On MSNBC this morning, McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer asserted that “real Virginia” does not include Northern Virginia:
I certainly agree that Northern Virginia has gone more Democratic. … But the rest of the state — real Virginia if you will — I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain’s message.
MSNBC host Kevin Corke gave Pfotenhauer a chance to revise her answer, telling her: “Nancy, I’m going to give you a chance to climb back off that ledge — Did you say ‘real Virginia’?”
But Pfotenhauer didn’t budge, and instead dug a deeper hole.
Real Virginia, I take to be, this part of the state that’s more Southern in nature, if you will.
Corke ended the segment noting that Pfotenhauer was appearing via satellite from Northern Virginia. “Nancy Pfotenhauer, senior policy adviser for the McCain campaign, joining us from Arlington, not really Virginia.” “Alright, I’m just gonna let ya — you’ll wear that one,” Corke responded. Watch it:
The McCain campaign’s hostility towards progressive areas of the country was also witnessed by recent remarks from Sarah Palin. The Washington Post reported this week that Palin told a crowd in North Carolina that she “loved to visit the ‘pro-America’ areas of the country.” “No word on which states she views as unpatriotic,” wrote Juliet Eilperin.
FLASHBACK: During his 2006 campaign, former Sen. George Allen called an Indian-American staffer working for his opponent “macaca,” a racial slur. Allen then told him, “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!”
Update:
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports:
An early October Times-Dispatch poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. showed voters in Southwest Virginia preferred McCain to Obama, 54 percent to 39 percent, with 7 percent undecided.
Statewide, recent polls have shown Obama running anywhere from statistically even with McCain to 10 points ahead.
Update:
,John McCain owns a house in the “fake” part of Virginia. His campaign is headquartered there. And he was holding an event in that area today.
Update:
,Steve Benen notes, “This comes just two weeks after Joe McCain, the senator’s brother and campaign surrogate, referred to Virginia’s two most northern counties as ‘communist country.’”