Virginia Tomorrow

Save your money.

Bide your time.

Let everybody else go first.

Wait for an opening.

Be patient.

Be patient? We’re talking about politics .

Since when does patience rank very high on anyone’s list of political virtues?.

We prefer rapid response.  Define your opponents before they get the chance to define you. Strike while the iron’s hot.

Forget about politics, who’s patient in anything these days?

Talking, texting, tweeting- who’s got time to wait? They actually have to pass laws to stop us from tweeting and texting while driving.

But in a three way primary the formulas don’t always hold.

It’s kind of a throwback-a chess match, not a video game.

It’s great to be ahead, but frontrunners have a big target on their back.

And if you’re patient, maybe one of your opponents will do the heavy lifting for you. Especially that negative stuff that the public hates but often works- let someone else do it.

Creigh Deeds showed a lot of patience.

When Brian Moran left the Assembly so he could raise money during the session, Deeds stayed in Richmond, said he wanted to do the people’s work.

The experts wondered how he was going to fund the campaign. Did he want to remain a senator more than he wanted to be Governor?

When he was running twenty points behind Terry McAuliffe, he stood by and watched Moran attack the frontunner. Hey, was he ever going to be a factor in the race?

When the frontrunner was hiring 98 people, he was laying off staff, stashing money in the mattress for a few weeks of television ads. Hadn’t he heard about the ground game?

Heck, then he didn’t even bother to speak in some of the ads.

But it all came together in the last ten days.

Magnificently.

The frontrunner kept talking about needing an outsider to  ”shake things up.” The Virginia Democrats like to “shake up” Republicans, but otherwise they’re pretty happy with how things are going for them- the last two Governor’s races, both Senate seats, the majority of the Congressional delegation. 

Shake what?

When times are good, you promote from within.

And while your other opponent was still attacking the frontunner,  you emphasized your maturity, electability and record of attacking tough problems such as transportation.

Bingo!

It was over before anyone knew it.

Your regional base was SOLID.  And when The Washington Post decided you were their kind of guy, the momentum was unstoppable.

Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Henrico, Chesterfield, what didn’t you carry?

Good things come to those who wait.

Even, sometimes, in politics.