Politics Magazine has an interesting article on the Virginia governor's race, quoting top people at all four campaigns (Steve Jarding for Brian Moran, Mike Henry for Terry McAuliffe, Joe Abbey for Creigh Deeds, Phil Cox for Bob McDonnell). Here's an excerpt dealing with possible voter turnout on June 9.
“You’re going to get 15 percent of the most focused Democrats turning out [in the primary],” says Steve Jarding, senior adviser to the Moran campaign. “I believe they will look at this and say, ‘We have to go with somebody that we think can win in the end.’” And that’s not McAuliffe, Jarding says: “Can a national Democrat, who’s probably more liberal than Virginia’s more mainstream constituency, convince people he really does have our backs?”
Most insiders think primary turnout will hover somewhere between 250,000 and 350,000 voters. The McAuliffe campaign is betting it can attract more of those committed Virginia Democrats than its opposition thinks, and that Terry’s ties to the Clintons won’t become a drag on the campaign.
“The thing that attracts both the proven Democratic primary voters and the new voters to Terry is that he’s worked hard to rebuild the party,” Henry says. “He focused on technology [at the DNC] and made sure the voter file was state-of-the-art. And he was an aggressive advocate for Obama during the general election. That’s attractive to Obama supporters.”
By the way, I find it fascinating that the Moran campaign - which has been positioning Brian Moran as the most liberal (on environment and other issues) of the three Democratic candidates in the field - is saying things like this:
"Can a national Democrat, who’s probably more liberal than Virginia’s more mainstream constituency, convince people he really does have our backs?" Wait a minute, it's now BAD to be a "liberal" or the leader of the DNC? Gee, I could have sworn that Tim Kaine was now leader of the DNC. Does that mean he wouldn't "have our backs?" Hmmmm.
