Few people give Ed Gillespie much of a chance in Virginia’s Senate race — except Gillespie himself.
The former national chairman for the Republican Party is down by 19 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average. None of the race ratings considers the seat anything but a lock for Democratic Sen. Mark Warner.
But Gillespie remains bullish, arguing that the race is “very winnable” because recent polls are too old to gauge the effects of his TV ads and a New York Times/CBS poll showed Warner with approval from less than half of Virginians.
“That’s the most important number when you’re running against a well-known incumbent,” Gillespie said after a meeting of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association in Alexandria. “This is his fourth statewide race and he can’t break 50.”
A one-time advisor to President George W. Bush, Gillespie argues that Virginia — which has a Democratic governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as well as two Democratic U.S. senators — is still competitive for the GOP.
“It’s a purple state, it’s a swing state,” he said. “The swing is coming back toward the more red side.”
One reason that Virginia has become less Republican is the growing suburbs of Washington, D.C., which lean Democratic. But Gillespie defended Arlington, which was recently tarred as “soulless” by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York in her memoir.
Although Warner had some good-natured fun at Gillibrand’s defense over the characterization, Gillespie had not heard of the flap.
“You’re kidding me!” he said. “We just had a great event in Arlington the other night! There’s a lot of heart and soul in Arlington and I enjoy a lot of strong support from a lot of young professionals there.”
“That’s pretty offensive,” he added.
