With 18 days until the primary, bloggers this week analyzed the recent events impacting the gubernatorial race, including celebrity rallies and endorsements, debates, campaign attacks, issues and polls.

At Blue Commonwealth, aznew provided a balanced look at the last Democratic gubernatorial debate, with some positive and negative reactions to each of the candidates.

My first impression at the debate was that Terry McAuliffe won. In the hall, at least, Creigh seemed a little flat and Moran seemed, well, lost in the sense that with three weeks left to go in a campaign that he has been waging for three years, he still hasn't seemed to find a consistent voice or message... First, let me cite the one winning McAuliffe moment that stood out as the debate's highlight. When it came time for his question, Creigh asked McAuliffe how he could promise so much to so many - building a gym, paying teachers mortgages, etc., when he knows budgets will be tight. The question was intended to put McAuliffe on the spot for pandering and over-promising. Before he was halfway done asking it, however, it was clear to everyone - even Creigh, I think -- that he'd made a mistake. McAuliffe thanked Creigh for the question, and took the opportunity to talk about his big ideas, about reaching for the stars. "Do you want me to get out of bed and say I'm gonna be 50th?" he said. "NO. You shoot for the moon. John Kennedy didn't say we're taking the rocket halfway to the moon, It goes all the way to the moon."

Ben of Not Larry Sabato was tweeting from the debate, and concluded with:

Decisive win for @terry_mcauliffe in this debate.

Bob Holsworth at Virginia Tomorrow discusses Terry’s positive campaign and ideas, and questions why Democrats would criticize a campaign of hope after last year’s success.

McAuliffe has portrayed himself as an outsider who wants to bring “big ideas” to Virginia and shake up the political system….Nationally, the Democratic Party has fared very well because it is the party of hope and not the party of no. Wasn’t Bill Clinton the boy from Hope (Arkansas, that is)? And wasn’t Hope Obama’s real middle name? In a tough campaign, I expect that that candidates will use every weapon in their arsenal and it is no secret that both Moran and Deeds think that McAuliffe had no business becoming a statewide candidate in Virginia. But, as a party, I think the Democrats have to ensure that in trying to defeat McAuliffe, they don’t also run down the major rhetorical advantage they’ve had over the GOP in the last few years. The Democrats have to be careful that, whatevever the outcome of the primary, they don’t turn Virginia into the kind of place where hope goes to die.

At Blue Virginia, Lowell reports on Terry’s conference call with Liberty University students who recently had their rights to meet as a Democratic group revoked by school officials.

Liberty University has revoked its recognition of the campus Democratic Party club, saying “we are unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by” the university….Meanwhile, I got an email from the McAuliffe campaign saying that Terry "will hold a conference call with Liberty University Democrats" this morning. The McAuliffe campaign email adds, "Liberty University Democrats have campaigned for McAuliffe across the Commonwealth in recent weeks, and were active advocates for Obama in the 2008 presidential election."

Multiple polls this week have shown Terry in the lead in the Democratic primary race, and while the only poll that really counts is the one on election day, the blogs are buzzing. At Blue Commonwealth, kyleblankenship reported on the Survey USA poll, while at Blue Virginia Lowell added some commentary.

The bottom line is that Terry's gaining ground in the general election as we get closer to June 9 and the number of undecideds shrinks.

In a Research 2000 poll at Daily Kos, McAuliffe also holds the lead, and Kos provided some analysis.

A pretty dramatic gain for McAuliffe in the last six weeks for an election that will be decided in about three weeks (June 9), while Deeds and Moran essentially tread water. …while Moran has remained steady and while Deeds has edged back, McAuliffe has managed to move his favorability numbers forward despite an increasingly negative primary.

Laura Clawson wrote a diary at Daily Kos reflecting on her experience at the will.i.am event in Arlington on May 11th and analyzing the impact of celebrities joining the campaign trail.

This is one of the reasons it's silly when people sneer at celebrities campaigning for politicians. The biggest reason, of course, is this: If you have strong political beliefs, or support a politician strongly, you should do whatever you can to support them. Maybe it's knocking on doors, maybe it's drawing a couple hundred people and some extra press to a campaign event. …if a campaign gets people out to an event who might not go, and they hear a campaign speech they wouldn't hear, and maybe they give the campaign their information and get a few election-day text messages reminding them to vote, maybe that makes a difference. At any rate it's not hurting our democracy for people to see that rich and famous people think politics can matter.

Posted by: Eli @ 03:16:17 PM
Tags: bloggers, blogs, debates, economy, endorsements, hope, liberty university, macker, mcauliffe, obama, polls, roundup, t-mac, terry, terry mcauliffe, va-gov, virginia, weekly blog roundup, will.i.am