The Democratic Party of Virginia's State Central Committee held its quarterly meeting this past weekend in Williamsburg, and I'm hearing that the difference between this June (in the aftermath of the Moran-McAuliffe-Deeds primary) and three years ago (in the aftermath of the Webb-Miller primary) is night and day. Specifically, I'm hearing that three years ago, many supporters of Harris Miller were not happy at all, and that it took a stemwinder pep talk from Dickie Cranwell to get most people pulling in the same direction again. This year, I'm hearing that there was no unhappiness or disunity at all, that Virginia Democrats are 100% united behind Creigh Deeds, and that we're ready to beat Bob McDonnell "like a drum" or however else you want to put it. Why the difference? Mainly, I'm told that almost everyone likes, respects, and feels comfortable with Creigh Deeds. In addition, Deeds was the second choice of most Moran and McAuliffe supporters, so there's no problem there either.
In short, Virginia Democrats are in a lot better shape today than they were in June 2006. And remember, despite the problems three years ago, we still did end up managing to defeat George Allen that November. I see no reason why we should be any less optimistic this time around, with the caveats that Bob McDonnell is a tough politician and also that Virginia Republicans currently may be a bit more motivated than Virginia Democrats - although certainly not more unified.
