Showdown in Fairfax
The upcoming special election for Board Chair in Fairfax is quickly becoming the first test of the grassroots and messaging ability of the two parties headed into this fall’s epic gubernatorial campaign. From the WaPo:
In effort to lay the groundwork for his own campaign this fall, Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) has dispatched paid canvassers and volunteers to help Herrity. By the end of the weekend, McDonnell’s staff estimates they will have knocked on more than 15,000 doors. McDonnell plans to campaign with Herrity on Monday.
Not to be outdone, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is turning his Mclean headquarters into a daily phone banking center in support of Bulova. While much of the work will be done by volunteers, McAuliffe plans to man the phones on Saturday.
McAuliffe’s rivals for the nomination, Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (Bath) and former delegate Brian Moran, are also dispatching resources to Fairfax in support of Bulova.
Deeds cut a robo-call for Bulova. Deeds also plans to dispatch volunteers from Charlottesville to Fairfax this weekend.
Moran’s political assistant, Chris Collins, has been embedded in the Bulova campaign. Moran has also been organizing Democratic volunteers from Arlington and Alexandria to send to Fairfax to work for Bulova.
Moran’s political director sets the stakes very high for both sides:
“A victory by a conservative Republican in this jurisdiction of more than one million would be a setback for us, just as the new administration and Congress are getting started,” Dominic Gabello, Moran’s political director wrote in an email to supporters. “This election will set the tone for the 2009 elections.”
He’s right. If a conservative Republican can win on fiscal issues in deep blue Fairfax, we may have a shot this fall afterwards.
