From the welcome page at Deeds' campaign website.
We have much to celebrate here in Virginia. After six years of progressive leadership under the watch of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, our future has never been brighter. I’m running for Governor to keep Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family…the best place for all of us to call home.
Friends and supporters from every corner of the Commonwealth say the reason we’ve been so successful these past few years is because we’ve focused on building consensus and delivering results. They’re right: the only way to keep Virginia moving forward and to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century is to continue the Warner/Kaine brand of leadership. Now that Mark Warner is running for the U.S. Senate and we’ve delivered new partners for Governor Kaine in the State Senate, I’m ready to provide that same leadership if given the privilege to serve as your next Governor.
Well, I don't know about all of that talk about the greatness of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, but I will say that Creigh Deeds is a better choice for Virginia than some of the other rumored Dem candidates (I'm looking at you, Brian Moran).
Deeds is currently a State Senator from the 25th District, which covers Allegheny/Bath/Nelson Counties as well as large parts of Rockbridge and Albemarle Counties and 2 precincts in Buckingham County, this includes the cities of Covington, Clifton Forge, Charlottesville, and Buena Vista.
Deeds, unlike most Dems in the House of Delegates, knows and gets rural voters. He is surrounded by a lot of VERY red Republican districts. He does have statewide name recognition for his run at the Attorney General's office in 2005, where he lost to Bob McDonnell by an extremely close margin.
A lot of NoVA Dems have scoffed at the idea of a Deeds run in favor of Delegate Brian Moran, the Democratic House Caucus chairman and a popular figure in Fairfax County Dem circles.
Two things make a Moran/Deeds primary interesting.
- Moran opted not to run for AG in '05 because he is friends with Deeds and Deeds had already announce. If Moran decides to run, I wonder what kind of friction this would cause.
- The brewing storm within the Democratic Party known as NoVA (Northern Virginia) vs. RoVA (Rest of Virginia). Deeds vs. Moran is the epitome of this schism.
Read more reaction to Deeds' announcement at SkepticalObservor, Raising Kaine, Rule .303, Virginia Virtucon, The Colette, Cobalt6, Virginia Politics, and Not Larry Sabato.
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3 comments:
Deeds is a real stand up guy. I've met him on several occassions and he is 100% genuine. This is why he has broad appeal in Virginia. Some like to portray the state as red or blue, but it's pretty pragmatic. This is how we get got both Warners, Kaine, Webb, against conventional wisdom that labels VA red.
Oh, if I was a Democrat, I'd vote for Deeds over Moran. In fact, there are a couple of Republicans running for offices other than Governor in this state that would probably lose my vote to Deeds. Not many at this moment, but there are a few.
He is a pretty straight-up guy and a fairly pragmatic politician. I didn't like his answer to my question during the DWJ live blog (about reaching across the party), but at least he was honest about it.
You are right that this state is pretty pragmatic and centrist. Virginia is a traditionally "red" state, but "centrist blue" and "purple" candidates can do well here (which is where Deeds has positioned himself).
Deeds running for governor? This is great news for the GOP, Bob McDonnell in particular! The Attorney General would be more than happy to run against Deeds for governor. He's beat him once before.... However, I'd say that McDonnell could beat Moran or Deeds. His significant record of accomplishment, and positive vision for the future will provide the backdrop for victory up against whomever the Democrats nominate. With McDonnell's record of accomplishments these 4 years as AG and his positive, common sense vision for Virginia, he's already the clear front runner for 2009. None of the Democrats, Deeds, Moran, etc, has anywhere near the record of accomplishment and no one has the personal story that Bob will tell. He grew up in Northern Virginia, worked and raised a family in Hampton Roads, served for years in the General Assembly, and now is working hard for all Virginians at the Attorney General's office. He's a veteran, Catholic, has an amazing record on sex predators and online safety, eminent domain, environmental protection, government and regulatory reform, illegal immigration reform, and his work with the Virginia food banks. Again, no dem comes close. If McDonnell runs in 2009, McDonnell wins! Run Bob Run!
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