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	<title>FAIR Blog &#187; Creigh Deeds</title>
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	<description>The national media watch group</description>
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		<title>USA Today Transmits a Warning to Imaginary Democrats</title>
		<link>http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/11/04/usa-today-transmits-a-warning-to-imaginary-democrats/</link>
		<comments>http://www.fair.org/blog/2009/11/04/usa-today-transmits-a-warning-to-imaginary-democrats/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jim Naureckas</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creigh Deeds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Frank Donatelli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jon Corzine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USA Today]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.fair.org/blog/?p=13264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Under the headline "Va., N.J. Give GOP Reason to Celebrate," USA Today's front-page election report (11/4/09) featured this quote from GOP strategist Frank Donatelli:
The warning is that if you're in a moderate district, or you're in a moderate-to-conservative state, you should think twice before you rubberstamp Obama's agenda.
Well, there were two districts choosing representatives and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Under the headline "<span>Va., N.J. Give GOP Reason to Celebrate," <strong>USA Today</strong>'s front-page election report (<a title="USA Today: Va, NJ Give GOP Reason to Celebrate" href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-03-election_N.htm" target="_blank">11/4/09</a>) featured this quote from </span>GOP strategist Frank Donatelli:</p>
<blockquote><p>The warning is that if you're in a moderate district, or you're in a moderate-to-conservative state, you should think twice before you rubberstamp Obama's agenda.</p></blockquote>
<p>Well, there were two districts choosing representatives and two states picking governors yesterday. Both the districts, including the one generally described as <a title="WashingtonPost.com: The grass roots prevail in N.Y." href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/11/02/the_take_the_grass_roots_preva.html?wprss=44" target="_blank">"moderate,"</a> went for the Democratic candidate, so it's not clear what warning that sends about Obama's agenda.</p>
<p>In both states, the Democrat lost the governor's race, and one of them, New Jersey incumbent Jon Corzine, can fairly be described as politically close to Obama. But New Jersey, which has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1992, is not a "moderate-to-conservative" state;  Corzine lost the race based on <a title="538: New Jersey Is Not Virginia" href="http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/11/new-jersey-virginia.html" target="_blank">local issues</a> involving corruption and property taxes.</p>
<p>In the state that can be described as moderate-to-conservative, Virginia, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds <a title="Think Progress: Creigh Deeds Failed To Run As A Progressive " href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/11/04/creigh-deeds-campaign/" target="_blank">went out of his way</a> not to "rubberstamp Obama's agenda"--<a title="Richmond Biz Sense: Monday Q &amp; A" href="http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2009/09/08/monday-qa-creigh-deeds-for-governor/" target="_blank">coming out</a> against allowing "card check" union certification, <a title="Washington Examiner: Public option dogs Deeds" href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Public-option-dogs-Deeds-8418493-65186527.html" target="_blank">suggesting</a> he would opt-out from a "public option" health insurance program, running <a title="Daily Kos: Deeds Runs Against Cap and Trade" href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/23/123323/41" target="_blank">ads </a>touting his opposition to Obama's climate change proposals, and <a title="Open Left: Lose the Base, Lose the Election" href="http://www.openleft.com/diary/15633/lose-the-base-lose-the-election" target="_blank">declaring</a> in the final debate of the campaign, "I'm not afraid of going against my fellow Democrats when they're wrong."</p>
<p>So of the four top electoral contests, only one fit Donatelli's model of Democrats getting a warning about how they should appeal to moderate or conservative voters; in that race, the Democrat took Donatelli's advice--and was soundly trounced, based on the Obama voters from 2008 <a title="PoliticO: A Different Electorate" href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1109/A_different_electorate.html?showall" target="_blank">staying home</a> in 2009.</p>
<p>One is tempted to ask whether a source's claims have to make any kind of logical sense to appear on the front page of <strong>USA Today</strong>. But given that <a title="Extra!: Move Over-Over and Over" href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2985" target="_self">"move to the right"</a> is <em>always</em> the corporate media's advice to Democrats after an election--whether they <a title="Media Advisory: Morning-After Pundits Take Winners to Task" href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2992" target="_self">win</a> or <a title="Extra!: Move to the Right" href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1534" target="_self">lose</a>--it's a safe bet that they thought Donatelli was making sense.</p>
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