Does the Creigh Deeds gubernatorial race suggest the death of the Blue Dog Democrats? Creigh Deeds tried to tack away from President Obama and run too much in the middle. Virginia is not ready for a ultra liberal governor, but it didn’t want a Democratic candidate who water down his beliefs and goals until he became a milquetoast Republican. Creigh Deeds was trying to get votes that he would never get because he has a "D" by his name. This same kind of political play has been used by Blue Dogs in the House and Senate in their opposition to health care reform. At the same time, Creigh Deeds and other Blue Dogs ignored those that would support them if they actually stayed true to the ideas of the Democratic Party Platform. Creigh Deeds created a really lose lose situation for himself. He ran away from a popular president during his first year in office, he didn’t sure up his base, and he went after an impossible constituency. These were bad political plays.
The lesson to be learned from the Creigh Deeds campaign is that Democrat who act scared of their party's name and who run away from their sitting President are sinking their own ship. Blue Dog Democrats need to get a new play book. -- Deeds is in trouble because he played with an old one. Did Creigh Deeds misjudged the political will of the state, or didn’t he fully grasped how enmeshed the state was in a paradigm shift? The shift that is happening is always the toughest to see, that is what is happened to the GOP. Like Creigh Deeds, they are running as if it is the latter part of the 20st century instead of 2009.
The good news is, the gubernatorial campaign is not over. If Creigh Deeds' campaign can be pulled out of its troubled waters by President Obama, look at the wider message that will be sent to Blue Dogs.
