As you probably know, Dick Cheney was in Norfolk this Monday evening to raise money for Thelma Drake (R-2nd). Obiously, Drake felt that the $200,000 going cha-ching in her coffers more than made up for any negatives to her appearance with Deadeye Dick, the Prince of Torture (photo courtesy of WVEC). Unfortunately for Drake, this may end up being the most costly $200,000 she ever raised. Here's the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot on Drake, Cheney, Bush, and this event (bolding added for emphasis):
Cheney?s speech wasn?t so much about Drake as about President Bush. But with each bit of White House boilerplate ? from energy to the Iraq war to the NSA spying flap ? the message became clear: A defense of Bush?s record is a defense of Drake?s, too. It would be hard to find anyone in Congress more faithful to the president than Drake.In the Hilton ballroom, anyway, that was a plus. Here were no swing votes to nab, no moderates to persuade, no downside to being linked with a president whose popularity has plummeted to an all-time low.
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The big question of the race, however, isn?t about misgivings of the party faithful ? they have none. Instead, it?s about the doubts of moderates, independents and swing voters in Virginia Beach and Norfolk, who will ultimately decide if Drake keeps her job.
Whether Drake keeps her job, and whether Phil Kellam is elected CONGRESSMAN Kellam 8 months from now. This race is one of the hottest in the country, in a district that went for Tim Kaine just 4 months ago. Here's the Virginian-Pilot again:
Bush?s coattails were a boon for Drake in 2004. But with a fumbling response to Katrina, a yawning budget deficit, deadly unrest in Iraq and a GOP-led Congress fighting off charges of corruption, it?s not a good time to be a Republican, even in a district that leans as reliably rightward as Virginia?s 2nd.At no time was that more in evidence than last November when, for the first time in decades, the 2nd District embraced a Democrat, Tim Kaine, for governor. Since then, Bush?s popularity has sunk even more.
If that was a concern for Drake, she gave no evidence of it inside the ballroom Monday. Waiting outside, however, is a much tougher audience, one that?s likely to make Drake?s fate rise or fall on its confidence in the White House.
With pictures of Cheney?s warm embrace beamed into thousands of local living rooms, Drake couldn?t change that fact now, even if she wanted to.
So here's the bottom line in the 2nd District. If the majority of voters think George W. "34% Approval Rating" and Dick "Duck!" Cheney are doing a great job, then Thelma "Loyal Vassal of the Bush Adminisration" Drake will win. If not, then she will lose. Actually, she may lose anyway, because Phil Kellam is such a strong candidate. Even if Bush and Cheney stage a miraculous turnaround by November - perhaps capturing Osama and winning the war in Iraq while simultaneously turning our huge trade and budget deficits to surpluses again - Drake could lose to Kellam. However, as we saw with Jerry Dubya Kilgore, being linked to this Administration does not necessarily help you anymore in Virginia.
So, which do you prefer: the candidate supported by Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, or the one supported by George Bush and Dick Cheney? If the former, Kellam's the next Congressman. If the latter, then it's Rep. Drake for 2 more "100% loyal to Dick and Dubya" years. This is not a difficult choice, as much as Drake and her new-found pile of cash tries to convince you otherwise.