Women Roar and Power Democrat Terry McAuliffe To A 4 Point Lead In VA Governor Race

terry mcauliffe

In the Virginia gubernatorial race, Terry McAuliffe (D) is leading Ken Cuccinelli(R) by 4, 41-37. Democrats also lead in the down ballot races according to a Public Policy Polling poll released Tuesday, July 16th.

McAuliffe leads based on his 7 point advantage with women, which is a great victory for women given Cuccinelli’s very Republican, very anti-women stances. This is a great example of when the women vote matters, and why the Republican Party is making a mistake writing off women votes in order to appease the old, white men known as their only reliable base.

Fringe extremist, female voter alienator and ethics impaired Ken Cuccinelli is viewed in a mostly negative light by the state, with only 32% of the state having a favorable opinion of him, while 47% have an unfavorable opinion — including 57% of independents. This leaves Fringe Ken with a -15 net favorability rating. Oopsie.

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Only 70% of Virginians have any opinion at all on McAuliffe (pictured above), who is clearly suffering from a failure to get his name out there. Thirty-four percent have a favorable opinion of him, while 36% have an unfavorable opinion. Thirty percent don’t care either way. Cuccinelli has stolen the spotlight with his crazy comments and anti-women agenda, leaving the Democrat less recognizable to the general voter. Democrats should do something about this ASAP.

PPP noted, “The two candidates are tied with men, but McAuliffe leads based on his 7 point advantage with women. Cuccinelli’s 75% of Republicans is slightly more than McAuliffe’s 73% of Democrats, but McAuliffe makes up for that with a 7 point lead among independents at 40/33. McAuliffe leads with every age group except for seniors, where Cuccinelli has a 7 point advantage that’s helping him to keep the race competitive overall.”

Only 27% of women view Cuccinelli favorably, while 47% view him unfavorably.

In contrast, McAuliffe is viewed favorably by 33% of women, and unfavorably by 31% of women.

The poll finds that not only is Cuccinelli losing because of the women vote, but Republican Bob McDonnell’s problems with criminal investigations into his financial dealings are harming the Republican brand in the state.

“Our polling in Virginia this year has consistently found Terry McAuliffe with a 4 or 5 point lead,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “Ken Cuccinelli isn’t a very popular candidate and Bob McDonnell’s woes aren’t doing much to help the Republican brand in the state.”

This might be an excellent time to remind Cuccinelli that he lost even Republican women when he went full speed Republican “anti-woman”. Republican women said of Cuccinelli’s ticket, “I simply cannot support them,” as they would “end a woman’s right to make her own health care choices, including access to birth control.”

Schar was disturbed by the Republican ticket’s attack on Planned Parenthood, “which does so much good for women in Virginia…. to call them a racist group is simply beyond the pale and hopefully will frighten Virginians from voting for them. This team of three would take us back to their ideology.” Schar concluded, “I know so many Republicans who just can’t support [this ticket].”

Cuccinelli is embroiled in the same unethical business dealings as McDonnell. He has alienated the business community with his fringy extremism. He lost the women vote. But hey, he still has the senior vote. It’s working for this round of Republicans, but the party knows that when these seniors pass on, their party will pay dearly if they can’t rebrand. But they can’t rebrand because their members are too busy playing politics of division in order to gain power and money for themselves.

That old self-interest that Republicans love to hail as their Randian God is also destroying their own party.

Note to Republicans: Trying to get rid of Planned Parenthood and restrict access to birth control is not a winning platform. Also, both will increase the rate of abortions, not decrease them, but we realize the facts have no impact on Republican policy.


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