[riverdawg]

If Cuccinelli was the Tea party favorite, and the Tea Party is the “base” of the Virginia GOP, then how can you blame his defeat on low base turnout? Why wasn't the Tea Party/base energized sufficiently to deliver enough votes for Cuccinelli to win? The answer has to be in his appeal (or lack thereof) to voters in the part of the political spectrum between the Tea Party on the right and the dyed-in-the-wool Democrats on the left.

[lentulusgracchus]

The answer has to be in his appeal (or lack thereof)

OR LACK OF ADS and ad money!! (Helloooo, RNC!!)

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

If Cuccinelli was the Tea party favorite, and the Tea Party is the “base” of the Virginia GOP, then how can you blame his defeat on low base turnout?

Because at the beginning, using consultants recommended by the national GOP, Cuccinelli moderated his "tone", criticized the shutdown and Ted Cruz, and was passive in the face of attacks. It's only after he jettisoned the advice of the consultants and went on the offensive that he went from double-digits down to competitive. If he hadn't listened to the moderates in the first place (and had a little USEFUL help from the GOP), he would have won...