Poll Points to Democrat Weakness Beyond Virginia

I have commented numerous times regarding the manner in which the failure of Obama and Congressional Democrats is adversely impacting Democrat statewide candidates in Virginia. True, Creigh Deeds is in my view an uninspiring candidate. But the big problem is that the national Democrats have delivered NOTHING to indicate to voters why they should bother to vote for Democrats as opposed to for the GOP.

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Barack Obama entered the White House with an absolute mandate for real change. Yet he and the Democrats have squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity and allowed the lunatic factions in the GOP to control the debate and block the very changes that Obama was elected to deliver. In Virginia, the members of the GOP - even as crazy and extreme as they are in today's arena - smell blood in the water for the Democrats. Deeds, Wagner and Shannon are laboring to explain why their leadership will make a difference. Meanwhile, A Democrat control of Congress and the White House has in the view of many made no difference whatsoever. It is hard to motivate voters when they have been given nothing to show that their vote makes a difference. Obama and the national Democrats need to wake the Hell up and act in a bold manner or else I fear Virginia will but the first of many states where the GOP will become resurgent. Pretty talk does not equate to the change that was mandated. Here are some highlights from a Washington Post story that ought to be setting off alarms in the White House:
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The latest Washington Post poll of the Virginia gubernatorial race represents more than bad news for Democratic nominee R. Creigh Deeds. The findings paint a portrait of the electorate that, if replicated elsewhere, stands as a warning sign for President Obama and Democrats who will be running in next year's midterm elections.

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The poll shows a lack of enthusiasm among many of the voters who propelled Obama and his party to victory last November, raising troubling questions for the Democrats . . . Four of the poll's findings speak to potentially critical shifts among Obama's coalition.

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First, just half of Virginians who say they voted for Obama last November say they are certain to vote in the gubernatorial election. That compares with two-thirds of those who say they backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

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Second, there is a lack of energy in the African American community. Last November, African Americans made up 20 percent of the Virginia electorate, part of a broader surge that saw record numbers turn out nationally. . . . if African Americans in Virginia were participating at the same level as a year ago, and if Deeds were capturing 90 percent of their votes, the gubernatorial race would be a virtual dead heat.

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Third, the poll shows an even sharper falloff in interest among younger voters. Last November, they accounted for 21 percent of the Virginia electorate. In the new poll, they account for 8 percent of likely voters.

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Fourth, the intensity gap between Democrats and Republicans has done a complete reversal. On the eve of last November's presidential election, 67 percent of Obama supporters nationally said they enthusiastically backed his candidacy, compared with 41 percent of McCain's supporters.

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[A]ll Democrats have a stake in trying to show that the electorate that put Obama in the White House was more than a one-time phenomenon built around his personality. How much Obama can help reenergize that electorate is a question that is likely to linger well past the results in Virginia next month.

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I truly believe that had Obama and the Congressional Democrats made an utter mess of the health care reform debate, not pandered to the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies, and delivered on other campaign promises, the enthusiasm level for Democrat candidates across Virginia would be much higher. Does the GOP need to take a clean sweep of the statewide offices in Virginia - putting an utterly reactionary and Christianist group in power - before Obama and others wake up in Washington?