general defeated Democratic state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds with a promise to create jobs in the down economy and fix the state's clogged roadways without a tax increase.

McDonnell, 55, boosted by a political mood shift that has left many voters cool to Democrats, prevailed with a disciplined economic message and a campaign that steered clear of the hot-button social issues that in recent elections had alienated voters in northern Virginia and other urban centers. The Republican also benefited from a lackluster Democratic opponent voters came to know in good part from a video clip in which he waffled and stammered when asked if he would raise taxes.

Read the full story.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson made an appearance at Republican Robert F. McDonnell's election night party, calling his likely victory a testament to the American public's distaste of President Obama.

Speaking to The Washington Post outside the main ballroom at the Richmond Marriott, Robertson said McDonnell was a "true public servant" and that his election as Virginia's governor would "mean a whole lot to me."

"I'm president of his alma mater, you know," Robertson said, referring to Regent University in Virginia Beach. A university press crew, cheering for McDonnell from the press table, also showed up at the rally.

Robertson, who along with his family donated $40,000 in last-minute contributions to McDonnell's campaign, said that he would not "read too much" into a McDonnell victory but said Americans were "sick to death of Obama's agenda."

"I think it could be a signal that there's a good deal of anger out there about where this country is heading," he said.

His message to McDonnell: "Stay the course. You've done such a good job so far."

Right as the polls closed at 7 p.m., the music switched on at the nascent Deeds celebration in Richmond.

"Take a load off Annie," sang The Band in their classic tune, "The Weight." "And put the load right on me."

It was a somber sentiment for the handful of attendees who mingled outside the ballroom, cocktail-napkin-wrapped beer bottles in hand.

The next selection was a bit more fitting for a candidate gunning for victory: Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run."

-- Jonathan Mummolo

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a presence on the campaign trail with fellow Republican Robert F. McDonnell, said Virginia's former attorney general ran an issue-oriented campaign -- but he also emphasized the importance President Obama played in the race.

"First of all, you got a great candidate in Bob McDonnell. But four years ago he and Creigh Deeds ran a dead heat," he said. "What do I think has changed? President Obama's agenda and the policies of the Democratic majority are very unpopular here in Virginia, too...That's been critically important."

Barbour, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, also said McDonnell has been focusing on the issues most affecting Virginia voters, namely taxes and transportation.

Washington Post polling director Jon Cohen got an early snapshot of the electorate in New Jersey and Virginia this evening from exit polls, and here's what he passed on that we can report:

Economy and jobs top the issue lists in both Virginia and New Jersey (but not as overwhelmingly as it did in 2008), with property taxes a close No. 2 in New Jersey and health care in a distant second place in Virginia.

In the early numbers, younger (under 30) voters make up a smaller share of the electorate this year than they did last November. The percentage of African Americans among all Virginia voters is down a bit at this stage compared with a year ago, but in New Jersey it's currently up from the last go-round. (However, the proportions in Virginia are similar to the 2006 Senate race and the 1997 race for governor).

Majorities in both states say President Obama was not a factor in their choice for governor. Obama is running above 50 percent approval in both states.

More than eight in 10 voters say they made up their minds about how to vote at least a week ago.

Most in Virginia say McDonnell's graduate school thesis had no effect on their vote.

Holed up in the presidential suite at the Richmond Marriott, Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell will be watching the election results come in with his family and a host of state and national GOP figures, including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Staffers say McDonnell is tentatively scheduled to head down to the hotel's Grand Ballroom for his election night speech at about 9 p.m., although that could change depending on how quickly the results come in.

Both Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and attorney general candidate Del. Stephen C. Shannon (D-Fairfax) said moments ago that the name of the game tonight is turnout.

The turnout so far inside the Richmond hotel ballroom reserved for their election night bash is sparse. It's scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

With little more than an hour to go before the polls close, the room rented out at the Westin had plenty of reporters, video cameras and campaign staffers--but there were virtually no guests in sight so early in the evening.

Candlelit tables covered in white cloth dotted an empty ballroom floor in front of an empty stage, over which a massive banner hung reading: "ALL IN FOR VIRGINIA."

Deeds (D-Bath) made the rounds, stopping to chat with various TV networks. The Washington Post caught up with him for no more than 30 seconds in a hallway before he rushed away toward the lobby.

"I feel great," said the candidate, who lagged in pre-election polls. "We have an hour and 25 minutes left to turn voters out and we're working as hard as we can to get them turned out. What I'm hearing is good news from places like Charlottesville and some areas of Hampton Roads and Roanoke and Arlington, Alexandria--all good for us. We need it to be better, but I'm hearing some good news so far."

He didn't mention Fairfax County, Virginia's largest jurisdiction, and a critical component of a Deeds victory.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Robert F. McDonnell developed a "winning formula" during his Virginia gubernatorial campaign, one that will be duplicated by the GOP for the 2010 midterm elections and beyond.

Steele showed up at the Richmond Marriott about an hour before the festivities were slated to start for the GOP. He said McDonnell was able to "speak clearly" to voters on a number of contentious state issues while applying his "conservative principles to the 21st century."

"There were things that we did here in Virginia, whether it was through technology, whether it was through resource distribution, whether it was through the allocation of manpower," Steele said. "We tried something very different here. We made better use of the Internet. We made better use of the little thing known as the BlackBerry...We hadn't used those tools and those technologies in the past. So that was a very important step for a lot of us to say, 'How can we be the most helpful?' and 'What do we need?'"

So would a McDonnell victory signal a political shift, according to Steele?

"They (the Democrats) were so cocksure they were going to win it all," Steele said. "But a funny thing happened on the way to the election. The voters spoke."

Several commenters today wrote about their experiences at the polls. Their thoughts are compiled below; add your own in the comments section. We're also looking for Election Day (and night) photos.

A number of voters reported sparse attendance at the polls today:

1995hoo: I vote at the Kingstowne precinct (corner of Van Dorn and Lake Village Drive). Went at 10.30 and it was the emptiest I've ever seen, even compared to years with Board of Supervisors elections. There were two people on line at the "A to K" checkin and nobody on line at the "L to Z" checkin (the latter is my part of the alphabet). In and out in under five minutes. Given the left-leaning nature of this part of Fairfax County, I'd say it bodes well for the Republican ticket. Now if the Sickles voters stay home, I will be happy.

nodebris: At Arlington's Lexington precinct, voting was steady but light at 8:50; mostly older people while I was there.

oldtimehockey: Chesterbrook is my precinct. Voted this morning at 830, with about 4 people in line, all in the M-Z line, randomly. I'm a solid D, and it was a pretty thick group of Comstock people.

mbcnewspaper: It was quiet at Lee HS in Springfield this morning. And like the other polling places mentioned, the place was wall-to-wall in terms of Republican signage, although there was a Dem poll worker there handing out sample ballots. Also, those who were there to vote when I was there were all given paper ballots rather than voting electronically. Odd. If this isn't confined to one or two polling places, it will delay the precinct reporting tonight.

Several other voters also were perplexed to receive paper ballots today:

AGM611: "I voted this morning at my precinct in Vienna. I've always voted electronically. Today we received paper ballots. When I asked why, I was told by those working at the polls that "Richmond required us to use paper ballots this time." Is that true? And if so, why?"

Millpond2: "I, along with AGM611, had the same experience at my voting precinct in Oakton. It was obvious by looking at the setup that it was deliberate and organized, not a last-minute change resulting from a glitch with electronic voting machines. There was even a ballot box that automatically "swallowed" the paper ballot when the ballot was fed into the box - similar to feeding an original document into a fax machine or copier. I think it is clear that Ms. Kumar's comments are inaccurate."

Swine flu precautions were widespread in the commonwealth, spgass1 notes: "This morning in Warren County, wooden sticks were given out to touch the touch screens."

Sarner examines sign demographics: "I fully expect Chesterbrook and the other precints right around there, voting at Kent Gardens, McLean HS, etc., to be carried by Deeds. The % of liberals in the area is very high. Unlike other precincts, I also noticed today that the signage at the Chesterbrook precinct greatly favored the Democratic candidates. I'm not suggesting that has any impact on how most people vote, of course!"

Watch the election results roll in live tonight here at washingtonpost.com. On the new local homepage we'll have a county-by-county map of governor's race results and how they compare to previous year's statewide races.

For the House of Delegates, we'll keep you up-to-the-minute on the vote count in each race and how it impacts the overall balance of power in Richmond.

If you've got questions about the results and how they came to be, send them in to Post columnist Robert McCartney, who starting at 7 p.m. will offer you answers and give you a peek at what we learn from exit polling.

And of course there will be the usual array of the Post's excellent reporting, analysis and photography.

The early afternoon has been much quieter than the first seven hours of the day at the Chesterbrook precinct here in McLean. Only a few dozen people came through between 2 and 3 p.m. The crowd is starting to pick up as 4 p.m. approaches, and workers leave offices.

It appears that Deeds may have a narrow majority of those who showed up during this select period early this afternoon, based on interviews and a close watch of who takes the Republican or Democratic sample ballots.

While loyal Democrats are turning out, few Deeds voters are confident that their man will win - a trend that we have noticed throughout the day.

It seems that only about a dozen people younger than 35 have came to this polling site so far today.

We've been asking mothers with daughters at the Chesterbrook polling place in McLean what impact Republican candidate Robert McDonnell's 1989 graduate school thesis had on their voting decision. While Republicans downplay it and Democrats cite it as proof that McDonnell's out of the mainstream, independents don't seem strongly influenced by it.

Ann Merchant, 37, is a Democrat who just voted for Deeds. She didn't vote in June's Democratic primary because she didn't feel strongly about any of the three candidates, and she remains lukewarm for Deeds. She's alarmed, though, about McDonnell.

"The thesis is a serious problem for me - as a feminist and someone who supports gay rights," she said. "Definitely I feel like he's a reactionary."

Tracie Becker, 45, a registered Democrat, is backing McDonnell. In fact, she picked her party's candidate for every office except governor. She said that she doesn't think the Republican really believes what he wrote 20 years ago.

"Unlike most of the talking head pundits, I view McDonnell as someone who has moved to the center," Becker said, as her six-year-old daughter Shelby munched on a chocolate cookie that a Republican volunteer gave her. "With his own daughters, he as much as anyone wants a fair playing ground for gender equality issues."

Many downplayed the social issues, including independent Shirley Camp, who said personality mattered more than policy. She decided to support Deeds after watching a televised debate about two weeks ago.

"I really wouldn't mind either way," said Camp, 75. "It was mannerisms as much as anything. [Deeds is] modest. I find that kind of person who doesn't think they know it all very attractive. In these jobs, nobody can know all the answers."

For you hardcore political junkies, we know, election day rocks. If you can't get enough analysis, spin or just plain news, there's plenty of discussion on the web about the Virginia governor's race and the national implications this off-year contest could have. The race is on CNN's top 10 list of contests to watch today.

FiveThirtyEight, which specializes in analyzing polling data, offers this election overview as well as some great reader discussion.

For a sense of how the race is playing overseas, check out this take out from the Times of London.

Locally, the Prince William County-based blog Black Velvet Bruce Li offers this video from Robert McDonnell's final campaign rally.

A handful of the state's 2,300 precincts were forced to switch to paper ballot today because of a variety of problems with the electronic machines.

The problems varied at locations across the state. Among them: Workers couldn't enter one precinct because keys didn't work so they set up shop outside. Power outages. Equipment failure. A voter jammed a machine when the person used hand sanitizer available at the precinct to help prevent the spread of H1N1 flu.

Affected localities include the counties of Loudoun, Chesterfield and York as well as Bristol and Suffolk.

Nancy Rodrigues, secretary at Virginia State Board of Elections, said all problems were minor and quickly resolved.

In addition, a few voters had registration problems when they appeared in the electronic poll log as absentee voters, and one of the political parties passed out sample ballots that did meet color regulations, Rodrigues said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell voted at 8:30 this morning at the Rivers Edge Elementary School in Glen Allen outside Richmond.

He was accompanied by his wife, Maureen, and his four of his five children, and was greeted by volunteers, supporters and reporters.

Del. Bill Janis, a Republican, was also on hand. He is running for re-election in the House of Delegates.

Check out the video below:

When Republican supporters of candidate Robert McDonnell are asked why they voted, a surprising number here refer to "he" or "him." The folks at the Chesterbrook polling place in McLean are not talking about McDonnell or his Democratic rival, Creigh Deeds, but President Barack Obama.

McDonnell voter Christina Hoag, a 58-year-old who owns a catering business with about 25 employees, said that she hopes a Republican victory would slow the growth of government and send the message to Democrats that they don't have the mandate in Washington they think they do to remake the economy.

"There's anger right now within ourselves, and I think most of that comes from uncertainty and fear," she said. "As a nation, we've lost our optimism."

Michael Barron, 60, said he's a Republican who has been willing to vote for Democrats occasionally over the years. Not this year.

"It's not local politics that's driving this," he said. "I'm concerned with the Democrats in Congress and, mostly, I'm concerned with sending them a message."

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling tallied at least one vote for himself, and probably two more, as he, his wife, Jean Ann, and his 26-year-old son Matt cast ballots about 10 a.m. in their hometown precinct in Mechanicsville, a suburb of Richmond.

Bolling, who is seeking a second term as lieutenant governor, voted at the Washington Henry Elementary School in the Shady Grove precinct, campaign spokeswoman Ibbie Hedrick said. She said the Bollings' other adult son, Kevin, 22, plans to vote after his classes end at James Madison Unversity.

Afterwards, Bolling began dialing for votes. Later this evening, Bolling will join his running mates -- Robert F. McDonnell, the former attorney general who is at the top of the ticket, and state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, who is running for Attorney General this year--at the Marriott in Richmond.

Farther east, Democratic challenger Jody M. Wagner went to the polls at 6:50 a.m. with her 20-year-old daughter Lizzie. Mother and daughter cast their ballots at the
Association for Research and Enlightenment building on Atlantic Avenue in the Cape Henry precinct of Virginia Beach, campaign spokesman Pete Kavanaugh said.

An area that will likely see high turnout today is rural Bath County, the home of Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds. Still, as the second most sparsely populated county in Virginia, that will end up translating to only a couple thousand votes at most.

But we've got word from Deeds spokesman Jared Leopold that Deeds cast his own ballot this morning at 6:25 a.m. at the Millboro Ruritan Club.

He was voter number 21.

Voters 22 through 25 were wife Pam Deeds and children Gus, Amanda and Rebecca Deeds. Deeds's youngest daughter Susannah is 17. Afterward, the family hosted an outdoors reception for Bath residents. Biscuits were served.

Are we in for a stunner of unexpected Democratic turnout? Not if the Internets are to be believed, where Democrats and Republicans are taking to blogs and Twitter to note what feels to them like low turnout in strongly Democratic precincts and poor poll coverage by candidate Creigh Deeds and other Democrats.

From Twitter:
@Joseph_Taylor Not a single deeds poll worker in nokesville.

@AmayaNSugar Not a single Creigh Deeds sign or worker in my area of Hampton Roads either.

@npry 2 precincts in Portsmouth (70% Obama) no Deeds signs or volunteers

From the two best read liberal bloggers in Virginia politics, who have been somewhat critical (Lowell Feld) and highly critical (Ben Tribbett) of Deeds in recent weeks:

Feld at 6:22 a.m., after looking at a tweet indicating no lines in Arlington: After this tweet, I'm almost tempted to call the election for McDonnell/Bolling/Cooch. There should be LONG LINES IN ARLINGTON on a gubernatorial election day. No lines at all a few minutes after polls open? Horrible.

And Tribbett from Twitter: Hearing @CreighDeeds has the worst Dem poll coverage in a Virginia election since reconstruction

We've been telling you all morning what McLean voters at the Chesterbook precinct are saying as they leave the polling place. Now we want to hear from you!

Please be our eyes and ears at other polling places, whether in Northern Virginia or elsewhere. Use the comments section to report the on-the-ground conditions where you are.

Have you noticed a lot of Deeds backers elsewhere? Are people turning out in droves, or is your polling place quieter than you expected this morning? How does it compare to last year when President Obama won Virginia or, to 2005, when Gov. Timothy Kaine (D) won statewide? Also let us know about any irregularities you see and send us your best Election Day photos.

-- James Hohmann

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009

Good morning everyone. Here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

This is it! Election Day has finally arrived. Check back frequently for all of our election coverage throughout the day and night.

In the meantime, here's some morning reading to start your day:

Republican Bob McDonnell will vote outside Richmond this morning, before greeting voters at his childhood precinct in Fairfax County and at a Virginia Beach precint he represented in the House of Delegates.

Democrat Creigh Deeds will vote in Bath County this morning before greeting voters in Charlottesville, which he represents in the state Senate.

Both men will spend election night in the capital city. McDonnell will be at the Marriott downtown with Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli, candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general. Deeds will be at the Westin Hotel in Richmond's West End with Gov. Tim Kaine and Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon, candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Good morning! We've set up shop here at Fairfax County's Chesterbrook precinct, south of Route 123 in McLean, to get a sense of how today's elections are shaking out.

Precinct 302, which opened at 6 a.m. inside an assisted living home called Arleigh Burke Pavilion, is in the heart of a Democratic-leaning district with an independent streak. So the results here will serve as a barometer for the key Dranesville district, in vote-rich Northern Virginia.

If GOP candidate Robert F. McDonnell wins this precinct, which appears quite possible based on recent statewide polling that showed him ahead overall by 11 points, would portend very well for the Republicans' chances. A forceful Democratic turnout might signal that the Republican sweep hoped for by GOP officials will not materialize.

President Obama won 54.6 percent in this precinct last November, a small piece in a puzzle that helped him become the first Democrat to win Virginia since 1964. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) won here by an even more resounding margin of 60 percent in 2005. And, in 2004, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) defeated George W. Bush in the precinct with 51 percent.

Nevertheless, voters here are willing to back a Republican. Frank Wolf, the Republican congressman from the 10th district, beat Judy M. Feder in this precinct last year, even though it's near her home.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds has shown he can win at Chesterbrook. In his party's June primary, Deeds picked up 61 percent. His rivals, Terry McAulliffe and Brian Moran, each received about 20 percent of the votes.

But McDonnell grew up not far from here, something that's been touted by the candidate in his visits and local ads.

Republicans hope that today represents a reversal of years of Democratic gains across the Commonwealth and in Fairfax County, where an influx of new residents shifted the region's political map.

What we're watching for at this precinct:

Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell received a trio of last-minute donations totaling $40,000 from religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, his son and daughter-in-law.

Robertson contributed $25,000 on Oct. 20, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics. His son, Tim, donated $5,000 Friday for in-kind services (listed as catering) and his wife, Lisa, donated $10,000 to McDonnell today.

McDonnell attended CBN University, the Virginia Beach school founded Robertson and named after the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose studios share the campus. (Yes, this is where he wrote that controversial thesis.) He later served on the Board of Trustees of that school, now named Regent University, for eight years and spoke at its law school graduation last year.

McDonnell said in an interview earlier this year that he and Robertson only speak a couple times a year. But Robertson has become one of his biggest donors.

Robertson donated $35,000 to his campaign for governor (the other $10,000 donation was in December 2008) and $66,000 to his race for attorney general, according to VPAP.

Tim Robertson donated $24,000 to McDonnell's campaign for governor in 2008 and 2009, but nothing since April until the recent donation. He had previously donated $10,000 to his campaign for attorney general and $5,000 to his campaign for House of Delegates.

Another son, Gordon Robertson, contributed $500 to McDonnell's run for attorney general.

We told you yesterday that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recorded a phone message encouraging Virginians to get out and vote on Tuesday.

Now, we have learned that a conservative group affiliated with former Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed asked both Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to make calls to nearly 700,000 voters in Virginia.

The Huckabee calls were made Saturday and the Palin calls were made Sunday and today.

The recordings make no mention of Republican candidate Bob McDonnell, who has embraced Huckabee but distanced himself from Palin during the governor's race.

"Virginia, hello, this is Sarah Palin calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote to share our principles," Palin said. "The eyes of America will be on Virginia and make no mistake about it, every vote counts. So don't take anything for granted, vote your values on Tuesday, and urge your friends and family to vote, too."

You can download an mp3 of the Huckabee call or the Palin call.

Tim Kaine, Virginia governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said this afternoon on MSNBC that Democrats still have a chance to win both gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey tomorrow, even though polls show both men behind.

"For 24 years, the party that wins the White House loses both of these governships in Virginia and New Jersey,'' Kaine said. "So the way we look at it at the DNC is that these are uphill races. We had underdog candidates. They were writing us off in mid-summer, but we fought back strong and we're working awfully strong to break that 24-year string and we feel like we have a good shot tomorrow."

Kaine downplayed the significance of the races going into the 2010 midterm elections.

"Traditionally these races right after the presidential year are very focused on local issues and haven't been much of a bellwether for the midterms,'' he said.

Kaine said Obama and the statewide Democratic leaders -- he and Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb -- remain popular in Virginia, which should help gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds.

"There's a strong approval from Democratic voters,'' he said. "What we have to do is we just got to close that gap. We have to energize President Obama supporters. He's been to Virginia twice for Creigh Deeds. And that's what we are working to do."

But Kaine said that the real story tomorrow may be the outcome of New York's special congressional election where the Republican party's candidate dropped out this weekend and now backs the Democratic candidate against a conservative. "It portends a great divide in the Republican party,'' he said. "I think that's going to be the continuing story after tomorrow night."

From the Virginia Public Access Project comes some fascinating new numbers that show Republicans are making a late play for some seats in the House of Delegates where they were once thought to have little chance for pick-ups.

The late donations, from Republican Party of Virginia, Dominion Leadership Trust and
candidate committees for Speaker William Howell and Del. Morgan Griffith, is a sign that Republicans are hoping a tidal wave of a win Tuesday could pull even more delegate candidates into the winner's column than they had once thought.

It's a stunning turnaround in a year when Democrats had once talked about regaining control of the House for the first time since 1999.

Per VPAP, here are late donations from Republican to House candidates just since Friday:

Always good copy, U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) likened the Republican ticket in Virginia this year to Afghanistan's radical Taliban movement in comments broadcast Sunday by WAMU radio.

At a get-out-the-vote rally in Fairfax County, Moran said: "I mean, if the Republicans were running in Afghanistan, they'd be running on the Taliban ticket as far as I can see."

Moran was talking about Republicans Robert F. McDonnell for governor, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and state Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who is running for attorney general. By some accounts, the three represent the most conservative Republican ticket to run in Virginia in many years. Moran's comments clearly were aimed to motivate Democratic voters to turn out on Tuesday and vote blue.

Monday, Nov. 2, 2009

Good morning everyone. Here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

The polls open in less than 24 hours!

In what has to be one of the last polls before Election Day, Republican Bob McDonnell leads Democrat Creigh Deeds, 53 to 41, in a Mason Dixon poll released this weekend.

In the same poll, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is up 13 percentage point over Jody Wagner and Republican Ken Cuccinelli is up 14 percentage points over Steve Shannon in the race for attorney general.

Whoever wins the governor's mansion Tuesday will face continuing budget shortfalls and will have to figure out how to pay for ambitious campaign promises.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has recorded a phone message encouraging Virginians to get out and vote on Tuesday, while Gov. Tim Kaine makes calls for Shannon.

The last newspaper endorsements came out Sunday, and now it's just up to sophisticated get-out-the-vote efforts to get Virginians to the polls.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has recorded a phone message encouraging Virginians to get out and vote on Tuesday, Palin adviser Meg Stapleton told us tonight.

We are awaiting more details about the calls and will bring you the information as soon as we get it.

Tucker Martin, a spokesman for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, said Palin's calls were not being made at the request of the campaign or the Republican Party of Virginia. He said the campaign had no firsthand knowledge of the calls.

Almost all of the Republicans considered top candidates for a 2012 presidential run have made stops in Virginia this year to help McDonnell. But McDonnell has made it pretty clear in recent months that he did not want Palin's help.

McDonnell epeatedly and personally asked Palin for help this summer, but by late August Palin learned that the McDonnell campaign no longer wanted her assistance, Stapleton told us a few weeks ago.

Palin drew enormous, enthusiastic crowds in Virginia while campaigning as Sen. John McCain's runningmate during the presidential election last year. But she is a polarizing figure that could turn off independent voters. In the summer, she drew criticism for abruptly resigning as governor and later insisting that the healthcare bill being considered by Congress would cause the creation of "death panels."

The last of the newspaper endorsements were published today in the race for Viginia governor. Or at least we think they're the last ones with just two days left until Election Day.

The Staunton News Leader endorsed Democrat Creigh Deeds over Repubublican Bob McDonnell.

"The Deeds we saw and heard in our editorial board interview was a man filled with energy, passion and good ideas for Virginia,'' the paper wrote in its editorial. "We think you will agree he's the man we all want to see in the governor's mansion."

Both the Charlottesville Daily Progress and Danville Register & Bee endorsed McDonnell, citing his economic and transportation plans.

"If the economy and transportation are the two top crises facing Virginia, then the question is: Which candidate for governor has the best chance of solving those intertwined problems? And the answer has to be: Bob McDonnell,'' the Daily Progress writes.

It is now not out of the realm of possibility that by Tuesday's election day, Republican Bob McDonnell will have received a three times as much a Democrat Creigh Deeds in late big-dollar donations.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, as of 5 p.m. on Saturday, McDonnell had collected $1.34 million in big contributions since Oct. 21, when the candidates began having to report gifts of $5,000 or more within 24 hours. Deeds had collected only $549,000 in big donations since then.

Those numbers included gifts through Oct. 30 and they showed that donations to McDonnell have been snowballing in recent days as poll after poll has shown him with big leads and contributors perhaps look to provide some late help to the candidate they perceive as the likely victor.

On Friday alone, McDonnell collected $184,310 in such gifts. Deeds received only $40,000.

The folks at the Richmond Times Dispatch asked all six statewide candidates to answer a series of policy questions and published them today.

They didn't break much new ground (after all, we're only two days from election day) but if you're still trying to decide who to vote for, check out the answers on jobs, transportation, college tuition, abortion and off shore drilling.

Gubernatorial candidates, Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell are here

Lieutenant governor candidates, Jody Wagner and Bill Bolling are here

Attorney general candidates, Steve Shannon and Ken Cuccinelli are here

A final Mason-Dixon poll in the Virginia race shows Republican Bob McDonnell continues to lead big over Democrat Creigh Deeds going into Tuesday's election. The survey, funded by the Richmond Times Dispatch, the Virginian Pilot and other state media outlets, showed McDonnell with a 12-point lead, while his ticketmates Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli led opponents Jody Wagner and Del. Steve Shannon by 13 points and 14 points respectively.

What must be most encouraging for McDonnell about all these late polls that have shown with strong, double-digit leads is that they have provided no indication that core Democratic groups are showing late enthusiasm for Deeds. His campaign is insisting it is running an aggressive effort to reach out to voters who helped elect President Obama last year.

Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell are concentrating much of their get-out-the-vote efforts on traditional neighborhood canvasses and phone calls, but are also using online ads, Facebook and Twitter.

McDonnell's Website features an absentee ballot application and an interactive map where voters can look up their precinct location.

The campaign is urging Facebook members to donate their profile photo or status to McDonnell so their status can say things like: "Today is Election Day. Please don't forget to vote for Bob McDonnell and the Republican ticket." Facebook users can add a yard sign.

McDonnell's campaign has used their Website, email lists and GOP-friendly bloggers to get the word out about signing up for volunteer shifts. It has gained more than 2,500 interested volunteers via social media and the Website.

Deeds's campaign is reaching out to voters through Facebook ads in which President Obama's image is used and voters are encouraged to visit the Deeds Website to find their polling place. Voters who have signed up with the campaign will receive text messages asking them to volunteers.

The DNC also released a highly targeted ad on Facebook touting the president's support for Deeds. The ad appears only on pages of Virginia Facebook fans of Obama, people who live within 50 miles of Norfolk, Richmond or Fairfax and students of Virginia colleges and universities.

"Our goal, especially as we try to reach out to these surge voters who are less likely to read news sites or campaign Websites is to reach them where they reside online, which is social networks an search engines," Deeds new media director Eli Kaplan said.

It had appeared increasingly possible that Virginia Republican Bob McDonnell could be the only GOP victory Tuesday, despite all the talk about the national mood turning the party's direction one year after President Obama's election.

That's because Republican Chris Christie is locked in a head heat with Democrat Jon Corzine in the race for New Jersey governor. And it had been because it looked like Democrats might pick up a seat in Congress in a special election in New York, where a deep split had erupted in the GOP between supporters of the party's nominee and a third party conservative.

But, no longer.

Republicans rallying this morning in Springfield had a new prop: A broom that read "McBolliNelli" on the handle.

The Republican ticket is stumping throughout the state Saturday but began with a traditional GOP pep rally at Interstate Van Lines in Springfield. Gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell was joined by ticket mates Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, attorney general candidate Sen. Ken Cuccinelli and a variety for Republican luminaries, including Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

It was Cuccinelli-- introduced to the crowd as Ken "Don't Tread on Me" Cuccinelli -- who held up the broom, which he had been handed as he made his way to the load dock that served as a stage.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell said in a live interview tonight on FOX News that Republican wins in Virginia and New Jersey next week could provide momentum going into the 2010 mid-term elections -- much like Republican wins in both states did in 1993.

"There's a lot of national in this race obviously,'' McDonnell said. "I do think that (people are saying) if McDonnell and (Chris) Christie win there are some opportunities for some added momentum for 2010."

In a five-minute interview, McDonnell told conservative host Sean Hannity that he has been able to win over many independents that had voted for Democrats in Virginia in recent years in part because of discontent with President Obama and Congress.

"Some of the policies that this Congress has pursued and supported by the president like cap and trade and card check and tax increases and intrusions on the free enterprise system and deficit spending, I've made those issues in the race and I think Virginians are not enamored with those policies,'' he said. "I don't think they're good for Virginia....I think that is making a difference in the race."

Earlier we told you what Democrat Creigh Deeds's final message to voters will be, now we are showing you what Republican Bob McDonnell's final contact with Virginians will be before Tuesday's election.

We have the final mailer going out from the Republican Party of Virginia on behalf of McDonnell as well as the doorhanger that volunteers are leaving at houses through Election Day supporting the entire GOP ticket -- McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli.

McDonnell's message is the same one we have heard for months: Improvements to the economy, education and transportation will be made without new taxes. (And, of course, there's also a photo or two of his family).

"We need to work together to bring jobs and opportunity to all Virginians,'' he says on the doorhanger. "I have specific plans and new ideas to create jobs, cut wasteful spending, make government more efficient, invest in our schools and improve transportation -- all without raising taxes. I would be honored to have your support and ask for your vote."

See the mailer here and the doorhanger here.

Happy Halloween, politicos! And welcome to our first (and only?) All Hallows/Election Eve costume contest!

How are you dressing up for Halloween this year? Democrat R. Creigh Deeds drew a few yucks (and groans) by promising earlier today to come as himself -- unlike Republican Bob McDonnell, who is "masquerading" as a moderate.

Team McDonnell was prepared for some fright-night fun too, with this retort from spokesman Tucker Martin: "Halloween is spooky, but Creigh Deeds's plan to raise taxes is flat-out scary."

Actually, and bear with us here, Martin had more. McDonnell is dressing up as himself for Halloween, Martin said, but if he WERE going to go in costume, he'd dress up like the GEICO money stack with eyes -- "to represent how much money he will save Virginians by stopping Creigh Deeds from raising our taxes."

Oof...

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has a case of the seasonal flu, prompting Virginia's junior senator to cancel several planned campaign stops with Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds.

Warner showed up to Deeds' first campaign event Friday, at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Woodbridge, but he was visibly ill and told Democratic supporters and Deeds staffers that he was sick and would be leaving early.

Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said the former Virginia governor visited a doctor Thursday and got the flu diagnosis, adding that Warner "regretted missing the events but he is contagious."

Hall said Warner's illness is regular seasonal flu, not H1N1, known as swine flu.

One sign-holding supporter at the Woodbridge event was overheard asking whether Warner had a case of the "bad-poll-number virus," referring to Deeds' underdog status in his race with Republican Robert F. McDonnell.

-Derek Kravitz

Updated: We just learned that Warner's illness will keep him from the rest of this weekend's events with Deeds. But Deeds still expects to campaign with Gov. Tim Kaine and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb.

Planned Parenthood is protesting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell's statement this week on Laura Ingraham's conservative radio show that he would veto any attempts to use tax dollars to fund their organization.

Ingraham asked McDonnell: "Can you promise that as governor you'll use the veto pen to ensure that Virginians' tax dollars are not used to fund Planned Parenthood or abortion?"

McDonnell responded: "Yeah, I've said that I would do that. We shouldn't be doing that in Virginia...That's common sense...That'll be part of what we'll get done."

Planned Parenthood, which serves 30,000 women in the state a year, is eligible for state money, but does currently not receive any. (In 2008 and 2009, attempts to make Planned Parenthood ineligible for funding were killed in the General Assembly.) But a change could mean the organization's clinics would not be reimbursed for providing healthcare to patients who receive Medicaid, a state-run program.

"The fact is Bob McDonnell is out of step and out of touch with voters and the wrong choice for Virginia,'' said Jessica Honke, director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. "As governor, he will continue the anti-choice and anti-women's health policies he's pushed since his first day in public office."

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia endorsed McDonnell's opponent, Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Post columnist Robert McCartney is tracking the governor's race for readers, tallying up the blows week-by-week. Here's his take on the past week:

The Washington Post's last poll before Election Day shows McDonnell with his biggest lead yet, 11 points, and no sign of flagging. Obama campaigns with Deeds in Norfolk, but 7 in 10 likely voters said their view of Obama wouldn't affect their vote. With this result, McDonnell's won six out of nine rounds on this scorecard, going back to late August. But remember: The only referee that matters is the electorate. No matter which brawler you prefer, get out and vote!

Read the full McCartney Scorecard.

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
Good morning Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

With just four days until Tuesday's election, we are now at the stage where there is nothing new for the candidates to say. Just many more people for them to say it to, and quickly.

Each have launched their final sweeps through the state, as Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds start multi-day, many stop stumps.

McDonnell's five-day, 25-stop "New Jobs, More Opportunities: It Starts Now!" tour began yesterday, with stops in Glen Allen, Danville, Martinsville and Rocky Mount. Deeds was in Richmond and Roanoke.

Both candidates finished their days Thursday greeting spectators tailgating at the Virginia Tech-UNC football game. The fans surely were eager to discuss issues of importance to the Commonwealth. Or, perhaps they were drunk and excited for the opportunity to hand their cellphones to a candidate, after shouting to their girlfriends/buddies/mothers, "Hey, talk to this guy! He's running for governor!"

Deeds's final tour is a four-day. 20-stop "All in for Virginia" tour, which will focus heavily on get out the vote efforts. The Democrat will hit Northern Virginia today. McDonnell today is in Lynchburg, Waynesboro, Culpeper, Ashland and Virginia Beach.

Steve Shannon, the Democratic candidate for attorney general, unveiled a new ad today designed to highlight endorsements he has received from newspapers, law enforcement groups and other nonpartisan organizations.

Take a look:

In the online world of opposition research, data can sometimes be misleading.

In our latest look at state House races, we examine two campaign fliers circulating around Loudoun County. One claims that state Del. David E. Poisson (D-Sterling) was late in paying his personal property taxes for four separate years between 1993 and 2001.

The mailers were circulated by Poisson's Republican opponent, Ashburn businessman Thomas "Tag" Greason. Virginia's Republican Party has made the race between Greason and Poisson a competitive one, pouring $147,000 into Greason's campaign. Poisson himself has received $107,000 from the state Democratic Party and $35,000 from the state House Democratic caucus. In a district that could has trended blue but could go red with a Robert F. McDonnell surge in the governor's race, every little bit helps.

But back to the mailer. Poisson, a Sterling lawyer in private practice, said he didn't move to Loudoun until 1995. And his 2001 late payment and penalty can be attributed to a mistake by his mortgage company, he said.

Less than a week before Election Day, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell picked up the endorsement of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, a key business group in the D.C. metro region.

The group endorsed Democrat Mark Warner in 2001, but declined to endorse in the 2005 race between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Jerry Kilgore.

"We believe Bob McDonnell will focus the attention needed to improve this region's transportation crisis and enhance economic development efforts throughout the commonwealth, which in turn helps strengthen the entire greater Washington region," said John M. Kane, board chairman and president of Office Movers, Inc.

Kane said the group endorsed after interviews with McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds. Issues of importance to the group include transportation, emergency preparedness, energy and the needs of the region's workforce.

Ever receive a letter from the president of the United States? About 330,000 Virginians are about to get one, as the Democratic Party of Virginia puts a letter in the snail mail from President Obama to voters identified as part of the "surge" who came out to the polls to elect Obama last year and are now seen as critical to closing the gap between Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell.

The letterhead includes a nifty presidential symbol with the words, "A special message from President Barack Obama." In the letter, Obama writes, "To make real changes in this country, it will take more than just my presidency - it requires your continued vigilance in the cause of progress. To move this country forward, I need the support and partnership of good governors who are ready to help lay the foundations of change. And this November 3rd is your opportunity to help Virginia do just that."

You can read the whole letter here.

The party says this letter will be its last mailer to Virginia voters on Deeds' behalf.

The only two newspapers that offer home delivery in the 93rd House district have both endorsed Del. Phil Hamilton for re-election.

This is interesting, of course, because the powerful Republican lawmaker from Newport News is under federal investigation.

The Daily Press and the Virginia Gazette both say that even with the scandal, Hamilton is the better choice.

Hamilton is under investigation for negotiating a job offer with Old Dominion University before securing state money for the school. A federal grand jury served the Newport News school system and ODU with subpoenas and search warrants.

"Phil Hamilton was way out of line on the ODU pay-to-teach scheme, but his value to the 93rd House as an experienced legislator trumps that. If he remains on the Appropriations Committee, all the better,'' the Gazette writes in its editorial.

Both newspapers are owned by the same company, but do not share articles or editorials. They often come down on different sides on endorsements, including this year's race for governor. That obviously means that both papers do not always go with Republicans. The Gazette endorsed Democrat Creigh Deeds over Republican Bob McDonnell for governor.

Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
Good morning Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

Five days until the election, and the candidates continue their mad dash last campaign sweeps around the state. A day after President Obama came to town for Democrat Creigh Deeds, Republican Bob McDonnell gets help from some of his party's biggest stars. Likely 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney traveled with McDonnell Wednesday. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned on McDonnell's behalf in Fredericksburg and Fairfax, telling crowds that he hopes McDonnell sparks a national Republican resurgence akin to the one that began in 1993 with his own election as mayor and George Allen's election as Virginia governor.

McDonnell today visits Glen Allen, Danville, Martinsville, Rocky Mount and then concludes the day tailgating at the Virginia Tech football game in Blacksburg. Deeds yesterday was in Charlottesville, Reston and Sterling and today has several events in Richmond, then goes to Roanoke and also finishes the day out in the parking lots of Virginia Tech's football stadium.

Take from this what you will: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is in Virginia today to campaign for McDonnell. He will also be spending election night in Richmond. Democratic National Committee chairman Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, on the other hand, heads today to New Jersey to campaign for Democratic governor Jon Corzine. (He'll be back Friday to pick up work on Deeds's behalf.)

Building on an unusual scientific study about getting out the vote, a new and mysterious nonprofit organization purchased a registration list of Virginia voters that included their voting histories and the voting histories of their neighbors. Next, the organization prepared a mass mailing with those histories and planned to send them out to 350,000 Virginian voters.

The idea? To let them know that someone--including their neighbors--would be watching to see whether they perform their civic duty next Tuesday.

Critics of the idea called it shaming people into voting. Others complained about an invasion of privacy, though the information is already public.

But Debra Girvin, a suburban businesswoman from the suburbs of Richmond who saw herself as nothing more than an idealistic do-gooder--thought this could be a revolutionary exercise in democracy in action.

Her organization, The Know Campaign, was just about to send the mailings, too -- when inquiries from reporters and another look at Virginia's laws on the use of voter rolls made her rethink the project and cancel the mailing.

The way Democrats reckon, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's attendance at the Virginia Military Advisory Council during his four-year term has been perfect--as in, a perfect zero.

In what has become the cornerstone of Jody Wagner's campaign for lieutenant goveror, the Democrat dinged her Republican opponent again this week for being a no-show. In a press release, the campaign accused Bolling of not showing up for Tuesday's meeting of the Virginia Military Advisory Council, one of a handful of boards and commissions to which the lieutenant governor is a member by law.

The Wagner camp also reiterated its assertion that Bolling has missed 64 of 68 meetings in the last four years, an attendance record of less than 6 percent. "Either Bill still doesn't understand the role of the Lieutenant Governor, or he's too busy devoting his time to being a health insurance executive to care," the campaign said. What was not clear at first was whether the campaign had someone at the VMAC to watch the door. (They did, a campaign spokesman said.)

But Bolling took the attack in stride as another shot from a candidate whose team is sliding in the polls. His campaign also took a shot in return, once more reprising its charge that as a top finance official in Virginia, Wagner blew key revenue projections that have aggravated the state's ability to cope with massive budget gaps.

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and possible presidential hopeful, spent a long ay flying across the state with the Republican ticket -- Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinell.

"This is a team that has the experience and qualifications to be able to get this state rolling again, creating jobs,'' Romney said. "This is a jobs ticket."

The four appeared together at a fundraiser in Virginia Beach on behalf of McDonnell, a rally in Roanoke and a press conference in Richmond. They flew in a borrowed plane belonging to Dan Banker, who owns Lynchburg-based Banker Steel, which is helping put together the foundation for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.

Romney also headlined a pair of fundraisers for Bolling today -- one this morning in Charlottesville and one tonight outside Richmond. The two events will bring in about $150,000. His fundraiser for McDonnell brought in $100,000.

"We will feel pretty good about where we are in this campaign six days prior to election day,'' Bolling said. "But we know that to win we have to work just as hard the next six days as we have the last six months. And that's exactly what we intend to do."

The GOP ticket will leave for a five-day tour across the state tomorrow morning.

Democrat Creigh Deeds has now released his positive, final days television ad. The spot talks about Deeds' endorsement by three of the state's four largest papers and implores voters to elect "substance over style."

The campaign says the ad will air statewide. The question in these closing days for the Deeds campaign will be one of money.

Chances are, no matter where you live in Virginia, you'll be seeing the new spot released by Republican Bob McDonnell a heck of a lot more frequently than this new Deeds ad. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, McDonnell had a cash advantage on Oct. 21 that's only grown since then. Since that day, McDonnell has taken in more than $850,000 in donations of $5,000 or more. Deeds has received only $367,000 in big dollar gifts.

In one of his final TV ads in the race for governor, Republican Bob McDonnell sticks with the positive.

In the ad, "Hope" McDonnell lays out his vision for the state, which includes keeping taxes low and controlling spending, while noting his service as an army officer and attorney general. Oh, and he also asks Virginians for their vote next Tuesday.

Watch it here:

Expect to see a lot of Michael Steele this week.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee will rally volunteers at a campaign office outside Richmond tonight as they begin another night of calling potential voters.

Thursday and Friday, Steele will be with Bob McDonnell and the entire Republican ticket as they campaign in Southside, Southwest and Central Virginia.

In an interview, Steele told us that he expects to spend election night with McDonnell in Richmond too.

Does that mean he expects to win the governor's mansion in Virginia, and not New Jersey?

Of course, he didn't say that. He said he expects to spend time in the Garden State earlier on Tuesday.

Updated: For those of you who are wondering, Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will also be In Richmond on election night. Kaine will spend the evening at Deeds's party. Steve Shannon and Jody Wagner will also be there.

Yesterday, the Log Cabin Republicans praised Republican Bob McDonnell for his "inclusive" statements promising never to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexual orientation.

Today, the group of Republican gay activists slammed McDonnell's ticket-mate, Ken Cuccinelli, for the reverse. Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for attorney general, was quoted in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper declining to commit to the state's nondiscrimination policy against gays and lesbians.

"My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong," Cuccinelli told the newspaper. "They're intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it's appropriate to have policies that reflect that. . . They don't comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society."

David Lampo, vice president of the Log Cabin Republican Club of Virginia, put out the following statement today:

"That Mr. Cuccinelli would make such incendiary and prejudicial remarks as a candidate for the state's highest legal office is truly frightening, and we call on him to apologize for injecting his personal and hateful opinions into this race," said David Lampo, vice president of the Log Cabin Republican Club of Virginia. "The overwhelming majority of Virginia voters, 90 percent according to Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, support a policy of employment nondiscrimination for state employees. We hope voters evaluate very carefully a candidate who intends to let his personal beliefs and prejudices guide his decision making as Attorney General."

"Cuccinelli's remarks stand in stark contrast to the inclusive statements of Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for Governor," Lampo continued, "Mr. McDonnell has rightfully said the government should not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and so we call on Republican leaders and candidates throughout Virginia to repudiate Cuccinelli's hateful remarks and stand with Bob McDonnell on this important issue."

Cuccinelli's opponent, Democrat Steve Shannon, also criticized Cuccinelli for his remarks. Shannon sent a letter to McDonnell urging him to denounce Cuccinelli's remarks, and McDonnell did -- sort of, while also taking a swipe at Shannon for focusing on the issue at all.

"Bob McDonnell's record and position is clear: he does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and he hires and promotes based solely on merit and ability," spokesman Tucker Martin said. "That was his policy as attorney general, and will be his policy as governor. There are only six days left in this critically important race. Bob will spend that time continuing to advance innovative ideas to create new jobs, improve our schools, fix our roads and turn Virginia's economy around. Steve Shannon, as a candidate for statewide office in these tough times, should think about doing the same thing."

Post reporter Anita Kumar, who has been trailing the Deeds campaign, and Post polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta were online earlier today to discuss the Virginia governor's race and the week remaining in it. Read the full transcript or check out some excerpts from the chat below.

Fairfax County, Va.: Looking at the poll story and the graphics and table provided, it appears that Deeds is polling about as well in northern Virginia as, say, Mark Warner, but doing much worse in the rest of the state than anybody else you list -- Barack Obama, Tim Kaine, or Warner. Yet Deeds is the guy who's emphatically not from northern Virginia (admittedly Kaine isn't either). What gives?

washingtonpost.com: McDonnell's edge over Deeds grows stronger (Post, Oct. 27)

Jennifer Agiesta: Thanks for the question, Fairfax! The regional split is one of the most interesting things we found in this last poll. Deeds' victory in the primary seemed to be more about his electability and appeal outside of the DC suburbs than his positions on the issues, and that bit of strategic voting by Virginia Democrats may have backfired.

Conventional wisdom says a Democrat needs to win around 60 percent of the votes in Northern Virginia to win statewide, but that assumes the candidate can run closely with his or her opponent in the rest of the state, and Deeds is clearly lagging behind other successful Democrats on that front. Outside of Northern Virginia, half of all likely voters call Deeds "too liberal," and McDonnell has whopping advantages on handling taxes (32 points), transportation and the economy (25 points), and issues of special concern to women (17 points). Even in the western part of the state (which includes his home in Bath County) Deeds trails McDonnell in the race by 27 points.

The folks at Style Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Richmond, sat down with gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell to ask them a few final, pressing questions before Tuesday's big day.

Who is your political hero?

When is the last time that you were moved by a piece of great art?

If you were to invite us over for dinner, what's the best meal you could make?

And this final interesting question: Can you name one good reason that someone should vote for your opponent?

Read the answers here.

Washington Post staff writer Anita Kumar and Post polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta will be online today at noon to discuss the race for governor of Virginia in the final week of the campaign between Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert F. McDonnell. Kumar covered Deeds's rally with Obama yesterday, while Agiesta can explain The Post's polling in the race.

Submit your questions now or return at noon to read the discussion.

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009
Good Morning Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

With just a week to go before Election Day, President Barack Obama sweeps into Norfolk for a brief but spirited rally for Democrat Creigh Deeds' bid for governor.

A presidential visit--with its Hail-to-the-Chiefiness and its Air Force One photo ops--is all-consuming to the news cycle of a state race, a fact obvious from a quick glance at this morning's Virginia media. Every outlet in the state carried news of the president, his exhortation "I don't believe in can't," and his plea for his supporters to ignore polls and pundits and work to get Deeds elected.

President Obama and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds share at least one thing in common: funny names.

Or at least that's what Obama said at his rally for Deeds at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

"I said before, look, I would have liked this guy no matter what, because he's got a funny name like Barack Obama,'' Obama said as he and the audience broke into laughter. "So we both overcome these hardships." More laughter. "Served in the state legislature, just like me. So me and him, we're like that."

The crowd of nearly 6,000 interrupted Obama's speech several times with applause, shrieks and laughter as he delivered a rousing 20-minute speech for Deeds.

"Again and again, Creigh has been there for the people of Virginia, and now he needs you to be there for them,'' he said.

Read the story here.

Read Obama's full remarks below:

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One en route to this afternoon's rally in Norfolk, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Obama will not be returning to Virginia for Creigh Deeds after today.

"Not that I'm aware of," he said, before noting that he will be returning for a day of stops for Democratic governor Jon S. Corzine (N.J.).

"Look, certainly at a federal level, I mean, we were happy to see the progress in the commonwealth, but also understanding that Barack Obama was the first Democratic candidate to carry that state since 1964," Gibbs said, according to a transcript of the gaggle, explaining why Deeds is not doing better in the polls against Republican Bob McDonnell. "So I think everybody understands that it was -- you know, Virginia is a -- is probably as purple as it can get, certainly among a presidential state, given the fact that it's been in the red column for so long."

He rejected the idea that Deeds has been adversely impacted by perceptions of Obama, specifically citing this morning's Washington Post poll that showed that 70 percent of likely voters said their views of Obama will play no role in their vote. Of the 3 in 10 who said the president will play a role, half said they will be voting to express support for him rather than opposition.

"Obviously I think any number of factors go into what has happened in each state, and I think one of the factors that goes into Virginia is a Democrat that's been outspent," Gibbs said.

He said the White House is "very comfortable" with the level of support it has provided Deeds, noting Obama's role and Vice President Biden's two fundraisers, as well as help from the Democratic National Committee.

The Virginia Public Access Project has been working hard to slice and dice finance reports submitted by the campaigns yesterday and has already reported some very interesting findings.

For instance, there are 87 people and organizations who contributed a total of almost $504,000 to Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine in 2005, who this year have given to Republican Bob McDonnell instead, to the tune of almost $494,000. By contrast, there are only 50 such people and groups who gave to Republican Jerry Kilgore four years ago and who have contributed to Democrat Creigh Deeds this year. They have given Deeds a total of just under $150,000. We'll be looking through the list of donor switchers for interesting names and stories.

VPAP also shows us that of the $16.95 million Deeds has raised for his campaign committee, he has taken in $9.4 million from Virginians and $7.4 million from outside the state. Broken down by industry, outside of political committees, Deeds has received the most money from organized labor, followed by the legal industry and then real estate and construction.

McDonnell has raised far more than Deeds -- $22.4 million. It breaks down to $13.8 from in-state and $8.6 million from outside Virginia. After political committees, the top industry for McDonnell has been real estate/construction followed by retail and service businesses, then the finance and insurance industries.

As if there was any doubt that in these closing days, the strategy for Democrat Creigh Deeds is AAO (all about Obama), the Democratic National Committee today releases a new highly targeted Facebook ad touting the president's support for Deeds. The ad will appear only on pages of Virginia Facebook fans of Obama, people who live within 50 miles of Norfolk, Richmond or Fairfax and students of Virginia colleges and universities.

The goal here is to reach voters who backed Obama last year but may not be inclined to vote in a state election. Such voters, particularly young ones, are notoriously hard to reach through traditional means. (It is assumed that they are probably not reading this blog, for instance.) But Facebook is one way to find them.

The exclamation point on the effort, of course, comes this afternoon with the Norfolk rally for Deeds, which Obama is headlining. Stay tuned for more coverage of the event.

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Good morning, Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

Virginia voters go to the polls one week from today. Which makes news that Republican Bob McDonnell now leads Democrat Creigh Deeds in the race for governor by 11 points in a new Post poll all the more exciting for Republicans and worrying for Democrats. Though Deeds often talks about past races where he overcame a deficit in the polls, the numbers this year have all been moving towards McDonnell in the last few weeks and time is running out.

Plus, McDonnell has already been outspending Deeds and he will continue to do so through Nov. 3--as new reports from the Virginia Public Access Project show he raised more than Deeds in the first three weeks of October.

The big news today will take place at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, where Deeds rallies with President Obama. If anything could still scramble the race's dynamics in the last few days, it would be the engagement of so-called Obama surge voters, non-regular voters who came out for the president last year. Can a splashy, though brief, rally help? (Obama will be in Virginia for just a couple hours, total.)

Lou Holtz, the legendary football coach who led Notre Dame to a national championship and is now an ESPN analyst, cracked jokes and shared stories with a standing room only crowd of Bob McDonnell supporters in Richmond tonight.

A sampling of Holtz's quips:

What do you call a former Redskins player with a Super Bowl ring? "Senior citzens."

What was the most important thing you learned while coaching at William & Mary? "We had too many Marys and not enough Williams."

"I know we have Democrats in here. I tried to use small words."

"Well, they may have a few more people with the president tomorrow, but it won't be as entertaining,'' McDonnell proclaimed.

About 200 people sipped wine and munched on cheese and crackers at the Willow Oaks Country Club as Holtz spoke. Former Lt. Gov. John Hager attended, as did many McDonnell staffers and lobbyists. McDonnell was accompanied by his wife, Maureen, a former Redskins cheerleader, and three of their five children.

Throughout his speech, Holtz offered bits of wisdom to the audience and McDonnell.

"We're down near the end of the race here,'' he said. "You have to finish a game. You have to finish a race. There's never anything easy about it. You're got eight days left. Finish what you started. Be committed to it. Do the very best to your ability."

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds raised $3.1 million in the first three weeks of October, while his Republican rival Bob McDonnell raised $4 million during that same period, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in Virginia politics.

Deeds had nearly $1 million cash on hand going into the final weeks of the race, while McDonnell has almost double that, or $1.8 million, according to VPAP.

Deeds's campaign reported 2,392 total donors -- 68% who contributed less than $200. The campaign received contributions from 1,471 new donors.

"We are proud of the work the campaign has done to attract support and grassroots involvement in every corner of Virginia," Deeds campaign manager Joe Abbey. "This support will be vital as we get our message out in the final 10-days of this election and look to turn out an unprecedented vote for the Democratic ticket."

McDonnell's campaign picked up 2,758 first-time donors over the period and received 2,426 donations of $100 or less. But more than half of McDonnell's total were in-kind contributions from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the state Republican party.

"As this campaign enters the final days we have the resources we need to continue getting Bob's positive vision out to voters statewide,'' McDonnell campaign manager Phil Cox said. "And we have all the momentum in this race."

A week before Election Day, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling released a positive new TV ad today highlighting Bolling's accomplishments.

The ad mentions Virginia's Children's Health Insurance Program, securing funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, expanding the Governor's Opportunity Fund in economically depressed areas of the state and his opposition to higher taxes.

With just a little more than a week to go until Election Day, the Post will release the results of its final poll in the Virginia governor's race later today.

Among other key findings, the poll will reveal whether perceptions about President Obama are a factor among likely voters, whether Creigh Deeds has managed to convince core Democrats to vote and whether it appears that Republican Bob McDonnell's arguments on taxes have been effective.

And, of course, the poll will tell us who's ahead and by how much.

Check it all out later today.

Privately, a lot of Democrats are saying they think Jody Wagner's campaign to knock of incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is showing signs of life, even while their hopes dim about a win at the top of the ticket. Given those sentiments, it would not be surprising to see Wagner take in some last minute money that will help her air more ads like this one.

Today's spot, released this morning, hits what has become a central theme in her campaign--that Bolling was a no-show at state boards and commissions on which he sits. Bolling has said Wagner's math is unfair, for instance, not accounting for meetings missed due to presiding over the state senate.

There are three very similar versions--the one for Northern Virginia mentions Wagner's endorsement by the Post editorial board. One in Hampton Roads calls Wagner "Virginia Beach's own" and mentions her endorsement by the Pilot editorial page. A third version, posted below, includes no reference to newspapers and is airing in Richmond, Charlottesville and Roanoke.

UPDATE: A correction. The Hampton Roads version of this ad does NOT say Wagner has been endorsed by the Pilot--which has not yet made an endorsement in the lieutenant governor's race. It merely says that Pilot has said that Wagner has "proven herself." Our apologies.

Democratic candidate for governor R. Creigh Deeds will be online at 11 a.m. today to answer your questions about the governor's race and his plans for running the state. Submit your questions now and tune back in at 11 a.m. to see his answers.

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009
Good Morning Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

Eight days and counting until Election Day. The big event of the week is tomorrow's rally by President Obama in Norfolk for Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds. It comes just a few days after some of the president's senior aides were quoted anonymously saying they see virtually no chance for a Deeds victory against Republican Bob McDonnell and preparing to blame Deeds--and not their boss--for the loss. Awkward alert!

But Deeds supporters are working hard to prove those unnamed Cassandras wrong--including working to pump up Obama supporters over the weekend. McDonnell brings in a celeb of his own today, holding a rally in Richmond with former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz. Deeds today campaigns at two retirement communities in Fairfax with U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly.

Campaign finance reports are due today covering the first 22 days of October. They're the last before the election but we're now in the zone where campaigns must also report all donations of $5,000 or more within 24 hours. So far, those daily reports have shown a big advantage in last minute contributions for McDonnell. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, McDonnell took in $80,000 in big dollar donations on Sunday alone. And how much did Deeds get? $0.

Gov. Tim Kaine spent the day in the Richmond area rallying volunteers at several stops, encouraging them to knock on doors and make calls on behalf of the Democratic ticket -- Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon.

"Again and again these three who are on the Republican ticket have been standing in the way,'' Kaine told a group of about 40 vounteers. "Fighting against us on unemployment insurance, on transportation, on pre-K, on banning smoking, on non-partisan redistricting...They know what they're against and that's virtually everything."

Kaine was joined by Wagner, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Tom Shields, who is running against Republican Del. John O'Bannon and two of Deeds's four children, Gus and Amanda.

The group visited campaign offices in Henrico and Chesterfield and Lucille's Southern Fused Cuisine. (A union-sponsored bus (Building Trades United for Deeds) was parked outside.) Tonight, Kaine will headline a fundraiser for Wagner, who faces Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling next Tuesday.

With a couple months left in his own term, Kaine, the new Democratic National Committee chairman, sounded a bit nostalgic for his nearly 16 years in elected office.

"I was doing this last Saturday and I was thinking I'm really going to miss this,'' he said. "And I thought 'No I'm not. I'm going to be doing it every year.' " What a great ride I've had. It's a little bit bittersweet coming to the end. (But) I'm so excited about the next role that I have."

The remaining big Virginia newspapers made their endorsements this morning in the race for governor. No big surprises in the bunch, as papers' editorials boards largely went with the candidate's from the parties that best represented their well known policy stands.

The Richmond Times Dispatch backed Republican Bob McDonnell, as did the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star.

The Roanoke Times backed Democrat Creigh Deeds. So did the Virginian-Pilot.

That last editorial provided the only moment of intrigue for the moment. For one, choosing Deeds meant going against hometown candidate McDonnell. But, for the other, the endorsement is marked by a lack of enthusiasm for the chosen candidate. The paper's board chose Deeds as the better bet to fix transportation and manage state finances. But they called his campaign "chaotic" and generally slammed sophistication of the arguments advanced by both sides.

Earlier this month, the GOP launched two television ads claiming that that Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds' support for a statewide gas tax and federal cap-and-trade legislation would result in $7,800 in additional taxes per Virginia family every four years.

Deeds (D-Bath) has fired back, debuting his own ad in southwest Virginia that called on Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell to "knock off the lies" about the Democrat's support for the cap-and-trade bill. So who is right and how did McDonnell reach that $7,800 number?

McDonnell's $7,800-figure ads were based primarily on two assumptions. The first is that Deeds would support a 20-cent-per-gallon state gas tax to raise the $1 billion he has said is needed for road and transit improvements. Deeds has yet to support such an increase.

Perhaps it was the intermittent rain today, but only about a dozen Democratic activists showed up this afternoon at Ben Brenman park in Fairfax County for a plea by First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton for volunteers to get out the vote for gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds and the entire Democratic ticket.

Delegates Charniele Herring and Dave Englin and Alexandria Vice Mayor Kerry Donley joined Holton by the big gazebo at the park, which sits on a former Army base south of Alexandria, for what was billed as a rally but ended up a more subdued affair. The group enjoyed a brief respite from the windy, wet weather on a day when volunteers for virtually every candidate on the ballot in Virginia would be out knocking on doors.

Holton told the gathered volunteers that it was imperative that they motivate the masses who turned out last fall to elect President Obama. More than 500,000 new voters registered last year, with most of those newcomers likely drawn into politics by the history-making race.

Republicans, she said, "are counting on those new voters not turning up," she said. "If the Democratic core voters turn out, and they will, if all the new voters turn out, then we will win."

Virginia NAACP Executive Director King Salim Khalfani repeatedly criticized Democratic attorney general candidate Steve Shannon and Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling for failing to attend the group's candidate's forum last night.

Khalfani mentioned their absences multiple times in front of the more than 100 people gathered at the Richmond Marriott for the candidate's forum as part of the group's annual conference.

He told the audience how Shannon initially agreed to come but then canceled two days ago with a phone call in which he said he assumed his Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli was not attending either. Actually, Khalfani said, Cuccinelli was the first of six statewide candidates to RSVP and did so personally.

He also said that Bolling's campaign called for the first time an hour before the event to say Bolling could not attend and offered to send a surrogate in his place, but the NAACP told the campaign that the group does not allow surrogates.

Just how excited is the Republican National Committee about Virginia this year?

Today, the RNC transferred $300,000 to Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli and House Speaker Bill Howell on behalf of his members.

"From the Virginia delegate races all the way to the Governor's mansion it is the top priority of the Republican National Committee to help Virginia Republicans win again,'' RNC Chairman Michael Steele told us in a statement this afternoon. "All of our efforts are focused on rebuilding our Republican majority and we see Virginia as the first step in achieving that goal."

The RNC has made an unprecedented committment to Virginia -- nearly $8 million -- that is being directly given to candidates and being spent on getting voters to the polls Nov. 3.

The RNC and the state GOP together coordinate the state's get-out-of-the vote efforts with 30 offices and 40 staffers across the state.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell continued his "New Jobs, New Virginia" tour with a stop at a flower shop in the Cherrydale area of Arlington -- but don't tell the neighborhood!

Owner John Nicholson hosted the event this afternoon at the request of the National Federation of Independent Business, which is supporting McDonnell. Nicholson is a past chairman of the Virginia NFIB's Leadership Council.

"My wife said, 'Are you sure you want to do this? Our customers might picket us,'" Nicholson said with a laugh, making a reference to Arlington's overwhelmingly Democratic electorate.

Nicholson went through with the event anyway, giving McDonnell a short tour of his flower shop, Company Flowers, and talking about what he views as the bigger challenges facing small business today -- the Business and Professional Licensing tax and the high cost of health insurance, among others.

Surrounded by greeting cards and Halloween decorations and the heavy scent of roses, Nicholson said, "It's nice to see somebody who really understands business."

But then he added, "I disagree with you on widening I-66," prompting a grin from McDonnell and this response: "I know Arlington's had some objections to that. We have to find a way to improve it. How about if we double-stack it?"

In case anyone doubted it, there are Republicans in Arlington -- and Sally Linderman is one of them. Out to support McDonnell at his flower shop appearance, Linderman said she's been looking forward to his gubernatorial campaign for two years.

"He looks the part, he speaks the part, he carries the whole aura of the governor of Virginia," she said. "And we need a change."

The National Rifle Association is airing new TV ads on behalf of Republican Bob McDonnell that appeal to those who are worried about government intervention.

Check it out here:

Meanwhile, two Italian American organizations are calling on McDonnell to ask the NRA to o take down a previous TV commericial because of its "offensive characterization of Italian American."

"This type of negative imagery reinforces defaming stereotypes about an entire ethnic group and undermines the progress made in ending prejudice against all groups in our country,'' says a joint statement by the Columbus Citizens Foundation and the National Italian American Foundation: "We would hope that gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell would appeal to the electorate through substantive policy discussion on issues of importance to the State of Virginia rather than appealing through negative stereotyping."

Former state senator Russ Potts, a Republican who backs Democrat R. Creigh Deeds for governor and stumped for him Wednesday in Winchester, took a little detour off the message train by criticizing Republican Robert F. McDonnell for supporting charter schools.

Um, Deeds supports charter schools. And so does President Obama. And Deeds doesn't need to give Obama supporters another reason to think he's not fully supportive of the president. (And that's probably why McDonnell's campaign shopped around the reference to Potts's remarks, which were published yesterday in the Northern Virginia Daily).

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"One candidate is for charter schools, Bob McDonnell, the other is opposed to charter schools," Potts said.

Few charter schools have been created in the Old Dominion for a simple reason, Potts said. Communities that considered it "were very happy with the public education system in Virginia."

McDonnell does support charter schools, and he often cites Obama's similar view when he talks about it. Deeds has also publicly come out in favor of charter schools, although the McDonnell campaign today noted that Deeds has voted against charter schools in the legislature.

Democrat Creigh Deeds is out with a new ad--we're at that point in the campaign where that's going to be the story, for both sides, pretty much every day. This one's on jobs and is running in southwest Virginia and Harrisonburg. It features just folks calling on Republican Bob McDonnell to "knock off the lies" about Deeds and the cap-and-trade bill. Deeds has said he supports efforts to reduce global warming but opposes the cap-and-trade bill now pending in Congress.

You can watch the ad here:

A new state political action committee called Working Women for Virginia will start airing TV ads in Northern Virginia today to oppose Republican Bob McDonnell's views in his race for governor against Democrat Creigh Deeds.

We told you last week that the group registered with the state three weeks ago, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. It has been raising money through word of mouth, social networking and online advertising to pay for the TV commercials, said Margie Omero, a Democratic pollster who helped form the group.

Watch the ad here:

In campaign world, Thursday was the day Democrats in Washington began preparing for a loss by Creigh Deeds in the Virginia governor's race by blaming him for running a poor campaign.

In the real world, it was the day International Paper announced they were closing their paper mill in Franklin County, resulting in the loss of 1,100 Virginia jobs. Both campaigns put out statements expressing sympathy to the workers, as did Gov. Tim Kaine. From twitters, we see that Deeds made a detour from his campaign schedule to meet with workers at the gate last night.

Late last night, he tweeted:

Shook hands at IP gate. Devestating. Met employees of 41, 36, 31 years. We have much to do to restore hope

We're told he was with workers until almost midnight, then got up to do the early morning shift today as well.

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Good morning, Virginia! Just 11 days to go until Election Day, and today we have some news for you.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds took a body blow Thursday from the White House, where senior administration sources said they were deeply frustrated with his failure to more fully embrace President Barack Obama on the campaign trail. Preparing for a Deeds loss, these officials seem to be trying to minimize any damage to the president or his agenda by laying the blame squarely at the candidate's feet.

Deeds appeared before the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Hampton Thursday night, while surrogates continued the campaign's "Educational Opportunity" school bus tour across the state in a school bus.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell continued his "New Jobs, New Virginia" tour yesterday with a stop in Culpeper and the debut of a new ad, "Jobs." He also reiterated, as forcefully as one can, that he has no plans to raise taxes if elected.

Today, McDonnell continues the jobs tour with stops in Manassas and Arlington, and he goes before the Southern Christian Leadership Conference tonight. Deeds rallies in Petersburg with actors and film industry leaders Tim and Daphne Reid. Both candidates will appear tonight in Richmond before the Virginia chapter of the NAACP.

In other news, Newsweek takes a look at Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's leadership at the Democratic National Committee.

The proverbial sparks flew at a debate Thursday between attorney general hopefuls Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican, and Steve Shannon, the Democrat.

Republican Bob McDonnell criticized the health care package being written on Capitol Hill in a live interview today on Your World with Neil Cavuto on FOX News.

"I know our voters are telling us that they're concerned,'' McDonnell said. "While they think it's legitimate to address the cost and access to health care, turning over the greatest medical system in the world to the federal government is probably not a good idea."

McDonnell said Virginians are worried about increased costs, decreased choices and a interruption in the doctor-patient relationship.

Cavuto said Democrat Creigh Deeds was invited to appear on the show, but that he never heard back from Deeds' campaign. This is the third time in recent weeks that McDonnell has appeared on national TV alone with Deeds either declining or not responding to a interview request.

Stephen C. Shannon, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, accused Republican rival Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II today of planning to fight the federal government in a way reminiscent of the state's opposition to civil rights legislation in the past.

At a debate in Richmond, Shannon said Virginians who opposed federal law supported slavery, shut down schools instead of integrating them, prevented inter-racial marriage and sterilized the mentally retarded.

"Our history in Virginia of states' rights is not a flattering picture,'' Shannon said. "When he's talking about states' rights, you have to understand the mistakes we have made in the past."

Cuccinelli called Shannon a "race baiter" and later told reporters that his opponent took his allegations too far.

"That is truly desperate and over the line,'' he said. "He was just literally trying to throw a grenade in and, frankly, it's terribly inappropriate."

Republican gubernatorial contender Robert F. McDonnell debuted a new ad titled "Jobs" to coincide with his four-city "New Jobs, New Virginia" tour, which was in Culpeper today and comes to Arlington on Friday.

Here's the ad's script:

"Creigh Deeds job-killing policies: A billion dollars in new taxes. A new energy tax that would kill up to 56,000 jobs. Deeds pushed a billion dollars in new spending. Creigh Deeds, higher taxes, job-killing policies"

"Bob McDonnell: a jobs governor. Job-creating policies endorsed by Virginia businesses.
Bob McDonnell, no to higher taxes and wasteful spending. Yes to innovative policies to create jobs. Bob McDonnell: a jobs governor."

And view the ad here:

Post columnist Robert McCartney is tracking the governor's race for readers, tallying up the blows week-by-week. Here's his take on the past week:

Deeds takes the round on points. He receives a ringing endorsement from The Washington Post's editorial page, and early enough to use it in television ads. Deeds also gets Obama to commit to campaign with him again, despite White House grumbling that he's run a poor campaign. All this help might well come too late for the Democrat, who's been well behind in the polls and didn't land any big blows in the fourth and final debate.

Read the full McCartney Scorecard.

McCartney also was on News Channel 8 earlier today to discuss his column about GOP attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli. You can watch the clip below.

We noted that a Northern Virginia ad that Democrat Creigh Deeds released several days about Deeds's endorsement by The Washington Post featured only lines praising Deeds -- and none of the endorsement's criticism of Republican Bob McDonnell.

It turned out, the Deeds campaign was saving those tidbits of the piece for a second ad, this one all about McDonnell. The ad began running Thursday morning and features pretty much nothing but quotes from The Post ed board about McDonnell, against a white background.

Watch it here.

Democrat Creigh Deeds may be holding rallies with Presidents Obama and Clinton, but we hear Republican Bob McDonnell has a few bold names coming into the state for him too.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who serves as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, all are scheduled to campaign for McDonnell in the next two weeks. All have been mentioned as possible candidates for president in 2012.

In addition, Hall of Famer Bruce Smith -- a Norfolk native and Virginia Tech alum -- and former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein will hold a rally for McDonnell in Virginia Beach Saturday.

College football Hall of Famer Lou Holtz, a former Notre Dame coach-turned-TV commentator, will hold a meet-and-greet with McDonnell Monday in Richmond.

All four possible GOP presidential hopefuls have been in the state for McDonnell before, and are scheduled to return before Nov. 3.

Giuliani is scheduled to be Northern Virginia on Oct. 28, and Romney will participate in several events. We'll bring you details as they become available.

We knew this was coming.

The Republican Governors Association launched a new ad in Northern Virginia today seizing on what it calls Democrat Creigh Deeds's conflicting statements about whether he would consider opting out of a public health insurance option if Congress extended that possibility to the states.

"Creigh Deeds waffles more than IHOP after church lets out on Sunday," RGA spokesman Mike Schrimpf said. "But unlike their customers, Deeds leaves 'everything on the table.'"

Deeds made the comments at Tuesday night's final debate in Salem. Immediately after the debate, he tried to explain to reporters that he believed the public option might help reduce health care costs and expand coverage, but he is not certain it is the best way to achieve those goals. "It may be one way, it might not be the best way," he said.

Watch the ad here:

Left-leaning blogs and Democratic twitters are giving Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds a hard time over his comment at Tuesday night's final debate in Salem, indicating that he would consider opting out of a public health insurance option if Congress extended that possibility to the states. Daily Kos has run some items taking Deeds to task over his wishy-washy support for the public option, for instance. That's not to mention Virginia bloggers Ben Tribbett and Lowell Feld.

After the debate, Deeds tried to explain to reporters that he believed the public option might help reduce health care costs and expand coverage, but he is not certain it is the best way to achieve those goals. "It may be one way, it might not be the best way," he said.

(His campaign also circulated a statement today about the issue saying that "if the public option proves to be the best way" to reduce costs and expand coverage, "he'd support having Virginia participate. He'll examine all of the proposals on the table and choose the option than provides Virginians with the most affordable and quality coverage.")

But his attempt to clarify his position has now been turned into a new Republican video that is making the rounds, much like the Fairfax Count post-debate scrum.

And now it appears Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Jody Wagner is embracing the public option more vigorously, at least slightly, than Deeds.

It's hard to know whether the online world will filter into the rest of the world on this issue. But it's clear Deeds needs to energize committed Democrats behind his efforts--and some of them were not at all impressed with his answer on health care.

Just check out some of the tweets.

Rosalind Helderman and Amy Gardner of The Post were online earlier today to answer questions about the governor's race and the down-ballot campaigns. Read the full discussion transcript. Excerpts follow.

Richmond, Va.: You've reported several times that Deeds is having a tough time energizing Democrats and Obama voters and that was something he was going to emphasize over the next two weeks. However, last night he waffled on his support for the public option. Combined with his distancing himself from many of Obama and Congressional Democrat policies, is Deeds contradicting his proclaimed path to victory?

Amy Gardner: Great question. I think this speaks to the heart of Deeds's challenge -- the fact that he is a conservative Democrat, many of whose positions are to the right of President Obama, but who is seeking election in a year when the clear path to victory for a Democrat is to rally Obama voters. I don't know if Deeds has "waffled," but certainly he has wobbled a little bit trying to explain his views on health care reform and cap and trade legislation without sounding like he is contradicting Obama and without alienating those who support the president.

Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for attorney general, is up on the air new with a new TV ad that accuses his Democratic opponent Steve Shannon of not knowing much about being attorney general.

At their last debate, Cuccinelli asked Shannon to name all the divisions in the attorney general's office.

Shannon said he would get back to the question, but that first he wanted to return to a previous issue. Later, when he did return to the question, he said it didn't matter. He never did answer the question.

"Shannon didn't answer the questions ... because Shannon doesn't know the job,'' the ad says at the end.

Check out the ad here:

(For the record, Office of the Attorney General spokesman David Clementson shared the following divisions off of the department's internal organizational chart: Administration; Civil Litigation; Financial Law and Government Support; Health, Education and Social Services; Technology Real Estate, Environment and Transportation; Public Safety and Enforcement; and STAG (Sexually Violent Predators, Tobacco and Agriculture) and Debt Collections. The only place these appear to be listed and described online are in annual reports from the state auditor (pdf file).

Post reporters Rosalind Helderman and Amy Gardner will be online at 2 p.m. to discuss their stories today on the debate and Bill Clinton's Virginia visit, as well as any other aspect of the Virginia governor's race. Submit questions now or read the full discussion.

Earlier today, Post editorial board member Lee Hockstader took questions about the board's decision to endorse Deeds in the race -- read some excerpts from that discussion after the jump.

A gun-rights political action committee in Virginia has given its endorsement to the GOP's top three candidates this year, partly because none of the Democrats completed the group's candidate survey, its chairman said Wednesday.

The blessing from VCDL PAC, which is affiliated with the Virginia Citizens Defense League, is not exactly a surprise. The National Rifle Association's political wing has also given its seal of approval to Republicans Robert F. McDonnell, who is running for governor; Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is seeking reelection; and Attorney General candidate Ken Cuccinelli.

But the VCDL's leaders say their group does not follow the NRA in lockstep. They said the VCDL, which claims about 5,000 dues-paying members and an email list of at least 13,000, has endorsed Democrats and independent candidates in the past. And the statewide gun-rights PAC could back some non GOP candidates when it issues its list of endorsements in House of Delegate contests next week, said VCDL PAC chairman Kenneth "Mack" Elliott. But he said the VCDL PAC's rules prohibit endorsing anyone who has not filled out the survey, and they are not sure why none of the top three Democrats did.

We told you we'd let you know when we had more details about President Obama's Oct. 27 foray into Virginia to campaign with Democratic gubernatorial hopeful R. Creigh Deeds.

Here you go: A "Rally for Virginia" featuring Obama and Deeds will take place at the Ted Constant Convocation Center at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. The Deeds folks say further information will be available in the coming days.

Former Roanoke state Sen. Brandon Bell, who had been among some prominent Republican supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds earlier this year, announced Wednesday that he changed his mind and now supporters Republican Robert F. McDonnell, the McDonnell campaign announced today.

"I've watched this campaign unfold since both candidates secured their respective nominations," Bell said in a statement issued by the McDonnell folks. "In the four months since that time, Bob McDonnell has impressed me with his campaign, and his determined focus on rolling out specific policy proposals for Virginia's future."

Two steadfast Republican supporters of Deeds, former state senator Russ Potts of Winchester and former delegate Jim Dillard of Fairfax, are on the road in Northern Virginia today talking up his education plan. Mike Gehrke of the Deeds campaign today simply said, "We're still proud of the support we have from Republicans who know Bob McDonnell and have served with him."

As we told you earlier this week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is airing radio and TV ads in the pricey Washington media market to target Northern Virginians stuck in traffic.

The hard-hitting ads accuse Democrat Creigh Deeds of having no plan for transportation, while Republican Bob McDonnell has proposed widening I-66 inside the Beltway and extending Metro to Dulles airport.

"Tell Creigh Deeds we need a real transportation plan now,'' a narrator says at the end.

The transportation TV ad -- as well as a second one airing in the rest of the state on the so-called federal card-check legislation -- are part of a significant ad buy by the chamber that began last week.

McDonnell and his backers, which include the Republican Governors Association, the NRA and the chamber, continue to significantly outspend Deeds and his supporters on advertising.

Check out the ads after the jump.

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:

Former president and Democratic celebrity Bill Clinton dropped into Virginia today to fire up the ground troops for Creigh Deeds, who is racing to catch up to Republican Robert F. McDonnell with just 14 days to go until Election Day.

Clinton spoke to about 300 supporters and a bank of TV cameras crowded into his friend Terry McAuliffe's old campaign headquarters in Tysons Corner. With McAuliffe and Deeds at his side, the former president praised Deeds's plans to create jobs, improve access to college, protect education funding and find new money to fix Virginia roads.

"Senator Deeds -- Governor Deeds. It sounds pretty good, huh?" Clinton said.

The room was filled with local elected officials and party organizers, many of whom expressed private doubts about Deeds's ability to overcome McDonnell's lead. But supporters greeted Clinton, McAuliffe and Deeds with excitement and cheers -- and they delivered laughter at all the right moments.

"I tried to help Terry McAuliffe beat Creigh Deeds, and we failed," Clinton said. "But I respect people who win and win fair and square. And I'm a lifetime Democrat and I like this guy. I like Creigh Deeds. I like the way he handled himself in the primary. I like the way he's handling himself in the general election. I believe he would be the best choice for the commonwealth of Virginia."

McAuliffe had a few laugh lines too, as well as an adoring introduction for Clinton.

"Let me say first that it is great to be back at my old headquarters. Not the way I thought I'd be back, but I am honored to be back with all of you today."

And:

"When Creigh is elected governor, he is going to fight for the things we care about ... He's going to make sure we turn chicken waste into energy products."

In August, we brought you the story of Chris Ann Cleland, a real estate agent from Prince William County whose buyer's remorse over voting for President Obama last fall was coloring her view of the Virginia governor's race. Obama was not the change agent he promised to be, Cleland said. "I feel like I've been punked."

The quote so resonated that it got picked up by New York Times columnist Frank Rich and scored Cleland an interview on Fox News. But two months later, we wondered what she had finally decided about the governor's race.

Well, she settled on Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. The reason, she said, came down to two words: liquor stores.

A few weeks ago, Cleland was so busy with her work and so tired of what she perceived as politics as usual that she thought she might not even vote in the election this year. But then she learned that Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell had proposed privatizing state liquor stores to collect $500 million for road improvements, an idea that suggested a transformation of her community from tranquil to "trashy."

"While his plan may be thought out very well, I'll take my chances with the other guy, Deeds, because I don't want to feel like I live in Maryland or D.C.," she told us in a phone interview. "I like the way Virginia handles the liquor stores."

And how does she feel about Obama these days?

"I feel worse about him now," she said, citing what she viewed as his failure to adequately push for a public health care option and his deferential attitude toward misbehaving banks. "He just seems to be very self-interested and just continuing a run of bad choices, in my opinion."

The video we shot of Cleland back in August is below.

Republican Bob McDonnell pledged to serve his entire four-year term -- and not run for president in 2012 -- if he is elected Virginia governor Nov. 3.

We never really considered McDonnell a serious contender for president in 2012, but In an interview with Ryan Nobles of Richmond's NBC12 McDonnell puts a stop to any presidency rumors that are out there.

"I think those are all pipe dreams down the road. You know there are a number of national political pundits that are paying an exceptional amount of attention to Virginia,'' he said. "I am running to be governor of Virginia, this is a state that I have lived in virtually my entire life. I love this state we have great opportunities ahead for the state to create more opportunity and prosperity for our citizens, in so many ways, I am fully committed to four years as Virginia's governor."

But McDonnell didn't stop there. He took a little jab at Tim Kaine, who has been criticized by some for serving both as governor and his party's national chairman. "We need a full time governor,'' he said.

Nobles interviewed Democrat Creigh Deeds last week. You can watch the full McDonnell interview here:

A new poll out this evening from the Virginian-Pilot, WVEC television, the ABC affiliate in the Hampton Roads area and Christopher Newport University shows Republican Bob McDonnell with a hefty lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the race for governor.

The poll is out this evening but involved interviews with 506 likely voters from Oct. 8 to 13. It showed McDonnell with a 14 point lead over Deeds, leading the Democrat by 44 to 30 percent. But the poll also showed that 22 percent of likely voters were undecided, a figure that would mean the race remains far from decided. And it's worth recalling that the poll is now a week old.

CNU professor Quentin Kidd told the television station that one reason the poll indicates so many undecided voters is that the results do not included so-called "leaners," people who told the pollsters that they their decision was not entirely set but they were leaning one way or the other.

"Anyone who counts Deeds out at this point is crazy," said Kidd, the poll's director.

The poll also indicated that two-thirds of likely voters said that McDonnell's controversial 1989 master's thesis wouldn't affect their vote.

Another new ad from the Deeds campaign today, this one for the Bristol and Harrisonburg markets. The spot is designed to get votes for Deeds as the hometown kid. It features footage of Deeds with a shotgun and notes his A rating from the NRA; it does not mention that the NRA has endorsed Republican Bob McDonnell this year.

"For too long...our part of Virginia has been forgotten. Forgotten by Richmond when it comes to jobs, roads and schools. But this election we have a chance to change all that by voting for Creigh Deeds," the narrator says.

It's a message that Deeds has hit hard before and that could go over well in rural Virginia where many people do feel forgotten. It may not be as well received in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, where many voters think too few of their tax dollars stay in their regions already.

The ad concludes, "Creigh is from here...and has never left," a notion that has already earned him some mocking from the Republican Party of Virginia. Deeds' Bath County home is definitely on the state's rural end. But it's 85 miles from Harrisonburg and a full 240 miles to Bristol.

Watch the ad here:

Have you heard or seen the radio or TV ads being paid for by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the Virginia governor's race?

They've been airing since last week in Northern Virginia and will be up through Election Day. The topic is transportation.

But the chamber, which has not endorsed Democrat Creigh Deeds or Republican Bob McDonnell, refuses to share the ad, script or message with us.

It's an odd strategy -- considering that the ads are already on the air in the state. What is the nation's largest business group trying to hide?

In addition, the chamber is airing TV ads across the state on the so-called card check legislation that would remove the secret ballot from union elections. They won't give us any information on that one either, but we know where chamber officials stands on that issue: They oppose the bill.

McDonnell has repeatedly tried to pressure Deeds to talk about controversial issues, and accused him of supporting the card check bill. I guess we know whose side the chamber is on.

Have you heard or seen the ads? Let us know below.

That didn't take long. Democrat Creigh Deeds will begin airing a television ad today in Northern Virginia using lines from Sunday's endorsement by The Post editorial board, praising Deeds on education, transportation and the economy. It worked to spark momentum for the Deeds campaign during the Democratic primary -- Deeds hopes it can do the same this time.

The ad is all positive, including only lines from the editorial that support Deeds and resisting the temptation to use some of the choice language the ed board had for opponent Republican Bob McDonnell.

Watch the ad here.

With two weeks left, there's no shortage of national Republicans willing to help the GOP ticket win on Nov. 3.

Tonight, former U.S. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma will headline a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Virginia's get-out-the-vote efforts.

About 100 people are expected to attend the event at the Alexandria home of Sandy Liddy Bourne, a Republican activist and daughter of former Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy.

Bourne, a one-time candidate for the House of Delegates who works for a conservative think tank, was mentioned as a possible successor to former state chairman Jeff Frederick in the spring, but she declined to run.

The fundraiser is the last one for the state party before the election. Tickets are $50 to $500. The event is expected to raise about $50,000.

Welcome to Get to Know a Candidate, an occasional Virginia Politics blog feature about the the more light-hearted personal side of the gubernatorial candidates. Today, we consider the topic of the two men's hair. There are probably some metaphors to be drawn about the campaign from the topic. The coif of Republican Bob McDonnell, who has run a largely smooth and disciplined campaign, appears unshakable, with never a hair out of place. Democrat Creigh Deeds sometimes does television interviews with his hair still mussed from the wind.

This item was inspired by Julian Walker's profile of McDonnell in Saturday's Virginian-Pilot, where Walker took on directly the issue of whether the Republican dyes his hair.

"McDonnell laughed when asked whether he uses dye to conceal the silver strands in his never-out-of-place head of hair. He insists that he doesn't apply color; wife Maureen said a combination of natural extracts like chamomile and green tea and the summer sun have altered the hue of his hair," Walker wrote.

This intrigued us. Chamomile? Green tea? Was McDonnell's wife referring to some kind of hair product? Or is there actual brewing going on in the McDonnell household?

Monday, Oct. 19, 2009

Good morning, politicos! Just 15 days to go, and boy has it gotten busy. Republican Robert F. McDonnell and state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds have transformed the race for governor into a sprint, with both zooming through mostly friendly crowds over the weekend to rev up their bases.

On Saturday, McDonnell rallied veterans in Virginia Beach with U.S. Sen. John McCain -- but coverage of the event didn't turn out exactly as planned when McDonnell was asked for his views on climate change. McDonnell went on to attend a Norfolk State-Hampton University football game in Norfolk, a seafood festival in heavily Republican Poquoson, a voter event in Glen Allen with House Minority Whip Eric I. Cantor and a Hispanic reception at a Mexican restaurant in Richmond.

Deeds flooded the zone too, rallying across Northern Virginia Saturday with various ethnic groups seen as crucial to Democratic turnout: Latinos in Baileys Crossroads, Vietnamese at the Eden Center in Falls Church, Ethiopians and more. On Sunday, Deeds hit five black churches in the Richmond area (and if you think that's a lot, wait until next week, when he's planning to visit 15 in one day in Hampton Roads). Terry McAuliffe rallied canvassers at his McLean home Sunday after going at it with Karl Rove on Fox News Sunday (and betting Rove $5 that Deeds will win).

So if former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe is betting Gov. Jon Corzine takes New Jersey by seven, what about his former opponent Creigh Deeds in Virginia?

"Deeds by two," McAuliffe said this evening at the Fall Festival of the Dranesville Democratic Committee, at his McLean home.

Dozens of longtime Democrats were greeted by an enormous plastic pumpkin in front of the home before heading inside for the fundraiser and general pep rally. They crowded into the McAuliffe's kitchen to hear from Del. Margi Vanderhye and Del. Jim Scott, lieutenant governor candidate Jody Wagner, McAuliffe and Deeds' campaign manager Joe Abbey. A laminated copy of this morning's Washington Post endorsement of Deeds was propped up on the kitchen table.

Former Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe appeared this afternoon on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, along with Karl Rove, mostly to discuss recent charges by the White House that Fox's news coverage is slanted. But as the interview concluded, the two got into a brief but spirited debate over the outcomes of the Virginia and New Jersey races.

It started as Wallace was wrapping up the piece, with McAuliffe shouting out, "Democrats big win, Virginia and New Jersey, coming up!" That prompted Rove to pull out a folder he had brought for the occasion and hold up a print-out of a story from the Richmond Times Dispatch that ran just before the June 9 primary between McAuliffe, Brian Moran and now Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds.

Headline: McAuliffe says Deeds Can't Beat McDonnell

"I agree with Terry McAuliffe," Karl Rove said.

"I said Deeds can win. Of course he can win. He's gonna win," said McAuliffe.

The Richmond Times Dispatch published op-eds today from Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell on why Virginians should vote for them on Nov. 3.

Both candidates for governor talk about jobs, traffic, schools and energy.

Read Deeds's response here and McDonnell's here.

Yes. Well, sort of.

Republican Bob McDonnell said today that he believes the world has gotten warmer but declined to blame manmade carbon emissions.

"I think it's a real concern, and we need to find ways to be able to reduce (carbon dioxide) emissions," he told reporters after a rally with Sen. John McCain in Virginia Beach. "Well, there's some debate that various scientists are going on. I think the temperature of the earth, from the science I've seen, has gone up and what we need to do is promote reductions" in cardion dioxide.

But does he believe manmade carbon emissions created the problem?

"Look, it's not going to affect my policy decisions. What the policy decision needs to be is to find ways that are creative to be able to reduce" carbon dioxide, he said. "I am going to accept the science that's out there, and the science is that we need to do everything that we can to reduce (carbon dioxide) emissions in the atmosphere."

The Wolverines have arrived for Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Among about 100 canvassers who rallied with Deeds at the Mason District Park amphitheater in Annandale on this rainy afternoon were 30 students from the college Democrats at the University of Michigan. The group is spending their fall break knocking doors for Deeds.

A recent Washington Post poll showed that young voters appeared likely to make up a smaller portion of the electorate this year than in last year's presidential election, when they comprised 20 percent of the electorate. But Sam Marvin, 21, a senior at the University of Michigan, said his group hopes to help get Obama voters engaged for Deeds.

"It's about mobilizing those people. They would vote for him. I don't think there's anyone out there who would vote for Obama and not vote for Mr. Deeds. But it's about making sure they understand this is an important race too," said Marvin, who grew up in Fredericksburg before moving with his family to Kalamazoo.

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee, headlined a packed veterans rally for Virginia's Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell on a cold, rainy Saturday morning.

About 300 supporters crammed into a Veterans of Foreign Wars post that had been decorated with massive red, white and blue "Veterans for McDonnell" signs.

"This is the man who will bring about fiscal discipline, who understands what it means to balance a budget, who understands what pork barrel spending is, who understands that we have an obligation not just to our present citizens and out present veterans but to our children and our grandchildren and not hand them an unsustainable debt,'' McCain said. "That's Bob McDonnell. He will be a fiscal conservative."

We learned today that if you bring Al Gore into a state to campaign, you're headed for a discussion about the politics of climate change.

Gore, the former vice president (and almost, but not quite president), who won an Oscar for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth and Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming, is attending a fundraiser dinner tonight with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds at a McLean home. (Tickets are $5,000).

Republicans accused Deeds and Democrats of supporting a "devastating" cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Democrats accused Republican Bob McDonnell and the rest of his ticket of failing to believe in the concept of global warming.

Organizing for America, an arm of the Democratic National Committee, is asking supporters from other states to travel to Virginia this weekend for gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

The group sent emails to thousands of members in D.C. and Maryland, asking for volunteers to door-knock for Deeds, with a goal of working 5,000 hours by next weekend.

"Because this race isn't just about Virginia -- it's about standing up for the progress we've all fought so hard for and making sure our entire country keeps heading in the right direction,'' Mitch Stewart, the group's director, writes in the email.

Deeds will appear at six events with DNC Chairman and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Jody Wagner, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, in Northern Virginia.

McDonnell will appear a veterans rally with Sen. John McCain tomorrow morning in Virginia Beach. He will appear with U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor in Richmond in the afternoon

McDonnell and Deeds do not have any public events Sunday. They will visit churches in the morning and spend the day preparing for the fourth and final debate, which will take place in Ronoake Tuesday night. Deeds will also have a mid-day fundraiser in Richmond.

Check back tomorrow for updates from Deeds's and McDonnell's travels.

In the meantime, read the Organizing for America letter below:

Democrat Creigh Deeds started airing a new TV ad today in Southwest Virginia accusing Republican Bob McDonnell of mispresenting Deeds on taxes.

The ad refers to the Roanoke Times and the nonpartisian Factcheck.org, both of which have questionned a McDonnell ad claiming Deeds supports a gas tax increase and the federal cap-and -rade bill.

Deeds has said he opposes the cap and trade bill, and has never said what specific tax increase he would support.

"He's running ads fabricating numbers for proposals Creigh Deeds doesn't support,'' Deeds campaign spokesperson Jared Leopold said. "The only thing clear from this ad is that Bob McDonnell will say or do anything to get elected."

Republican Bob McDonnell began airing a new ad today in Roanoke and Southwest featuring an official from MeadWestvaco talking about the impact of the so-called cap and trade bill.

The ad says that Deeds supports the federal climate change legislation, though he has said in recent appearances that he is opposed.

Meadwest, a paper and packaging company, has a plant in Deeds's state senator district. The company has donated $15,000 to McDonnell and John Luke, its chairman, has given $10,000.

The President's coming to Virginia for Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Former President Bill Clinton, that is. Clinton will hold a rally with Deeds somewhere inside the Beltway in Northern Virginia on Tuesday, the Deeds campaign confirms. Also in attendance will be Clinton buddy and Deeds's rival during the primary campaign, Terry McAuliffe.

Clinton did several appearances for McAuliffe before the June 9 primary. His work for Deeds comes as national Democrats swing into action to try to rev up a party base that polls have shown is unenthusiastic about Deeds's candidacy. This evening, Deeds holds a fundraiser with former vice president Al Gore.

Happy Friday Virginia! Here's what's happening around the state in politics.

More evidence today that Republican Robert F. McDonnell has the advantage with less than three weeks left in the race for governor. As of Oct. 1, McDonnell had $4.5 million in the bank, $1.8 million more than his opponent Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, and in September had about 6,400 donors compared with Deeds's 3,800. Lots more information on the recent reports from all the Nov. election candidates -- and on all things campaign finance -- available from our friends at the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Deeds comes to Northern Virginia today, where Organizing for America, the Democratic group that grew out of President Obama's historic campaign, launches a major canvassing push this weekend. While there's still no word on a second campaign visit by Obama to the state, Obama's opponent from last fall, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), headlines a veterans rally for McDonnell in Virginia Beach tomorrow.

For the second time in week, Democrat Creigh Deeds has virtually promised that President Obama will be back to campaign for him before the Nov. 3 election, even though no date for such an event has been set.

In an interview with Ryan Nobles of Richmond's NBC12, Deeds said, "President Obama will be back in Virginia." Nobles asked the candidate, "Within the next 19 days, we will see you and Barack Obama, standing on a stage in Virginia?" And Deeds answered, "You will, yes."

Deeds told Mark Plotkin something similar last week on WTOP. Yet, Obama has announced a rally for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and so far, no such love for Deeds.

Deeds also tried to explain why he called himself a "Creigh Deeds Democrat" when asked at a recent debate whether he was a "Barack Obama Democrat." Was he trying to distance himself from the president?

"You know, I support the President, but I will not visit my sins upon anyone else. I support the President, I think he is doing a good job, I worked hard for his election last year, I want him to be successful. It is in the interest of every single American citizen that he be successful as President of the United States, But I speak for myself, I am my own kind of Democrat and I have always been a Creigh Deeds Democrat," he said, according to Nobles transcript of the interview.

You can watch the interview here:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell raised $3.8 million in September and had $4.5 million in the bank going into the final month of the race.

The campaign raised more in September than July and August combined.

McDonnell had 6,440 unique donors. Of those, 4,819 were new contributors and 4,454 gave less than $100.

"With three weeks left in the race we have great momentum and the resources we need to continue to get Bob McDonnell's new ideas and positive vision out to voters across the state,'' said Phil Cox, McDonnell campaign manager.

The Republican National Committee donated $400,000, and several national Republican stars helped McDonnell raise more than $600,000 last month.

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and possible presidential hopeful, headlined a fundraiser at the offices of the American Gas Association on Capitol Hill. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal hosted fundraiser for McDonnell at the McLean home of Dwight Schar, founder of NVR Inc, one of the nation's largest homebuilders. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich hosted a breakfast fundraising at a Falls Church Marriott. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty raised $75,000 at a small luncheon at a Richmond hotel. And on the last day of the fundraising period, U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner headlined a fundraiser at the Alexandria home of lobbyist Bruce Gates.

Democratic rival Creigh Deeds raised half a million dollars more than McDonnell in July and August, though McDonnell, who had no primary opponent, had more in the bank.

Post columnist Robert McCartney is scoring the Virginia governor's race blow-by-blow, round-by-round. Here's how he graded this past week:

The campaign turns static with McDonnell holding the lead. Deeds does better than expected in the first prime-time television debate, but expectations were low and he didn't do anything to turn it around. Deeds is still waiting for Obama to schedule a another event with him in Virginia -- and the delay is highlighted when White House says the president will campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Corzine in New Jersey.

Who do you think won? See and comment on the full McCartney Scorecard.

September finance reports are due to the state board of elections today at 5 p.m., but we now have our first numbers directly from a campaign.

They're from Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Jody Wagner and they're impressive. According to Wagner's campaign, she raised more than $465,000 in September, leaving her with $875,800 in cash on end at the end of the month to fund the remainder of her effort.

We've just heard that Republican Bill Bolling raised $476,144 in September. He had $1.2 million cash on hand -- also a very impressive number going into the final full month of the campaign.

"Our fundraising success is a testament to the broad support my campaign has received from every part of Virginia," Bolling said. "Raising nearly $500,000 from almost 2,000 donors in just one month speaks to the momentum and excitement behind our campaign."

Wagner had double the cash on hand on Oct. 1 that Bolling had when he ran for the office four years ago. Wagner has raised $2.46 million in total for her effort, about half a million more than Bolling in the last go around. We're waiting to hear from Bolling about where he stands with his reelection effort and will bring it to you as soon as we do.

"Despite the difficult economic climate, thousands of Virginians have generously shown their desire to continue moving the commonwealth forward. We're well above the historic threshold for fundraising for the lieutenant governor's race, and are confident that we have the resources we need to communicate Jody's positive message to Virginians of creating new jobs, investing in education and fixing transportation," said Wagner campaign manager Elisabeth Pearson.

The National Jewish Democratic Council launched a major push Thursday in Virginia, its largest ever in the commonwealth, the organization said. The group will send at least three paid organizers to the state, including one based at the University of Virginia focusing on students, and is also organizing a Virginia Volunteer Corps. There will also be literature drops, phone calls and other grass-roots canvassing.

NJDC Political Director Linda Berg said the group's members were excited by Virginia's turning blue last year and determined to keep the state in the Democratic column this year -- particularly given the national attention on Virginia as harbinger of the 2010 midterm elections.

Ever wonder what Tim Kaine, Doug Wilder, George Allen, Jim Gilmore and Linwood Holton would say to each other if they were in the same room?

Well, you can find out.

The five men sat down with Charlottesville's NBC station for a 30-minute special that aired earlier this week, and is now available online. Check it out here.

The men, seated in the governor's mansion on Capitol Square in Richmond, talked about blogs, "groveling and begging" for money, being a lame duck and the possibility of serving two terms. Yes, Gilmore mentioned the car tax a few times.

Noticeably absent? The state's most recent former governor, Mark Warner, who defeated Gilmore for a U.S. Senate seat last year. Maybe the two men didn't want to be in the same room?

Here's how much Republican Bob McDonnell thinks of calls for him to distance himself from businesswoman Sheila Johnson, after video surfaced of Johnson mocking opponent Deeds' speaking style: McDonnell's latest campaign ad features Johnson.

In the spot, airing as of this morning on Northern Virginia television, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and prominent supporter of Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine looks straight into the camera and says, "I'm Sheila Johnson, a Democrat business woman. I know what it takes to start and grow successful businesses and create jobs. That's why I support Bob McDonnell for governor."

She goes on to list some of McDonnell's resume before concluding, "That's why this Democrat strongly supports Bob McDonnell for governor."

Johnson apologized for her comments at a McDonnell event in which she adopted a faux stutter in mocking the way Deeds speaks. Her joke drew condemnation from the National Stuttering Association and others in the disability community and the Deeds campaign had called on McDonnell to apologize as well.

UPDATE: Here's the ad video:

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones and Del. Jennifer McClellan will headline a fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds tonight in downtown Richmond.

The 28-member host committee is a diverse group that includes grocery chain founder Jim Ukrop, developer Mark Merhige, ophthalmologist Shantarm Talegaonkar and lawyers David Gammino, Lakshmi Challa and Nupa Agarwal.

Others include Dominion executive Irene Cimino, Rosa Finch, finance manager at management and technology consulting company BearingPoint and Alice Tousignant, executive director of Virginia Supportive Housing.

Today is the deadline for Deeds, Republican Bob McDonnell and all candidates to turn in their campaign finance reports for September. We'll be bringing you the numbers as we get them throughout the day, so check back often.

Steve Shannon, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, launched a new TV ad today that criticizes Republican Ken Cuccinelli for what Shannon calls a "weak" record on drunk driving legislation.

"My opponent has not released a single plan to combat drunk driving in Virginia, and in the state Senate he has consistently voted against tougher penalties for drunk drivers,'' Shannon said. "Virginia needs better public safety leadership than that."

U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner will host a low-dollar fundraiser tonight for Republican Bob McDonnell at Jones Day law firm in Washington. More than 100 young professionals are expected to attend.

Democrats didn't say anything the last time the two campaigned together but this time, they seized on the news -- sending out multiple statements criticizing McDonnell for appearing with a congressman who opposes the federal stimulus package and accusing him of opposing it too.

"The question every Virginia voter should ask: why is Bob McDonnell more than happy to take John Boehner's money when it benefits his political campaign, but not willing to take money for roads and infrastructure projects benefiting all Virginians?" DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said.

It's true that Boehner did oppose the federal stimulus money, but it's not clear McDonnell did. He said he wasn't a huge fan of the package, but would accept federal money if elected governor.

"The money is coming from Virginia taxpayers, frankly it's coming from the children of Virginia taxpayers," McDonnell told the Washington Post in February. "I think we ought to take it to the maximum degree as possible."

McDonnell opposed changing Virginia's unemployment system so the state could take advantage of $125 million in federal stimulus money because he said it could translate to higher taxes for businesses. The General Assembly voted to reject the money in April.

Boehner headlined a fundraiser for McDonnell at the Alexandria home of lobbyist Bruce Gates on Sept. 30, raising $120,000.

Democrats including Creigh Deeds have been criticizing Republican Bob McDonnell since news broke about the hiring policy of his alma mater Regent University.

But when we asked today, we were told McDonnell opposes Regent's non-discrimination policy that pledges equal opportunities for men and women, consistent with Biblical teachings that men are the head of households.

"Bob McDonnell supports hiring and promoting individuals based solely on merit and ability, and regardless of gender, race, creed, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. He supports equal pay for equal work,'' said Tucker Martin, McDonnell's spokesman. "He does not support any policy to the contrary."

That seems pretty clear, right?

So why then did McDonnell serve for eight years (1998 to 2005) on the Board of Trustees at the Virginia Beach college founded by televangelist Pat Robertson when he opposed the hiring policy?

Here's the answer we got, though it doesn't answer the question: "Bob McDonnell's position is clear,'' Martin said. "He supports hiring based on merit and ability, and nothing else."

Relatives of victims of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre have been among the most vocal proponents of a change to state law that would close the state's so-called gun show "loophole," which permits private gun show vendors to sell to customers without first conducting a background check.

Now, some of those same family members are campaigning against a member of the House of Delegates whom they say betrayed them in that fight: Del. Dave Albo (R-Fairfax).

Funny thing is, Albo says he agrees with the familes that the law should be changed and even voted that way as chairman of the Virginia State Crime Commission. But some of the Tech families believe Albo is paying lip service to his more liberal Northern Virginia constituents while obstructing the families' efforts behind the scenes to appease pro-gun Republicans.

Washington Post staff writer Amy Gardner and David Poole, executive director of Campaign Finance for the Virginia Public Access Project, were online today to discuss the Virginia governor's race between Creigh Deeds (D) and Bob McDonnell (R) and the candidates' campaign financing. Excerpts follow. Read the full transcript here.

Charlottesville, Va.: Has the recession played much of a role in fundraising this year for Deeds and McDonnell? What about in the down-ticket races?

David Poole: Yes, the recession seems to be a factor. We know this anecdotally from talking to political fundraisers. People who are worth $25 million don't feel rich because, well, last year they were worth $50. We've seen this in the numbers, too. Here is a chart showing the trends in spending for the last few gubernatorial cycles.

You can see things have been on a fast-growth pace. You can ignore this year, because the numbers are preliminary. But through August 31, the amount raised by McDonnell-Deeds was less than raised four years ago at this point by Kilgore-Kaine.

The Democratic National Committee is launching new ads on Facebook today that will be directed at women, students and supporters of Republican Bob McDonnell.

The ads target McDonnell on his alma mater Regent University, which has a non-discrimination policy that pledges equal opportunities for men and women, consistent with Biblical teachings that men are the head of households.

McDonnell served for eight years on the Board of Trustees at the Virginia Beach college founded by televangelist Pat Robertson. He received both a law and master's degree at the school in 1989. The DNC is trying to spread the word about the school's hiring practice here.

"McDonnell's support for this discriminatory policy can be directly traced to his belief articulated in his thesis that working women were 'detrimental to the family,' " DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said. "We wanted to ensure that Virginians knew that, despite his denials, Bob McDonnell's radical social agenda not only would deny equal rights for Virginians, but would deny them jobs as well."

President Obama is in Fairfax County today.

But not to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

Snap!

Instead, Obama visits the Fairfax County Parkway extension today with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to talk about federal stimulus spending.

After days of very public discussions about whether Obama will choose to visit Virginia again on Deeds behalf before Nov. 3 and whether the president is trying to limit his exposure in the swing state in anticipation of a possible Deeds loss, that's got to hurt.

The campaign points out that it's not unusual for Obama to make quick hops across the Potomac to talk about how federal policy is affecting people in the states. And that it would be rare to co-mingle a political event with a policy event. And Jake Tapper of ABC twittered yesterday the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said time is being carved out for the president to campaign in Virginia, New Jersey and New York before election day. (Tapper soon added, however, that Gibbs did not specify "if and whom" Obama would campaign for.)

Plus, you heard it here first, Vice President Al Gore will be doing an event for Deeds--a private fundraiser Friday night in McLean at the home of Al and Claire Dwoskin.

"The White House has been very clear that the Virginia governor's race is a huge priority for them. We've been thrilled with their commitment so far. I think it would not have been appropriate to mix a political event with a visit in his official capacity, and I think people will appreciate that. There's still plenty of time for him to help, and the White House has been remarkably helpful," said Deeds's senior adviser Mo Elleithee.

But if the president has time for Virginia, it's hard to argue he would not have time for Deeds. Maybe Obama will say something about Deeds and transportation while he's talking about the topic in Fairfax? Event starts at 2:05 p.m. and we'll all be listening carefully.

UPDATE: Elleithee has something additional to note--he calls the $177 million Fairfax County Parkway Extension that Obama will tout "incredibly important" to Northern Virginia and says that if Republican Bob McDonnell had had his way on federal stimulus money, the project would not be underway. He said McDonnell tonight holds a fundraiser with House Minority Leader John Boehner, who opposed the stimulus package. McDonnell has said he did not oppose the bulk of the stimulus package--but did oppose a $125 million portion of the package for unemployment benefits in Virginia.

Good morning, Virginia, here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

Today's big news in state politics comes not from the Virginia governor's race but from the latest chapter in the Virginia Information Technologies Agency fiasco. A state audit released yesterday shows that the bungled $2 billion contract with Northrup Grumman to upgrade computer systems could end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars if canceled.

The news did prompt some response from the two men running for governor, with Democrat R. Creigh Deeds blaming Republican Robert F. McDonnell, who was attorney general at the time, and McDonnell's spokesman blaming Democratic leaders.

The Virginia governor's race continues to get national scrutiny for what the outcome might say about President Obama's presidency. Earlier this week it was the New York Times; last night it was the Newshour on PBS, whose Judy Woodruff moderated Monday's gubernatorial debate in Roanoke. While it's still uncertain if Obama will campaign for Deeds in Virginia a second time, Organizing for America, the political organizing group that grew out of his campaign, has been making robo-calls around the state, according to Huffington Post.

In light of today's stinging legislative audit detailing massive computer problems, Democrat Creigh Deeds accused Republican Bob McDonnell, the former attorney general, of failing to help safeguard the state in its 10-year, $2 billion contract with Northrop Grumman.

"Today's news, coupled with previous reports that Bob McDonnell's office knew of problems in the contract, calls his record into question,'' Deeds said in a statement. "McDonnell owes Virginians answers to questions of what he knew about problems in the contract, when he became aware of them, and whether he did anything at all about it."

The state looked for a private company to oversee its computer system in 2003 after a legislative review showed that its technology was out of date and increasingly expensive to maintain. Then-governor Mark Warner, now a U.S. senator, received approval to consolidate computer operations into one agency and overhauled the system to make it more efficient and less costly.

"VITA was created during a Democratic administration, and is run by Democratic governor Tim Kaine,'' said Tucker Martin, a McDonnell spokesman. "We know that Creigh Deeds is increasingly angry as his negative campaign falls further behind in the polls. His latest baseless attack is as wrong as it is predictable."

The Attorney General's Office will not comment on what advice it provided state agencies with regard to the contract because of attorney-client privilege.

Both Deeds and McDonnell pledged to reform the troubled agency and support changes that would force the agency to report to the governor.

You know Election Day is approaching when things get this ugly. Late last week, Republican House of Delegates candidate Rich Anderson sent out a mailer to voters that dropped a bombshell about his opponent, Del. Paul Nichols (D-Prince William). Nichols, it said, had been arrested in North Carolina in 2006 for assaulting a police officer, and it implied that Nichols may have been intoxicated at the time.

Problem is, the mailer failed to note that a judge dropped the charges against Nichols, who has said it was the police officer who got aggressive with him when he came to the aid of a friend who had been pulled over. The mailer, which called Nichols "A Different Kind of 'Slugger,'" also included excerpts of a police report that displayed Nichols's Social Security number. In addition, a judge in September of this year granted Nichols's request that the documents be expunged.

Anderson's campaign has defended the mailer, saying voters deserved to know that the arrest occurred. But on a campaign stop in Occoquan yesterday, Nichols accused his opponent of overstepping the bounds of acceptable behavior and said he was contemplating legal action against the Republican.

Washington Post Metro columnist Robert McCartney was online earlier today to discuss the Monday night Virginia governor's race debate, the Deeds and McDonnell campaigns and his recent columns. Some excerpts follow. Read the entire discussion transcript here.

Northern Virginia: I thought that Deeds (in addition to talking issues) worked harder to introduce his biography to voters who are just "tuning in" -- the great uncle's summer camp "all in" philosophy, the four $20 bills going to college, the older Virginians in his family. Do you agree? We did learn about McDonnell's father's Alzheimer's, which is such a shame, but that was the only really personal or emotional thought from him.

Robert McCartney: Yes, Deeds talked a bit more about personal stuff than McDonnell. I've heard Deeds use some of those anecdotes before in public, but he probably figured it made sense to repeat them since this was the first debate televised live in prime time and a lot of people were tuning in for the first time.

Here's one of the most interesting endorsements this campaign season.

Del. Phil Hamilton was endorsed today by the Virginia Police Benevolent Association.

Yes, you read correctly.

The powerful Republican lawmaker from Newport News who is under federal investigation got the backing of more than 2,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officials.

Hamilton is under investigation for negotiating a job offer with Old Dominion University before securing state money for the school. A federal grand jury served the Newport News school system and ODU with subpoenas and search warrants.

"We will ask our members, their friends and families, and all citizens who respect the strong and efficient enforcement of our laws to cast their ballots in the upcoming election in your favor,'' William B. Gordon, Newport News Chapter President of PBA wrote in a letter to Hamilton.

Does the PBA know something we don't know?

Got questions about last night's debate or the Virginia governor's race in general? Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney is answering those questions, as well as any about his recent columns, right now in a live online discussion.

Click here to submit a question or click here to read the discussion.

Good morning Virginia! Here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

Just about every Virginia publication has a story about last night's bitter debate between gubernatorial candidates R. Creigh Deeds (D) and Robert F. McDonnell (R), who covered the same wide range of issues that have dominated the race, including transportation, education and the economy. Deeds's performance -- he accused McDonnell of "lying" then acknowledged the language might have been too harsh to reporters later -- will likely do little to appease critics who have said the Democratic nominee has been too negative. More on that from Politico and Talking Points Memo.

Deeds, who is behind in the polls, embarks on his second day of his "Hope and Opportunity Tour" of rural Virginia. McDonnell heads back to Northern Virginia for a Vienna rally with businesswoman Sheila Johnson, whose mocking of Deeds' speaking style apparently did not damage her standing with McDonnell's campaign. (And you can add Rush Limbaugh to the list of folks who have similarly attacked Deeds.)

Beginning at 8 p.m. tonight, the Post will have live video, blogging and more from the debate between governor's race candidates Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell in Richmond.

For a look at what each candidate needs to accomplish tonight, read the preview by Rosalind S. Helderman and Anita Kumar.

UPDATE 6:18 p.m.: Apparently our TV partners will not be showing the debate live after all, which means we will be unable to stream it. C-SPAN appears to be streaming the debate live on its Web site, however. It also will be broadcast on WETA and C-SPAN3 in the D.C. area.

UPDATE 7:49 p.m.: We're getting started here. Questions for all of you out there: What could Deeds do to reverse the momentum in this race? How big a gaffe could McDonnell commit and still score a win on Nov. 3? Post your thoughts in the comments. Click through for the live-blogging.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) paid a visit to Northern Virginia today in the hopes that his appeal among suburban voters might rub off on four fellow Democrats running for the House of Delegates: Incumbents Paul Nichols (Prince William) and Chuck Caputo (Fairfax/Loudoun), and newcomers John Bell (Loudoun/Prince William) and Mark Keam (Fairfax).

If you'll recall, Kaine won the 2005 gubernatorial race in part by emphasizing the issues that mattered to suburbanites: traffic, development and education. He became the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate in two decades to win Loudoun and Prince William counties, and he still enjoys a 71 percent approval rate in Northern Virginia, according to a recent Washington Post poll -- despite Republican efforts to paint him as a part-time governor because of his second job as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for attorney general, has a new advertisement running across Virginia accusing his Democratic opponent, Steve Shannon, of not helping fix state law to address a Supreme Court decision that could have jeopardized thousands of DUI and drug convictions in Virginia.

The ad is so objectionable to Shannon and other Democrats that he and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine held a conference call with reporters to offer their version of events.

View the ad here:

At issue is a recent Supreme Court ruling in the Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts case that says live testimony is needed to introduce scientific reports in criminal trials. After the ruling, Cuccinelli was the first lawmaker in Virginia to publicly ask Kaine to call a legislative session to address the issue.

Both Shannon and Kaine were among those who sought to fix the issue administratively, without legislative intervention. Shannon went so far as to call Cuccinelli's open letter a "political stunt;" he also expressed concerns about the cost of a legislative session.

Today, Kaine said he and his staff had numerous conversations with Shannon, a former prosecutor, on how to address the Melendez-Diaz case. Cuccinelli's implication that Shannon did nothing is "frankly something that either he or somebody on his team just made up," the governor said.

"Everyone agreed that the preferable way to fix this was to try to fix it administratively," Kaine said. "We concluded that there were many items we could fix administratively and we moved to do that, but there were some items that required legislative action and we did that. We didn't wait. We weren't asleep at the switch. We acted to fix this more quickly than anybody else."

Here's the text of Cuccinelli's ad.

Narrator: It's a study in contrasts and judgment. Ken Cuccinelli earning praise for forcing a change in the law to protect the public. Steve Shannon called it a political stunt, offered no solutions, while DUI and felony drug cases were being thrown out of court. Shannon put politics before public safety. The Fraternal Order of Police said "No" to Steve Shannon. They endorsed Ken Cuccinelli for attorney general.

The Republican Governors Association is out this morning with a new TV ad in Northern Virginia.

Guess what this one is about? You guessed it. Taxes again.

The new ad shows Democrat Creigh Deeds making what appears to be conflicting statements on taxes during and after the last debate.

"No amount of political double-talk can hide the fact that Creigh Deeds wants to hike taxes," RGA spokesman Mike Schrimpf said.

Update: By the way, in case you are wondering, McDonnell's and Deeds's campaigns signed an agreement not to use footage of the debate afterward it was over, but the RGA was not part of that agreement.

Democrat Creigh Deeds is not backing off negative campaign ads against Republican Bob McDonnell, at least in the Northern Virginia area.

The campaign this morning releases a new spot already airing in the Washington area, which attacks McDonnell's claim, featured on many campaign signs, that he is "Fairfax's Own" because of his Northern Virginia childhood.

"Bob McDonnell says he's from Fairfax County," the narrator says. "But that was before he attended Pat Robertson's law school. And served on its board." Before, the narrator continues, he wrote that working women are detrimental to the family, he introduced 35 bills on abortion or voted against equal pay for women.

"So no matter what McDonnell claims, all signs say he's not from around here...anymore," it concludes.

Good morning Virginia! Twenty-two days before Election Day, but who's counting. Here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

After a brutal week of discouraging poll numbers and questions about his electability, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds will try to make good on his reputation as a strong finisher and turn the race for governor around in its waning weeks. In the face of criticism over what voters perceive as his negative focus, Deeds launched a positive ad yesterday focused on education. And he will have an important opportunity to make his case to Virginians tonight in Richmond, when he faces off against Republican Robert F. McDonnell in the men's first prime time televised debate.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell may have been "delighted" that President Obama was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, but his ticket-mate, attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli, feels a little differently.

"Well, it's official, the Nobel Peace Prize is officially meaningless," Cuccinelli opened his Cuccinelli Compass newsletter to supporters Friday. He went on to quote commentator John Podhoretz about what Cuccinelli termed the "Nobel hilarity." Podhoretz argued that the win is not surprising because Obama represents the Nobel committee's highest ideals because he is "an American President queasy about the projection of American power."

"I suspect that whoever nominated him actually did it as a joke. And how about that, it really did turn out to be a joke," Cuccinelli concluded on the subject.

Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which like the Post does live interviews and not automated robocalls, is out with a poll in the Virginia governor's race. And it shows a similar spread to the Post poll last week--Republican Robert F. McDonnell over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds by eight percentage points.

Like the Post, Mason-Dixon, which was funded by the Richmond Times Dispatch and other Virginia press outlets, has McDonnell way up with independents, which will be encouraging to his campaign. The new poll shows him ahead by 15 with that group--a striking lead though not quite the 21 point gap the Post showed last week.

Today, we told you about how Republicans are more energized about the governor's race this year than Democrats, in part because of disillusionment with Democratic leadership in Washington. Well, "disillusioned" is an understatement for the deep concern felt by many of the folks who attended the "Defending the American Dream Summit" in Crystal City last Saturday, sponsored by the conservative Americans for Prosperity.

The controversial group has played a prominent role at the some of the tense "Tea Party" and health care reform protests around the country, and has been among those loudly asserting that current events in Washington are leading the nation on a path to socialism.

AFP receives most of its funding from a foundation run by two brothers who control an oil-and-gas conglomerate in Kansas. A frequent target of liberal critics, AFP leaders insist that their efforts aren't mere industry-funded "astroturfing," saying that their bus tours around the country are getting an overwhelming turnout from local residents.

Republican Bob McDonnell launched a new TV ad in Southwest Virginia today that talks about his desire to be a "jobs governor." It's the second ad in a week that accuses Democrat Creigh Deeds of costing families $7,800 -- a number that includes the estimated costs of a gas tax increase and the federal cap and trade bill.

The ad assumes Deeds would support a gas increase, which he has voted for many times in the past, to raise the $1 billion that he says is needed for road and transit improvements, and that he favors a climate proposal with a greater emissions cap than the one being considered by Congress. But Deeds has never said what, if any, gax tax increase he would support as governor and has specifically said he does not support the cap and trade bill.

Read the script below:

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell repeatedly and personally asked former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for help this summer in his campaign for Virginia governor, a Palin spokeswoman said.

But by late August, Palin learned that the McDonnell campaign no longer wanted her assistance, Palin adviser Meg Stapleton said in an interview tonight.

Earlier this week, McDonnell reacted with a bit of sarcasm when asked whether Palin would be campaigning with him. "There was a time earlier on when she was governor when I thought she would come here,'' he said. "But I think she seems to be busy with books and other things like that. We've still got about 20 different events scheduled down the road and she's not one of them."

But Stapleton says Palin is not too busy to come. She says that her boss offered to help McDonnell numerous times both in conversations with him and his campaign and through the Republican Governors Association.

"The Governor, SarahPAC, and I have all communicated to the candidate, the campaign and to the RGA the Governor's continued willingness to assist in any way possible - even as recently as two weeks ago,'' Stapleton said.

Palin drew enormous, enthusiastic crowds in Virginia while campaigning as Sen. John McCain's runningmate during the presidential election last year. But she is a polarizing figure that could turn off independent voters. In the summer, she drew criticism for abruptly resigning as governor and later insisting that the healthcare bill being considered by Congress would cause the creation of "death panels."

McDonnell decision to back away from Palin is typical of his attempt to moderate himself. In his comments this week, he tried to communicate that he did not want to be seen with Palin without saying that it was his decision.

In recent months, he has welcomed a succession of other national GOP figures to Virginia including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

After the election last year, Republican Bob McDonnell expected former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to campaign with him.

In the summer, even after Palin's stunning announcement that she was resigning as governor of Alaska, McDonnell said he would welcome her to Virginia.

This week, McDonnell made it clear that would not happen.

"There was a time earlier on when she was governor when I thought she would come here,'' McDonnell said after a candidates' forum in Loudoun County earlier this week. "But I think she seems to be busy with books and other things like that. We've still got about 20 different events scheduled down the road and she's not one of them."

But Palin adviser Meg Stapleton told Politico that her boss offered to help McDonnell. Calls and e-mails to Palin's political action committee were not returned. Her PAC donated $2,500 to McDonnell this summer.

Palin's visits to the state drew enormous, enthusiastic crowds of Republicans last year, but Democrats would have a field day with Palin's arrival if she did come here.

A political action committee tied to the conservative Family Research Council began airing TV ads accusing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds of flip-flopping on the issues of same-sex marriage and partial-birth abortion.

The Virginia Values Voter PAC ad is airing for one week on cable TV in Southwest Virginia.

"Creigh Deeds is willing to do anything to appease the most radical special interest groups within his party,'' PAC president Connie Mackey said. "His rhetoric doesn't match his votes. It appears he will do and say anything for votes except stick by his own."

Deeds voted for a ban on partial-birth abortion but later changed his mind because he said he worried that the bills were unconstitutional. He, voted to put on the ballot a state constitutional amendment prohibiting civil unions and same-sex marriage, but said he came to regret his decision and to believe that the language was discriminatory and said so publicly before the 2006 balloting.

"Another day, another false attack from Bob McDonnell and his allies,'' said Jared Leopold, a Deeds spokesman. "But all their false attacks don't change the fact that Bob McDonnell pushed 35 bills to restrict a woman's right to choose while not personally sponsoring one bill to create a job."

Don't include Virginia gubernatorial candidate Republican Bob McDonnell among those conservatives who are deriding the Nobel Committee for awarding its Peace Prize to President Obama less than a year after he took office.

"I'm delighted to see the President of the United States bring honor to our country by receiving the Nobel Peace Prize," McDonnell said this afternoon. His Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds issued a statement early this morning praising the committee for its selection.

McDonnell said that he's been on the road and has not extensively read the committee's reasoning for the award, other than that it had to do with Obama's diplomatic efforts. But he said he was pleased with anything that "brings accolades to the United States." And then he repeated, "I'm delighted to see him win the award."

McDonnell's answer stands in stark contrast to others in in his party, including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, who said it was "unfortunate that the president's star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights."

McDonnell has a habit of offering praise for Obama, a way of signaling that he is a moderate willing to work across party lines. He frequently praises Obama's support for charter schools and the president's work to strengthen fatherhood.

UPDATE: Deeds senior adviser Mo Elleithee responds: "It's nice to see Bob McDonnell join us in celebrating the President's Nobel Prize. I just wonder where this 'delight' was when he said the President shouldn't receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame because he was pro-choice."

On Wednesday morning, Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling issued a press release proudly announcing an endorsement from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce political action committee.

On Thursday afternoon, his Democrat rival Jody Wagner also issued a press release proudly announcing her endorsement from the very same PAC.

Did one of the candidates make a mistake? Or did the group change its mind?

Actually, it's neither. It turns out the chamber endorsed both candidates for lieutenant governor.

Do they know that's not how it works? And that if you endorse both candidates, it's not really .... well, an endorsement.

"I understand,'' said Ira Agricola, chamber senior vice president. "It would not be my personal preference."

The PAC's 12-member board voted to endorse both candidates for the first time in its history -- clearly split between the incumbent who has campaigned on business issues and the challenger who hails from the region and worked on the state finances.

Check out the statements from the chamber for Bolling and Wagner below:

Will President Obama be back in Virginia before the Nov. 3 election? The Deeds campaign has spent days saying that they would love to see the president and believe he and the Democratic National Committee will be helpful in the final weeks of the governor's race. But everyone's been careful not to say that Obama will definitely be back, with no date yet offered by the White House.

Until this morning. Asked by Mark Plotkin on WTOP if President Obama will campaign for him, Deeds responded, "Yes, he will." Plotkin then asked where Obama will appear and Deeds answered, "I don't know that yet. I know he will be back in Virginia before Nov. 3."

New poll results suggest that Democrat Creigh Deeds do more to sell himself to Northern Virginians, including the traditionally left-leaning inner Washington suburbs, and that voters believe his campaign has become largely negative.

Today we get positive ads from Deeds ... aimed at convincing rural Virginians that he's fighting for them to get their "fair share" from Richmond. And that Deeds will fight for "small towns." And that he understands "your part of the state." And that he's "From Here. For Here." There's a new "Hope and Opportunity" tour in the Shenandoah Valley and Southside. This is all going to give the political pundits something to chew on.

His campaign did make a nod at healing tensions with the White House and energizing Obama Democrats with a statement praising the Nobel Committee for awarding their Peace Prize to the president. "I join the Nobel Committee in standing by President Obama as he continues to spread his message of hope throughout the world," the statement reads in part.

Here's the new TV version:

UPDATE: We're being reminded that Deeds did begin airing a new ad on transportation in Northern Virginia on Thursday. You can watch that ad elsewhere on the blog.

Friday, Oct. 9, 2009

Good morning and happy Friday everyone. Here's what's happening in politics around the state today.

Big news. The Washington Post released a new poll showing that Republican Bob McDonnell has widened his lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds. The entire GOP ticket is up by a hefty nine points.

The poll shows a lack of enthusiasm among many voters who elected President Obama last year and raises questions for the Democrats as they head into the 2010 mid-term elections. Democrats continue to wonder what Deeds's message will be and what the White House's role will be in the remaining weeks of the campaign.

Deeds will be a guest on Mark Plotkin's radio show on WTOP at 10 a.m. Listen here. Tonight, he'll join fans at the Riverbend High football game in Fredericksburg.

McDonnell will attend the Patrick County Rally with former U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode in Stuart and the Greater Richmond Urban League of Young Professionals candidate's forum tonight.

Vice President Joe Biden appeared at a fundraiser for R. Creigh Deeds today and simply gushed about the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, whose possibly strained relationship with the White House has been the talk of Virginia politicos of late. He said Deeds could yet win his race against Robert F. McDonnell (R) despite the gloomy poll numbers.

"I hope to God you understand this race is winnable," Biden said toward the end of his remarks. "I was told another good friend of mine running for governor in another state, they declared him dead two weeks ago. He is now ahead. We are going to win that race." He was referring to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D), who is in a tight race with Republican Chris Christie.

Speaking to a group of about 70 Deeds contributors at the elegant, riverside home of a Fairfax County backer, Biden -- who met Deeds once before at a campaign event for the gubernatorial hopeful in Richmond -- said he believed him to be a sincere and trustworthy man. He said he would come out to Virginia to campaign for him again, repeatedly if necessary, before Election Day.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell has taken a commanding lead over R. Creigh Deeds in the race for governor of Virginia, as momentum the Democrat had built with an attack on his opponent's conservative social views has dissipated, according to a new Washington Post poll.

McDonnell leads 53 to 44 percent among likely voters, expanding on the four-point lead he held in mid-September. Deeds's advantage with female voters has all but disappeared and McDonnell has grown his already wide margin among independents. Deeds, a state senator from western Virginia, is widely seen by voters as running a negative campaign, a finding that might indicate his aggressive efforts to exploit McDonnell's 20-year-old graduate thesis are turning voters away.

Read the full story and see the raw data.

Gov. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said today that President Obama's support is crucial for Democrat Creigh Deeds to win the Virginia governor's race, but said he could not confirm that Obama would return to the state to campaign.

"The way to win is to energize the huge upsurge of Obama '08 voters,'' Kaine said. "We registered an awful lot of people and we got a lot of them to turn out...We've got to have folks that care passionately about the president and care passionately about Creigh."

So is the president coming?

"I can't say one way or another,'' he said.

But Kaine denies recent news reports that Obama and the White House are distancing themselves from Deeds.

"Obviously the White House is very focused on this,'' Kaine said. "What we are doing at the DNC, ramping up our involvement is definitely in consultation with the White House. They're very focused and every week they're making decision about where to spend time. With the vice president here today and with the addiational resorces from the DNC, the White House is very engaged in this race. They're highly involved, highly engaged and it's not just dollars. We're helping in a lot of ways too."

It doesn't appear that Democrat Creigh Deeds is taking the advice of some of his party's elected officials to stop going negative.

Deeds today released a new statewide TV ad, entitled Dishonest, that, well, is negative. It outlines what some newspapers are saying about Republican Bob McDonnell's transportation plan -- calling it "dishonest" and "dead on arrival."

"This ad proves two points,'' said Tucker Martin, a McDonnell spokesman. "First, Creigh Deeds and The Washington Post editorial board both agree on hitting Virginians with a massive tax hike in the middle of a recession. Second, Terry McAuliffe still knows his politics. He presciently noted yesterday "Creigh pretty much doesn't have to say anything because the Washington Post is out there every day doing it."

Read the script below:

This week, The Washington Post had a survey taken of 1,001 likely voters in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We'll have the data and analysis up later this afternoon. For reference, here's what our previous two polls during this elections season showed.

Deeds Shows Big Gains In Va. Poll | Data (Sept. 20)

McDonnell Ahead In Governor's Race | Data (Aug. 16)

The National Rifle Association is airing TV ads on behalf of Republican Bob McDonnell targeting New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- and the mob, too.

In the ad, a mobster explains to Virginia voters that it would be in their best interest not to vote for McDonnell if they "know what's good" for them.

"When Mayor Bloomberg got down here, your guy, Bob McDonnell, kicked him