By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
Virginia State Del. Jennifer McClellan says Democratic National Committee members are receptive to targeting the state this fall.
By Bob Brown/Richmond Times Dispatch File Photo
By Bob Brown/Richmond Times Dispatch File Photo
Email to a Friend
Stumble It!
Most Popular Stories
VIENNA, Va. - Virginia may have been just the fallback location this week for the Democratic National Committee's fall meeting.
But Democratic officials said Friday that the party will pay more attention to the state next fall, predicting that it will become a key battleground in the 2008 general presidential election.
So, while presidential candidates have paid scant attention to the Old Dominion during the run-up to the primaries, the Democratic nominee will likely spend significant time and money courting Virginia voters, officials said.
"I think Virginia will be the next Florida or the next Ohio, in that it could be the state that decides the outcome of the election," said Mame Reilly of Alexandria, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Women's Caucus.
It's too early to make those predictions, said Shaun Kenney, a spokesman for the Virginia Republican party.
A Democratic presidential candidate has not won Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Kenney noted that Democratic candidates since then have made noise about competing in Virginia, only to stop spending time and money in the state when a victory looked hopeless.
"If you look at 2004, John Kerry initially targeted it, then pulled out. If 2004 is any indication of what will happen in 2008, then we're feeling pretty optimistic," he said.
But the political landscape has shifted dramatically left since then. Recent Democratic electoral victories in Virginia have colored this once reliably red state a subtler shade of purple. Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine won in 2005. In 2006, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb unseated Republican incumbent George Allen. And this year, Democrats captured the state Senate.
State Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, a member of the DNC, said she spoke with national party officials at the DNC meeting about targeting the state this fall, and most were receptive.
Democratic national chairman Howard Dean “called us the poster child for purple states. We're a microcosm of America, so if you can win in Virginia today, you can win over mainstream America," she said.
So far this primary season, candidates have largely bypassed Virginia to focus on earlier primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Virginia’s primary is scheduled for Feb. 12 – after most other states.
Five candidates addressed the state party officials and other staunch Democrats at the fall meeting Friday -- Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York was scheduled to speak, but canceled after two of her New Hampshire campaign workers were taken hostage Friday afternoon.
The candidates' stop in Virginia almost did not happen. The meeting had been scheduled for Baltimore, but a labor dispute at the hotel there forced the switch to Virginia.
"I think candidates are starting to see that if they spend time in Virginia, they can win in Virginia," McClellan said. "But we're trying to make them understand that coming to Virginia does not just mean crossing the 14th Street Bridge (from Washington into Arlington). They have to come down state, too."
Dean said Friday that recent success by Virginia Democrats gives the party hope in other conservative-leaning states.
"What Virginia Democrats have demonstrated is that if you show up and work hard - not just in Northern Virginia, but everywhere - and speak about our values as Democrats and Americans, there is no part of America that Democrats cannot win," he said.
Virginia Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr., a Chesapeake Democrat and member of the DNC, said he thinks Virginia voters will get a lot of attention from the eventual Democratic nominee. "I think they know Virginia isn't a lost cause anymore," he said.
Still, with only 13 electoral votes, if Virginia is a swing state, it represents less of a prize for candidates than Florida's 27 electoral votes or Ohio's 20 electoral votes.
Contact Sean Mussenden at 202-662-7668 or smussenden@mediageneral.com
30
But Democratic officials said Friday that the party will pay more attention to the state next fall, predicting that it will become a key battleground in the 2008 general presidential election.
So, while presidential candidates have paid scant attention to the Old Dominion during the run-up to the primaries, the Democratic nominee will likely spend significant time and money courting Virginia voters, officials said.
"I think Virginia will be the next Florida or the next Ohio, in that it could be the state that decides the outcome of the election," said Mame Reilly of Alexandria, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Women's Caucus.
It's too early to make those predictions, said Shaun Kenney, a spokesman for the Virginia Republican party.
A Democratic presidential candidate has not won Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Kenney noted that Democratic candidates since then have made noise about competing in Virginia, only to stop spending time and money in the state when a victory looked hopeless.
"If you look at 2004, John Kerry initially targeted it, then pulled out. If 2004 is any indication of what will happen in 2008, then we're feeling pretty optimistic," he said.
But the political landscape has shifted dramatically left since then. Recent Democratic electoral victories in Virginia have colored this once reliably red state a subtler shade of purple. Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine won in 2005. In 2006, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb unseated Republican incumbent George Allen. And this year, Democrats captured the state Senate.
State Del. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, a member of the DNC, said she spoke with national party officials at the DNC meeting about targeting the state this fall, and most were receptive.
Democratic national chairman Howard Dean “called us the poster child for purple states. We're a microcosm of America, so if you can win in Virginia today, you can win over mainstream America," she said.
So far this primary season, candidates have largely bypassed Virginia to focus on earlier primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. Virginia’s primary is scheduled for Feb. 12 – after most other states.
Five candidates addressed the state party officials and other staunch Democrats at the fall meeting Friday -- Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York was scheduled to speak, but canceled after two of her New Hampshire campaign workers were taken hostage Friday afternoon.
The candidates' stop in Virginia almost did not happen. The meeting had been scheduled for Baltimore, but a labor dispute at the hotel there forced the switch to Virginia.
"I think candidates are starting to see that if they spend time in Virginia, they can win in Virginia," McClellan said. "But we're trying to make them understand that coming to Virginia does not just mean crossing the 14th Street Bridge (from Washington into Arlington). They have to come down state, too."
Dean said Friday that recent success by Virginia Democrats gives the party hope in other conservative-leaning states.
"What Virginia Democrats have demonstrated is that if you show up and work hard - not just in Northern Virginia, but everywhere - and speak about our values as Democrats and Americans, there is no part of America that Democrats cannot win," he said.
Virginia Del. Lionell Spruill, Sr., a Chesapeake Democrat and member of the DNC, said he thinks Virginia voters will get a lot of attention from the eventual Democratic nominee. "I think they know Virginia isn't a lost cause anymore," he said.
Still, with only 13 electoral votes, if Virginia is a swing state, it represents less of a prize for candidates than Florida's 27 electoral votes or Ohio's 20 electoral votes.
Contact Sean Mussenden at 202-662-7668 or smussenden@mediageneral.com
30