It is great to get a reminder call… but when you get dozens, something is very wrong with the system.

And yes, the list is long of campaigns robbed by the Consultant Class.

An additional reason for the “open” primaries, is that the bulk of voters in Virginia are INDEPENDENTS and not affiliated or members of any political party. Virginia counts, depending on whom you believe, 40-50% of voters as “non-party affiliate”. Do you really want to shut these people out? If you have a closed primary, you are going to have ideologues picking the candidates, and become, much as the Republican party of Virginia has become, full of self important, self consumed party people who are more concerned with party nonsense than what is good for Virginia. The recent public infighting with Jeff Frederick being but one example.

Lets face with it, with few exceptions, only people who are intently interested in politics vote in primaries. Its been shown, time and again, that only a very small percentage of party crossover trouble makers bother to go to the polls. It they did, Hillary would have been the Presidential candidate instead of Obama. You will recall that Rush and Hannity was frothing at the mouth over sending republicans to vote for Hillary. Didn’t work then.

The specious argument that party crossover votes upset election results in open primaries has been proven to be wrong many times!

Your guy lost. Get over it and support the candidate that clearly Democrats and Independents chose!

Deeds will smear McDonnell, for many reasons. Not the least of which is the nasty party infighting in the Republican party where McDonnell chose sides in throwing Jeff Frederick out, thus alienating the grassroots, poll workers, door-to-door, worker folks in the party.

Making excuses, pointing fingers, throwing arguments into the mix is what the Republicans do, not the Democrats! Let them stew in the soup of their own making.

Look at the Arlington primary. Everyone knows that is the real election. The democratic candidate could be revealed to be having sex with underage boys (a la Barney Frank) and he will still be elected.

Paying too much money and attention to consultants isn’t just bad for Moran’s campaign, it is bad in everyday life. Public money is continually wasted on consultants. Don’t get me wrong, some consultants are worth what they bring to the table.

If Criegh Deeds waged a great campaign with fewer resources, he must have something to offer in the office of governor. Decisions are made in office on budgets and strategic planning, right?

Conservation, energy development, and alternatives sell even to conservatives. What doesn’t sell is all the hyper “Green” stuff that throws the baby out with the bath water. Sure, super green sells to a hardworking important group on the Democrat side, but trust me, Moran was “Green” to the point of being scary. Expecting such rapid “Greening” is like expecting to go through medical school in a week. Trying is going to mean extreme pain then disappointing results.

Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe…..running for a state or local office will be difficult after the DNC stint. I’m not sure Tim Kaine made a wise move. The position leaves its stain on you.

All that said, I’m thankful that Terry McAuliffe was unable to buy the election. That’s a reason for hope.

I think you are on to something about campaign design: there has to be a campaign plan and while it shouldn’t be engraved in stone, it should serve as a guide for what the campaign wants to accomplish.

You raise a good point about too many cooks – my own experience was too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. (Sorry – I know that isn’t politically correct.)

And I saw no evidence of exit polls down here.

Nice analysis, and thanks fo the kind comment.

I think Deeds election was a pragmatic choice among voters, though I certainly think you’re on to something vis-a-vis Moran’s use of his ad $.

Re the use of consultants, I haven’t look at how much he spent. But I know he had at least one consultant that seemed to be no more than a payoff to keep his endorsement. On the other hand, I’ve often thought that candidates need to think more streategically when designing a campaign, and not put all their $$ into mail and TV ads. They need to think about how they can — over the course of a campaign — deliver a message of leadership and thoughfulness on issues.

I think doing so might also help generate media coverage, as someone who thinks about the issues, take stands and isn’t afraid to challenge the conventioanl wisdom would generate media interest. Even if that’s limited, holding forums and other events that are less structured can over time generate votes.

Most of the time, they are afraid to, however, in the age of opponents video taping their every move.

FWIW, I also kept pleading with members of Moran’s campaign staff to be more positive. I once told Brian directly that he should start listening to certain people, rather than others (I won’t mention names here). Like you, I found it was to no avail.

And I think you are spot on about the choices he made with spending his money. Too many high priced consultants, who gave him bad advice to boot, and not enough money saved to reach voters, especially in the final weeks. In fact, there were barely even any Moran signs up in Brian’s home district on the eve and day of the election.

All in all, it was a very sad loss. But I do believe, at least, in NoVa a lot of otherwise liberal voters made a pragmatic decision in voting for Creigh. I based that on exit interviews I saw on TV, where voters were saying that they strongly considered who would run best in other areas of the commonwealth. Of course, it might have been different in your neck of the woods.

Anyway, thanks for the great analysis.