As Virginia Democrats fight this year to maintain their 22-18 majority in the state Senate, they face voters who generally approve of Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell but no longer support the man they helped elect in 2008, President Obama. Obama’s diminishing popularity puts Virginia Democrats in the difficult position of distancing themselves from their party’s leader, a figure they once embraced, while aligning themselves with the successes of a Republican governor.
Democratic state Sen. Phillip Puckett went so far as to say he would not support Obama’s re-election in 2012 because the president is not a strong proponent of coal, a staple of his southwestern district.
Virginia Democrats are not rushing to come out against Obama and they’re still accepting fundraising help from U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine, a strong Obama supporter, and other national party big shots like former President Bill Clinton. But even in pockets around the state where Obama’s support remains strong, Democrats want to differentiate themselves from Washington politicians.
“It could hurt until you point out that we’re the best-managed state in the country, the best state to live in and the best state to raise a child,” said Sen. Toddy Puller, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties. “As long as we can spread that message I’m not worried about what’s coming from Congress.”
Sen. George Barker said the balance struck by Democrats and Republicans in Richmond allows compromise seldom seen in the nation’s capital. Barker, facing Republican Miller Baker on Nov. 8, attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for Northrop Grumman Corp.’s new national headquarters in Falls Church, where McDonnell and congressional Democrats praised the bipartisan effort that brought the Fortune 100 company to Virginia. Voters will recognize that at the polls, Barker said.
Democrats continue to avoid serious criticism of McDonnell, who remains popular across most of the state, and are instead touting how they have worked with Republicans.
“There’s bipartisan credit to go around for some of the things they’ve done,” said McDonnell, who is actively assisting Republican efforts to take control of the Senate. “If people think I’ve done a good job and they want to say that during an election time, that’s fine.”
Even Democratic candidates who never worked with McDonnell are quick to associate themselves with his more popular initiatives. Shawn Mitchell, a Democrat running in the 13th state Senate District, supports McDonnell’s effort to restore transportation funding, spokesman Dominic Gabello said.
“Shawn’s not like [Washington] Democrats,” Gabello said. “That’s why Virginia has elections on the odd years; we are different from them.”
