Delegate R. Creigh Deeds (Dem.-Bath County) is a candidate for the 25th Virginia senatorial district in the special election this December 18, to serve the two-year balance of Emily Couric's term.

His campaign is running just one television commercial at present, and the commercial focuses on just one subject: education. The spot tells us that education "must be our top priority." It asserts that Deeds is the logical successor to the highly-popular Senator Couric because he shares that priority with her and has worked in his "ten years in the General Assembly" for legislation that parallels her legislative concerns.

The campaign of his Republican rival, Jane Maddux, felt the need to create a "brand" image for their candidate - to introduce her to the voters before moving on to more substantive, issue-oriented advertising. Her television commercials make specific reference to her long record of community service in Charlottesville to characterize and introduce her.

But the Democrats, in this commercial, offer us very little additional information about Creigh Deeds the man. And the largest issue for Delegate Deeds at the outset of this short campaign would seem to be that he is not known to a large part of the electorate in the newly-configured 25th Senatorial District.

The strategy of the advertising seems to be synecdoche - to characterize the whole (Mr. Deeds and his positions on numerous important issues) by reference to a part - education.

The commercial

In the spot Creigh Deeds is seen in brief vignettes, a pleasant-looking man in his mid-forties, with a round face and an earnest, "I'm listening" expression. We see him with jacket and no tie, jacket and tie, no jacket. He is speaking with children; he is speaking with adults; he is in a school (Venable Elementary); he is outside the school; and, at the end of the piece, he is in front of the Rotunda at the University of Virginia.

There is no live-recorded sound in the commercial. We hear the voice of a woman, who tells us:

The emphasis on education in the commercial, as well as some of the language employed in it, is consistent with recent comments by Creigh Deeds. And substantiation of the claims comes from endorsements by clearly partisan but knowledgeable parties.

"Invoking the names of Couric and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in addressing the convention, Deeds said Democratic Party traditions 'speak to the needs and desires and dreams of people,' those whom Roosevelt called 'the plain people.'

'I believe in the American Dream, and I believe that government exists to help facilitate those needs and dreams,' he said. 'That's why the first function of state government is education, education, education.'" (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, November 11, 2001).

Del. Mitchell Van Yahres, (Dem.-Charlottesville) is quoted in a radio ad as calling Deeds 'a great champion of public schools and higher education, committed to smaller class sizes, technical and vocational training and improved teacher salaries.'

Speaking at a rally for Deeds on Charlottesville's downtown mall a few days after the nomination, former Richmond mayor Timothy M. Kaine, Virginia's next lieutenant governor, said Deeds has a 10-year legislative record in the House of Delegates that shows him to be 'a very able heir to the legacy of Emily as a strong advocate for public education.'

He went on to say, "Creigh is a product of Bath County public schools, and has four kids in public schools in Bath County. Creigh is a strong advocate for public education. Now, especially during this time of budget crisis … is not the time to divert public funds to private schools. (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, November 30, 2001).

The opposition

Mrs. Maddux's two children attended St. Anne's-Belfield, a private school in Albemarle County. After receiving the Republican nomination, she said she "wants to join General Assembly Republicans in holding the line on taxes, pursuing school choice through education tax credits, recruiting more teachers and reducing class sizes. 'Read my lips, we will not raise taxes,' " (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, November 18, 2001).

At a rally a week later Maddux said "'Virginia has no higher priority than the security of our families.' The Republican said she supports expanding the school resource officer program." (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, November 30, 2001).

Emily Couric's legacy

On several occasions, the Maddux campaign has invoked the name of Emily Couric in support of their candidate. (Del. Virgil Goode (Ind.-Rocky Mount) offered Mrs. Maddux as the heir on the grounds that " … it's an opportunity to keep a lady in the state Senate.")

It is possible that in speaking about education and using that to tie the candidate to Emily Couric's heritage the Deeds campaign has accomplished several important tasks. They have picked one issue where there is a public record of statements on both sides to review, and where there are fundamental differences between the candidates. At the same time, by promoting an issue they leap over the "introductory" phase into the middle of the campaign.

Both candidates support reducing class size and hiring more teachers. But when it comes to financing, they have spoken of ways to find money to achieve divergent goals. Jane Maddux mentions using tax credits to help fund school choice. Creigh Deeds has said that he supports recent efforts to allocate a substantial part of state lottery funds to help localities with capital improvements to public schools.

On the issues

Do you wish you knew more about Creigh Deeds as a person? More about what other issues he considers to be important in this campaign? Should the Deeds campaign have used their commercial to present a wider range of information, or have they made a wise decision in focusing on one issue?

Do you wish you knew more about the differences between these candidates on other education issues?

Creigh Deeds has been in the House of Delegates for over 10 years, and has built a considerable legislative record. Just how that record relates to his positions on education is difficult to determine. A senior advisor in the Deeds campaign tells us that, since he is not on the Education committee, it is not in the sponsorship of legislation that one must look but to votes on key legislation - and the campaign could not provide references to any specific piece of legislation that might support "more teachers, tough standards and modern programs," although the campaign is "confident of the claims."

The Maddux campaign has been asked repeatedly (and not just by us) to respond to written questionnaires or to provide prepared position papers on various issues including education, but has not done so.(Dave Sagarin, December 4, 2001).

EXTRA

After posting the article above, a second commercial for the Deeds campaign has appeared. We see Delegate Deeds seated facing us, speaking earnestly, continuing to talk about education.

Please send your thoughts about the Deeds/Maddux campaign to george@loper.org where the most representative comments will be placed on my website with full attribution.