Can anyone tell me why was the Virginian senate race such a close call for Warner?

simon93

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Nov 10, 2014
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Warner was always leading by double digits during public polls! Gillespie faced a lot of disadvantages:
- he was unknown in Virginia and facing the popular ex-governor
- his campaign budget was almost 3 times smaller than Warner's
But the result was an extremely narrow victory for Warner, 1%+
How to explain this surprising result? What were the themes of their platforms? In the end, what allowed Gillespie to almost win? Is it only thanks to the sagging popularity of Obama?
Thanks
 
I've seen various thoughts. Warner being not the middle of the roader he plays to be, but rather an ant-biz Obama ally. There was also a late mini-scandal with some dem state legislator who Warner supported. I think Warner was hurt both by failing to appeal to the very left, who are the most motivated voters, while at the same time not really getting out moderates. Meanwhile Gillespie ran as a "guy who will compromise," so he wasn't a rabid TPM which carries a poison tag, but at the same time this election was a vote against Obama's job performance.

PS, also Obama's choice to allow the gop till Dec to act on immigration did not please a lot of latinos.
 
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I've seen various thoughts. Warner being not the middle of the roader he plays to be, but rather an ant-biz Obama ally. There was also a late mini-scandal with some dem state legislator who Warner supported. I think Warner was hurt both by failing to appeal to the very left, who are the most motivated voters, while at the same time not really getting out moderates. Meanwhile Gillespie ran as a "guy who will compromise," so he wasn't a rabid TPM which carries a poison tag, but at the same time this election was a vote against Obama's job performance. Also, Obama's choosing to let the gop have until Dec this year to act on immigration hurt latino turnout in every election.
 

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