McDonnell makes SW Virginia campaign stop

ABINGDON, Va. – As both gubernatorial candidates traveled around Virginia on the eve of the election Monday, Republican Bob McDonnell made his final Southwest Virginia campaign stop.

With a double-digit lead in the polls, he and his running mates said they were confident in the potential for a win – and a change in state government to counter the one that came on the federal level with Democrat Barack Obama’s election as president.

Jared Leopold, press secretary for Democrat Creigh Deeds, said he believes the race will instead be decided on state issues and who is best to lead Virginia.

“We, I think, are winning because we understand that the limited government, fiscally conservative approach to government is what the people are asking for right now,” McDonell said in his speech here Monday. “It’s not big-government federal programs out of Washington … that’s not going to lead to more prosperity.

What will is … more limited government, more private-sector initiative, more focus on entrepreneurship and small business so that more people in the free-enterprise system can use their God-given talent to pursue the American dream; that’s what’s going to get us out of this economic downturn.”

McDonnell, with running mates Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli, sought to bring their message home with a “McBollinelli” broom to sweep today’s election and promised more energy production in the state, including offshore oil drilling, with a plastic-wrapped “coal-digging” shovel.

Leopold, in an interview Monday evening, said Deeds is a proven job-creator and supports programs at the state level to create jobs in Virginia – and he also has some good ideas on health care.

“Creigh has been traveling all over the state … and his message in Bristol is the same as it is in Arlington,” Leopold said. “It’s about creating hope and opportunity in all corners of Virginia and bringing jobs to every part of the commonwealth.”

He said state Sen. Deeds, who lost to McDonnell in the race for state attorney general four years ago by just a handful of votes, has the best record of leadership in Virginia.

“We’ve got an opportunity for the first time in nearly two decades to elect a governor from the western part of the state,” Leopold said.

Throughout the campaign season, U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, has appeared with Deeds on visits to the region; state Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, and Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, appeared with McDonnell on Monday.

“We hope we’re going to change the governor’s office, change what is going on in Richmond and send a message to Washington,” said Kilgore, who is running unopposed for re-election.

“They know we’ve got to quit spending money we don’t have to make promises we can’t keep,” said Bolling, of Virginia voters. “They know that we need to solve the health care challenges that our country faces today, but they want it done through private-sector solutions, not turning our health care over to a bunch of federal government bureaucrats.”

Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for state attorney general, said the ticket’s win “will begin with a foundation of protecting the Constitution as it was written.”
At press time Monday, just a few hours remained before the polls opened today.

On election eve, both candidates and both political parties were encouraging citizens to get out and vote – for them, of course.

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