Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
By GINNY WRAY - Bulletin Staff Writer
Some area Democrats say their gubernatorial candidate in Tuesday’s election was not strong, while others say the Republican candidate found a message that resonated with voters and stuck to it.
Former delegate Barnie Day of Patrick County, a Democrat, said Tuesday’s election showed that the “message still matters. (Gov.-elect Bob) McDonnell had a message that was simple, straightforward and he stayed on it — jobs, jobs, jobs, taxes, taxes, taxes.”
Also, Day said Wednesday, the election showed that incumbency is not the guarantee it used to be.
“I don’t think incumbents anywhere are safe after last night. It used to be a decided advantage; now it’s a decided disadvantage,” he said. “The incumbents got rolled.”
The Republicans had a net gain in the Virginia House of Delegates of five seats, with one race still undecided. But in this area, incumbent Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Collinsville, topped Republican challenger Ed Creed of Claudville in Patrick County on a vote of 9,083 to 6,939.
“To think Ed Creed moved to the state six months ago and gets 44 percent of the vote ... is preposterous,” Day said.
But it was not a surprise to Day that McDonnell, a Republican, beat Democratic Sen. Creigh Deeds by a 2-1 margin in Patrick County.
The election, Day said, has put the area “back in the reality of where it’s always been — two clicks right of center. Not hard right conservative, not fringe lunatic, but a shade off center.”
Statewide, McDonnell won by a 17.42 percentage point difference. That surprised Day, he said, adding that a five- to seven-point lead would be large, but a margin that at one point was as high as 19 points “is unheard of,” he added.
Unemployment and the economy were the overwhelming issues of the election, Day said. “Until those issues become more manageable, everything else is going to take a back seat,” he added.
Day said he thinks the election was a referendum on President Obama.
“Most people understand you can’t borrow yourself out of debt,” he added.
Henry County Democratic Party Chairman Phil Burnette criticized Deeds’ campaign.
“Our candidate didn’t do a good job. I don’t think we had them on the defensive one time. The Washington Post did a couple of times,” such as when it released McDonnell’s graduate school thesis and in its criticism of attorney general-elect Ken Cuccinelli, Burnette said.
Deeds was behind from the start after he won the primary in June, Burnette said.
“He had to spend all this time raising money. They had a big jump. They had the money; they had everything ready to go. He (Deeds) spent 90 days trying to catch up,” Burnette said.
Burnette said he felt too many resources were spent on having the primary to choose the party’s candidate. If it was up to him, “I would never have another one,” he said, adding that the State Democratic Party makes that decision.
Burnette is concerned about the impact of the Republican sweep in Tuesday’s election — which he called “horrible” — on the state.
“How many times do we have to go through this? They elected (former governor Jim) Gilmore; it almost destroyed the state. They elected (former President George W.) Bush; it almost destroyed the country. Now we have to go through it again.
“Four years from now, they’ll be begging the Democrats to come back to Richmond and clean up the mess. I’m not sure there’s enough Democratic disinfectant to clean it up this time,” he added.
Martinsville Democratic Party Chairman Lorene Martin also was critical of Deeds and the campaign he ran.
“I don’t think we had the strongest candidate running. I go back to the time when Creigh (Deeds) ran for attorney general and didn’t win. You’ve got to run a different kind of campaign” for governor, but Deeds did not do that, she said.
Deeds lost his bid for attorney general to McDonnell by less than 500 votes statewide in 2005.
Martin said she favored former delegate Brian Moran to be the Democratic candidate for governor in the June primary. But Deeds won that primary, and she said she supported him in Tuesday’s election.
She did not like Deeds’ television advertisements that aired in this part of the state. She said “they should have focused more on not being so rural.”
When asked if she disliked the negative ads in the campaign, Martin replied, “I’m sick of all the ads. I don’t want to see another ad. Everybody else is sick of them.”
Martin and Burnette said if there is a lesson from Tuesday’s vote that the party should take into the 2010 congressional elections, it is to support incumbent 5th District U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Albemarle County, but let him run his own campaign.
“I think Perriello knows more how to run a campaign than they do,” Burnette said.
Martin said the Democratic Party needs to start preparing for those congressional races now and getting strong candidates to run.
“Tom (Perriello) has done an outstanding job. Tom knows how to run a good campaign. I think he will be fine,” she added.
Day added that “a couple of them (congressmen) ought to look at what they will do after” that election.
But that does not include Perriello.
“He deserves to be re-elected,” Day said, but added that “first-time incumbents are always vulnerable. It’s a tough district,” and Perriello has made some difficult votes. |
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