Deeds stuck in starting gate?

The Republican Party of Virginia is keeping the heat on Demcorat gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds who has not found his footing going out of the starting gate after the Democrat primary in June. The latest RPV press release features a video titled, "Deeds Hits 'Reset' Button -- AGAIN."

Democratic candidate for governor Creigh Deeds has attempted to "reset" the campaign in a speech that was transparently an ploy to ask for the quintessential playground "do-over" as his campaign is grasping wildly for some purchase while plummeting in all recent polls. The Republican Party of Virginia has released an Internet video highlighting this effort and Deeds' failure to find footing as the campaign hurtles towards Labor Day.

Watch the video here

Originally, Deeds declared that the campaign would be about the economy. "People are worried about how they are going to pay for their retirement, worried about how they're going to keep their kids in colleges, worried about feeding their families," Deeds said. "There's bad economic news everywhere. Those issues are just dominating." (Washington Post, July 12, 2009)

RESET

After pledging not to raise divisive social issues during the campaign with Republican Bob McDonnell, Deeds did exactly that. "Down double digits in the polls, Deeds is launching the campaign equivalent of football's ‘Hail Mary,'" wrote the Waynesboro News-Virginian. (August 11, 2009)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch published an editorial entitled "Campaign 2009: Desperation." (August 11, 2009)

When that did not work and McDonnell continued to show large leads in polls, Deeds has now decided to redefine the campaign and hit the "reset" button again with a speech intending to erase the previous two months.

Watch the RPV video here

"I'm very sorry to tell Creigh Deeds this," said Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Pat Mullins. "But, in political campaigns, there is no reset button."