VA-GOV 2017: Utter Panic and Doom (General election: Nov 7th)

[windjammer]

I have absolutely no idea who I'm gonna vote for at this rate.

I like both candidates.

You didn't have a Ed Gillespie signature recently? Why did you change your mind ?

[Deblano]

I have absolutely no idea who I'm gonna vote for at this rate.

I like both candidates.

You didn't have a Ed Gillespie signature recently? Why did you change your mind ?

I've been going on and off of being an undecided voter, so I'm gonna refrain from endorsing a candidate until later on the election.

I'm gonna assume that I'll end up voting for Gillespie (I do like his tax plan), but I have no deep stances as of yet.

I am satisfied with both candidates and I think they will both make decent governors.

[SoLongAtlas]

First debate video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM6gb1h2_Bo

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Gillespie definitely won.

[BuckeyeNut]

I totally believe they're tied, as the new Monmouth poll showed. Like Sanders, Perriello was shown to beat the GE opponent at a healthier margin, and Northam could well botch it.

[BlueDogDemocrat]

Gillespie definitely won.

I hate to say it but I think your right.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Gillespie definitely won.

I hate to say it but I think your right.

Northam went on a few cringe worthy tangents, such as flipping subjects and criticizing the moderator, and also spoke in vague and hollow terms, in both summaries and rebuttals, while Gillespie utilized statistics very effectively. However, if I was a resident of Virginia, this debate would not impact my vote very much. But, I used to hate Gillespie, but after I watched the debate, I only dislike him now instead, something about the guy, I don't know... still definitely rooting for Northam though, just less excitedly than before.

[Deblano]

Gillespie definitely won.

I hate to say it but I think your right.

Northam went on a few cringe worthy tangents, such as flipping subjects and criticizing the moderator, and also spoke in vague and hollow terms, in both summaries and rebuttals, while Gillespie utilized statistics very effectively. However, if I was a resident of Virginia, this debate would not impact my vote very much. But, I used to hate Gillespie, but after I watched the debate, I only dislike him now instead, something about the guy, I don't know... still definitely rooting for Northam though, just less excitedly than before.

I also thought Gillespie sounded better than Northam.

The worst part for Northam was where after Gillespie talked about his tax plan, Northam talked some generic platitudes about "coming together with both sides to construct a tax plan" and Gillespie responded by saying that Northam's tax plan was "to have a tax plan" and then went back to touting his own tax plan to cut income taxes gradually by 10 percent as long as there is enough revenue in the budget to do so (to prevent a situation like we saw in Kansas).

I'd say Gillespie won that debate.

[Deblano]

Also, I had an issue with the moderator as I felt she cut off time to short, which ended up forcing Gillespie and Northam to eat their words as they finish up their sentence. I feel like she should have given them a bit more time each to speak. I was not very impressed with the moderator due to that.

[BlueDogDemocrat]

Gillespie definitely won.

I hate to say it but I think your right.

Northam went on a few cringe worthy tangents, such as flipping subjects and criticizing the moderator, and also spoke in vague and hollow terms, in both summaries and rebuttals, while Gillespie utilized statistics very effectively. However, if I was a resident of Virginia, this debate would not impact my vote very much. But, I used to hate Gillespie, but after I watched the debate, I only dislike him now instead, something about the guy, I don't know... still definitely rooting for Northam though, just less excitedly than before.

I also thought Gillespie sounded better than Northam.

The worst part for Northam was where after Gillespie talked about his tax plan, Northam talked some generic platitudes about "coming together with both sides to construct a tax plan" and Gillespie responded by saying that Northam's tax plan was "to have a tax plan" and then went back to touting his own tax plan to cut income taxes gradually by 10 percent as long as there is enough revenue in the budget to do so (to prevent a situation like we saw in Kansas).

I'd say Gillespie won that debate.

Gillespie just did a good job of articulating himself and being able to give numbers and information for his plans. Northam just kinda rambled on about things with no clear message and just wasn't able to defend himself as well. I really hope Northam dose better the next debate and either gets more practice in or gets a new debate coach.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Yeah, I watched the first 45 minutes of this thing and Gillespie did really well. He's a fairly strong candidate and a decent fit for a state like VA, which also explains why he came pretty close to winning in 2014.

Yeah, if Dems sleep through this under some 'blue wall' mentality, they will lose. Only reason Warner held on was incumbency.

[_]

Yeah, I watched the first 45 minutes of this thing and Gillespie did really well. He's a fairly strong candidate and a decent fit for a state like VA, which also explains why he came pretty close to winning in 2014.

Are you joking??  You were saying in the monmouth poll thread he's still gonna lose kek.

[heatcharger]

Okay I just watched the debate and I'll definitely say Gillespie did a good job. Let's not blow the importance of this out of proportion though; only 3% in that Monmouth poll said they watched it, which is not surprising considering it's July.

Northam is letting Gillespie outflank him on economics, which is very disappointing considering how well McAuliffe has done bringing jobs through trade missions and such. Northam needs to run on being a second-term of McAuliffe IMO.

I also laughed when Gillespie suggested a transportation lockbox, which is not necessarily a bad idea and I want to hear more about it. Northam needs to actually start putting up more concrete plans as well.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Okay I just watched the debate and I'll definitely say Gillespie did a good job. Let's not blow the importance of this out of proportion though; only 3% in that Monmouth poll said they watched it, which is not surprising considering it's July.

Northam is letting Gillespie outflank him on economics, which is very disappointing considering how well McAuliffe has done bringing jobs through trade missions and such. Northam needs to run on being a second-term of McAuliffe IMO.

I also laughed when Gillespie suggested a transportation lockbox, which is not necessarily a bad idea and I want to hear more about it. Northam needs to actually start putting up more concrete plans as well.

Agreed, he needs to stop throwing around annoying narratives and get on track with stats!

[Virginiá]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/national-money-pours-into-virginia-governors-race/2017/07/25/7e6df1a0-7154-11e7-8839-ec48ec4cae25_story.html

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I have to admit I am disappointed this cycle had to turn into an expensive primary fight that resulted in the nominee being bled out funds-wise. I wish there could be some sort of agreement to limit expenditures and let the chips fall where they may. The next round of redistricting is too important to have the Democratic candidates dumping everything they have before the primary is even over.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Okay I just watched the debate and I'll definitely say Gillespie did a good job. Let's not blow the importance of this out of proportion though; only 3% in that Monmouth poll said they watched it, which is not surprising considering it's July.

I don't even know if it was on tv here.  If it was on the pbs station in primetime I would have noticed it.

[Deblano]

Okay I just watched the debate and I'll definitely say Gillespie did a good job. Let's not blow the importance of this out of proportion though; only 3% in that Monmouth poll said they watched it, which is not surprising considering it's July.

Northam is letting Gillespie outflank him on economics, which is very disappointing considering how well McAuliffe has done bringing jobs through trade missions and such. Northam needs to run on being a second-term of McAuliffe IMO.

I also laughed when Gillespie suggested a transportation lockbox, which is not necessarily a bad idea and I want to hear more about it. Northam needs to actually start putting up more concrete plans as well.

Gillespie really impressed me in that debate and I'm pretty certain that I'll end up voting for him.

[heatcharger]

I don't even know if it was on tv here.  If it was on the pbs station in primetime I would have noticed it.

It was on a Saturday morning on PBS. I don't know whose decision that was, but in the middle of July, it wasn't gonna get that many viewers.

Gillespie really impressed me in that debate and I'm pretty certain that I'll end up voting for him.

I guess Gillespie is on the mediocre-end of the GOP spectrum, but his tax plan is too regressive to swallow. The idea of financing his across the board tax reductions by leaving over 1,000 state jobs unfilled doesn't sound good to me either.

He's also untenable on most social issues as well, and if given a Republican controlled State Senate and HoD, I fear the bullsh**t they'll try to ram down our throats.

[Deblano]

Thank God Corey Stewart never became the GOP nominee.

I would have honestly voted for Periello/Northam in a heartbeat if Stewart was the nominee

[Mr. Reactionary]

Thank God Corey Stewart never became the GOP nominee.

I would have honestly voted for Periello/Northam in a heartbeat if Stewart was the nominee

I must be the opposite of you,  because I am going to vote Dem this time since Corey did not get the nominee.

[Deblano]

Thank God Corey Stewart never became the GOP nominee.

I would have honestly voted for Periello/Northam in a heartbeat if Stewart was the nominee

I must be the opposite of you,  because I am going to vote Dem this time since Corey did not get the nominee.

Though I am a former Republican, we seem to be on the opposite ends of the political spectrum of that party.

[_]

And here we see the tradeoffs of Gillespie, we can get more centrist independents like Deblano here, but we lose people further to the right like Mr. Reactionary, question is how many of each group are there.  I tend to think there are more of the former, but i'm not a Virginian so i'd defer to the natives on this.

[heatcharger]

And here we see the tradeoffs of Gillespie, we can get more centrist independents like Deblano here, but we lose people further to the right like Mr. Reactionary, question is how many of each group are there.  I tend to think there are more of the former, but i'm not a Virginian so i'd defer to the natives on this.

Mr. Reactionary-types are unlikely to actually vote for Northam. Most right-wing edgelords like him will vote Gillespie anyway or just stay home.

People with ideologies similar to Deblano exist in relatively large numbers but it remains to be seen whether they support him as strongly as they did in 2014.

[Deblano]

And here we see the tradeoffs of Gillespie, we can get more centrist independents like Deblano here, but we lose people further to the right like Mr. Reactionary, question is how many of each group are there.  I tend to think there are more of the former, but i'm not a Virginian so i'd defer to the natives on this.

Mr. Reactionary-types are unlikely to actually vote for Northam. Most right-wing edgelords like him will vote Gillespie anyway or just stay home.

People with ideologies similar to Deblano exist in relatively large numbers but it remains to be seen whether they support him as strongly as they did in 2014.

I'd say more "centrist independents" voted for Warner in 2014 instead of Gillespie, based on my hunch. However, this election may be more evenly divided among centrists.  

EDIT: I would also add that there may be a percentage of people with ideologies similar to mine (centrist, somewhat libertarian) who are relatively apolitical and are less like to engage politically or even vote.

[Mr. Smith]

And here we see the tradeoffs of Gillespie, we can get more centrist independents like Deblano here, but we lose people further to the right like Mr. Reactionary, question is how many of each group are there.  I tend to think there are more of the former, but i'm not a Virginian so i'd defer to the natives on this.

Mr. Reactionary-types are unlikely to actually vote for Northam. Most right-wing edgelords like him will vote Gillespie anyway or just stay home.

People with ideologies similar to Deblano exist in relatively large numbers but it remains to be seen whether they support him as strongly as they did in 2014.

I'd say more "centrist independents" voted for Warner in 2014 instead of Gillespie, based on my hunch. However, this election may be more evenly divided among centrists.  

EDIT: I would also add that there may be a percentage of people with ideologies similar to mine (centrist, somewhat libertarian) who are relatively apolitical and are less like to engage politically or even vote.

Part of 2014 was due to the presence of notable spoiler Bob Sarvis, the odds of someone of that caliber is unlikely again.