Bath County, Virginia, on the Eastern Continental Divide and the West Virginia border, is so small and isolated it doesn't even have its own newspaper. Can it produce a governor in a state where suburban voters have become dominant? The campaign of Democratic state Sen. R. Creigh (pronounced "Kree") Deeds will answer that question. All the other candidates are from heavily suburbanized Northern Virginia.
"The bedrock values and unquestioned traditions of rural Virginia can also clash with those in more urban and cosmopolitan regions," writes Fredrick Kunkle of The Washington Post. "Although Deeds has championed abortion rights and environmental causes, he also opposed the ban on buying more than one handgun a month. And he voted at least five times for a state constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage and civil unions, which he later said he regretted." Kunkle also notes Deeds' "unpolished style" contrasts with those of Democratic primary opponents Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran.
For an independent take on Deeds, Kunkle consulted our friend Anne Adams, publisher of The Recorder in Highland County, which is the local weekly for Bath County. "When you grow up in a small town, you can't afford to make enemies. You volunteer. You go everywhere with a covered dish," she told Kunkel, who wrote: "She said those habits come through in Deeds's earnest style, but so does the sense that Deeds sometimes seems ill at ease on the campaign trail talking about himself and his accomplishments." Adams said, "Here, if you were that kind of cocky, they'd say, 'You're spreading yourself'." (Read more)
No comments:
Post a Comment