Virginia voters are going to face a flood of political commercials, attacks and all sorts of partisan shenanigans this fall, and they might have a heap of trouble figuring out who they're hearing from.
This spring the Democratic Governor's Association dumped $3 million into a Virginia political action committee named Common Sense Virginia. The attack PAC didn't pay any attention to Democrat Creigh Deeds or his primary opponents Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran. Instead the group bankrolled millions in campaign commercials going after Republican Bob McDonnell - so the GOP standard-bearer couldn't simply sit back and watch his rivals duke it out.
You might remember their voice-over-guy:
Enter the Republican Governor's Association, which this week set up a Virginia political action committee called - get this - Virginia Common Sense. Great catch by the folks over at the Virginia Public Access Project - the non-partisan money tracking watchdog.
Seems someone over at the RGA has either a cheeky sense of humor or a serious lack of imagination. But either way, it is going to get more and more confusing to figure out where the attacks are really coming from.
Democrats and Republicans across the country are paying a ton of attention to the Virginia gubernatorial election, as you can see from the $3 million the DGA spent before July on a November election. That sort of attention, and the free-wheeling nature of Virginia's fundraising laws means that Virginia voters are going to have to wade through a sea of sound bytes, attacks and slanted information to make it to the ballot box.
It is going to be vital for voters to pay attention to where the information is coming from, because with names this similar - it'll send the average voter's head spinning.
Better prepare your partisan decontamination suit.
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