Biddlecomb Column: Bumpy road plans detour Deeds

If the Virginia governor’s race were a football game, all Bob McDonnell would have to do is run out the clock. Most polls show McDonnell with a lead of at least 8 points over Democrat Creigh Deeds
whose campaign continues to sink in a bog of indecision and bad sound bites.

Then again, it’s only mid-October, which is too early to call this race. In fact doing so would be like awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to a U.S. president after only a few months in office.

Four years ago, Deeds lost by a razor thin margin to McDonnell in Virginia’s Attorney General race. This year-just 12 months after the Commonwealth supported a Democrat for president — Deeds is
poised to lose his party’s eight-year grip on the Governor’s Mansion.

An easy way to explain McDonnell’s success and Deeds’ doom is to look at the contrarian nature of Virginia politics when juxtaposed against presidential politics. Virginia always goes against
president’s political party.

—Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976 and Republican John Dalton won the next year.

—Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and Democrats Chuck Robb and Gerry Baliles in 1981 and 1985.

—George H.W. Bush in 1989 and Democrat Doug Wilder in 1990.

—Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 and Republicans George Allen and Jim Gilmore in 1993 and 1997.

—George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 and Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine in 2001 and 2005.

The campaign has been a smooth ride for McDonnell who introduced himself to Virginia voters over the summer with his slickly produced “I’m just a family guy with a daughter who served in Iraq” TV ads.

Deeds opened his campaign with President Obama singing his praises during a campaign rally in Northern Virginia. This occurred just as the President’s star power began to fade and the negativity of his
health care proposal began to take root with Virginia’s all-important moderate voters. These voters swung the state toward Kaine four years ago and just might help McDonnell this year.

Deeds also missed a golden opportunity by allowing McDonnell to take transportation off the table as a pivotal campaign issue. McDonnell’s plan, which has too many moving parts and has little chance
of gaining legislative approval, looked like “War and Peace” when compared to the brochure-sized plan offered by Deeds.

Deeds, who has supported plans to raise the gasoline tax to pay for roads in the past, began to disco dance around the issue once he gained the Democratic nomination. This played into McDonnell’s
hands as the Republican asked him point blank during a debate if he planned to raise taxes. Advantage McDonnell — though neither candidate seems willing to offer a sensible plan to fix our
transportation infrastructure.

Then Deeds was hit with a “Macaca” moment. Pressed by veteran reporter Chelyen Davis after the Fairfax debate to clarify his position on raising taxes, Deeds snapped: “I think I made myself clear,
young lady!”

The condescending comment was caught on tape, transferred to YouTube and later used in a series of McDonnell campaign ads titled “It gets worse.”

Davis, whose tenure as a General Assembly reporter dates back to when I covered Richmond, said she wasn’t offended by the remark. In fact she was probably more upset that Deeds never gave a
straight answer.

Voters — especially moderate ones — have little use for indecisive candidates. Just ask John Kerry.

Deeds’ problems are rooted in his inability to articulate a solid plan for funding transportation. He comes from western Virginia, where voters often cringe at the amount of transportation dollars sent to
Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

With no “Obama bounce” here in Northern Virginia, transportation was probably the one area where he could have scored points. Transportation, however, is a T word that goes hand-in-hand with the other
T word — taxes.

Had Deeds been decisive on transportation and mentioned raising the gas tax, he risked sounding like Walter Mondale in 1984 when he guaranteed a tax increase (either from himself or President
Reagan).

But Deeds decided to play it safe and sounded as if he were for increasing taxes before he was against it.

Since Deeds remains largely silent on transportation, voters are left only with his sound bite uttered to that “young lady” who was simply seeking an answer.

Alfred Biddlecomb is the former editorial page editor for the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger.