Mistaken Identities in Virginia Politics
Virginia holds its election for governor on November 3. But all year long, the Democrats have been stuck with a case of mistaken identity.
They've thought they were running Barack Obama. And Republicans were running Pat Robertson.
Now they're running away from bad polling news.
The first person suffering from mistaken identity was former Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe. He thought Obama voters would flock to him and his money.
Instead, state Senator Creigh Deeds won the June primary. If you were looking for an opposite of President Obama, he'd be a pretty good choice.
The Republican candidate, Bob McDonnell, attended Robertson's Regent University - then known as Christian Broadcasting Network University - to get his law degree 20 years ago. For Democrats, that should have been enough to end the race.
It hasn't.
McDonnell has led most polls since July. Polls tightened in September after Democrats concentrated on what McDonnell wrote for his school thesis in 1989, but McDonnell and his ticket-mates have been expanding their lead since.
Obama may have won the state in 2008, but Republicans won the governorship twice while Bill Clinton was president. And they expect to be happy again on Nov. 4.
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