Polls, polls, and more polls. Late Tuesday, SurveyUSA released a poll that shows McDonnell leading Deeds by 14, Bolling leading Wagner by 13, and Cuccinelli leading Shannon by 11. The ink was barely dry on Bob Holsworth’s analysis of this poll versus the PPP one when Rasmussen released their poll showing McDonnell up by 9. (I’m beginning to think Rasmussen’s polling is tied directly to whenever PPP decides to release its poll results. This is the second time they have done their one-day poll on the heels of the PPP three-day poll.)
PPP released the second part of their Virginia poll today, concluding that Wilder endorsement – or lack thereof – is basically irrelevant. (See? I told you 🙂 ) The money quote:
Deeds is actually more popular with black voters in the state than Wilder. His favorability spread with them is 73/8 to Wilder’s 67/19. And Wilder isn’t in the same ballpark with Barack Obama’s 88/12.
For a bit of fun, look at the pdf on the poll: they polled the favorables/unfavorables on Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck!
Endorsements. For those of who you are keeping track of these things, Deeds garnered the endorsement of the PBA, an organization that supported McDonnell in 2005. Shannon was endorsed by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, an organization engaging in a Virginia tradition: ticket-splitting. The FFCC previously endorsed McDonnell and Bolling. (The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce did the Fairfax Chamber one better: the PAC endorsed McDonnell, both Bolling and Wagner, and neither Shannon nor Cuccinelli. Talk about ticket-splitting! Oh my! What’s a voter to do?)
The whale that washed ashore. I’ve been following the story of the dead humpback whale that washed ashore in Gloucester. Much of the attention has been centered around trying to figure out how to move the carcass and who was going to pay for it. Seems they got it all worked out. You can watch how they did it here.
Fight, fight, fight! Well, sort of. A local news anchor and some folks got into a shoving match a few weeks ago, resulting in charges of assault on both sides. They went to court today – and dropped the charges.
Are you a socialist? While I was poking fun yesterday at the “registered Democrat, Republican, Independent” thing in the local paper, I failed to mention that the article was a serious one about socialism, and it has generated a lot of comments. Also included in the article is a short quiz that you can take and find out if you have socialist tendencies.
Fundraising deadline. Talk about email overload! My mailbox has been full today. I get it: the fundraising deadline is midnight. And that applies to not only candidates but PACs.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 