RSS Feed Menu… and it’s worth hearing. He writes that his team
set out early to establish Bob as different than Republicans have been in the past few elections – strong on issues that matter most to people.
Our goal back in last winter/spring was to tie on the top issue of jobs/economy, stay close on transportation and education, and win on tax/spending. Ultimately, Bob would end up the campaign with double digit advantages on four of those five issues, and would be tied on education. …
One of the most important ads we ran was relatively early in the campaign, and only ran in downstate markets (it was before we were advertising in the DC DMA). It was Bob to camera talking about his energy plan, which included green jobs. It defined Bob as a forward-looking leader, who is for all of the above – oil, coal, solar, wind – a blend of both traditional and alternative energy.
mlindroo // Nov 4, 2009 at 5:20 am
> … set out early to establish Bob as different than Republicans have been in the past
> few elections – strong on issues that matter most to people.
Seems about right to me. McDonnell is a conservative, but he is also from North Virginia and he frequently campaigned on pragmatic issues that matter to pragmatic voters rather than the usual fire-and-brimstone stuff.
—
The Dems fielded two weak candidates in NJ and VA, true, but I would still argue that this result (combined with the Hoffman fiasco in NY-23 which received lots of pre-election attention/interference from the WingNutRoots such as Erick Erickson) vindicates the NewMajority position. Christie and McDonnell did not plunge deeper into doctrinaire conservatism, instead they managed to widen their political appeal.
MARCU$
mlindroo // Nov 4, 2009 at 5:51 am
As an aside, Ramesh Ponnuru has a smart comment over at the NRO Corner. A Republican strategist tells Ramesh that ‘Republican candidates have to “finish the sentence.” Instead of just saying that we have to keep taxes and spending low, and thus pleasing conservatives, he said, McDonnell explain how these policies would create jobs and “plug the hole in Richmond.” Too many Republican candidates, he says, forget to do that.” [...] “I don’t think that Republicans should come away from this and think that all that we have to do in 2010 is run against Obama. McDonnell had a very vigorous policy agenda.”
Again, it’s worth emphasizing that McDonnell had to avoid culture-war appeals because of his controversial graduate thesis from decades ago. He instead focused on meat-and-potatoes issues while touting his Fairfax roots. He wasn’t a divide-and-conquer base-oriented Rovian politician.
MARCU$
DFL // Nov 4, 2009 at 1:52 pm
McDonnell may have a vigorous agenda but it is hard to fathom him “solving” the Northern Virginia traffic problems without getting at the source- suburban mass sprawl. More roads will only encourage more sprawl creating a cycle where traffic problems can not be solved. Northern Virginia needs a building moratorium, not new roads.