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| Lickin' Ass And Goin' Insane... |
 Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 11:48 am |
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(Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!)
(CNN) – A well-known Democratic strategist in Virginia is blasting the
White House for placing anonymous quotes in the Washington Post in a
pre-emptive effort to blame Creigh Deeds for what might be a loss in
the state's upcoming gubernatorial election.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/23/democrat-blasts-white-house-for-anonymous-sniping/
David "Mudcat" Saunders, who gained political fame helping Democrat
Mark Warner reach out to rural voters during Warner's successful 2001
gubernatorial bid, told CNN Friday that trying to blame Deeds is
"bulls**t" when Democrats around the country are "just tired of
politics."
"The Democrats right now are a real bruised brand right now where I
am," Saunders said in a phone interview from his home near Roanoke.
"There was so much energy put into last year's race, everybody's just
burned out. You can't get anybody fired up."
In a story published Friday, a senior administration official told the
Post that the Deeds campaign ignored their advice to embrace the
president, which the official claimed would have boosted the
Democratic candidate's lackluster support among the African-Americans
and young voters who supported Obama in 2008.
Saunders rejected that argument. Embracing Obama - who does appear
with Deeds on ads running in some parts of the state - might not have
hurt the candidate in Democratic-leaning areas, he argued, but with
the contentious economic debates going on in Washington, the
presidential stamp of approval wouldn't have turned him into an
instant frontrunner. In southwest Virginia, he said, embracing the
president would have been a "devastating" political move for Deeds,
who is trailing Republican Bob McD. in the polls.
"They're making the assumption Virginia is a blue state, and it's
not," Saunders said of the administration. "It's not a red state
either. The very best that can be said about Virginia is that it's
light purple. For them to say if he had listened to us they would win,
that's chickens**t. That's Monday morning quarterbacking."
He also questioned the White House's unsuccessful efforts to court
former governor Democratic governor Doug Wilder, who publicly refused
to endorse Deeds. "I don't think Doug Wilder means anything anymore,"
Saunders claimed.
"It's a goddamn shame when our center of government, the White House,
won't talk on the record. I discount all of it," Saunders said of the
Post article. "It's a lack of courage. And it goes against
transparency that Obama told us last year was going to come out of the
White House. Anybody who makes anonymous quotes out of the White House
should be fired."
Admidst the sharp back-and-forth among Democrats, the president is
still scheduled to campaign for Deeds in Norfolk next Tuesday.
UPDATE: Republicans, not surprisingly, are enjoying the back-and-
forth. Republican National Committee spokeswoman Katie Wright said the
White House is trying to "save face" before Election Day.
"Looks like Creigh Deeds has made the White House enemies list," said
Republican National Committee spokeswoman Katie Wright. "Deeds isn't
the only one responsible for the downfall of his own campaign. While
Deeds has promised higher taxes on Virginia families and small
businesses, President Obama has had an equal hand in dragging his
party down in the Commonwealth." |
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