The last time there was a primary in the 11th congressional district Gerry Connolly received an endorsement by the Washington Post that proved to be effective in defeating Leslie Byrne. The WaPo, which famously pushed Creigh Deeds over Brian Moran and Terry McAuliffe, holds some influence in northern Virginia politics.
With a June 8th GOP primary rapidly approaching there is speculation that they will endorse either Pat Herrity or Keith Fimian. You can certainly debate the merits of a WaPo endorsement for a GOP candidate and the potential effect on this race is not known at this time. However, the WaPo may be signaling that they will pick a side, and if this recent post is any indication, it will be Pat Herrity.
The article entitled “Herrity hunts for cash ahead of reprting deadline” begins with this:
With Virginia’s congressional primaries three weeks away, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity is looking for an infusion of donations to put him in a better financial position in the race for the Republican nomination in the 11th district.
First off – no freaking kidding. Which congressional candidate is not looking for an infusion of donations to put them in a better financial position? In my last blog post I noted some inflammatory language used by Rep. Gerry Connolly against tea partiers, which came from a fundraising appeal to supporters. That wasn’t news for the WaPo but later in the post the author Ben Pershing uses language from Herrity’s latest fundraising appeal:
“I need your help to ensure the next Congress reins in out-of-control spending, lowers taxes, and creates jobs,” Herrity wrote in an email to supporters Monday morning. “I have a finance reporting deadline on Wednesday (5/19), and your donation of $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or even $10 would send a clear message I am the candidate to bring sanity back to the U.S. Capitol. We are in the critical final weeks of the primary campaign and every dollar counts.”
Probably most people reading this are on some mailing list for a political candidate. Does the language above look similar to almost weekly appeals by those candidates?
My point is simple; a political candidate asking for money is not news. If it was then why aren’t there any other posts about Keith Fimian or Gerry Connolly looking for donations? This is either really shoddy reporting on the part of Ben Pershing at the WaPo (which wouldn’t be that alarming) or it could be an attempt to foreshadow a coming endorsement.
Putting a fundraising appeal for a candidate on the WaPo seems extremely bizarre. It is possible that they are laying the groundwork to endorse by attempting to guide their readers towards Herrity and his donation page.
It doesn’t seem likely that this is a grand attempt at misdirection and that they will end up endorsing Fimian. The WaPo doesn’t speak too highly of Fimian and they just aren’t that clever to pull off such a feat.
Another thing to ponder is if Herrity beats Fimian don’t be surprised if he scores the WaPo endorsement over Connolly in the general election.
Don’t think it could happen? Don’t forget that the WaPo wasn’t too enthused over endorsing Connolly in 2008. In their primary endorsement they said, “Mr. Connolly is not universally beloved; he can be thin-skinned and hardheaded.” Again in their general election endorsement they sheepishly admitted “Mr. Connolly can be thin-skinned and stubborn, but there’s no denying that his sometimes-abrasive style of leadership has produced results.”
When the Post does write about Connolly it isn’t always flattering.
If an endorsement of Herrity is imminent, you heard it here first.
