Everyone needs to read this, from the chair of the Waynesboro Democratic Committee and the publisher of the pro-Democratic Augusta Free Press. The key points?*"...gobs of money coming in or what, our side is so disorganized right now that I can’t be too optimistic about November knowing what I know."
*"Last year the volunteers willing to work for Barack Obama and Mark Warner were like manna falling from heaven...This weekend, it was me and the Greg Marrow campaign in the form of 25th House District candidate Greg Marrow, his wife, Christie, and campaign manager Dan Chavez. And that was it. "
*"What I’m sensing is that we might have gotten fat and happy about where we are having won the last two governor’s races and the last two U.S. Senate races and then last year also winning the presidential race in Virginia for the first time in 44 years."
*"My read of things is that we’re nowhere near being where we need to be [to win in November]."
*"Somebody suggested to me today that it’s time for a wakeup call on our side of the ledger. Ring, ring …"
The reason I say everyone needs to read this is simple: this type of talk is pervasive. Ask just about anyone who follows Virginia politics and you're almost bound to hear a variant on these themes. I can't tell you how many times I've heard in recent weeks that "Republicans are more energized than Democrats this year," that "nobody's returning phone calls or emails," that "the candidates are practically invisible," that "nothing seems to be going on," that "we had hardly any volunteers or energy at [festival/event x] while Republicans had a lot," etc. And no, it's not about it being the middle of July, because it wasn't like this four years ago, or three years ago, or 1 year ago. So, I echo Chris Graham's question: "What in the hell is going on?" Does anyone know?
