Category Archives: Uncategorized

Republicans Advertise on General Hospital; Democrats Advertise on the Tonight Show (WVTF)

wvtfStephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says that’s nothing compared to 2008 and 2012.

“And so what you have during the last two election cycles I think really created kind of a harvest time for television networks. Lots of money coming in and they just had to rake it up.”

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Scott Walker and the GOP Presidential Nomination Campaign (CTV News Canada)

ctv news

“Scott Walker is going to be seen as a compelling candidate by a lot of Republicans,” said Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington. “The fact that he does not focus on foreign policy for many Republicans is going to be an asset. That he focuses on bread and butter issues, that he focuses on social issues, these are things that many Republicans are going to want to see in their nominee.”

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Why Mark Warner’s race turned into a nail-biter (Washington Post)

2014 warner map

Stephen Hanna of the University of Mary Washington created a map as part of a research project by Stephen Farnsworth, Stephen Hanna and Benjamin Hermerding. It contrasts the shift in the vote for Mark Warner between 2001, when he became governor, with his vote in 2014. The swollen blue areas were more likely to vote for Warner over the span of 13 years — but also overlap with the areas where turnout dipped the most…..

As Farnsworth, Hanna, and Hemmerding put it: “The sea of rural blue that Warner enjoyed in 2001 has been replaced by deep red Republican sentiments. Rural voters who once backed him are now far less likely to split their tickets.”

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Was Sen. Warner Victim Of His Own Success? (Talking Points Memo)

Virginia Flag“The Democrats clearly needed to work harder in Virginia than they did. The natural advantages that Democrats have in urban areas are only advantages if they get the kind of turnout that can compensate the Republican advantages in more rural parts of the state,” University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth told TPM. “You’re looking at an underperformance in Northern Virginia in particular by the Warner people, compared to even the governor’s race last year.”

Farnsworth pointed to the margins of Democratic strongholds in the state like Fairfax and Loudon counties where, he said, “you see that that performance didn’t measure up.”

“This is always a problem, by the way, for Democrats in Northern Virginia. Because they live in a Democratic area they often forget how conservative the rest of Virginia is and it takes a great deal of coaxing to convince people to participate in midterm elections and that’s doubly true in Norther Virginia,” Farnsworth added.

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