Why Creigh Deeds Lost My Vote in the Virginia Governor's Race

Over the past nine months I don't think I have been coy about the fact that as a black moderate republican (does such a thing exist?) I voted for President Obama and that I have not been pleased with the overall direction and tone of my own political party of over 20 years (the GOP).

After some of the stunningly offensive, and I believe racial statements and vitriol that we all have witnessed coming from the extreme right and from extreme conservative personalities on talk radio and TV, as well as Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst I decided that I simply could not register as a Republican anymore.

I also decided rather quickly that becoming a Democrat was not a viable option for me either, because I simply don't agree with the Dems on issues of foreign policy, national security, and taxes.

Instead, I decided to register as an Independent in my home state of Virginia. Like most Virginians I plan to vote in the upcoming gubernatorial election this November. Given my new-found political "Independence," I decided that Deeds and McDonnell were essentially the same person, with similar records (except on the choice issue). The two went head to head four years ago with McDonnell winning the contest by less than 900 votes for the statewide Attorney General's Race. And I suspect that this year will be close also.

As a Northern Virginia resident I decided that I would most likely vote for Deeds as are many of my female neighbors because he is pro-choice. However, the commercial that Creigh Deeds is running about McDonnell's 20 year old thesis has really turned me off. It turns me off because it is a sad commentary on Deed's inability to articulate his own vision for Virginia, and his ideals for how he will move the Commonwealth forward in a productive way that puts people back to work, and lessens the burdens of Government.

Whether or not Bob McDonnell is a conservative, pro-life, pro-family guy has never been in dispute to my knowledge. I for one, was not surprised by his thesis. However, we have to ask ourselves as Virginia voters if we want to vote for someone (Deeds) who feels he has to tear the other guy down based on something that person wrote over 20 years ago. The other thing I hate is that once again the black vote will be prevailed upon by national democratic leaders (including the president) to save the sorry, lackluster democratic candidate from himself. I think Gov. Doug Wilder is right on this rebellion against his party.

When will black democrats stop allowing themselves to be used in such a way?

More ironic, is that Deeds himself said in March of 2009 that he "reserves the right to change his opinions and grow as a person" when he was questioned during the democratic primary debate about some of the shifts he has made on issues such as abortion policy, taxes and guns. What ticks me off about this is that it is so typical of what I think is the Achilles heel of the Democratic party: "Do as I say, not as I do" and, of course, rely heavily on the black vote to save us in each election.

Deeds is a hypocrite, in short. He is allowed to grow and change his mind on issues, but Mr. McDonnell is not?? I think Bob McDonnell's daughter (an Iraq war vet and officer) is a great testament to McDonnell and his wife's view on how to raise a young woman in the 21st Century. I am sick of the commercials with the darkness and scary music--blasting the opposition for some secret in his past or some other so-called sinister motives. I am simply over it.

Bottom line: I will be voting for Bob McDonnell for governor of Virginia.

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Comments

[SallyLuv]

You can't register as an independent in Virginia, because Virginia does not record voter registration by party.

In Virginia, parties can't tell what party you support by what ballot you ask for, because you don't get a party-specific ballot in Virginia.

Virginia has an excellent online legislative system that lists both committee votes and votes on bills, available to the public. It goes back to 1994 . The voting record of Deeds and McDonnell are online, at http://leg1.state.va.us/

There are significant differences between McDonnell and Deeds. McDonnell went to Pat Robertson's law school and his voting record is largely consistent with his thesis, including support of covenant marriage, opposition to abortion, lack of support for birth control, etc.

A candidates view point affects how the state administers programs such as family planning, which has been hammered under Republican governors.

Virginia is a very pro-business, anti-tax state. In most states, Deeds would be considered strongly anti-tax. The fact is that Northern Virginia (the DC suburbs) cannot raise their own taxes without state approval, because of the Dillon rule. They have been asking state permission, for years, to do so. The downstate legislators, which still have control, have been denying them that permission for years. It's on the legislative web site. Look it up.

Deeds and McDonnell are not about the same, and Deeds is not pro-tax.

[dman7895]

Sophia Nelson, you rule. It's about time we saw some voters with an open mind like you. I confess I didnt vote for Obama, but he's an ok guy and I could see why a black moderate Republican would vote for him. He's smart and articulate, even if I think he advocates for the wrong policies, he does have decent arguments for his side. But you show in this piece a thoughtful reflection on who to vote for in the Virginia Governor's race. I confess I was never a resident of VA, and in fact am from Washington state though attended undergrad at a small college in California and law school at your alma mater of AU-WCL in Washington, DC. And I agree that negatives like tearing down McConnell's thesis is lame politics. Negative politics work too well so they will probably always be used as a tactic, but if we want to move beyond them we need to focus on policies that will help Virgina grow, as you state, and not what someone wrote in a thesis 20 years ago. Sure, theres only 1 governor of Virginia, so maybe you could argue anything theyve ever done in life is relevant to their qualifications being governor. Maybe so. But whats much more relevant, as you point out, is the candidate's ability to help their state now.

[rebeccaj]

Um -- if you haven't already registered to vote -- you better hurry!!

I would submit, however, that if you haven't registered to vote yet -- as you claim -- you are simply writing this piece as propaganda.

If you are truly pro-choice -- YOU COULD NOT VOTE FOR BOB MCDONNELL -- who doesn't believe in CHOICE -- EVEN IN CASES OF RAPE AND INCEST.

I don't care how annoyed you are at Creigh (who is simply pointing out how McDonnell's legislative career follows the ideas in his thesis which also has a comment that it is all right to lie about your Fundamentalist ideals in order to get elected) -- I suggest you read the document and McDonnell's legislative record before you call ANYONE a hypocrite!

I would never call you a liar. I am politie -- but I suggest that you wanted to write this piece and then came up with what to put in it after you had your main point.

But, as my friend Chrisi below points out, you should have checked out Virginia's voting and registration laws before writing...

So -- NOPE -- we Virginia women -- liberal, moderate or otherwise, don't buy this "argument.­"

[Querent]

You must be one of a tiny minority of American voters: people to whom hypocrisy matters. The charge of hypocrisy gets leveled against somebody approximately once every seven seconds, yet, no matter how extreme or how flagrant the hypocrisy, it seems that nobody actually cares about it. It just doesn't play with the voters.

I am not a former Republican, nor am I an independent, but I can't blame you for not supporting Creigh Deeds. I doubt I would support him either, if I lived in Virginia. He is another exemplar of that disgusting species, the Democrat in name only.

But voting for a Republican? Didn't you just leave their party? Or did you?

[Sophia A. Nelson - Huffpost Blogger]

Point of clarification in the Virginia primaries I could vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton even though I am a Republican--while VA may not self-identify as say did NJ my home state;TRUST me the parties know and bombard you with fundraisers, letters, etc. so someone knows I am affiliated Republican based on what BALLOT I take at the time of VOTING. You have to ask for which ballot dem or Rep. Let me be unequivocal--I am NOT a Republican anymore--do I have Republican leanings "you betcha"--but I cannot stomach the bullshit anymore on the national level. That being said, McDonnell will get my vote because Deeds lacks vision and ideas for Virginia--that is a very SUBSTANTIVE reason not to vote for him. I may be a pro-choice moderate--but I don't mind folks who are pro-life--the GOP Tent does not like folks like me, with my views, however. So I am INDEPENDENT and when I vote in November I will vote for McDonnell and split my ticket as I have ever since I can remember.

[majorman]

*dons language police uniform* Ms. Nelson, Please keep it clean. I recommend &$#*@% as an alternative form of the expletive you used above.

But, to the point of your commentary, candidate recruiting is fascinating. I often wonder in a country of 300,000,000 can we do better? Perhaps same-day registration and internet voting will reduce the barriers to entry for candidates and include more participation by voters. Alas, the status quo--Repubs & Dems--don't want more competition.

[Penside]

So when and where did you "change" your registrati­on..I think others have made the point that voters in Virginia DO NOT register by party..you just register as a "voter". Political operatives must work with primary voter lists and direct voter contact to determine a VA voters party "leaning".

Yeah, it gets a little upsetting that a candidate must hammer on the opponents conservative "lock-step" thesis, written at the youthful 34 years of age and reads like "retro-50's funland". And never mind that McDonnell has lived up to his social conservative roots with strong anti-choice positions.

Moderate Republicans have been chased off the political stage in Virginia. John Warner, John Chichester are examples of VA Republican past..too bad.

"Do as I say not as I do".....is the Achilles heel of ALL politicians. It is up to the electorate to hold their feet to the fire-

[aftershock]

I will say this, though I disagree with it as a reason to not vote for Deeds, the commercial is horrible. It seems fake, snide, and petty. Add to that the fact that the geniuses running the Deeds campaign (and mind you these guys didn't even find the thesis the WaPo had to do that for them) have decided to run the ad carpet bomb style. What Deeds said in his thesis is very relevant given the way his voting record aligns fairly closely to alot of the arguments he made in the thesis, but I can see how the ad has turned off some people. Marketing is a big part of running a campaign, and that's basically what these commercials are. Like it or not, 60% of politics is perception (perhaps more so these days).

[Lon]

Has McDonnell said that he disagrees with what he said in his thesis or does he just want to talk about other things? It is not clear that there is any question of changing ones mind, in which case the charge of hypocrisy would seem to fall apart.

If McDonnell has reputiated the views in his thesis then it is hypocritical of Deeds to be pretending he hasn't. If not, then there is nothing wrong with Deeds bringing up aspects of McDonnell's beliefs that are relevant to the office he is seeking.

[greatblue]

McDonnell said that his "views have changed," but he hasn't acknowledged what his views were, or what they've changed TO. Also, he continues to act on the views expressed in his 1989 thesis.

[RedneckDem]

Whether you want to believe it or not, McDonnels thesis, written when he was 34, is very relevant. Also, politics is about winning and in using another Virginian race that was decided not on issues, but the "Macaca" moment, this is no different. Sad, but true...

[Guscat]

To inform non-Virginia readers, voters do not register by party in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Voters simply register with no party affliation. Thus one does not register as a Democrat, Republican, or Independant.

[pdc9392]

Congratulations on your bold and courageous move defying the Republican Party and registering as an Independent in Virginia, a state that has no party registration in its voter registration process.

[innocentyetwicked]

This Virginian will be voting for Deed's

[valkyrie607]

Okay, wait. I am not very familiar with either of these candidates. But from your article it sounds like you have one solid, rational, policy-based reason for voting Deeds--he's pro-choice--and one irrational, emotionally-based reason for voting McConnell--you don't like Deeds' hypocrisy.

Forgive me, but this makes no sense at all. I can see how Deeds' negative campaigning may be a turn-off, but I fail to understand how switching your vote to someone with whom you fundamentally disagree, just to register your displeasure with Deeds' style (not his substance) can serve either you or democracy.

[biglover]

Exactly!

[Rog49Thomas]

I share your concern about "Mr. Deed's" emulation of the similar strategy that President Kerry used in his successful run for the presidency in the 2004 election - "I am not George Bush".

However, you may want to seriously consider what the election of Backwards Bob will mean not only to the Commonwealth but also to the two demographic groups you belong to: African Americans and females.

Retrogressing 50 years is not likely to be particularly congenial to either, though on the bright side I don't believe the RP has publicly advocated going back 150 years.

[averygard]

So true. You are shooting yourself in the foot on two different levels because you don't like the guy's commercial. Think about it.

[Rog49Thomas]

It's my Second Amendment Right.

[ewoman]

So, you're voting for offshore drilling, uranium mining and a back turned toward alternative energy sources? And, considering McDonnell's voting record - which shows that his attitude toward women and gays has NOT changed - you still want to vote for a man bent on destroying Virginia's economy?

Yep - I agree with others here. You're not an Independent. You're a Republican at heart.

PS - if you had been receiving any press releases from the McDonnell/Bolling camp, you'd know that Deeds is a far reach higher when it comes to bashing other candidates. McDonnel and Bolling have candidate bashing down to a "t".