Democratic Primary 2009: Final thoughts and where you vote

It's all over but the smilin' and the cryin'. Oh, and the votin'. I'm glad this is over today. I'm ready to win back the House of Delegates and sweep the top of the ticket. Here are my final thoughts on the 2009 Democratic Primary.

Governor has been a tough one for me. I’m not a big fan of T Mac, but he will have boat loads of money. While he starts with high negatives in the polling data, his deep pockets and access to big donors will be able to drive up McDonnell's negatives and make the race a really nasty one.

Brian Moran has run a terrible campaign and doesn’t even deserve consideration. I still like him, but I’m not voting for him. Prior to McAuliffe's entry into the race, it seemed that Brian Moran had the advantage being from vote rich NOVA. He spent way too much money at the beginning of the race on really expensive operatives and consultants. It's obvious now, that was waisted money. He also couldn't re-adjust is strategy to account for McAuliffe. His campaign just went down the tubes from there.

Creigh Deeds has run the best campaign I’ve seen since 2002 when I was in Oklahoma running the Democratic Coordinated Campaign. This race had four Democrats running for Governor and a little known State Senator from rural Oklahoma (is there any other kind of Oklahoma? Yes.) came from way down to restauranture Vince Orza and got into the run-off. He then wins the run-off to face former Congressman and Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Steve Largent. He wins the General Election by less than 7,000 votes state wide. His name? Governor Brad Henry. I am seeing parallels with Deed's campaign to this one that I worked on. Deeds didn’t have the money to go head to head with anyone and he did the only thing that he could. He kept on doing positive narratives of him. I don’t necessarily agree with him on everything, but I think he can win in the General. I think that Deeds will win today if he has any kind of GOTV plan.

For Lt. Governor it is no secret that I have endorsed Mike Signer. I think that by attrition Wagner will have rope-de-doped her way to the nomination. But, Signer has gotten a ton of free press and has really work the rest of the state. With over 40% still undecided heading into today, Signer has a small, outside chance of pulling off the upset. Regardless, I am going to support the nominee whether it is Signer or Wagner.

Lastly, if you don't know where you vote here is the link to the State Board of Elections web site where you can enter your locality, address, and get the information about your poll location. Whoever you support, just remember to vote.