Why people should be less concerned about strategy

by: DanielK

Thu Aug 06, 2009 at 02:41:32 AM EDT

Over the last week some in the news media have picked up on the perceived lack of motivation from "core" Democratic supporters of their statewide ticket and specifically Creigh Deeds' "Deeds Country" tour throughout the Southwest regions of the state. Ryan Nobles picked up on it at his website Decision Virginia http://bit.ly/3iLXjk and most recently the Washington Post wrote an article as well where even Creigh commented about the issue http://bit.ly/5cqff . I was heavily involved in the primary efforts for Creigh and was one of a handful of "Team Deeds NoVa" members. While I understand, but do not totally agree with the frustration about strategy from liberal bloggers I think an important element is being severely missed and that is the increase in coordinated staff and that it has been over two months to see any noticeable activity to come out of the Deeds campaign in regards to volunteer efforts. I think it is safe to say that the problem is not strategy but the amount of outside people from the state and national party who are now involved in the "coordinated" campaign.

DanielK :: Why people should be less concerned about strategy

Since Deeds' stunning victory in the Democratic primary, we have seen an increased focus from both the state and national Democratic Party. While it is understood that outside people will come in with more experience it has never been this rampant or problematic. In talking to many people both inside and outside of the state it is clear that this is the standard practice following a primary but it clearly has not helped the campaign thus far. In Northern Virginia, Creigh Deeds dominated a region that he was not even intending on contesting very much until the very end. So far, it is August and few volunteers have had contact with the campaign about efforts or activities to help Creigh better introduce himself to Northern Virginia voters. A lot of the criticism I believe comes from the campaign's failure to maintain efforts and volunteer contacts in Northern Virgina thus far into the general election and not necessarily the campaign's efforts to connect with rural voters. If there has been more of an outreach towards Northern Virginia volunteers and contacts then I doubt we would have this criticism coming from fellow democrats on the blogs. Some can assume that if more staffers are brought in to assist with coordinated campaign efforts then ready, willing and able NoVa volunteers should not be waiting to hear from a campaign about activities or efforts going on in this perceived Democratic stronghold.

Other changes have occurred in the campaign such as communications director, field director and recently state political director. While I do not know the background of any of those changes I again find it difficult to believe that changing things so dramatically from the primary has helped thus far. It can easily be argued that it has not help and in some ways hurt. A primary should be a time to work out potential kinks or problems but if outside people who are brought in to help the campaign are allowing small, but very important details like an authorization signs to be missing from bumper stickers (via Ben Tribbett's August 4th Tweet) then something is not yet syncing in the coordinated campaign. The campaign appears to be just a step behind thus far and really has not gained any traction since their primary victory or even attempted to build on their momentum they had in the closing weeks and days of the primary. I've heard stories of no campaign literature being available to volunteers after the primary who wanted to go out and canvass and the best thing they could provide was a file to print off of their computer. I know very well that resources were essentially drained after the primary but having nothing for volunteers in Northern Virginia who wanted to continue on the energy they had following the primary is very disappointing and concerning. The "Deeds Country" tour is a good introduction for Creigh and I believe a good start to their campaign even though it has received substantial criticism from my peers. I think the video is excellent and a good introduction to Virginia voters about who our candidate for Governor is! However, I believe some of the issues I've discussed should be a more serious concern right now.

While there has been a substantial amount of criticism about the "strategy" Joe Abbey or whoever else is involved now has developed for the general election the fact that it has taken until the beginning of August to get their coordinated staff in place and obtaining campaign materials is a more prominent concern. I learned in the primary that you can not question Joe Abbey's strategy and methods as he lead Creigh to a victory many did not believe possible but I begin to question more and more if the outside forces from the state and national party are butting their heads into a race that they really do not need to be in. I almost begin to wonder that since all eyes are on Virginia as a "referendum" on Barack Obama that these outside staffers are here for personal and professional gain instead of simply ensuring the best candidate, Creigh Deeds is elected Virginia's next Governor. Creigh's primary staff was approximately 25 people and I am sure there were many times that things appeared grim but they never gave up and stayed on the attack and eventually won. They did not have the "resources" and staffers they do now but sadly they appear to be in substantially worse shape than they were at anytime in the primary. Again, this year is too important and Bob McDonnell is so far out of the Virginia mainstream that he cannot lead us over the next four years.

The most recent poll numbers show that all three Democratic candidates face difficult but not impossible tasks in the coming months but it makes one wonder whether there is a correlation between the poll numbers and the apparent lack of a coordinated statewide Democratic campaign. I hope for Virginia's sake that on November 4th I can return and write that I was wrong in my analysis but so far nothing has given me the confidence that I will be able to.