Virginia Gov.-Elect Bob McDonnell fielded questions on a pair of Sunday morning talk shows about what his landslide victory Tuesday taught Republicans nationwide about running -- and winning.

"Stick to your conservative principles and focus on the quality-of life-issues,'' McDonnell told host Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday.

McDonnell said he focused on local and state issues, such as jobs and traffic, and a handful of federal issues that residents were concerned about, including the cap-and-trade and card check bills pending in Congress.

He also told CNN's State of the Union with John King that it was important to keep a positive message and focus on results. "I think if we do that Republicans have bright days ahead," he said.

In answer to questions from both hosts, McDonnell said he would not shy away from social issues but that they would not be his top focus. He gave us a similar answer in the days after his election.

"I've got to focus on creating jobs, improving the economy and managing this budget,'' he told Wallace. "That's what people overwhelmingly elected me to do and that's going to be my focus.''

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.

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."

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

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.

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds gave his final plea tonight to his supporters, promising a victory if they could bring out the same voters that put Virginia in the win column for President Obama.

In describing his longshot odds, Deeds told the story of Lt. Gen. Chesty Puller, the father of state Sen. Toddy Puller (D-Fairfax), who fought behind enemy lines in December 1950 during the Korean War.

"Chesty said the enemy was in front of us, their behind us, they're on our right, they're on our left," said the Bath County Democrat as he stood behind a banner that read, "All In For Virginia." "And we got 'em just where we want them. We're going to win this thing!"

More than 150 people crowded into Alexandria's Market Square for the rally near vote-rich Fairfax County, with many of the politicians in attendance extolling the potential impact of the last-minute Obama surge voters while decrying polls showing a possible GOP top-ticket sweep.

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."

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.

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."

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, trying to counter a string of bad campaign news and discouraging poll numbers, made four stops in Northern Virginia on Friday, trying to excite his Democratic base and last year's many first-time voters.

Deeds (D-Bath) brought with him a host of state politicians touting his ability to come back from what some analysts have called an insurmountable deficit (read Michael Gerson's and E.J. Dionne Jr.'s takes). Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William) predicted the "greatest upset since Harry Truman." U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) argued that Deeds come-from-behind victory in the Democratic gubernatorial primary was proof that he could close out a race. He touted the work of 14,000 Virginia volunteers during his own Senate campaign in 2006.

"In Virginia, in the off years, voters tend not to focus until the final days," Webb said. "The trick is to appeal to people's self-interest and motivate them to come out and vote."

The stops came on the heels of a Norfolk event with President Obama. A mailer from the Democratic Party sent to 330,000 Virginians carried the president's signature.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

A day after Tuesday's much-anticipated campaign rally with President Obama, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds visited two Northern Virginia schools in his final-week push to bring out the young, enthusiastic voters who gave the president an Election Day surge one year ago.

Deeds (D-Bath) spent Wednesday afternoon speaking to students at Northern Virginia Community College's Loudoun County campus in Sterling, touting his higher education proposals and college scholarship program. He also stopped by South Lakes High School in Reston, where he spoke with members of the Young Democrats club before canvassing a nearby neighborhood.

"We have six days. We will win this race but we have a lot of work to do," Deeds told the South Lakes crowd.

But facing grim poll numbers and lingering questions from within his own party about his campaign, the path to victory does not seem easy. A recent Washington Post poll (poll data) showed Deeds' Republican opponent, Robert F. McDonnell, with an 11-point lead.

"If you look at the poll numbers, you could be discouraged," Deeds said Wednesday. "But the only poll numbers that matters is the ones that come next Tuesday."

Deeds called his rally with Obama on Tuesday a "heady moment" and vowed to energize the electorate. After the South Lakes event, Deeds said turnout among Obama's most loyal supporters will be crucial to his showing on Tuesday. When asked about if another Obama visit would have helped his fledgling campaign, he said, "We did the best we could."

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.

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.)

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds had an unlikely encounter with a political opponent during a town hall-like forum Monday afternoon -- the sister of the top Democrat in Virginia's General Assembly.

During the question-and-answer portion of a Deeds' visit to Greenspring Village, a Springfield retirement community, a 74-year-old Alexandria woman asked Deeds about his transportation plan. She was fed up, she said, with having to "literally make an appointment to pull out" of her driveway off of Duke Street, where she has lived for more than 14 years.

But when Deeds, a Democrat from Bath County who is facing Republican Robert F. McDonnell for governor, started to answer her question, the woman cut him off. Deeds had talked about the difficulties Virginians face with congested roads and needed improvements; Ellie Schendell said he was being evasive.

"You don't get off the hook that easy," she interjected.

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."

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.

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.

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.

Republican Robert F. McDonnell today held a brief town hall meeting at the Manassas offices of Micron Technology Inc., which employs about 1,600 people in Virginia. The Idaho-based semiconductor microchip manufacturer's political action committee has contributed at least $10,000 to McDonnell over the years and its CEO, Steve Appleton, delivered a warm introduction before McDonnell's remarks.

That's not to say McDonnell was handed softball questions. More than 100 employees gathered in a large conference room to hear McDonnell speak, among them Charles McClure, an electrician who delivered the hardball of the day: How, he asked, will you ensure that Virginians receive the same quality of health insurance you do as a public employee?

McDonnell was typically on message, though clearly less comfortable on this issue than the topics he has been talking about regularly on the trail, such as job creation and energy independence.

"Anywhere from 5 to 15 percent of Virginians don't have a bona fide insurance policy, and there are a lot of reasons for it. Some are illegal immigrants, some don't have insurance by choice, some have legitimate preexisting conditions and don't qualify," he said. "My opinion is that overall, people are generally satisfied with the doctor-patient relationship under our current system."

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.

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.

Would Republican Bob McDonnell ever be willing to raise taxes?

Our colleague Lee Hockstader suggests in a column that he might. He questions whether the gubernatorial candidate might in fact be leaving himself some wiggle room to support a tax increase after the economic recession is over.

The McDonnell campaign says no.

McDonnell usually says he won't raise taxes in "this tough economic time," though he has on occasion dropped those last few words and stated unequivocally that he would not raise taxes under any circumstances.

"Bob McDonnell will not raise taxes as governor,'' McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said. "Creigh Deeds, on the other hand, has pledged to raise taxes immediately, even in a recession. It's a defining difference in this race."

Deeds has said he would be willing to raise taxes for transportation, though he has not said which taxes or how much. He has said he would sign a tax increase to provide new revenue for roads if it was the result of a bipartisan compromise passed by the General Assembly.

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.

Republican Bob McDonnell will start airing a radio ad today mentioning three prominent African American leaders -- President Obama, former Virginia governor Doug Wilder and businesswoman Sheila Johnson -- as he tries to cut into the usually Democratic black vote.

All three African Americans in the ad are Democrats, and only Johnson has endorsed him.

The ad mentions that McDonnell, worked as attorney general with Wilder to reduce gang violence, holds the same views with Obama on charter schools and is supported by Johnson, wealthy co-founded of Black Entertainment Television.

"Bob McDonnell is a bipartisan leader who gets results,'' Johnson says in the ad. "That's the kind of governor we need. And that's why this Democrat strongly supports Bob McDonnell.''

The positive 60-second ad is airing on African American stations in Hampton Roads.

Listen to the ad here:

Update: Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) and Del. Lionell Spruill (D-Chesapeake) responded to McDonnell's ad with a joint statement: "This ad is blatantly misleading and a shameful attempt to dupe people into thinking Bob McDonnell supports the President. It would be laughable if it weren't clear that he was trying to lure voters into thinking he would be a partner and friend to our President and a good steward of Virginia's future. When Creigh Deeds stood with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to make record investments in education, Bob McDonnell voted no. His education policies would rob much needed funding from Virginia classrooms and leave children with fewer books and teachers. His election would erode nearly a decade of progress here in Virginia."

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:

Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009

Good morning politicos! Twelve days to go until Election Day, and the campaigns for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and House of Delegates are sprinting along.

The narrative remained largely static Wednesday, with more encouraging poll numbers for Republican Bob McDonnell and more evidence that Democrat Creigh Deeds is banking on a last-minute surge of support from supporters of President Obama.

Public Policy Polling, which uses a methodology that our in-house polling experts don't love, released numbers Wednesday giving McDonnell a 12-point lead over Deeds, a large jump from three weeks ago, when the same firm put Deeds within five points.

Deeds announced that Obama would campaign with him next Tuesday at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Deeds also launched a new TV ad featuring Obama campaigning for him in Tysons Corner.

McDonnell launched his "New Jobs, New Virginia" tour yesterday with a stop at a Lynchburg furniture maker; today he continues the tour with a visit to a Culpeper home building company. And he got a boost when former state senator Brandon Bell, a Republican who had endorsed Deeds, switched horses midstream.

Deeds's only public appearance today is at a forum in Hampton sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

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.

More signs that Democrat Creigh Deeds has made a late turn to Obama Democrats, in hopes of revving up the Democratic base behind his candidacy for governor: An email went out Wednesday to supporters of Organizing for America in Virginia, Obama's political organization. Unlike last week's missive that come out under the hand of the group's executive director, this email was signed by the man himself.

"We've worked too hard and come too far to let Virginia slip back. Creigh Deeds has embraced the movement you started by speaking directly and honestly to Virginians about the challenges ahead and the ideas that will move us forward," writes President Obama in the email.

OFA sent out in an email in Obama's name once before, the day after Deeds won the Democratic primary. Click through to read today's email in full.

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.

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.

If there was any doubt that R. Creigh Deeds has President Obama in a bear hug in the final two weeks of the gubernatorial campaign, it should be erased today.

The Democratic hopeful has just released an ad called "Fired Up," which features the president at his inspirational best, calling on supporters to throw their support behind Deeds as a continuation of his history-making campaign last year. As we've reported before, Deeds lags Republican Robert F. McDonnell in the polls and must whip up the Democratic base in the two weeks left before the election.

"Last year, Virginia, you helped lead a movement of Americans who believed that their voices could make a difference," Obama says in the ad. "I need every one of you to get fired up once again so that we can go towards the future, with Creigh Deeds leading the great Commonwealth of Virginia."

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's the video from the debate:

And here's the post-debate scrum:

Moderator Jay Warren is tough on both guys tonight. Here's a rough exchange he had with Democrat Creigh Deeds, pushing him on his transportation plan.

Warren: "What tax would you see increase under creigh deeds?"

"What tax would you see increase under creigh deeds?" Deeds asked incredulously.
"I can answer that," McDonnell said, as the crowd laughed.

"No you can't," Deeds responded.

"What I've said is that anything that has a nexus to transportation," Deeds began.

"What does that mean? Sales tax on cigarettes? Alcohol?" Warren asked.

"Anything that has a nexus to transportation. Anything that involves all the people who use the transportation system, both people who live in state and out of state."

Greetings from the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Va., where Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds are 9 minutes from taking the stage for their final debate before the Nov. 3 election. Both candidates have enthusiastic supporters outside and went out and visited with their people before the kickoff. We'll give you a couple live updates as the debate progresses.

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."

Good Samaritans that they are, Virginia's Republicans Tuesday put up a new Web ad that fills in some lines omitted from a Washington Post endorsement that heartily endorsed the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds.

The GOP ad, entitled "Second Cut," slyly juxtaposes lines about Deeds' pledge to raise taxes for roads, if necessary, with images lifted from a Democratic ad that touts Deeds' receipt of the newspaper's endorsement.

The GOP ad throws in some other choice lines from other Post opinion pieces, too, to drive home the point Deeds' stand on taxes may not be as popular with voters as it is with the editorial board.

To be fair, this ad omits some choice lines of its own -- including the editorial board's assertion that Republican candidate Robert F. McDonnell is a culture warrior who "has staked out the intolerant terrain on his party's right wing."

To read the editorial by our colleagues on the other side of the wall between news and opinion, click here.

--Fredrick Kunkle

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.

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009

Good morning, politicos! Just 14 days to go until Election Day, and things are looking good for the GOP/bad for the Dems.

A new poll gives Republicans Robert F. McDonnell a substantial lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. We have a few issues with this poll, but there's another one out this morning from Clarus that shows McDonnell up by 8 points, 49 to 41.

Democrat Creigh Deeds says he's still got plenty of time, and that his campaign will now focus on drawing out supporters of President Obama and core Democrats generally.

The candidates for lieutenant governor, incumbent Republican Bill Bolling and Democrat Jody Wagner, took the proverbial gloves off last night in a televised debate.

And Steve Shannon, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, unveiled a tough new ad accusing Republican Ken Cuccinelli of not being tough enough on public corruption because he hasn't called for the resignation of Del. Phil Hamilton.

The gubernatorial candidates meet for their final debate tonight in Roanoke. McDonnell is holed up to prepare, while Deeds will fit in a quick campaign appearance in Tysons Corner at lunchtime today with former president Bill Clinton and his pal Terry McAuliffe.

There's more grim news out regarding Virginia's revenue outlook, raising the obvious question of why all these folks even want the jobs they're seeking.

Lastly, we'll leave you with this thought: Bob McDonnell for President!

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:

Longtime Republican activist Gary Byler is asking the State Board of Elections to investigate whether Democratic gubernatorial Creigh Deeds violated state law by receiving contributions from labor unions.

Byler, a longtime friend of GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, claims that Deeds and his backers, including the Democratic Governors Association, have accepted millions of dollars from groups that have not registered with the state or disclosed donors.

In a letter sent Monday, Byler asked the board to look into whether $3.7 million from the DGA and $1.1 million from unions comply with state laws.

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.

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 editorial boards of Virginia's newspapers are starting to make their endorsements for governor.

The Daily Press this morning backed Republican Bob McDonnell. So did Inside Nova, which includes both the Manassas News-Messenger and the Potomac News. Also endorsing McDonnell this weekend were the Winchester Star and the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.

The Washington Post's editorial board endorsed Democrat Creigh Deeds this morning.

Do newspaper endorsements matter?

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.

In a campaign that has lately shifted the debate to taxes, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic Party candidate for governor, says Republican candidate Robert F. McDonnell is exaggerating the potential cost that Deeds' proposals would cost Virginia's families.

Leaving aside the GOP's questionable claim that Deeds' total tax tab would amount to about $7,800 per family -- which would require yet another foray into the thicket of computations and counter-computations of the impact of cap-and-trade regulation on American consumers -- let's focus for the moment on the bill for transportation.

Deeds says Virginia needs at least $1 billion in new revenues every year to fix its transportation woes.

He does not specify where the new money will come from, other than to say that he will not use any money that now supports the state's public schools. He tells a scrum of reporters that he will not raise any taxes that go to the state's general fund, such as sales and income taxes. But he promises in writing that, as governor, he would enact a bipartisan, comprehensive transportation plan, "even if" it includes new taxes, to fix "a multibillion-dollar backlog."

For taking this stand, Deeds has won plaudits from some, including the editorial page of The Washington Post. The Post praised Deeds for "political guts" in acknowledging that taxpayers must foot the bill for "tens of billions of dollars in new revenue." The same page dismissed McDonnell's plan, which spurns any new taxes for roads, "as phony-baloney."

Yet when McDonnell accused Deeds during a recent debate -- and now in ads that began airing Oct. 10 -- of supporting "another billion dollars in taxes" or a "billion dollar tax increase," Deeds said McDonnell was lying.

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.

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.

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.

Good morning Virginia! Here's what's happening on this rainy fall day in state politics.

Today is the deadline for candidates in November's election to submit their campaign finance reports for September, offering the latest snapshot of the state of the fast-approaching race. Our friends at the Virginia Public Access Project are expected to post the information on their Web site by 6 p.m., and executive director David Poole joined with the Post's Amy Gardner yesterday to answer reader questions about campaign finance.

President Obama came to Virginia yesterday -- but not for Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds, giving fodder to the chattering classes who have been wondering aloud about whether Obama has given up on the Democratic nominee. The questioning intensified yesterday when news broke that Obama has committed to a campaign stop for the other Democrat running for governor this year, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.

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.

President Obama has not yet agreed to campaign again for Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds--but he's made time for the nation's other Democratic gubernatorial candidate. New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign announced today that Obama will be holding a rally for his reelection effort at Fairleigh Dickinson University next Wednesday.

The news comes as Corzine's effort has pulled even with Republican Chris Christie, even as Deeds trails Republican Bob McDonnell by nine points in a recent Washington Post poll.

Obama did visit Virginia today, to tout the impact of the federal stimulus package at the Fairfax County Parkway extension construction project, the largest project of its kind in Virginia and a federal highway project partially funded by stimulus dollars.

But the event was not a campaign stop and Deeds was not present. Also not on site: Democratic Governor and Obama ally Timothy M. Kaine, who stood at the very same project with Obama in February to push for the stimulus' passage in Congress, citing the Fairfax County Parkway as a possible benefactor.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Here's a friend Republican Bob McDonnell probably wasn't looking for.

Conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh decided to put on his well-worn pundit's hat and weigh in on the race for Virginia governor.

Wouldn't you know, he thinks Democrat Creigh Deeds has been too negative? He gleefully told listeners that McDonnell remains ahead despite Deeds's attempt to paint McDonnell as "an anti-female caveman."

Why? Because Americans have sourced on the "radical" Democratic agenda.

But here's the part that might be just what Deeds needs to get pumped for tonight's televised debate.

"I'll tell you what I think's going on out there. I think the New York Times must not see the ads in Virginia, the Democrat, the mealy-mouthed idiot named Creigh Deeds."

Mealy-mouthed idiot? Ouch!

Read his full comments here.

Updated: Deeds responded to Limbaugh's comments after the debate tonight. "I feel I've hit the big time!'' he said with laugh. "They've called out the heavyweights on me."

Republican Bob McDonnell holds a rally for women tomorrow with Sheila Johnson, a top endorser who apologized last week after video of her surfaced at a previous campaign stop mocking Democrat Creigh Deeds's speaking style.

"We need someone who can really communicate," said Johnson, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television. "And Bob McDonnell can communicate. The other people that I talk to, especially his o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-opponent ... could not articulate what needed to be done."

McDonnell declined opportunities last week to apologize for sitting quietly while Johnson poked fun at Deeds. And he clearly does not think the incident made her persona non grata for his campaign, despite condemnation from the National Stuttering Association and others in the disabilities community. He rallies with Johnson and other women supporting his effort at the Tysons Corner Marriott tomorrow. Johnson was a top supporter of Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine but endorsed McDonnell, arguing that he would do a better job handling the state's economy. Oh yes, and communicating his ideas for the future.

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.

Democrat Creigh Deeds is out with a new ad, a spot that does not mention his Republican opponent at all and instead focuses on Deeds' education proposals. The ad particularly highlights Deeds' Virginia Forward scholarship proposal, in which Deeds has said he would offer a 50 percent scholarship to any Virginia student at a Virginia public college who maintains a B average and commits to spending two years in public service after graduation.

The ad begins airing now in Richmond and will expand to other markets next week--no word yet on which.

Watch it here.

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.

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:

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."

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.

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:

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 out of Virginia, and it was very disrespectful," the man says. "When you vote, I strongly suggest you forget about your freedoms and your Mr. Second Amendment Bob McDonnell."

"I haven't seen the ad; heard about it. I'll leave Virginia politics to Virginians and worry about the politics here," Bloomberg told the New York Times.

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009

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

Vice President Joe Biden returns to Virginia for a second time to help Democrat Creigh Deeds raise some cash at a mid-day event in Alexandria. It's a busy fundraising day for Deeds. Tonight, he appears with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley at the Potomac home of lobbyist Barbara Goldberg Goldman.

Republican Bob McDonnell will discuss plans to aid senior citizens at the Herndon Senior Center. Yes, McDonnell is still rolling out policy proposals less than four weeks before the big day.

Questions continue to arise about Deeds's negative message and whether he can make his case to voters in the last month of the race -- with or without help from President Obama.

The Wall Street Journal weighs into the Virginia governor's race for the second day in a row. This time, the paper reports on the Deeds campaign's formation of 60 book clubs to talk about McDonnell's graduate thesis.

Earlier today, Post reporters Anita Kumar and Rosalind Helderman -- who are assigned to the McDonnell and Deeds campaigns respectively -- and former VCU professor Bob Holsworth (now blogging at Virginia Tomorrow) answered readers questions about the Virginia governor's race. Some excerpts follow. Read the entire discussion here.

And come back next Wednesday for another chat with Post reporters, who will be joined by fundraising watcher David Poole of the Virginia Public Access Project.

Excerpts:

Alexandria, Va.: I want to like Deeds but feel he is taking NoVA for granted because it generally skews highly democratic. Does he have any plans for flyers, ads, appearances in the area that would help him convey his stances on the issues or plans for Virginia? So far, he hasn't done that at all (at least as far as I have noticed). He really needs to step up his game and come out with some real details if he wants to do well here.

Rosalind Helderman: Deeds was in Northern Virginia yesterday, attending a forum at the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce in Leesburg. He's doing the Mark Plotkin show on Friday. He also has a variety of television ads up in the area and is sending mail home to voters. Having said that, certainly plenty of Northern Virginians have suggested he has not done enough to explain who he is in this region.

National Democrats are stepping up efforts to demonstrate they remain fully supportive of Virginia candidate Creigh Deeds. A new email is going out today from President Obama's Organizing for America to 500,000 Virginia voters urging them to help Deeds and check out Republican Bob McDonnell's 1989 thesis. It ties Deeds directly to the president, opening:

"As President Obama said, Creigh Deeds' pragmatic and bipartisan approach to politics "has an ability to bring people together, build consensus and deliver results."

There are also new ads going up on Facebook today urging voters to look into the thesis.

You can read the full OFA email after the jump.

Will he or won't he?

Will President Obama be campaigning in Virginia again for Democrat R. Creigh Deeds?

It's the question of the moment as a story appears in this morning's Wall Street Journal citing a source who says the White House is backing off support for Deeds, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is quoted over the weekend suggesting that the Dems' chances in the New Jersey race are stronger than in Virginia.

No event has yet been announced, and the Deeds campaign continues to say only that they hope one will occur and they are working closely with the White House.

They also insist that all is well with the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Governors Association, as the three groups hold daily conference calls and coordinate closely. The DGA pumped $250,000 into the campaign last week, and Deeds senior adviser Mo Elleithee said a $1 million contribution from the DNC announced Monday was not a pledge. It was a check -- wired directly into the Deeds account.

Republican Bob McDonnell launched a new TV ad today that calculates the cost of a pair of proposals that Democrat Creigh Deeds has indicated he supports -- a gas tax increase and the federal cap and trade bill.

The ad assume Deeds would support a gas increase, which has voted for many times in the past, to raise the $1 billion that he says is needed for road and transit improvements. In Virginia, the gas tax produces roughly $50 million per penny, and would take a 20-cent increase to produce $1 billion a year. McDonnell's ad uses information from the state Department of Taxation to determine that a 20-cent increase would cost a household with two cars an average of $300 a year.

The ad assumes Deeds supports a climate proposal with a greater emissions cap than the one being considered by Congress. The cap and trade number comes a U.S. States Department of the Treasury report that found that Americans would see an impact of $1,761 per household if the bill passed.

The ad calculates the number over four years. It is airing statewide except for Northern Virginia:

"Creigh Deeds has the only realistic plan to solve Virginia's transportation crisis,'' said Jared Leopold, Deeds spokesman. "Bob McDonnell's dishonest ads are a desperate attempt to distract from his 'phony baloney' transportation scheme that would take $5.4 billion from Virginia schools. On transportation, the contrast is clear: Creigh Deeds has an honest plan, Bob McDonnell has dishonest, negative ads."

Read the script below:

Today the Post brings you two opportunities to discuss the Virginia governor's race with our reporters and editors and your fellow readers.

At noon today, Post reporters Anita Kumar and Rosalind Helderman, who are assigned to the two campaigns, will take your questions and comments on the race. They'll be joined by former VCU professor Bob Holsworth, who now runs his Virginia Tomorrow blog. Submit your questions, then watch the discussion from noon to 1 p.m.

Those interested in digging deeper into Creigh Deeds's and Bob McDonnell's competing transportation plans can use our annotation tool to comment on and debate specific points in the candidates' proposals. Click here to see McDonnell's plan or click here for Deeds's.

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009

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

Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds shared a stage twice yesterday. Well, sort of.

First, they appeared at a candidate's forum sponsored by the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce. Later, they participated in interviews as part of a previously taped hour-long TV special where Deeds blamed Washington woes for his problems.

Today, McDonnell will shake some hands at the Chesapeake Sheriff's Great American Food Fest while Deeds will discuss his higher ed plans with students and faculty at the University of Virginia.

Sen. John McCain will hold a veterans rally for McDonnell this month, while the Wall Street Journal is just the latest newspaper to wonder if McCain's former opponent, President Obama is distancing himself from Deeds's campaign.

The flap over billonaire BET co-founder Sheila Johnson's remarks about Deeds' speaking styleis not quite over. A Northern Virginia PAC that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities is calling on McDonnell to apologize for his supporter's remarks. The issue has prompted some to wonder if the race is all about style ?

Gov. Tim Kaine, his party's national chairman, talks about Deeds's need to sell himself. McDonnell continues to woo Redskins fans.

The Washington Business Journal talks energy, and the Washington Post talks traffic.

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob McDonnell had to be pleased with his performance on national TV tonight.

In his seven-minute interview on the Kudlow and Company show on CNBC, McDonnell got to tout the federal issues he loves to talk about, received no questions about his 20-year-old thesis and gave his spin on how to fund transportation.

And to top it off, host Larry Kudlow mispronounced Democrat Creigh Deeds's name (It's Cree) and the show flashed an unflattering photo of Deeds (His mouth was hanging open).

Kudlow mentioned that McDonnell was up in the polls, and asked him if Republican wins in Virginia and New Jersey this year will help GOP candidates in 2010.

"The answer is yes,'' he said. "If we are able to win and Chris (Christie) wins in New Jersey, I think people will look at this, in part, as a referendum of left-leaning policies the United States Congress has been advocating -- intrusion into the free enterprise system, more deficit spending, more regulation and say that's not the direction we want to go."

Deeds was invited to appear on the show as well, and his campaign said they are still trying to work out a date.

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert F. McDonnell faced off -- well, sort of; they were taped separately in back-to-back interviews -- at a forum moderated by WJLA's Leon Harris and Politico's John Harris and broadcast live tonight.

The two Harrises touched on all the usual subjects -- transportation, taxes, the thesis -- and the two candidates offered all the usual answers. But there were a few interesting moments.

Deeds was shown a video from a similar forum in during the Democratic primary in which he said he was "itchin'" to debate McDonnell in the fall -- and then he was asked why he agreed only to a forum with consecutive instead of joint appearances.

"I do not control the schedule at all," Deeds offered as a defense. Really?

McDonnell, meanwhile, was asked not only to defend his 20-year-old thesis, but to explain the fact that he had a conservative voting record in the General Assembly.

"I didn't," he said.

Finally, the hosts had some fun asking a few more frivolous questions, such as:

Should Jim Zorn be fired? Deeds: No. McDonnell: No comment.

Do you TiVo: No.

Do you watch Tom DeLay on Dancing With the Stars? No.

Do you Twitter? Yes.

Do you own an iPod? McDonnell: No. Deeds: Yes. What's on your iPod? Little Feat, Grateful Dead, other '60s and '70s rock.

To watch the show, click here.

A political action committee in Northern Virginia that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities is calling on gubernatorial candidate Robert F. McDonnell to apologize for remarks made by a top supporter that mocked state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds's manner of speaking.

The controversy arose after Sheila Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television who is backing McDonnell, mimicked Deeds's talking style during a Sept. 25 campaign event as she criticized his inability to communicate effectively. A video of her remarks has received a lot of play on the Web since its posting this week by liberal blogger Ben Tribbett.

"Sheila Johnson enjoys the same freedom of speech that all Americans have, but we are appalled and saddened that she used a political speech and introduction of the Republican candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell to laugh at people who have speech impediments," said Martha J. Toomey, a co-founder of disAbility Votes. The PAC, which is endorsing Deeds, has also supported candidates seeking to broaden insurance coverage for children with autism. "We are especially concerned that the message Mr. McDonnell seems to be endorsing is that of a playground bully making fun of a child who has disabilities. This is unacceptable."

Johnson later apologized. Earlier Tuesday, McDonnell declined to apologize for Johnson's remarks, saying that she had issued a statement "she believed was appropriate."

-- Fredrick Kunkle

Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee and former prisoner of war, will hold a veterans campaign rally with Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob McDonnell Oct. 17 in Hampton Roads.

Lou Holtz, the former Notre Dame football coach turned TV commentator, will hold a meet-and-greet with McDonnell on Oct. 26 in Richmond.

McDonnell has appeared with many prominent Republicans, but most events were closed-door fundraisers. These two events are being billed as open to the public.

Leaving a forum this morning hosted by the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, Republican Bob McDonnell was asked what responsibility he bears for Sheila Johnson's videotaped comments mocking Democrat Creigh Deeds's speaking style and whether he would apologize for it. McDonnell did not apologize. Instead, he said that he knew that Johnson had issued a statement "she believed was appropriate." He went on to try to explain what he thought Johnson was trying to express in her comments.

"Listen," he told reporters. "Senator Deeds hasn't had any problem for the last two months viciously attacking me on any number of things that misrepresented my position. So I think he's a very good spokesman for his cause. ... The reason she's supporting me, that she said at the announcement speech, is that she believes I've got the best ideas on jobs, the economy and economic development."

"What she was saying, is what I understood her to say ... is that Senator Deeds hasn't been able to put together a comprehensive plan, a positive vision about where he's going to take Virginia. Now that's what I understood from Sheila's statement."

Here's a fun fact on a Tuesday afternoon, 28 days until the big day -- Election Day, that is.

Republicans have been reminding us with some frequency about the number of viewers who have taken a look at the video of Democrat Creigh Deeds's post-debate scrum with reporters in which he struggles to explain whether he would raise taxes and snaps at a female reporter.

Well, check this out:

The clip of Deeds's post-debate scrum with reporters from Sept. 18 now has 52,050 views (and that's with nearly three weeks worth of Web ads directing viewers to the video)

But the video clip of Sheila Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television and Bob McDonnell supporter who mocked Deeds's speaking style, now has 61,212 views after a mere 24 hours.

And, in case you aren't one of these thousands of people, you can see both videos right here:

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009

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

Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell will appear at a candidate's forum sponsored by the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce this morning. (We will be live blogging so be sure to check back around 8:30 a.m. for a full report).

Deeds will spend the rest of the day meeting residents at Leisure World, a private senior community in Leesburg, talking up higher education plans at Shenandoah University in Winchester and holding a rally at James Madison University in Harrisonburg. McDonnell will attend a veterans event in Arlington with his daughter, Jeanine, who served in Iraq.

Tonight, Deeds and McDonnell will participate in interviews as part of a previously taped hour-long TV special. Tune in to ABC 7/WJLA-TV or Politico's Web site at 7 p.m. to watch.

We're just four weeks from Election Day! And the allegations and accusations are flying.

Yesterday's mini-scandal was over Sheila Johnson's mocking of Deeds's speaking style. The billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television quickly apologized but not before making national headlines.

Later in the day, Democrats seized on a canceled event between Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO and current Republican candidate for California governor, and McDonnell but his campaign said it was a miscommunication.

Democrats said today that Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO and current Republican candidate for California governor, canceled a campaign event with Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell because she did not want to be tied to the views he expressed in his 20-year-old graduate thesis.

McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said the event was canceled more than a week ago and would not be rescheduled because the two campaigns could not work out an alternate date. The McDonnell campaign provided confidential emails to The Wasington Post that made clear that the event was canceled 10 days ago due to a miscommunication.

The fundraiser was set to take place Thursday at the Northern Virginia home of businessman John Backus, who has known Whitman since the 1980s. Backus said in an interview that the McDonnell campaign notified him last Monday that Whitman could not attend this Thursday. He said he initially wanted to reschedule the event at his home but that he and his wife, who is pregnant, realized it was too close to her due date.

The liberal group Americans United for Change sent an email to supporters today encouraging them to pressure Whitman not to attend the Virginia event before realizing that the event had already been canceled. Whitman's campaign did not return phone calls today.

The Democractic National Committee and Americans United for Change each sent out two emails tonight that linked the cancellation to McDonnell's thesis.

"I'm sure Meg Whitman didn't want Californians to know that she was not only embracing, but was also raising money for, a candidate who believes that women working outside the home are a 'detriment to the family' and who voted against the principle of equal pay for equal work," DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said.

Get ready for even more TV ads.

The National Rifle Association is spending more than $500,000 on TV and radio ads for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign spending.

We told you last week that McDonnell and his supporters were outspending Democrat Creigh Deeds and his backers nearly 2 to 1 on TV ads. The NRA ad buy is only going to add to McDonnell's advantage.

Deeds's gun-friendly record earned him the NRA's endorsement in 2005 but cost him the support of former governor L. Douglas Wilder. This year the NRA switched to McDonnell, citing his record as attorney general and Deeds's "flip-flop" on the gun show loophole.

The NRA refused to disclose any details on the radio or TV ads -- so let us know when you see or hear them!

We just received the following statement from Sheila Johnson, about the video clip of her appearing to mock Democrat Creigh Deeds's speaking style:

"Two weeks ago I made reference to Creigh Deeds' inability to clearly communicate effective solutions to the serious problems facing Virginia. I shouldn't have done it in the manner in which I did and for that I apologize for any offense he, or others, may have taken," she said.

Does that end this campaign kerfuffle? We'll see.

As the National Stuttering Association releases a statement condemning comments made recently by McDonnell supporter Sheila Johnson, in which she mocked Democrat Creigh Deeds's speaking style, his consultants fielded question after question this afternoon about whether the Democrat, in fact, has a stutter.

"It's something he's dealt with his whole life," said senior adviser Mo Elleithee in a call with reporters. "He's never sought any type of medical attention for it."

So does he have a stutter? "He sometimes stumbles over his words. He's spoken that way his entire life. He's never sought medical attention for it. There are people out there who have much worse problems. Many of them stutter," Elleithee went on to say.

U.S. Rep. Jim Moran says Democrat Creigh Deeds is very much in a position to win his campaign for governor, but says he counseled his party's nominee last night that he needs to push back against consultant advice to run negative ads, and run positive spots instead.

Moran said Deeds is being supported by an anti-McDonnell vote but now must give voters a reason to vote for him instead of against the other guy.

"We had a conversation last night," Moran said. "I said: 'All your consultants are going to tell you to go negative, just like they told my brother. And spend all your money on negative because positive ads don't move anything.' ... I said: 'You've got to go with your instinct. You're a genuine guy. People relate to you.' "

"That's how Creigh won the primary and I think that's how he'll win the general, by showing that he's very decent guy," Moran continued. "People know about the thesis -- the people who care about the thesis, they're in Northern Virginia and they read The Post and they know. But there's got to be more. He's got to give people a reason to vote for Creigh."

This video clip of Sheila Johnson, a supporter of Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine now backing Republican Bob McDonnell for governor, has been making its way around the Internet, starting on Ben Tribbett's blog.

In the clip, Johnson, who co-founded BET, talks about her feeling that Democrat Creigh Deeds has trouble articulating his views for Virginia and seems to mock his stammering speaking style. Deeds senior adviser Mo Elleithee called Johnson's imitation of the rural senator a "petty personal attack."

Deeds himself said at a campaign stop today that he was "disappointed" in Johnson's comments.

"I'm disappointed and I'll be honest. If it's about being smooth or being a slick communicator, I'm never going to win that discussion. But I work as hard as I can to be honest and forthright and tell people what I think and I'm going to continue to work toward creating opportunity and hope and prosperity in every corner of Virginia. I think I've laid out my vision very well," Deeds said.

Republicans continued to blame Gov. Tim Kaine -- and his would-be successor Creigh Deeds -- for being slow in spending the state's share of federal stimulus money for transportation.

U.S. Frank Wolf and Fairfax Supervisor Pat Herrity, among others, criticized Kaine this morning on a conference call for not using the money for much-needed existing projects in congested Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

"We could use that money desperately,'' Wolf told reporters. "We're in a critical situation. The economic growth and the opportunities here depend on improving transportation. There are a lot of things up here that that money could be used for."

Republicans have been talking nonstop about transportation stimulus money since Friday, when the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent Kaine a stern letter that said the state is the last in the nation to spend its money.

"These projects have all been on the book for years. I just don't understand why they are not moving," Herrity said. "It seems we ought to be leading the pack, not behind the pack."

Remember when Democrat Creigh Deeds made that sharp remark to a female reporter who asked him about his plan to pay for road improvements? "I think I made myself clear, young lady," Deeds said.

The exchange, which was quickly posted on YouTube and sent out by the state Republican Party, has now made it into a TV ad paid for by the Republican Governors Association and airing in Northern Virginia.

Watch it here:

Some wondered whether Deeds might have hurt his attempts to appeal to women voters when he made that comment after the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate. Deeds later called to apologize to the reporter, Chelyen Davis of the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star, who said she was not offended by the remark.

The Virginia Education Association has launched a new TV ad, accusing Republican Bob McDonnell of opposing smaller class sizes and teacher raises while supporting vouchers for private schools.

The group, which has been airing ads for two weeks in Richmond and Hampton Roads, directs viewers to a Web site that compares McDonnell's and Democrat Creigh Deeds's education plans. (Check out The Post's take on their education plans).

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is following through on a promise made in the spring to raise money for Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates, yesterday hosting a barbecue at his McLean home for House caucus chair Ken Plum's political action committee.

It may not be the millions he was rumored to have pledged to candidates if he were the nominee -- though Del. Plum insists the two had never talked numbers -- but Plum said the event netted about $100,000 for his Invest in Virginia committee. That's a pretty sizable figure given that Plum, who had endorsed McAuliffe, says the fund likely will raise $400,000 to $500,000 total this campaign season. And Plum said most attendees at the event were friends of McAuliffe who might not have given to the PAC otherwise.

"I never had an expectation he would necessarily do anything if he didn't get the nomination, so I'm very appreciative," Plum said. "I think he still has the potential for being a force in Virginia politics to keep us looking ahead and being progressive and working hard."

Is nominee Creigh Deeds being as supportive to House candidates? Plum said Deeds is doing what he can, but everyone recognizes he's got a tough campaign of his own to concentrate on. "There's an understanding that while Creigh Deeds is fully supportive and recognizes the need to win the House, he's got a race on his hands," Plum said.

Monday, Oct. 5, 2009
Good morning! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

One month and counting until Virginia voters go to the polls. Have you registered to vote yet? Today's the deadline!

This may be a critical week in the campaign, as pretty much everyone who is going to vote is starting to pay real attention to the governor's race, even these highly sought late-deciders.

Is the national Democratic party doubling-down on Sen. Creigh Deeds in attempt to close the gap with Republican Bob McDonnell? The DNC will give him $1 million more to spend on his effort. But meanwhile national Democrats begin to say quietly they think they may have better chance in New Jersey than Virginia. Those doing the talking, very diplomatically include Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, head of the Democratic Governors Association.

Bob McDonnell's visit to a Fairfax County GOP breakfast pep rally yesterday was a homecoming of sorts. The Burke Fire Department hall was surrounded with those familiar "Fairfax's Own" signs, and the more than 300 activists getting pumped over coffee and pancakes were more than happy to claim him as their own.

But the visit also offered an acknowledgement of the role the county has played this year in reviving Republican hopes after a morale-crushing few years in the once-red state.

McDonnell, who leads Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in the polls, gave a particular shout-out to Fairfax supervisors Pat Herrity and John Cook, whose better-than-expected performances in a couple of elections (along with the success of Republican Frank Fannon and GOP-endorsed independent Alicia Hughes in Alexandria and a close House of Delegates special election in Arlington) helped create momentum for Virginia Republicans this year. ""Pat Herrity and John Cook, the leaders of the revolution," McDonnell said to thunderous applause.

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D), who recent polls have suggested may not be just Virginia's most popular sitting politician but perhaps it's more popular in decades, is stepping up his efforts on behalf of fellow Democrat Creigh Deeds as Election Day approaches.

Already, Warner is featured in a television ad airing around the state. Monday, he campaigns with Deeds in Northern Virginia. Warner will greet the lunch crowd with Deeds at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington.

Also there to lend a hand will be the Moran brothers, U.S. Rep. Jim, as well as former delegate and contender for the gubernatorial nomination Brian, and state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple.

Republican Bob McDonnell began airing a new TV ad on transportation today in traffic-clogged Northern Virginia.

McDonnell hopes to pick up some votes in the left-leaning region by touting his plan to fund road and transit improvements and by accusing Democrat Creigh Deeds of only having a vague plan that may include raising taxes (though the ad does not specifically mention Deeds.)

McDonnell has proposed paying for transportation by shifting state money and relying on funding sources that don't involve tax increases, such as privatizing the state's liquor stores and adding tolls on some highways, though some have criticized him for offering a plan that would take money from core services.

The Democratic National Committee will announce tomorrow that it is donating another $1 million as well as additional in-kind contributions to Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

That brings the DNC commitment in Virginia to more than $6 million -- roughly equal to the Republican National Committee's pledge of $7 million to aid candidate Bob McDonnell.

The DNC, chaired by Gov. Tim Kaine, made the decision to donate more money and other resources to Deeds after seeing McDonnell's lead narrow considerably in recent weeks.

"We see a real strong opportunity here,'' said Brad Woodhouse, DNC communications director. "We're real pleased with the direction of the race."

The DNC's $1 million check will be sent to Deeds tomorrow.

"We're thrilled with the additional commitment from Governor Kaine and the DNC,'' said Mo Elleithee, a senior adviser to the Deeds campaign. "The fact that they are digging so deep shows that they're fully committed to Creigh and to this race, and we are very appreciative of their support."

Gov. Tim Kaine said today that he was "completely surprised' that the Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent him a blunt letter accusing him of being slow in spending the state's share of federal stimulus money for transportation.

"Look, do you want to spend it fast or do you want to spend it best?" Kaine said in an interview. "We're going to spend it best."

U.S. Rep. James Oberstar wrote in a letter yesterday that Virginia had started construction on only about 17 percent of millions of dollars worth of transportation projects -- making the state last in the nation to spend its money.

Kaine blamed the ranking on the White House and Congress using two different ways to report spending. Virginia, he said, is following the administration's guideline.

"This House committee is doing their own analysis and they do it differently,'' Kaine said. "It might frankly be a disagreement of opinion -- this is not completely unusual -- between the administration and Congress. We feel like by following the adminstration's deadline and reporting requirements, we're fine."

What does Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, say to Republicans who are using this issue to accuse him of not paying attention to the state?

"They do that,'' he said. "I don't worry about it."

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds received a warm welcome at the annual Second Street Festival this afternoon in the historically black neighborhood of Jackson Ward in Richmond.

The event -- known by locals as the Two Street Festival or the Deuce -- was truly Deeds Country.

The predominately African American crowd gathered around Deeds, dressed casually in khakis and a polo shirt, to shake his hand, snap his picture, wish him luck. Most were wearing blue Deeds stickers. There were no McDonnell stickers in sight.

"I think you're going to win,'' one man yelled over the crowd.

"Governor! I'm going to call you governor already!" another man said as he reached out to grab his hand.

Deeds was accompanied by Gov. Tim Kaine, a festival regular since 1995, and most of the city's African American leaders, including Mayor Dwight Jones, Del. Jennifer McClellan and Sens. Don McEachin and Henry Marsh. Steve Shannon, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, also worked the crowd.

Jones, a former House member who used to lead the legislative black caucus, said Deeds has momentum. "He's right where he wants to be,'' he said. "We just want to make sure there is no slippage in the black community."

Will Arizona senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain be headlining a rally for gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell sometime soon? Maybe.

While shaking hands at a fall festival in Manassas today, McDonnell told a voter that McCain would be holding a veteran's rally for him.

But asked about McCain shortly after, McDonnell sounded less certain. He said McCain, who held a fundraiser for McDonnell back in March, told him months ago he was interested in holding an rally for veterans, likely in Hampton Roads, but there is no date.

"I know we were working on that," he said. He promised his staff would be back in touch to provide the "straight scoop" on any event.

"I must have misspoken on that," he added.

The head of the Democratic Governors Association suggested Friday that Democrats would have a better shot at winning the governor's race in New Jersey than in Virginia, although he said the revelation of Republican Robert F. McDonnell's controversial thesis could hurt the GOP in the commonwealth.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said in an interview that Democrat R. Creigh Deeds is "a good candidate," but was more laudatory of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's campaign in New Jersey. Schweitzer believed Corzine would win re-election despite many public polls showing the Democratic incumbent lagging behind Republican Chris Christie.

In Virginia, Schweitzer said McDonnell's graduate thesis detailing his conservative social views shows him as "out of step with most of Virginia."

"Creigh Deeds is a good candidate, he'd be a strong governor and he's building his coalition in the way that he sees fit," said Schweitzer, who was in Washington this week for a Democratic Governors Association fundraiser featuring President Obama.

In Virginia's Democratic primary, Schweitzer endorsed Terry McAuliffe and campaigned with him in the closing days before the June vote. Asked if he had put his prestige on the line by doing so, Schweitzer said: "I didn't have any prestige when I started. Nobody had ever heard of me in Virginia."

Since then, Schweitzer said, he has had little contact with Deeds, although the Democratic Governors Association staff has been working closely with the Deeds campaign.

At a recent debate, Deeds was asked whether he would consider himself an "Obama Democrat," and paused before eventually saying: "I'm a Creigh Deeds Democrat." Asked what Deeds's remark said about the popularity of Obama and the Democratic Party in Virginia, Schweitzer said: "I don't know. You'd have to ask Creigh Deeds."

-- Philip Rucker

Democrat Creigh Deeds has been the star of the most recent Republican ads in the governor's race. Now Deeds is making Republican Bob McDonnell the star of his most recent spot.

This ad is designed to the be exclamation point on the Deeds argument that social issues have been the driving force in McDonnell's public career, using footage of McDonnell telling the National Right to Life Committee last year that elections are important because they determine whether pro-life lawmakers reach office. The Deeds campaign says it will air statewide from now until Nov. 3.

Watch the ad here:

... and boy, are they tough.

The first, called "Trust," shows a series of women defending Republican Bob McDonnell's record of working with women and advocating on behalf of women and children.

The second, called "Reality TV," mirrors the new Republican Governors Association piece that shows video of Democrat Creigh Deeds answering questions last month after the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce debate about whether he would raise taxes. It features a starring role for Washington Post columnist Bob McCartney.

One interesting note about "Trust" is that McDonnell's campaign did what Deeds refused to do when the Democrat launched an ad of women criticizing McDonnell: He provided the names and affiliations of the women in the spot. All are current or past co-workers of McDonnell's who are supporting him for governor.

Another interesting note about "Trust" is that it sure seems like the McDonnell campaign is placing new emphasis on the women's vote -- contrary to spokesman Tucker Martin's assertion to the contrary earlier this week.

And on "Reality TV": It's a minute long, but it's in rotation across Virginia, even pricey NoVa. The other one's rotating across the land as well.

View the two ads here:

Read on for the scripts.

Cross-posted from The Fix.

In a move we've been waiting on for several weeks, the Republican Governors Association is using footage of Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) fumbling his way through an answer on whether he would raise taxes in a new blitz of television advertising aimed at critical northern Virginia voters.

The ad excerpts comments Deeds made in the aftermath of a Sept. 17 debate in a impromptu press conference with reporters in which he appears to argue simultaneously that he will not raise taxes and that all options to fund transportation improvements are on the table. (Note to candidates: DO NOT hold press availabilities after debates. Risk of stepping on message: High.)

It's well worth watching:

The the full post at The Fix.

Fri., Oct. 2, 2009
Happy Friday! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

With a new push in Northern Virginia, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell and his friends at the Republican Governors Association are now airing twice as many ads than Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds, even counting ads run by the Virginia Education Association.

The Democratic Governors Association spent millions in the spring trying to tarnish McDonnell while the Dems were fighting it out before the June primary. Was that a mistake? Will Gov. Tim Kaine let his DNC be outspent by the RNC? Will President Obama let that happen? Talk to us Nov. 4.

At a forum attended by a who's who of Virginia politics, both Deeds and McDonnell endorsed awarding tens of thousands of new college degrees in future years. Neither said much about how they would pay for that.

The Republican Party of Virginia held a conference call this afternoon with physicians Del. John O'Bannon and delegate candidate Chris Stolle, as well several other doctors, to slam Democrat Creigh Deeds for sponsoring a 1999 bill that would have raised Virginia's cap on medical malpractice settlements from $1 million to $3 million.

"During our last real malpractice crisis, to triple the cap is just real bad judgment," O'Bannon said.

But here's something kind of interesting about that bill: Though co-sponsored by Deeds and then-delegate, now Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman C. Richard Cranwell, its chief sponsor was Republican Del. Terry Kilgore, brother of the GOP's last gubernatorial nominee, and himself a possible future Republican candidate for Congress.

Put this one into the rather large and growing file of not-very-surprising endorsements: the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters joined today to endorse Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor.

They noted Deeds has received an 86 percent on the LCV's legislative scorecard; Republican Bob McDonnell got an 18 percent. They praised Deeds for his work preserving rural land in Virginia and said they believed he was better-positioned to help Virginia become a leader in alternative energy technologies. And they slammed McDonnell's transportation as relying on a "false promise" of future oil drilling revenues.

"Creigh Deeds is going to work for a common sense solution on that rather than offering false promises that do nothing but dig us in deeper," said Lisa Guthrie, executive director of the Virginia LCV.

Details are starting to emerge about Vice President Joe Biden's work for Creigh Deeds on Oct. 8. Biden will be headlining a Deeds fundraiser at a private home in Alexandria that morning.

According to an invitation for the event, tickets for a special host reception go for $2,400 a person, and general reception tickets will cost $1,000 a head.

The event will be held at the home of Shaista and Rafat Mahmood. Rafat Mahmood's an investor who originally supported Brian Moran for the Democratic nomination.

Biden previously hosted a Deeds fundraiser at a Richmond home.

Republican Bob McDonnell picked up the support today of the Northern Virginia Technology Council's PAC -- marking his second major business endorsement in the all-important vote-rich region.

The political arm of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce endorsed McDonnell over Democrat Creigh Deeds last week.

The NVTC has about 1,000 member companies representing more than 200,000 employees and is considered one of the premier business groups in the region.

The TechPAC board voted to endorse McDonnell after interviewing both candidates this week and examining their voting records on issues of importance to Northern Virginia's technology community.

"The trustees determined that Bob McDonnell is a strong leader with specific proposals to ensure Virginia remains a competitive and innovative global technology center," said Dendy Young, TechPAC chairman and CEO of McLean Capital. "McDonnell has a consistent history of working closely with our technology industry and will build on his record of developing and supporting Virginia's technology initiatives and on his long-term commitment to business development in the commonwealth."

Still, the endorsement wasn't too much of a surprise. In 2005, the group backed Republican Jerry Kilgore over Democrat Tim Kaine.

It's never a good thing for a candidate when he is the star of the video clips used in campaign ads by the other side. But as soon as the media scrum concluded after the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate, it was pretty obvious that Republicans would be using footage of Creigh Deeds's bumbling answer on taxes for transportation in an ad sometime soon. And now they have.

The Republican Governors Association will spend $1.7 million over the next three weeks to air "Deeds Uncut" in Northern Virginia. Also featured prominently in the ad is our colleague Bob McCartney, pressing Deeds on taxes.

Watch the ad here.

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
Good morning! Here's what's happening in politics across the Commonwealth today.

We hope everyone really lurves those campaign ads. For those of us in Northern Virginia, the pace is picking up significantly today, as a big three-week, $1.7 million blitz by the Republican Governors Association for Bob McDonnell hits the airwaves.

McDonnell joins Democrat Creigh Deeds, Gov. Tim Kaine and others today at a forum to discuss higher education organized by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council. Post columnist Bob McCartney thinks neither gubernatorial candidate has said enough about how they would pay for their ambitious higher ed proposals.

Sometime afterward, Deeds heads to North Carolina, where will attend a fundraiser hosted by Gov. Bev Perdue and former longtime Gov. Jim Hunt in downtown Raleigh. McDonnell will tour a charter school in Richmond.

Have we mentioned before our reservations about polls that perform automated robo-calling? Right, they still exist. Another such poll came out yesterday--Rasmussen Reports showed McDonnell up by a wide margin.

Both candidates were pretty quiet yesterday, as they raced to meet the September 30 fundraiser deadline. Deeds got a boost from AFSCME, which donated $400,000 to his effort this week.

At least 75 people also crowded into a newly opened Deeds campaign office in downtown Falls Church Wednesday night, where Deeds was joined by local political luminaries and former rival Brian Moran.

Here's a special First Click report on the event: It was Moran's second appearance with Deeds in as many days, the continuation of his reappearance since his defeat to