Jeff Schapiro on Brian, Terry and Creigh

Republican Times-Disgrace Richmond Times-Dispatch political reporter Jeff Schapiro apparently doesn't think highly of the three Democratic candidates for governor. As Norman Leahy at Tertium Quids puts it, "Jeff unsheathes his long knife and promptly jams it into the back of each of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates." Schapiro hits Terry McAuliffe for supposedly not counting his crowd size in Richmond correctly the other day. Wow, that's a substantive shot right there, Jeff. I mean, the candidate is told by his senior strategist that there were 750 people there, and he believes this to be correct (which it very well may have been, by the way). Non-issue. Zzzzzzzzz.

Shapiro goes after Creigh Deeds for his "quasi-populist rant" against NAFTA, as well as for being too "big on gun rights" for Democratic primary voters. On NAFTA, Schapiro has an interesting point; I'll have more on that subject tomorrow. On guns...well, I'd just point out that Deeds' strong support for the Second Amendment isn't exactly new, nor is Deeds' long-standing "A" rating from the NRA. Yawn.

But whoa, when Schapiro turns to Brian Moran, the yawns turn to gasps - at least from Moran supporters. Check this out.

Then there's Brian Moran. When he's not trashing McAuliffe, Moran is moving further and further to the left. This suggests a couple of things: that McAuliffe really is ahead, or that Moran is really desperate. Either way, it's clear Moran is gambling the primary will attract only hard-core Democrats; you know, "liberals." So to attract the greens, Moran is against the coal-powered electric generator in Surry County. And to attract gays, Moran is promising to overturn the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. These positions won't help Moran in a general election against Republican Bob McDonnell. Maybe Moran is making it up as he goes along. Not a sign of a seasoned candidate.

Ouch.