OK, not Washington, Arlington, but close enough. Most Arlington residents consider themselves more Washingtonian than Virginian anyway. But despite being an urban liberal oasis in what used to be a red state and is now a purple state, there was palpable excitement for a visit from the rural state Senator from Bath County, VA who is our new gubernatorial nominee: Creigh Deeds.
On this third full day of the general election, Senator Deeds made his way to a county that will be vital to his victory. Arlington County regularly gives Democrats through-the-roof percentages. In 2005, then-Lt. Gov Tim Kaine won 74% of the vote in Arlington on his way to becoming governor. While Barack Obama took a little over 53.5% of the vote statewide, he won 72% in Arlington.
But when I said Arlington residents consider themselves more Washingtonian than Virginian, it is unfortunately borne out in state elections. We get a fairly significant drop-off in odd years: Obama got over 20,000 more votes than all the candidates combined did in 2005. While some drop-off is natural, and the Obama folks did increase the voting universe, this is a trend we cannot continue, and today was the first step to fight it as Creigh and Sen. Mark Warner came to Arlington.
Sen. Mark Warner addresses the crowd as Creigh Deeds looks on
Mark and Creigh emphasized just how vital it was to win in the fall. The Republicans are looking to turn back the progress of the Warner-Kaine years, going back to the failed fiscal policies of former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R)--the first governor to ever have to shut down state government because of his inability to pass a budget on time, and that was with his party in control of the legislature. Virginia was named the best managed state in the union, and we kept our bond rating high and debt load at zero because Warner and Kaine made the difficult decisions on taxes and cuts, rather than the usual spend and borrow shell game that Republicans employ.
Below is the video of Creigh's speech to the crowd. You can tell that he has a folksy charm, which is a selling point in the rest of the commonwealth. But when you hear what he has to say, you'll hear that it is a message that will resonate in Northern Virginia, and will help us rack up the number of voters we need in the fall.
If you like what you see, please know that we will face an extremely capable and well-funded Republican in Bob McDonnell. Although he is a right-wing extremist with the academic pedigree from Regent University to prove it, he is a charmer and knows how to play with moderates. If you can do your part to help Creigh Deeds win with a donation, we can continue moving Virginia forward as a blue state and a great state.