Virginia is no longer a battleground state

[SpacemanSpiff]

Mr. Trump has closed up operations in Virginia, as announced yesterday.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-el ... ia-n665541

Basically, it sounds like he's focusing on Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina.

It also makes me wonder about the "rally" staged outside of RNC headquarters on Monday. This was organized by the Virginia Trump campaign head, Corey Stewart (unbeknownst to Trump or anyone in the hierarchy), which led to him being fired -- depending upon the report, it was either by the RNC or by Trump himself. There are those who think Stewart staged it more to get his name out front for next year's governor's race in Virginia. I wonder if he realized the end was near, and figured this was his last chance to pull off a stunt like that.

[jarnon]

I hope Pennsylvania's next. We're bombarded with TV commercials for the presidential and Senate races. But maybe the Obamacare issue will help Trump in Minnesota.

If pro-Trump candidates run in states like Virginia, I predict they'll win some primaries but crash in the general election, like the Tea Party Republicans in 2010.

[SpacemanSpiff]

I hope Pennsylvania's next. We're bombarded with TV commercials for the presidential and Senate races. But maybe the Obamacare issue will help Trump in Minnesota.

If pro-Trump candidates run in states like Virginia, I predict they'll win some primaries but crash in the general election, like the Tea Party Republicans in 2010.

Actually, the Virginia Republicans opted last summer for a primary format instead of a convention (they seem to go back and forth on this). I think TPTB thought the establishment candidates had a better shot that way instead of by convention.

Also, I noticed a marked difference between 2012 and 2016 in advertising here, even though Virginia was considered a battleground state in both years. In 2012, it was wall-to-wall ad (and very profitable for the TV stations); this year, Ms. Clinton has consistently run ads (but not too many) since before the conventions. I honestly think the first local ad I saw for Mr. Trump was in the second week of the college football season, and they have been very few and far between.

Also, it should be noted that we don't have a Senate race, and the HofR races in central Virginia haven't had any advertising to speak of, unless you count yard signs.

[Bob78164]

I hope Pennsylvania's next. We're bombarded with TV commercials for the presidential and Senate races. But maybe the Obamacare issue will help Trump in Minnesota.

If pro-Trump candidates run in states like Virginia, I predict they'll win some primaries but crash in the general election, like the Tea Party Republicans in 2010.

Actually, the Virginia Republicans opted last summer for a primary format instead of a convention (they seem to go back and forth on this). I think TPTB thought the establishment candidates had a better shot that way instead of by convention.

Also, I noticed a marked difference between 2012 and 2016 in advertising here, even though Virginia was considered a battleground state in both years. In 2012, it was wall-to-wall ad (and very profitable for the TV stations); this year, Ms. Clinton has consistently run ads (but not too many) since before the conventions. I honestly think the first local ad I saw for Mr. Trump was in the second week of the college football season, and they have been very few and far between.

Also, it should be noted that we don't have a Senate race, and the HofR races in central Virginia haven't had any advertising to speak of, unless you count yard signs.

Apparently the RNC has spent no money at all on television advertising for the party's nominee. And given the current state of affairs (as it were), it's hard to see that changing. --Bob

[SpacemanSpiff]

Apparently the RNC has spent no money at all on television advertising for the party's nominee. And given the current state of affairs (as it were), it's hard to see that changing. --Bob

I figured the RNC did the first set of ads, or at least the agency the RNC uses did them. They were your basic boilerplate ads -- "[opposition candidate] wants higher taxes and more regulation (with ominous music and dark pictures); [our candidate] wants lower taxes on the middle class and less governmental regulation (with uplifting music and brighter pix)." But they rarely got past that.

[Bob Juch]

I haven't seen one Trump ad so far. The majority of the ads have been pro or con the legalization of marijuana. Of course, I use my TiVo to skip over ads in all the shows; I only watch the ads during news broadcasts.

[Pastor Fireball]

Thank God for the DVR. You have no idea how many times I've hit the "skip" button in the past year. It's ads on top of ads on top of ads.

[Pastor Fireball]

Also in Virginia election news, students and faculty at Liberty University--otherwise known as the Jerry Fallwell university--just told nauseating bus terminal restroom stall Donald Drumpf and university president Jerry Falwell Jr. to go tinkle up a border wall.