VA GOV: Welcome, Birthers
Just when you thought this race was starting to get boring, the birthers have arrived in VA.
A new poll scheduled to be released tomorrow shows just 32% of VA GOPers think Pres. Obama is a citizen of the U.S., according to media reports. If true, it would mean the birther moment is even larger in VA than it is in the rest of the country, where a recent poll found 42% of GOPers questioned Obama's credentials to serve in the WH.
The issue is already starting to emerge on the scene in the VA GOV race, which so far has been characterized by each cand's interest in turning the election into a nat'l referendum. Simply put, ex-AG Bob McDonnell (R) wants to talk about Obama and the Dems in Congress, and state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) doesn't, refusing to take a stand on many of the Dems nat'l policies.
The new poll may reverse that trend, though. On Call asked for McDonnell's response to the reported new numbers and received this from camp spokesperson Tucker Martin: "Bob McDonnell believes this matter is a distraction. The President is a United States citizen. In this difficult time of rising unemployment and economic uncertainty we need to focus on the important issues at hand."
Meanwhile, over the weekend, liberal blog Blue Virginia interviewed Deeds. The nat'l Birther poll came up, and Deeds' suggested he might use the issue to paint GOPers as out of touch with the needs of VAians. Deeds: "I read recently that something like 40% of Republican voters, or self-described Republican voters, say that they question whether the President was born in the United States. People just don't have much to worry about if that's what they're thinking about."
McDonnell is clearly interested to putting an end to the birther debate ASAP, despite its seeming popularity among his GOP base. Deeds, on the other hand, may have found the one nat'l political debate he's willing to embrace with both arms. After all, the more McDonnell's forced to talk about the birthers, the harder it will be for him to continue to claim he's got a shot at winning over the voters that gave Obama his VA victory last year.
(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO)
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