Local, state and national Democrats gathered in Prince William County this past Saturday to raise money, make promises and ask for votes before the June 9 primary at the 30th annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner hosted by the PWC Democratic Committee.

Most significantly, all three gubernatorial candidates vying for the Democratic nomination stopped by the VFW Post 1503 convention room in Dale City to address the party activists that donated whose support they'll need to be successful on Tuesday and in the general election Nov. 3.

The winner between state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-25th), former Democratic Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe and former Del. Brian Moran (D-46th) is set to face Bob McDonnell (R) in the fall.

Republicans on Saturday formally nominated the former state attorney general as their candidate for governor. He will be running with ticket-mates Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), who is seeking re-election, and attorney general nominee state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli (R-37th) of Fairfax County.

Deeds

As the first of the three candidates to the podium, Deeds told the audience, "The first job of the next governor is to restore confidence in the economy. I've got a plan that will do just that. I'll focus first on transportation, second on education and third on energy."

Sitting at a table in front of him was prominent supporter State Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-29th), who represents western Prince William County and the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park in the General Assembly. He said he endorsed Deeds in part because he is the most conservative of the three candidates.

The Times conducted one-on-one interviews with each candidate before their speeches, and during his interview, Deeds explained that he has "never really been easily pigeonholed as a liberal or a conservative. I think most people are somewhere in the middle and I'm in the middle."

Deeds followed up on that theme during his speech by citing an newspaper endorsement claiming, "If you want a moderate in the mold of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine: Creigh Deeds."

Perhaps the biggest cue of the campaign for Deeds, who lives in rural Bath County along the West Virginia border, is that he landed the endorsement of The Washington Post over Northern Virginians McAuliffe and Moran in part because of his focus on transportation.

Deeds said the $760 million in stimulus money provided by the federal government for transportation concerns is "not much money. Northern Virginia, specifically Prince William County and Fairfax, is the reason why we have to make transportation a priority in the upcoming gubernatorial administration and will be a priority."

McAuliffe

Opting to jump on the stage from the front instead of the using the side stairs, McAuliffe darted to the podium. The boisterous chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) unsuccessful bid for the presidency proclaimed that his campaign is "about big ideas and building the grassroots.

"It's about building at the local level. That's why I have built the campaign I have built," he said.

During his pre-speech interview with the Times, McAuliffe said the operation his campaign has set forth in unprecedented in size as more than 5,000 volunteers across the commonwealth have been working for his campaign, making over 120,000 phone calls in the last week alone.

McAuliffe has centered his campaign around job growth particularly with a special pledge attached. In order to enact his agenda, the McLean investor repeatedly stated that he needs the House of Delegates to flip from red to blue.

"We've tried" to fix transportation with Democratic Govs. Mark Warner (the current senator) and Tim Kaine (the outgoing governor who is also head of the DNC), said McAuliffe, but there has not been "a willingness from the House of Delegates."

He later added, "...I want to win the governorship but I also want to win the House of Delegates with like-minded folks. That's why I'm running this kind of campaign, and as soon as... the morning of June 10th, we consolidate our message and we run as one."

Moran

"Coming here to these dinners year after year after year, I have watched Virginia turn blue before my eyes because of the activity and the commitment to Democratic values right here in Prince William County," Moran said.

Moran spoke to the Democratic audience about planning "to enroll every single Virginia child in health care," establishing a homeowners bill of rights to crack down on predatory lending practices, curbing foreclosures around Quantico, and repealing the state constitutional amendment that bans the commonwealth from recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions.

The former Democratic House Caucus chairman has emphasized the need for bipartisanship in the House of Delegates to pass a transportation bill more than flipping control of the House from Republican to Democrat like McAuliffe has done.

"What we need to do is reach across to those friends in Southside and Southwest Virginia, reach a state-wide solution as well as reach across the aisle to my Republican colleagues in the House of Delegates," Moran said as he explained how to reach a consensus on transportation.

As for how to close out the campaign, "There's a lot of undecided voters right now. And people are now just starting to pay more intense attention to this race and when they do, I'm confident that they will move toward me because of my record fighting for Virginians -- 20 year record -- in addition to my progressive vision for the future."

Endorsements

While Deeds trumpeted his endorsement from The Washington Post and McAuliffe did the same over his endorsement from the Richmond Free Press, Moran basked in the pool of endorsers sitting directly in front of him as four of the county's current elected officials have backed his bid for governor, along with county party chairman Pete Frisbie.

Two of the three other Democrats elected in the county, Colgan and commonwealth's attorney Paul Ebert, back Deeds while state Sen. Toddy Puller (D-36) is not listed as endorsing any of the candidates, according to their Web sites.

Keynotes

Major speakers at the event included the 1988 Democratic nominee for president, former Gov. Michael Dukakis (D-Mass.) and freshman U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11th), the first Democrat to represent Prince William County in the House of Representatives this century.

Dukakis told the Times that: I think Virginia and Prince William County in particular... is a terrific example of what this party of ours has to do in every single state in the country. And that is organize at the grassroots level precinct by precinct by precinct."

How politicians like Dukakis view the commonwealth is different now than it was 21 years ago.

"But there was this assumption that you really couldn't win states like this and I think what you all have been able to do, Mark and Tim, and Sen. Jim [Webb], and all the folks who have won since, have demonstrated that... it's got to be done right in the precincts and the neighborhoods," he said.

Connolly focused his speech on "Democratic values" and how places that are generally ideologically conservative are even starting to fall in line with Democratic ideals related to the economy.

He singled out the Gainesville-Haymarket Rotary Club as one example of how business leaders that may usually object to increased government spending related to the federal stimulus program are understanding of his positions.

"And instead of push-back," Connolly said, "heads shook like, 'Yeah, that makes sense. I can see why you did that. Yeah, you're right.' And let me tell you: if those values and that message are playing in Haymarket, Prince William County is ours."