The editorial which appears in Thursday’s Virginian-Pilot is not good news for Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. The board appears to be laying the groundwork for either an endorsement of local guy, Republican Bob McDonnell, or no endorsement at all. After taking Deeds to task on the transportation issue, the editorial goes further:
Deeds has spent the summer telling voters why they shouldn’t vote for McDonnell, but precious little time explaining why they should vote for him. Deeds has spent a month trying to scare Virginians about McDonnell’s past as a cultural conservative, but too little explaining his own vision for Virginia’s future.
A candidate has to answer two questions: why to fire (or not hire) the other guy and why to hire him. The board thinks that Deeds isn’t answering that second question.
Further, transportation is the one thing that this editorial board believes is the most important issue in the Commonwealth. I don’t disagree: after the debacle of July 2, it is clear that something has to be done about transportation.
One local paper’s endorsement may not mean much in the overall scheme of things. However, editorials tend to be viral. It doesn’t take long for other papers to follow the lead. The editorial board of The Daily Press has a series of articles on its election agenda. Transportation was one of their big issues, too.
Deeds cannot afford to lose the endorsement of these two Hampton Roads papers. Readership of newspapers may be down, but the folks that read the paper vote.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
This isn’t too surprising. Seems like almost everyone who supports Deeds has been more inclined to take down McDonnell rather than prop up Deeds. Deeds cannot show why he deserves the job, his supporters cannot show why he deserves the job, and if this continues, McDonnell will blow Deeds away in Virginia.
The problem is, well, McDonnell is such a flawed candidate, that its hard not to point out his numerous and glaring flaws!
Doesn’t know the constitution, HB3202!
Has a track record of intolerance towards anyone that isn’t a Pat Robertson cult follower.
Was a horrid Attorney General who let gas gougers run rampant with no penalty in Virginia.
And the list goes on and on.
Even conservatives find McDonnell unacceptable.
The only people supporting McDonnell are the kool aid drinking republican party sheep who can’t think for themselves. You know the people who think Glen Beck is a genius!
The fact that Deeds isn’t McDonnell is reason enough to vote for Deeds! And I’m not a democrat!
Doesn’t know the Constitution? Heck, Joe Biden did not even know that the Vice President is part of the LEGISLATURE!
The senators who voted not to convict Bill Clinton because what he did “did not rise to the level of impeachment” don’t even know their own jobs under the Constitution.
How many of our legislators have voted for bills later declared unconstitutional? If that disqualified them for office, we’d need a whole new Congress.
Uh, wait a minute, maybe that’s NOT such a bad idea.
One of the few times I absolutely agree with you Mouse! They all take an oath to “uphold, defend and support” the constitution, but damn few even know what’s in it, much less what it means!
I’m not sure that the newspapers endorsement means anything anymore. Few people even read the paper, much less subscribe. Look at the hundreds that have been laid off at the two local papers in the past 2 years. Its because of sagging subscriptions and advertising revenue. I notice that on my block, two people get daily delivery. I’m one of them. That’s out of 20+ houses. The newspapers have lost the battle for peoples minds and hearts. Lost it a long time ago. I could care less what a bunch of out of touch newspaper people think is the best candidate. And I’m a subscriber, so imagine what someone who doesn’t subscribe thinks! Newspapers are a non-factor in modern politics. I’d be much more concerned with blogs if I were Deeds, than newspapers.
And those that do read a newspaper already have an opinion.
Those who ignore the power of newspaper endorsements do so at their own peril. They still sway voters.
Much as I admire your views and respect your opinion, given the sad state of newspapers, I don’t think you can make a case for the “power” of the papers anymore. 10-years ago, yes, but today, not so much. The Pilot especially, has endoresed and backed so many bad idea’sm candidates and tax increases, that anyone with a grain of sense, long ago ignored them. In fact, some see what the Pilot endorses, so they can vote the other way!
Bloggers have far more sway over voters, informed voters, than the newspapers do in todays world. The newspapers own pitiful subscrition numbers give my view some weight.
Just my opinion.
Didnt the Wash Post endorsement push Deeds over the top in the primary?
The problem that the Pilot editorial pinpoints is real. Deeds has not made an effective case for why voters should vote FOR him. While the thesis story has hurt McDonnell and raised doubts about him, according to the latest polling, the Deeds campaign hasn’t tended to the other side of the equation. You can’t get elected in Virginia running a totally negative campaign.
How is it that Deeds blasts McDonnell for a 20-year-old thesis, but will not release his own papers?
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Maybe the Pilot is also concerned about Deeds’ knowledge of heavy traffic that Hampton Roads’ citizens face at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. 🙂