McDonnell’s win signals the need for a more pragmatic GOP
Glen Bolger, Bob McDonnell’s pollster, explains:
Our goal back in last winter/spring was to tie on the top issue of jobs/economy, stay close on transportation and education, and win on tax/spending. Ultimately, Bob would end up the campaign with double digit advantages on four of those five issues, and would be tied on education.
Policy has always been important to Bob McDonnell, and his leadership on this segment of the campaign set the tone for the team. Bob had a great record as Attorney General – his proposals both helped people and garnered bi-partisan support, which made the Deeds message about Bob being a rabid right-winger not ring true to voters.
The campaign organized issue teams, which put together a number of significant policy options for Bob to put together his issue priorities, which we then tested with in-depth polling. The polling did NOT determine the policy ideas, but did elevate some as the ones to highlight to the electorate. Doug McAuliffe coined the phrase: “Bob’s for jobs” which became the central theme of the issue campaign.
Thus, the McDonnell campaign dominated the issue agenda in the campaign.
I’ve been saying this for some time now: the GOP needs to focus on policy and especially on economic policy if they want to start winning elections. And then, once they’ve won, they need to put their plans into action with tangible results. McDonnell is a bona fide social conservative who left his social conservative credentials at the door and tackled education, transportation, and the economy. He’s apparently also a very smart guy with a good team behind him.
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There is a very simple reason for the GOP wins last night. Obama was elected because last year the voters’ top priorities were the economy and jobs. The GOP won because the voters’ top priorities are the economy and jobs. And the Dems have not delivered.
You are right, economics is the key.
[...] right. Bob McDonnell rode to power in Virginia on a pragmatist’s ticket. Palin may have been able to point out some small successes in Alaska but she lost any credibility [...]
[...] right. Bob McDonnell rode to power in Virginia on a pragmatist’s ticket. Palin may have been able to point out some small successes in Alaska but she lost any credibility [...]