Virginia is at the center of national politics Tuesday in a heated governor’s race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli. The race has been called a microcosm of the country’s political scene, with debates on Obamacare, religion and abortion painting the race.
The Hatchet joined two GW students as they headed to Virginia on the eve of the election on Monday to get a glimpse of the candidates and their high-profile supporters.
6:20 a.m.: Zipcar lot, International House
Armed with apple juice and chocolate donuts for the drive, senior Chris Crawford and junior Omeed Firouzi, set out for Annandale, Va. to see Vice President Joe Biden speak at a McAuliffe campaign event. The two support different candidates, with Crawford a moderate Republican and Firouzi the president of the College Democrats.
Every public poll released since July has shown McAuliffe winning the gubernatorial race by a margin of at least 4 points, which led Firouzi and Crawford to discuss – somewhere between D.C. and Annandale – the fate of the Republican party.
“I think the biggest issue with the Republican party, more than anything else, is that they just don’t have an alternative vision,” Crawford says.
Firouzi agrees, but adds: “I do get annoyed with some of these people salivating over the end of the Republican party. In 2004 when Bush was reelected, everybody was saying, ‘Oh this is it, this is the end of the Democratic party and Karl Rove has built this permanent majority.’ But then they came back and won ‘06 and ‘08. Anything can happen.”
A self-described moderate, Crawford said he set out to see the candidates Monday because he believes in getting to know the candidates for any election regardless of party line. That’s just how it’s done in New Hampshire, his home state, he said.
“When I was little, my dad would take me to see everybody who was running for president, since we have the first primary in the nation. That’s the way I was raised in politics. You go see everybody, hear what they have to say, and then make your decision,” he said. “I love the romanticism of election weekend.”
His resume of political work spans from John McCain’s 2008 campaign to an internship with Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and a poll-tracking job with the women’s pro-life group, the Susan B. Anthony List.
7:15 a.m.: Annandale, Va.
Once at the McAuliffe rally in Annandale, two Secret Service officers approach Crawford and tell him to move his car. He and Firouzi park three blocks away and begin the march through a 33-degree windchill back to the rally site. Nearly two-and-a-half hours pass before Biden and McAuliffe take the stage.
McAuliffe, quick to plunge through his speech, points to far-right views of Republican candidates. “Do you really want a lieutenant general like E. W. Jackson who believes that yoga opens your soul to the devil?” he asks.
The crowd laughs, and Biden begins to take notes.
12:35 p.m.: Culpeper, Va.
Crawford steps into Cuccinelli’s rally in Culpeper, Va., in the midst of a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner sung by the Virginia Republican National Committee chairman’s son-in-law.
Virginia resident Perry Faria explains that he plans on voting for Cuccinelli because “he’s a strong Christian.”
“That’s why I’m voting for him,” Faria said. “And he’s trying to keep that Obamacare stuff out, it’s a fraud anyway. I don’t like Obamacare because he’s a Muslim and doesn’t belong in this country. And it’s like Jesus said, ‘When you see a tree you know by the fruit it bears how it acts.’ And the fruit that he bears is not going to our Constitution. He’s trying to destroy our Constitution.”
He then hands Crawford a business card embossed with “The Bible’s Four Truths to Heaven.” Crawford shakes his head. “That’s a cool logo,” he says, “but that’s not the way to change someone’s mind.”
Still though, were he able to vote in Virginia’s election, Crawford said he would cast a ballot for Cuccinelli.
“Cuccinelli gets a worse rap than he deserves for people calling him anti-women. He did a lot as attorney general to prevent sex trafficking. His clinic regulations were common sense,” he said.
But as a Republican with moderate tendencies, Crawford sees partisan gridlock as the main roadblock to the country’s progress.
“It’s almost like a business sometimes. Each side plays this zero-sum game where they get everything or nothing. Average people are concerned about fairness, and if we tried, we could find a common ground,” he said.
