Why Creigh Deeds - Belated notes from the convention
With the Democratic nominee for president settled, and Mark Warner looking fairly unstoppable in his bid for the Senate, the most interesting aspect of the convention for me was the battle between Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran for next year’s democratic nomination for Governor, and I went specifically, among other reasons, to get a better handle on these candidates.
These comments are obviously belated notes from the Virginia Democratic Convention, but I hope no less meaningful — to the extent that they are at all meaningful, on account of their tardiness.
I have met Sen. Deeds several times and think highly of him. I have never met Del. Moran, but am aware that he is held in high esteem by many bloggers whose work I respect, such as Lowell and Vivian Paige.
Supporters of Del. Moran have taken to blogs to tout their man’s performance at the convention. A video of his speech has been posted, and in response comments in response have popped up like crocuses in Springtime – the commentators invisible one day, there the next, and then just as suddenly gone — to declare that Sen. Deeds ought to run for AG and leave the Governor’s slot free for Del. Moran.
Based on what I saw at the convention, however, Sen. Deeds is far and away the better candidate for the Democratic Party and for the State of Virginia at this point in time, even if he currently lags in organization.
Let me say that this is in no way a negative assessment of Del. Moran. Both candidates delivered fine speeches to the convention in terms of style. As for content, neither speech could be fairly judged on this point, as both Deeds and Moran used the occasion to exhort the party to support this year’s ticket, not to make the case for their own candidacies.
Within the hall, however, Moran clearly had more robust support, but this was also clearly the result of a more robust organizational effort by his campaign. His people distributed signs and were greater in number in Deeds. His very vocal supporters were gathered together up front to generate the most excitement.
As political theater, it was effective, but that is not a basis upon which to judge the relative merits of each campaign at this point.
My sense was that Sen. Deeds was less concerned with these kinds of atmospherics than Del. Moran’s campaign. His staff and campaign paraphernalia were decidedly low key. Indeed, when Sen. Deeds made his early announcement that he would run for Governor, he said he was doing so only to remove any doubt about his intentions and that he would not allow his candidacy to interfere with this year’s election.
Sen. Deeds has been true to his word. He made no effort to turn the convention into a rally for himself.
Indeed, even Sen. Deed’s hospitality suite was held not at the convention center itself, but in the hotel next door. And given that he is one of two frontrunners for the Commonwealth’s top elective office, it was quite modest compared to the lavish affair that Jon Bowerbank threw at the Convention Center.
More revealing to me than the set piece speeches on the convention floor, however, were the more informal talks both Del. Moran and Sen. Deeds gave afterwards at the DLOV reception. Here, Sen. Deeds seemed to me much more genuine and at ease. He seemed to really connect with his audience, which included Judy Feder.
This is not meant in any way to criticize Del. Moran, whose comments were certainly adequate, if unexceptional.
I took the opportunity to introduce myself to Del. Moran and chatted for a few moments – I won’t be reporting the content except to say it was not noteworthy. I came away feeling neither impressed nor turned off by him.
In comparison, even short conversations with Sen. Deeds have always left me impressed.
When I read the debates between posters here regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of Del. Moran and Sen. Deeds as candidates, Del. Moran’s supporters seem to argue that he has an inherent advantage in Northern Virgnia. As for the rest of Virginia, well, Del. Moran’s supporters seem to argue that Steve Jarding will be able to advise Moran on that and have the same success he had with Mark Warner.
That remains to be seen. I would only note that even Jarding himself makes clear that Warner’s success in Virginia and his ability to connect with rural voters in the state, which Jarding says are essential to winning statewide office, was ultimately dependent on Warner’s political skills and genuine feelings, not the strategy of Jarding or any other consultant.
There is no doubt about Sen. Deeds, who came within 300 votes of winning statewide office in 2005 despite being outspent nearly 2-1 by his opponent.
Moran has proven himself an able legislator and party insider in Richmond. While he and his organization made a credible showing at the convention, Del. Moran has yet to show that he is a viable statewide candidate.
(Note: Many of the following pictures are in B+W because I took them for myself and I like B+W better than color. That said, there are a few color shots. Whether B+W or color, you would think having snapped in excess of 400 photographs I would have more than a handful worthy of posting, but the sad commentary to my skills as a photographer is that I don’t).
Sen. Deeds
Sen. Deeds, a different angle.
Last time, in color.
While I didn’t write about him, above, Mark Warner was a rock star at the convention. After his speech, he waded in the crowd to the beat of the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up.” He was a real pro as he swung from handshake to autograph to photo to autograph and so on. Here are a couple of photos I took from the scrum:
Last, but not least, it was Warner, not Bowerbank, that clearly won the sign wars at the convention. not only were there a million smaller lawn signs, these giant Warner signs seemed to pop up everywhere. Volunteers carried them around to form a backdrop for Warner when he was interviewed off the convention floor. Here’s a volunteer packing up the roadshow:
