Decision Virginia

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

In the wake of debate 1, we have the democratic nominees in the commonwealth, a new poll that is painting Virginia blue, and very positive reactions to our liveblog which you were able to participate in. 

First looking forward, in another example of just how important the Democrats regard Virginia, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be here today. They will hold a rally in Fredericksburg the day after the first debate. You may recall that Obama made Virginia his first stop after Hillary Clinton dropped out of the race for president. 

And there is no doubt the Democrats are spending more time here and it appears to be paying off.  A new poll, this one out by Rasmussen, gives Barack Obama the lead in the commonwealth. They have Obama up 50%-45% and that is enough to bump him up in the RCP Average to a lead of 1.8%. Interestingly if you have paid any attention to the RCP electoral college map in the last three weeks, you probably noticed that if the map has changed it has been because the numbers in Virginia keep going back and forth. 

Back to last night’s debate, the overall reaction was that there was no clear winner. Both candidates seemed to overcome some of the criticisms of their earlier debate styles. Some viewed the exchange as boring. It seems unlikely that it will provide any seismic shift in the poll numbers, which could mean the upcoming VP debate is going to be even more important. 

And we were glad to provide instant, local reaction from people right here in Central Virginia in our liveblog. We had a very lively exchange and help from some terrific student reporters from Manchester High School. You can take a look back at what every one said on decisionvirginia.com.

We don’t have a 6pm newscast tonight, so I will see you later at 11pm, and I’ll update you with any new political information right here.