Election Eve - Big Mo with Deeds

As a McAuliffe supporter, I can't say that this is overwhelmingly welcome news, but it is what it is. With the release of PPP's 14-point lead for Deeds, it's clear that the WaPo endorsement has started a brushfire for the affible and humble Senator from Bath.


Even with these numbers I wouldn't discount the power of the McAuliffe GOTV effort which is evidence of the uncanny, excellent, and powerful campaign that Mike Henry and Terry McAuliffe have put together.

Still, you can't argue with Creigh's numbers.

Fav-Unfav
Deeds 57-14
McAuliffe 40-40
Moran 47-23

An unfavorable rating of 14 shows that those who know Creigh love him and you know what. I do, too.



It's my sincere hope that Terry McAuliffe will be the nominee, the consolation that I find in these numbers is that it feels overwhelmingly unlikely that Brian Moran will be. Moran and his thuggish campaign have made such a mess of things that if he were to take this nomination, it would be a long hard summer trying to pull the team together. With Terry, the sheer excellence of the campaign and the need to oppose McDonnell would engender the unity necessary for Virginia to take the deep look necessary to really appreciate what a great leader Terry McAuliffe is and could be in Richmond.

With Creigh as the standard bearer, the party will come into line very quickly. In some cases, it's already started. Creigh the nominee would rapidly pull together enough resources to hopefully encompass some of Terry's outstanding campaign staff, and potentially some of the Moran campaign's passionate grassroots activism.

It's not over. This is the time to work and fight with everything you've got for your candidate

Nonetheless, this is going to be an historic primary. We'll point to this one for years to come. With Creigh or Terry as the nominee, we'll do great against Bob McDonnell. If it's Moran, welcome to the summer (decade?) of our discontent.

SUSA: McAuliffe Leads, Deeds Surges, Moran Lags

SurveyUSA: McAuliffe 37%, Deeds 26%, Moran 22%

Lowell points out that this poll reduced the representation of African-Americans and women in its sample, both groups among which Terry is enjoying very strong support.

With only 20 days to go, now is the time when voters will start waking up and when the campaigns need the most support.

Now is when Terry needs you most. Go Terry!

PPP: McAuliffe leading by double digits

PPP is up with its monthly poll of the Virginia Gubernatorial race. Last month, PPP had Brian Moran up by 2 points, this month Terry's up by 10.

Last week SurveyUSA had McAuliffe up by 16, making this the second poll in as many weeks showing Terry McAuliffe up by double digits.

Lowell has much more.

People from across the Commonwealth and all walks of life are waking up to the sense of Terry's candidacy, and even the most vicious negative attacks from the Moran campaign can't dissuade the voters.

McAuliffe has developed particularly commanding leads among women, African Americans, and voters describing themselves as liberals.

PPP postulates that 60% of the electorate is still up for grabs, but goes on:

“This is the fourth time PPP has polled this contest and the first time one of the candidates has broken away from the pack,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “McAuliffe’s resources advantage finally seems to be manifesting itself and by the time Deeds and Moran can start catching up it may be too late.”

At this point Moran appears to be counting on a low-turnout primary in order to keep voters from the polls. His ongoing negative attacks against the Terry McAuliffe aren't driving up his numbers, and are, in fact, having no effect in driving up McAuliffe's negatives, which actually ticked DOWN in this survey.

McAuliffe saw a strong increase in his positive name recognition over the last month, going from a 32/29 favorability spread to a 42/25 one.

Since Brian Moran, his campaign and supporters seem congenitally incapable of listening to criticism, the only question now is whether the Moran campaign will go nuclear with their attacks on Terry McAuliffe. In fact, it's more a question of when.

Shocking Capitalism/Socialism Poll Results

We're still trying to figure out what the election of 2008 means for America, but in a couple of years it could come to mean a mandate for... Socialism.

John McCain tried to use it as a bludgeon against Barack Obama, and nearly every Republican since McCarthy has tried to find a way to use it to tar Democratic opponents as un-American.

Still, in a stunning result, Republican pollster Rassmussen finds that Americans might not be so terrified of the old whipping dog. A scant majority of Americans, only 53%, say they prefer capitalism over socialism. Yes! Socialism.

Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

I find this result astonishing.

Count me among that 53%. As someone who was actually alive when there was a big scary red menace on the other side of the Berlin Wall, the very idea of totalitarian governments still gives me the heebie-jeebies. Also, as the founder of numerous small businesses, I can tell you that given a chance, capitalism really can work.

Clearly, Americans have had their faith market fundamentalism shattered by the Bush Depression as soundly as old Soviets had their socialist faith shattered when the USSR died. But there's an intentional mixing of terms that is implied in Rasmussen's poll and in the Socialism as cudgel tactic.

Socialism in itself can be very successful way to manage an economy, and every modern democratic capitalist society has some safety net. We have Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and many other ways government reduces the suffering of those in need. This isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, it's incredibly important to a society that deems itself moral. Moreover, it's critical for maintaining economic stability. Imagine the economic turmoil if everyone who couldn't work because of age or disability were suddenly homeless and starving - you think the Bush Depression is a disaster!?

What the right is really threatening with the hysterical "Socialism" talk, is authoritarianism. Intrusive government that restricts movement within and across borders, keeps the populace under tight surveillance and curtails the free speech of dissenters. We just lived through 8 years of it, so it's bound to seem familiar.

See, that's the problem with right-wing propaganda of all sorts. It always overreaches, over simplifies, and ignores reality in favor of short-term political gain. Sure, saying a Democrats economic policies are socialist sounds scary, but when you throw the term around in the face of world economic collapse caused by unregulated markets, some common sense Americans on Main Street are likely to start doubting the credibility of "free market" zealots, aka Republicans.

This same effect is continually underway throughout the American discourse. In the minds of delusional right-wingers, Democrats who want to extend unemployment benefits through this Depression are Jack Booted thugs, and they're channeling their anger at corporate excess towards laughable revolution-style "Tea Bagging" parties.

For some well deserved ribbing on that one, here's Rachel Maddow and also Jed from DKos:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Clearly as the credibility of the right approaches zero, the "journalism" of FOX news races towards hilarious, and the bogeyman of socialism becomes increasingly acceptable.