After years as a ranking campaign guru for Republicans and a talking head brimming with confidence on the Sunday TV circuit, Ed Gillespie dared to actually run this year as a U.S. Senate candidate in the Virginia trenches. It was his first time taking a risk that few campaign mandarins ever take.
A close race was predicted against the Democratic incumbent, Senator Mark Warner. But the polls are showing Mr. Gillespie trailing badly with only days until the election. Trying a new tactic, the neophyte candidate recently dropped all TV advertising but for one ad that ran statewide during Monday night’s Redskins-Cowboys football game.
“Why won’t Warner fight the anti-Redskins bill?” Mr. Gillespie demanded in the ad during breaks in the football action. He referred to a Democratic Senate bill that would crimp professional football’s tax-exempt status unless it dropped the name “Redskins,” which strikes many critics as tasteless, even racist. The bill has roiled many Redskin zealots, including some in Virginia, where the team has its practice field.
“Let’s focus on creating jobs, raising take-home pay, and making our nation safer,” said Mr. Gillespie, who nevertheless focused squarely on the Redskins. From the Warner sidelines, a delighted aide quickly blitzed back in the gridiron spirit of things, pointing out that Mr. Warner had already spoken out against the Senate bill.
“Down double digits, late in the fourth quarter, the Gillespie campaign threw an incomplete Hail Mary,” the Warner camp taunted. This is the long downfield pass attempted by quarterbacks desperate to get back into a game they’re losing.
Should he be defeated Tuesday, Mr. Gillespie will have the comfort of having actually contended on the arena floor, rather than merely pontificating from the skyboxes.