Today's the day you've been waiting for -- the Virginia gubernatorial primary elections! The Republicans are set with former Attorney General Bob McDonnel, but Democrats are choosing between former National Democratic Party Chair Terry McAuliffe, former State Senator Creigh Deeds, and former Delegate Brian Moran. Polling for the race hasn't established a clear front-runner, especially with the likelihood of unpredictable turnout, but it seems that Deeds has the momentum going into today's election. McAuliffe had an early lead but was subjected to attacks from Moran, a mud-slinging contest that ultimately benefited Deeds, who also snatched up the coveted Washington Post endorsement and, he hopes, the NoVa voters that might go with it.
Dan Balz had a piece yesterday aiming to make you, the non-Virginia voter, care about these and other governor's races, but I'm not sure even he found the arguments believable, concluding that maybe governor's elections in Virginia and New Jersey will mean something -- and maybe they won't. I think local factors and the recession probably have more to do with both of these contests, but we'll see. After the results are in tonight, you're also going to hear that this race was a referendum on Clintonism thanks to McAuliffe's long relationship with the former president and the current secretary of state, but it's not like his campaign rhetoric has been anything remotely resembling the shifting beast that is a Clinton ideology. One wonders how many low-information voters could tell you that McAuliffe used to be the party chair, although it is a Democratic primary, after all.
There is one contestant in today's primary who I think is particularly interesting -- candidate for Lieutenant Governor Mike Signer. Signer's a lawyer and national security wonk who's advised John Edwards, Rep. Tom Perriello (see this story), and worked at the Center for American Progress. He's also written this interesting book, Demagogue
Also, Chris Cillizza breaks down the race further.
-- Tim Fernholz
