Is the latest message the Deeds camp is using to try to motivate a lethargic (and perhaps dispirited) Democratic base.
The front of a mailer sent to potential absentee voters by the Democratic Party of Virginia this week features a photograph of Obama and a blurry Deeds sign in the background (it does not contain a picture of Deeds.) The text asks voters to “Stand with President Obama” and “VOTE DEEDS.”
The back of the mailer features photographs of Obama and Deeds standing side by side. “HELP PRESIDENT OBAMA” is the heading and the message notes that “we can support President Obama again by giving him an ally for change in Richmond.”
The mailer indicates that the campaign believes that Obama remains the Democrat most capable of motivating potential Democratic voters who at this moment are on the sidelines of this election.
I think that this assumption is probably correct.
But it’s hard not to think that the mailer also reveals the weaknesses of the campaign and the challenges that it faces over the next thirteen days.
The Democrats are mobilizing as many “big guns” as possible for Deeds in the waning days of the campaign.
Clinton, Obama, the Post endorsement, etc.
All with the intent of helping to “carry Deeds” to victory.
But unless a state is almost entirely tilted toward one party, it is very difficult in contemporary politics to have others “carry” a candidate anywhere.
It’s the candidate’s job to inspire voters, energize the base and “carry” a message.
And it’s not clear that Deeds has accomplished this. A Clarus poll yesterday said that while McDonnell supporters are saying that they’re voting for him because they like him personally, a majority of Deeds voters are motivated by a desire to support the party’s nominee.
That hurts.
There is also an underlying irony here.
For much of the race, the Deeds campaign has resisted the introduction of national issues into the race on the grounds that these are irrelvant to the job of the Virginia Governor.
Yet in the last days, the plea to “Help President Obama” has become a primary component of the Democratic effort to energize an electorate behind Deeds.
Leave a Reply