Snapshot Of Virginia Governor's Race

As we draw within days of the gubernatorial race in Virginia, it looks like the Democratic candidate (Terry McAuliffe) is extending his lead over his Republican opponent (Ken Cuccinelli). This had started out a few months ago as a very close race, but McAuliffe is now leading among likely voters by 12 points -- the largest lead in the race so far.

The above chart shows the demographic breakdown of the race as it stands now. The only support for Cuccinelli that exceeds the margin of error is among Whites (who prefer him by about 5 points). Two other groups (those making between $50k & $100k and men) are virtually split on their preference, with both groups giving the Republican a 1 point edge. All other groups prefer McAuliffe by a significant margin.

But it looks like this race is going to be won in the gender demographic. While men are split between the two candidates, that is not true of women. They prefer McAuliffe by a whopping 24 point margin. It looks like the rabid anti-woman policies of the Republican Party is coming home to roost -- and it's going to cost them dearly in this Southern state.

It would seem to make sense for the Republicans to moderate those anti-woman views, but that probably still won't happen. The party is controlled in too many states (including Virginia) by the teabagger/fundamentalists, who still think women should be second-class citizens (and subject to the whims and desires of men). The more moderate business-oriented Republicans will have to wrest control of their party away from the extremists before those policies can be moderated at all -- and that is not going to be an easy task.

This same poll shows the Republican Party has damaged its image with voters in Virginia, just as it has in many other parts of the nation. Virginia voters have a 33 point bigger unfavorable view of the national Republican Party than a favorable view. Their view of the state Republican Party is not a whole lot better, where the unfavorable opinion is 16 points higher than the favorable opinion. The situation is much better for both state and national Democrats, where the favorable view of both entities is slightly better than the unfavorable views.

Both of these charts were made from the latest Washington Post / ABT-SRBI Poll that was taken between October 24th and 27th of 762 likely Virginia voters. The poll has a margin of error of 4.5 points.