More shutdown fallout: McAuliffe 50, Cuccinelli 33
by David Atkins
The evidence is coming in stronger and stronger that the shutdown is really hurting the GOP. Right-leaning Rasmussen has some fairly amazing poll numbers on the Virginia governor's race:
Democrat Terry McAuliffe has jumped to a 17-point lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia gubernatorial race following the federal government shutdown that hit Northern Virginia hard and Hillary Clinton’s weekend visit to the state.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Virginia Voters finds McAuliffe with 50% support to Cuccinelli’s 33%. Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis is a distant third with eight percent (8%) of the vote. Three percent (3%) like some other candidate, while five percent (5%) remain undecided.
Granted, Cuccinelli is a noted loon, he's being outspent heavily, and Virginia is particularly susceptible to anger over a federal government shutdown.
That said, Terry McAuliffe isn't exactly the most attractive candidate, either, and he's practically a symbolic embodiment of establishment Washington. If the shutdown were creating a universal distaste for Washington establishment politicians and a craving for straight-talking outsiders (as many in the media are suggesting), then Cuccinelli should be doing much better.
But no. It appears that the shutdown fiasco is almost unilaterally hurting conservatives and Republicans at this point.
And that's as it should be.
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