Obama helping Deeds’ campaign for governor

Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, trailing in the polls, is getting a late push from President Barack Obama, with a new TV ad, an e-mail plea and an appearance in Hampton Roads slated for a week before Election Day.

Deeds, a state senator from Bath County and the Democratic nominee for governor, hopes the infusion will reignite voters who helped Obama become the first Democratic presidential candidate in 44 years to carry Virginia.

The flurry of activity came as a new poll showed Republicans leading by double digits in all three statewide races.

The Deeds campaign released details of the president’s Tuesday event at Old Dominion University’s Ted Constant Center on the heels of a new TV ad in which Obama encourages Democrats to help elect Deeds as governor.

The Obama footage comes from his Aug. 6 fundraiser with Deeds in Fairfax County.

“I need every one of you to get fired up once again so that we can go towards the future, with Creigh Deeds leading the great commonwealth of Virginia,“ Obama says.

Later yesterday, the president sent an e-mail to his Virginia supporters, saying: “We’ve worked too hard and come too far to let Virginia slip back.“

The Deeds campaign hopes the president’s visit to Hampton Roads — which Obama carried by 79,000 votes last year — will energize voters along the Richmond-Norfolk corridor, including black voters and young voters who were key parts of Obama’s Virginia coalition.

Deeds’ opponent, Republican Bob McDonnell, spoke to the Virginia Chamber of Commerce in Richmond yesterday afternoon. Afterward, the former state attorney general said he’s ready for the presidential push.

“Obviously the president is an incredibly gifted communicator,“ McDonnell said. “He’s certainly a very passionate advocate for Creigh Deeds, and I’m sure that’ll have some impact.

“Surrogates and advocates are helpful, but I think mostly people want to care about what does the candidate stand for and what are they going to do to improve the quality of life for Virginians,“ McDonnell said.

Deeds led McDonnell in Hampton Roads by just 1 percentage point in a Richmond Times-Dispatch poll conducted Oct. 6-8 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. McDonnell has long ties to the area. He represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates from 1992-2006.

In the new statewide poll, released by Public Policy Polling, McDonnell leads Deeds 52 percent to 40 percent, up from his 5-point edge three weeks ago.

In the race for attorney general, state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, leads Del. Stephen C. Shannon, D-Fairfax, 52 percent to 37 percent. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican who is seeking re-election, leads his Democratic opponent, Jody Wagner, 49 percent to 39 percent.

The pollster surveyed 666 likely Virginia voters from Friday to Monday. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Also yesterday, McDonnell picked up the support of former Republican state Sen. Brandon Bell, who had endorsed Deeds earlier in the general election but said he is switching to McDonnell because of his job-creation and economic plan. Bell represented a Southwest Virginia district in the General Assembly.

Andrew Cain is politics editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Staff writer Olympia Meola contributed to this report.