Thursday, May 7, 2009

Obama affecting McAuliffe?

The Huffington Post has a post on how Obama's influence could affect the Democratic gubernatorial primary. The premise: Terry McAuliffe's reluctance to support Barack Obama during the presidential election could backfire among Obama voters. Money quote:
And yet, what stood out was one of the issues that could potentially trip up the longtime Clinton hand. As both Nagourney and McAuliffe's chief opponent Brian Moran hypothesize, McAuliffe's opposition to Barack Obama's presidential campaign remains something of a thorny subject, especially in a state where the president won the primary by 30 percentage points.
[...]
Whether Obama supporters are indeed still cool towards McAuliffe and whether that will have an electoral consequence remains to be seen on primary day.
Is it just me, or is this not a salient issue? Although it was a tough pill to swallow during the presidential primaries, I just don't think that Virginia voters care about this. We care about jobs and the economy, at least down here in the Southside.

This just seems like a superficial reason, held by those predisposed or inclined against McAuliffe, to vote against someone. There might be some legitimate arguments against McAuliffe, but this isn't one. Aznew is skeptical also.

And recent polls show, in a state with overwhelming Obama support, that McAuliffe is the emerging front-runner (1, 2).

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