Is Deeds On The Move?

There are some signs of life in the Creigh Deeds campaign.

A poll released this week has Deeds just five points behind his opponent, Bob "Women Should Stay In The Home" McDonnell, Deeds best showing since shortly after he won the Democratic primary in June. Deeds also outraised McDonnell in funds in the most recent reporting period, by a pretty good margin. And, with less than two months to go to the election, voters are starting to get a little interested in the race, with the Deeds campaign showing some uncharacteristic energy.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the new poll, from Clarus Research, comes from an organization that we haven't seen poll in the Commonwealth before, so we're still a bit skeptical. We're waiting to see numbers from Public Policy Polling and Survey USA, both of whom have been surveying the state every few weeks, to see if there are any real trends. We would expect Deeds to improve his standing after the Washington Post pulled back the mask on Bob McDonnell and revealed the scaly lizard skin underneath.

Likewise, on the money front, while Deeds is raising some big bucks, McDonnell still have about a million dollars more in the bank. That's a big delta with less than two months to go.

And while the Deeds campaign appears to have come alive, McDonnell's campaign continues to operate as a well-oiled machine.

Historically, the governor's mansion in Virginia goes to the party out of power in the White House. That alone makes Deeds an underdog. It's still McDonnell's race to lose. We hope Deeds has the momentum to pull off the upset.