McSame pulled his ads, but the RNC did not (I just saw one).
Obama still has some big challenges in VA.
Northern Virginians are "just to the left of center" liberal, not "Hollywood" liberal. Obama has to convince folks here that he is more centrist than his voting record shows him to be.
In Richmond (where a large part of the economy revolves around the state government) he has to overcome the fact that Democrat governor Mark Warner Jr is laying people off.
The big unknown area is the military. Will military families vote with the candidate who has promised to bring their loved ones out of harm's way quickly? Or will they go with the war hero? The answer to that will determine how the Hampton Roads area (and some of NoVA) votes.
Good insights Bri. To add one issue, my VA focus group of one undecided shared with me yesterday that she’s concerned with Barack’s plan to cut federal contracts. In NoVA, you either work directly for the feds, or as a contractor for the feds (a slight exaggeration, but not by much) so that idea might not play well. I haven’t found any details about Obama’s plan, but the speech in which he announced this plan he said he would cut 10%/$40 billion in federal contracts, and he emphasized no-bid contracts.
I’m still optimistic about VA, though. Especially with Mark Warner running for Senate. I know he isn’t tremendously popular w/ some (all?) of my family but he is extraordinarily popular in the state, and is currently polling at 60% with a 68% fave rating.
very interesting. i wonder, too, if race will play a factor in VA. it being the south and all. not so much in NoVa i guess, but certainly in other parts of the state?
anyway, i'm pretty sure sassy is hollywood liberal but without the big, fancy fundraisers.
As far as the Federal contracts go, the Bush administration has been replacing a lot of contractors with direct hires, and has cut a lot of other contractors loose. So Federal contractors are already hurting. If Obama said he's going to cut more contracts, that will definitely hurt him here.
Race is a tougher issue to call. On the one hand, Virginia was the first state to elect an African American Governor. On the other hand, Douglas Wilder has an "American sounding" name. Sadly, I do think that Obama's race and name will hurt him in parts of Virginia. Just have to hope that NoVA, Hampton Roads and Richmond have enough folks to overcome that.
I won't deny that Mark Warner is going to win big, because I think he will. He is very popular here. The only reason I don't like him is because he and his little boy Tim Kaine outsourced my job.
4 comments:
McSame pulled his ads, but the RNC did not (I just saw one).
Obama still has some big challenges in VA.
Northern Virginians are "just to the left of center" liberal, not "Hollywood" liberal. Obama has to convince folks here that he is more centrist than his voting record shows him to be.
In Richmond (where a large part of the economy revolves around the state government) he has to overcome the fact that Democrat governor Mark Warner Jr is laying people off.
The big unknown area is the military. Will military families vote with the candidate who has promised to bring their loved ones out of harm's way quickly? Or will they go with the war hero? The answer to that will determine how the Hampton Roads area (and some of NoVA) votes.
Good insights Bri. To add one issue, my VA focus group of one undecided shared with me yesterday that she’s concerned with Barack’s plan to cut federal contracts. In NoVA, you either work directly for the feds, or as a contractor for the feds (a slight exaggeration, but not by much) so that idea might not play well. I haven’t found any details about Obama’s plan, but the speech in which he announced this plan he said he would cut 10%/$40 billion in federal contracts, and he emphasized no-bid contracts.
I’m still optimistic about VA, though. Especially with Mark Warner running for Senate. I know he isn’t tremendously popular w/ some (all?) of my family but he is extraordinarily popular in the state, and is currently polling at 60% with a 68% fave rating.
very interesting. i wonder, too, if race will play a factor in VA. it being the south and all. not so much in NoVa i guess, but certainly in other parts of the state?
anyway, i'm pretty sure sassy is hollywood liberal but without the big, fancy fundraisers.
As far as the Federal contracts go, the Bush administration has been replacing a lot of contractors with direct hires, and has cut a lot of other contractors loose. So Federal contractors are already hurting. If Obama said he's going to cut more contracts, that will definitely hurt him here.
Race is a tougher issue to call. On the one hand, Virginia was the first state to elect an African American Governor. On the other hand, Douglas Wilder has an "American sounding" name. Sadly, I do think that Obama's race and name will hurt him in parts of Virginia. Just have to hope that NoVA, Hampton Roads and Richmond have enough folks to overcome that.
I won't deny that Mark Warner is going to win big, because I think he will. He is very popular here. The only reason I don't like him is because he and his little boy Tim Kaine outsourced my job.
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