VA-GOV 2017: Utter Panic and Doom (General election: Nov 7th)

[NeverAgain]

Perriello is zooming left on guns, calling the NRA nutjobs and promising to push gun control as governor.

Bad idea. Virginia loves their guns.

Didn't Governor McAuliffe recently sign some gun control? His numbers seem to be fine.

Yep, last we checked, Governor McAuliffe has a 53% approval rating.

It was EXTREMELY weaksauce, and was basically crafted by lobbyists from the NRA. It did put a couple extra provisions for important things like background checks, but at the cost of repealing a lot of the work done against the gun lobby by AG Herring.

[mds32]

Northam has never lost an election and he was elected statewide with 55% of the vote, the highest of any Democrat in 2013. His military and medical background is also a huge plus in Virginia especially in the Hampton Roads area. I don't really see how Perriello is remotely a stronger candidate than Northam.

It helped he ran against E.W. Jackson.

Very true, Gillespie will be a much tougher candidate to defeat.

[Frodo]

Perriello is zooming left on guns, calling the NRA nutjobs and promising to push gun control as governor.

Bad idea. Virginia loves their guns.

Didn't Governor McAuliffe recently sign some gun control? His numbers seem to be fine.

Yep, last we checked, Governor McAuliffe has a 53% approval rating.

It was EXTREMELY weaksauce, and was basically crafted by lobbyists from the NRA. It did put a couple extra provisions for important things like background checks, but at the cost of repealing a lot of the work done against the gun lobby by AG Herring.

And that is why McAuliffe's approvals weren't hurt by the agreement.

This isn't Maryland.  

[Shadows]

Perreilo voted for Cap n Trade when it didn't have a lot of support, called it  a National Security issue & said he was ready to lose an election over his values. He also advocated for more infra spending in the Stimulus. So I guess he is probably less of a centrist comparatively & he had to run in conservative areas.

There is still a lot of upside & potential gains for Dems in VA, especially in rural areas.  

[Deblano]

Perriello is zooming left on guns, calling the NRA nutjobs and promising to push gun control as governor.

Bad idea. Virginia loves their guns.

Didn't Governor McAuliffe recently sign some gun control? His numbers seem to be fine.

Yep, last we checked, Governor McAuliffe has a 53% approval rating.

It was EXTREMELY weaksauce, and was basically crafted by lobbyists from the NRA. It did put a couple extra provisions for important things like background checks, but at the cost of repealing a lot of the work done against the gun lobby by AG Herring.

And that is why McAuliffe's approvals weren't hurt by the agreement.

This isn't Maryland.  

Thank God.

If you are in favor of super-tough gun laws, please move to Maryland instead of NoVa.

[BuckeyeNut]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

[NeverAgain]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

YESS! So happy we have true leaders like Northam to do this.

[Donerail]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

As did Perriello.

[Deblano]

Would Northam be considered a Conservative Democrat?

[Young Conservative]

Would Northam be considered a Conservative Democrat?

I think "New Democrat" is a better term. He reminds me of Evan Bayh politically or maybe Bill clitnon.

[Figueira]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

As did Perriello.

I saw someone collecting signatures for Perriello at the Women's March.

[BuckeyeNut]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

As did Perriello.

I saw someone collecting signatures for Perriello at the Women's March.

Hopefully their petitions don't get thrown out for collecting non-VA sigs.

[Figueira]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

As did Perriello.

I saw someone collecting signatures for Perriello at the Women's March.

Hopefully their petitions don't get thrown out for collecting non-VA sigs.

The guy was specifically asking for people from Virginia, so unless someone lied they should be good.

[Donerail]

Northam attended the Women's March today.

As did Perriello.

I saw someone collecting signatures for Perriello at the Women's March.

Hopefully their petitions don't get thrown out for collecting non-VA sigs.

When I collected ballot signatures in FL (for a mayoral election, no less) we checked them through VAN to verify they were legit before we turned them in. I imagine a Senate campaign will have something at least as effective at filtering out the bad signatures.

[Enduro]

Who?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Another point: If Perriello wins the Governor's race, he is immediately my hands-down favorite for 2020.

I think this is his only real selling point over Northam, personally

Perriello's been out of public view for a long time now.  That usually doesn't auger well.

[Shameless Lefty Hack]

Another point: If Perriello wins the Governor's race, he is immediately my hands-down favorite for 2020.

I think this is his only real selling point over Northam, personally

Perriello's been out of public view for a long time now.  That usually doesn't auger well.

He gets a full year in the spotlight if he wins before he has to declare. Plus, he has a lot of built up goodwill from prog activists.

[RogueBeaver]

Fundraising this year: Perriello $1.1M, Northam $340k.

[heatcharger]

Fundraising this year: Perriello $1.1M, Northam $340k.

Impressive, but Northam still has a large war chest at his disposal.

[Deblano]

Fundraising this year: Perriello $1.1M, Northam $340k.

Money doesn't determine a race alone (*cough* 2016 election *cough*), but things could get tighter than what we expected.

[The Other Castro]

Perriello hires people from the Sanders and Clinton campaigns:

[Gass3268]

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[MAINEiac4434]

Perriello hires people from the Sanders and Clinton campaigns:

That is a friggin dream team.

[twinpines]

Perriello is off to a good start but I still think Northam has the edge. Northam should no well in the economically centrist NOVA suburbs. I personally prefer Gillespie, but if a democrat is going to win, I'd rather have Perriello over Northam. Also think Northam is the stronger candidate since he can run up the margins in battleground NOVA.

[Chief Justice Keef]

Perriello is off to a good start but I still think Northam has the edge. Northam should no well in the economically centrist NOVA suburbs. I personally prefer Gillespie, but if a democrat is going to win, I'd rather have Perriello over Northam. Also think Northam is the stronger candidate since he can run up the margins in battleground NOVA.

Honestly, I think Perriello is starting to gain a lot of ground over Northam. A lot of the buzz surrounding this race is about the former rather than the latter.