Terry McAuliffe would have been a better candidate in Virginia

[JamesA1102]

But he was denounced as an evil DLCer by the left who all supported Deeds. Hope this is a lesson learned.

[bluestateguy]

1. I think Moran would have been best

But yes Deeds was a TOOL.

[Barack_America]

2. It would have been hard for him to have been worse.

I never denounced him, I figured it was for VA Dems to sort out. I did worry a bit that he might just appeal to NoVA voters.

[iamthebandfanman]

3. hahahaha

youre funny.


id rather let a giraffe have power than that guy.


hes a hack , and an idiot.


take this garbage elsewhere.

[HipChick]

4. It doesn't matter if the Dems sit on their hands, and got better things to do

than get out and vote...

[Frances]

5. I don't think any of the three was good enough

Warner was great, but there wasn't a Warner in the field.

[vadawg]

8. +1 at least you get it,

[onehandle]

6. Agreed, but he probably still would have lost. Additionally, he was more liberal than Deeds. nt

[w4rma]

7. McAuliffe would have hurt the Congressional races. And he still wouldn't have won. (nt)

[iamthebandfanman]

9. very true!

the man has no substance!

anybody whos listened to the guy over the last few years (especially while he was chair) knows hes completely special interest serving(including himself) and has the ability to speak and think in the equivilant of any whack-job pundit with their head up their ass.

[LaydeeBug]

12. Oooooh, because Harold Ford is doing soooo much better.

:eyes: Terry MacAulife at least took us from renting a building FROM A REPUBLICAN to owning our own. Name one good thing Harold Ford has done as DNC chair.

[iamthebandfanman]

13. wtf are you talking about

when have i ever supported Harold Ford?

assume much outa nowhere?
or just take pleasure pulling things from your ass?

[w4rma]

22. Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is the current DNC chair. Ford ran against Gov. Howard Dean and lost. (nt)

[JamesA1102]

15. There were no Congressional races in Virginia this year nt

[w4rma]

23. I'm referring to national Congressional races. McAuliffe is a lightning rod. (nt)

[JamesA1102]

24. Congressional races are not national

You should read the constitution sometime.

[w4rma]

40. I never said they were. You are applying the adjective incorrectly. (nt)

[Freddie Stubbs]

27. There were no congressional races in VA this year

[Engineer4Obama]

10. Its more of a lesson to watch who you support

We were so focused against McAuliffe no one thought to vet deeds.

[JamesA1102]

16. Exactly right!!! nt

[Warpy]

11. He wouldn't have been a better candidate, although his name

recognition might have made him more electable.

Face it, Virginia had a choice between bad conservative Democrats. It makes no difference if one with a name or one without a name is going to run. In an off year, those guys talking about conservative business as usual are simply not going to inspire anyone to go out and vote.

The left had nothing to do with this and you know it. The state party, in its infinite wisdom, wanted nothing but conservative candidates.

They got what they deserved.

[saltpoint]

14. Virginia Democrats had their say and they didn't care for Terry.

Had I been in Virginia I would have voted against him as well.

[VMI Dem]

17. Open primary. Lots of votes from those that wanted the weakest candidate.

Moran or even McAuliffe would have been much better in a general.

[saltpoint]

18. That's not how it works. The primary is scheduled. All candidates are

bound by the same demographic vibe.

Deeds won.

Terry lost.

[VMI Dem]

19. What are you talking about?

I know people that voted for Deeds that are Republicans. Deeds lost to McDonnell 4 years ago in a race where he had coattails. Everyone knew before the primary that Deeds would be a disaster and guaranteed loser.

[saltpoint]

21. Nope. Deeds won the primary. Terry did not.

Since you have to win the primary to be on the ballot, the assertion that anti-DLC Democrats are to blame for the loss in Virginia is unfounded. Had Terry won the primary, he would likely have lost anyway to Big Bob.

There's no basis -- at all -- to assert that Terry would have been the superior Democratic nominee, especially given the fact that he couldn't even win the primary.

[JamesA1102]

25. Then how did Lieberman win in '06

He lost the primary but then went on to win the general election. So your premise that a candidate that loses a primary would be a worse general election candidate doesn't hold water.

[saltpoint]

28. You have mangled the analogy. Lieberman ran on a third party ticket.

Terry did not.

Lieberman was also an established multiple-term public servant in CT; Terry was not in VA.

All the Democratic candidates in the VA gubernatorial primary played on the same field with the same rules with the same access to the same information and fundraising opportunities, and Terry lost, and he lost because more Virginians voting in that primary felt he would not have been as good a candidate.

[JamesA1102]

38. And maybe they were wrong.

Maybe Terry would have been a better candidate in the general than Deeds.

[saltpoint]

41. There's no statistical basis for the claim and none at all in reality.

Deeds whupped both his primary opponents.

[JamesA1102]

42. And that doesn't mean that either wouldn't have been

more effective in the general election.

[saltpoint]

44. Without a basis for the claim it also does not mean either would be.

They had their shot at the nomination and voters rejected both Moran's and McAuliffe's bids.

McAuliffe is from Syracuse. Your proposing that a non-Virginian in a non-Clinton era would have a better shot at McDonnell in a general election in a red-to-purple state?

I don't think so.

[JamesA1102]

46. And primary voters rejected Lieberman

But then he won in the general election. So your premise that just because someone loses a primary means that they would be a worse candidate in general is flawed.

[saltpoint]

49. Lieberman's candidacy after his primary loss overlays the demographic

that would ordinarily have split between Ned and the idiot Republican running in that race.

In order for your model to be analogous, McAuliffe would have had to have mounted a third party run in the VA gubernatorial race as overlay to votes between Bob and Creigh.

That did not occur.

[JamesA1102]

50. Not a model of anything

Just an example of how your premise is faulty.

[onenote]

20. for heavens sake. Even when Kaine won in 2005, the repubs captured the LG an AG races

Virginia is still more red than blue and in this case, McDowell ran a better campaign than Deeds. And he likely would have run a better campaign than McAuliffe or Moran. How do I know this? Well, for one thing, both of those guys managed to run worse campaigns than Deeds in the primary.

[mod mom]

26. My brother worked on the Obama campaign in VA but didn't bother to vote

Many progressives not happy with this candidate or with corporate Dems, (which of course McAuliffe is). If the Dems want people to stay active, then they have to fight for the people and show us progress!

[DainBramaged]

29. Dems Sitting on their hands is what kept the Pukes in control for 26 of the last 29 years

Dems of all stripes will NEVER learn. The Pukes have the motivation to crush us because WE are too too pure to vote for the candidates on the front lines.



You all reap what you sow.

[mod mom]

32. I worked my butt off on the last 3 elections but join my brother in abstaining from voting from

corporate sponsored politicians. Maybe the party should find candidates that work for the people's interest and they will see turn out like they did in 2008. I'm not in VA, but my swing state of Ohio should heed this warning shot as well. I've worked for our SOS Jennifer Brunner to be elected Senator in 2010 but if the corporate Dem Lee Fisher gets the nod, I go w the third party Green candidate.

[amandabeech]

45. Then you're going to have to abstain from a lot of Dems,

since the Corps have the $$$$. Look at Obama's big donors. And Clinton's.

I say work like hell for the progressive in the primary, but go down and hold your nose for the general, particularly when redistricting is coming up.

[JamesA1102]

39. Exactly right!!!

Too many make the perfect the enemy of the good. Sometimes you have to fight as hard for half a loaf as you do for the whole thing.

[Blue_Tires]

30. oh, if you want to play that game then you'd best call out the Dems

in the Richmond and NoVa establishment who took their ball and went home the day after the primary, instead of actually trying to help the democratic candidate (or even worse, the ones who openly and happily joined the enemy camp...)

and fwiw, I don't think McAuliffe would have won, either -- The race would have been closer and better run, but I think he would have committed a different set of critical errors than Deeds...

[saltpoint]

31. A useful look on McAuliffe's loss:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/06/with-mcauliffes-fall-in-virginia-the-end-of-the-clinton-machine.html

[Umbral]

33. I'm not sure what you mean....

Keeping McAuliffe out of office was the one bright spot in the Virgina election.

[saltpoint]

34. Another look at the deficits McAuliffe had to overcome and didn't in the VA

primary:

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/06/why_deeds_won_in_virginia_five_theories.php

[Gin]

35. rethuglican clean sweep in VA....all they ever say is lower taxes...

now it's all up to them to fix the problems.....I predict another bigger mess......but hey...they may lower my taxes...by the way..I voted Deeds but was not happy about it....the other one (R) makes my skin crawl.

[saltpoint]

37. I would prefer to have more Dem govs than fewer but we did have a good

night up in NY-23.

The hyperCons really loused that New York race up somethin' fierce.

[VMI Dem]

36. Moran would have been the best of the three.

But McAuliffe was better than Deeds.

[AspenRose]

43. Agreed

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

47. Exactly. Moran was an excellent candidate. McAuliffe siphoned away

enough of his votes to allow the weakest of the three to become the winner. McAuliffe was widely seen to be a carpet bagger vanity run but he probably picked up some DLC NOVA votes that would have gone to Moran if he had stayed out.

Deeds already lost to McDonnell for AG for years before. He was just as horrific a candidate then as he proved to be in the guberbnatorial. Then he ran an all negative campaign against McDonnell, acted like he had never heard of Obama until the very end, renounced healthcare reform, do I need to go on?

But, even I still dragged myself to the polls to vote in the important state Senate races, and the entire down ticket and local races. I understand someone not voting for Deeds, but the entire Republican ticket besides McDonnell was a horror story and they got swept in as well! Make your choices people, but don't not vote altogether!

And I'll be grumpy forever at McAuliffe, but I never really liked him. His denial of reality in the last days of the Dem Presidential Primary put him in squarely in Baghdad Bob category in my opinion.

[onenote]

48. mcauliffe siphoned moran's votes? Moran finished behind McAuliffe.

Moran is a good guy but he was weighed down by major baggage as well and would have been crushed in the general. First, he is virtually unknown outside Northern Virginia -- as was demonstrated by his incredibly poor showing in downstate areas during the primary. Second, he isn't a particularly effective or inspiring campaigner. Third, his brother is baggage for some people, fairly or not. Jim has not avoided controversy and is viewed as a loose cannon by many in the state. And while it would be horribly unfair to refer to Moran as a carpetbagger, his Massachusetts accent was a turn off for many in the more rural parts of the state.

[WI_DEM]

51. Terry would have lost by about the same margin.