Seated behind a modest desk in the two-room law office he occupies next to Genia’s Beauty Salon on Main Street in downtown Hot Springs, Deeds didn’t refer to McDonnell by name during an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It’s an indication, perhaps, that devoting years of your life to a dream that doesn’t come true warrants a longer recovery period.

“I’m surviving, doing the best I can,” he said. “I mean, what choice do I have, right? You got to keep going. You just have to keep moving.”

In the weeks after the election, Deeds, 52, hasn’t spent a night outside his home in rural Bath County. Public appearances have been rare — a couple of visits to Charlottesville, a Christmas shopping trip to Roanoke, a drive to attend a funeral.

Instead, Deeds has set to work rebuilding the life he left behind when he became a candidate — resurrecting a dormant law practice, repairing fences on the family farm, getting a cranky stove to provide warmth on a winter’s day in the Allegheny Mountains.

“The toll on my family . . . there are things I’ll never get back and that hurts a whole lot,” he said. “A lot of personal stuff that I’m just not going to go into.

“Going forward, I’ve got a responsibility to represent people in the state Senate and rebuild a life that I had, that I have left,” he said. “There’s still a lot of figuring out to do. I’ve got to get back to basics.

Also, in the interview, Deeds did not mention whether or not he was running for re-election in 2011 for the state senate seat he currently holds. Hopefully, this will not intervene with his ability to serve the people of Charlottesville and Bath County.

For McDonnell, Cillizza praised him for sticking to the message and not going off topic, as well as, citing how composed he was during the campaign. Another observation was that McDonnell discussed the issues that mattered most to Virginians and that was what ultimately led him to the Governor’s Mansion.

Meanwhile, Deeds was called out on his campaign strategy, which relied on his focus of targeting rural voters, rather than the core constituencies of the Commonwealth (namely Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia) and for talking about his opponent’s thesis from grad school instead of focusing on why he should have been elected. Cillizza mentioned that Deeds distanced himself from Obama, which alienated the liberal voting block in Northern Virginia and the African-American vote.

Overall, Cillizza’s analysis of both campaigns were spot-on. However, there was one unique factor that Cillizza ignored in his selection. There is great public disdain for what is occurring in the nation’s capital and with President Obama’s approval ratings dropping, the Virginia campaign, along with the campaign in New Jersey served as voter referendums on the unpopular public policies of Obama and Congress.

Well, well, well…it was only a matter of time before Creigh Deeds would have another outburst, and this time, it happened on public radio.

Here’s the transcript:

Q: Mr. Deeds two weeks ago you discussed at the Chamber of Commerce event here in Fairfax about the possibility of raising taxes and you waffled on what that tax would be. Since then you’ve continued to refer to the possibility of raising the gas tax and you keep sounding like a furniture salesman by talking about all these option on the table. My question is this how can you explain to Virginians the possibility of raising taxes in a period of economic turmoil where the government should be making it easier on Virginians not harder by allowing us to bring home more of our money?

A: David I guess you like sitting in traffic an hour and a half every day more than everybody else in the state. What I said is that my general fund priority is to be paid for without a tax increase. I’m going to have performance reviews of every agency in state government, I’m convinced we can squeeze more money out of the state budget that way. I’m convinced we can go to zero based budgeting and make our general fund priorities easier to be met. With transportation we have to have a discussion of the issue. We’re going to need an excess of a billion dollars a year. Now I’ve not proposed any tax increases and frankly all I’ve said is we’re going to have a commission take a look at the issue and we’re going to do that because it’s the only approach that’s worked in the last 30 years. Governors have proposed lots of specific ideas over the years and they’ve been shot down. The other candidate has a series of ideas that are rehashed and worn out and they’re not gonna and democrats and republicans have said they’re not going to work. The Washington Post said I’ve got the only honest approach to transportation. The Daily Press in Newport News endorsed Bob McDonnell but said I’ve got the honest approach to transportation. Bob McDonnell’s got signs in Hampton Roads that say Hampton Road’s Own but the Virginia Pilot, the largest newspaper in that region endorsed me saying I’ve got the only honest approach to transportation. I mean I don’t know how I can be more clear.

The VCU Poll shows McDonnell holding an 18 percentage lead over Deeds.

The poll finds 54 perfect of likely voters support or lean to McDonnell, 36 percent support or lean to Deeds.

A 56 percent majority of independents are siding with or leaning to McDonnell, 29 percent of independents are siding with or leaning to Deeds. The poll also indicates both candidates do well with rank-and-file members of their respective political parties.

Even though some observers have said they are worried about voter apathy this year, those who are likely to cast a ballot see important differences between the candidates. About two-thirds of likely voters (65 percent) said it really matters who wins, 28 percent indicated things will be pretty much the same regardless of who is elected.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen shows McDonnell with a 13 percentage lead over Deeds. This represents a near doubling of the lead in fifteen days.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state – taken last night just after President Obama made a campaign appearance for Deeds in the state – shows McDonnell ahead 54% to 41%. Only four percent (4%) remain undecided.

Earlier this month, McDonnell led by seven, and last month he was up by nine.

Survey USA numbers

McDonnell 58%
Deeds 41%

Bolling 56%
Wagner 42%

Cuccinelli 57%
Shannon 41%

Public Policy Polling

McDonnell 55%
Deeds 40%

Bolling 50%
Wagner 38%

Cuccinelli 52%
Shannon 36%

Deeds’ campaign seems not to have caught fire this fall. White House political operatives–on condition of anonymity, of course, are trying to discount the loss they anticipate in the Old Dominion. “Deeds ignored advice, White House says” reads the latest front-page headline in the Post. If you’re the team quarterback in Virginia, that’s hardly the press coverage you need to see less than two weeks from game day.

The thesis attack has backfired on Creigh Deeds, as the polls are showing him in a downward slide.

Bob McDonnell

• The Washington Times
• The Washington Examiner
• Sun-Gazette Newspapers
• Loudoun Times-Mirror
• The Winchester Star
• Harrisonburg Daily News-Record
• Daily Press
• Culpeper Times
• News and Messenger (Prince William)
  
• Bristol Herald Courier
• Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Culpeper Star Exponent
• Waynesboro News Virginian
• The Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
• Lynchburg News & Advance

Bill Bolling

• Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star
• Prince William News and Messenger
• Waynesboro News Virginian
• Bristol Herald Courier
• Farmville Herald
• Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Lynchburg News & Advance

Ken Cuccinelli

• The Washington Times
• The Washington Examiner
• Prince William News and Messenger
• The News-Virginian
• Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Lynchburg News & Advance
• Charlottesville Daily Progress

Potts also unloaded on McDonnell for his support of charter schools — public schools started and run by outside organizations.

“One candidate is for charter schools, Bob McDonnell, the other is opposed to charter schools,” Potts said.

Few charter schools have been created in the Old Dominion for a simple reason, Potts said. Communities that considered it “were very happy with the public education system in Virginia.”

Of course, Deeds is against school choice. After all, he was endorsed by the Virginia Education Association and has received cash donations from the organization to help fund his campaign for Governor. As State Senator, Deeds also voted against several bills that supported charter schools.

Since Deeds does not support school choice (whether that means homeschooling or charter schools), who might support options for improving education? Let’s see, Bob McDonnell supports charter schools, and President Obama also supports charter schools (and Obama received the endorsement of the National Education Association, as well as cash donations during the 2008 election). So, is Deeds now throwing Obama under the bus once again? It all started with the public option, now it’s charter schools, so what’s next for Deeds to criticize.

The Republican Party of Virginia keeps producing some great videos featuring Deeds in action, and this time, they accurately portray his relationships with tables.

Bob McDonnell is leading Creigh Deeds, 52-40%. This poll also concurs that the negative attacks by Deeds against McDonnell’s thesis are not working with Virginia voters.

In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling still leads Jody Wagner. Bolling had a 49-39 lead over Wagner.

Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli is really holding a wide margin lead over Steve Shannon in the Attorney General’s race. Cuccinelli is leading Shannon, 52-37.

All of these votes have a margin of error of 3.8%.