Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is a driven politician—but perhaps not often enough.

During an online chat today at the Times-Dispatch, Deeds discussed a couple of recent driving infractions that occurred on holiday weekends when he gave his driver time off “to go home to his mother.“

Over Mother’s Day weekend Deeds was involved in a minor fender-bender. “My brakes didn’t work as they should have worked,“ Deeds told reporter Jim Nolan.

Deeds received a speeding ticket over the July 4 weekend for driving 11 miles per hour over the speed limit.

“In the second instance, I was going a little too fast,“ Deeds said. “I was anxious to get home. I made a mistake and it’s done.“

Then there was the time back in Bath County when the lawmaker’s car struck a bear.

“I will tell you that when you live in the country animals don’t really look both ways before they cross,“ Deeds said.

Creigh Deeds said it up front:  “I’m not the main event.“

It’s hard to be The Man, even if it is your fundraiser, when the President shows up. But the Man from Bath set the tone for the event at the the McLean Hilton—with tunes from his own iPod play list.

While Obama exited the stage to a march from John Philip Sousa, the Deeds vibe filled the ballroom of the hotel before and after the event: Little Feat, Flying Burrito Brothers, Graham Parsons, Springsteen and even the Stones’ “Tumbling Dice”—or was that Tumbling Polls?

“We like to think the campaign is ‘Born to Run,‘“ corrected spokesman Jared Leopold.

Leopold said the play list is the same that accompanied the Democratic candidate on his recent RV-powered “Deeds Country” swing through Southside and Southwest Virginia. As for the Sousa?

“John Philip Sousa is not on the Deeds Country play list,“ he said.

Deeds wraps up his “Deeds Country” tour this weekend with a stop at the Fiddler’s Convention in Galax on Saturday before heading home to Bath (and perhaps to take a bath after being in the RV for a week) on Sunday.

Next Wednesday, he’ll be at the Times-Dispatch participating in a live, on-line chat on http://www.timesdispatch.com.

As Creigh Deeds preps for his stage time with President Barack Obama this evening, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate’s campaign released two new radio ads this afternoon targeting Hispanics and African Americans.

The bilingual Gov. Timothy M. Kaine recorded a spot in Spanish, saying Deeds is the only candidate “who supports giving small businesses a tax credit for every new job they create…and his jobs plan includes new incentives to help minority owned businesses grow and expand.“

Another minute-long ad starts by saying “In the last election we learned that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when working together,“ and appeals to people to join the campaign to improve education and “change African American unemployment, which is nearly twice that of the general public.“

The ad pushes people to sign up for Deeds’ text message updates. And both ads were released today with a Web site revamp that promotes greater grassroots organizing through social media, among other ways.

The campaign sent an e-mail to supporters this afternoon, saying “This evening, President Barack Obama will join Creigh Deeds and Governor Tim Kaine as we work to kick this campaign into overdrive—and in conjunction with his visit, we’re launching a full scale organizing campaign, using the latest advances in new media technology.“

You can listen to both ads here: http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/blog/main/2009/8/6/our-new-radio-ads

Terry McAuliffe got his clock cleaned by Creigh Deeds for the Democratic nomination for governor, but that’s not stopping McAuliffe from doing a good deed for his old foe.

Today, McAuliffe is circulating to supporters an e-mail imploring them to let the Republicans have it for their state party chairman’s suggestion that rural Virginians would rather go on welfare than work.

McAuliffe wants voters to sign an on-line petition, urging Republican nominee Bob McDonnell to apologize for chairman Pat Mullin’s quip.

You can see the petition here: http://www.deedsforvirginia.com/action/mullins/

Polls shmolls.

So what if the latest poll shows President Barack Obama support in Virginia slipping. Or the three-point lead the Democrat Creigh Deeds had following his gubernatorial primary win is now a six-point advantage for Republican Bob McDonnell.

Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman, is bullish on both his boss and his heir apparent in the governor’s mansion. Kaine was asked about two recent polls of likely Virginia voters released by Public Policy Polling.

The most recent showed Obama with a 48 percent approval rating and 46 percent disapproval rating. Obama carried Virginia with 52.6 percent of the vote last fall and has a national approval rating around 60 percent. Also earlier this week, the PPP poll showed McDonnell with a 49-43 lead over Deeds, with a sizable advantage among independent voters.

“My belief in looking at that (Obama) poll and others is that the President still enjoys huge support,“ Kaine said today. “He’s obviously just won a historic election and he’s being president at a very challenging time, and he’s exactly the right person for it,“ he added. “And I don’t have any real worries about Virginia supporting the president. I definitely see that support wherever I go.“

As for the future of Deeds, the governor said the numbers are better now for the nominee than they were for years ago when he was running against Republican Jerry Kilgore.

“I wish I had been that close at this point four years ago,“ he said. “Each company polls differently. My sense is ...this race is basically a dead heat now. And I think that’s a good thing.

“Bob McDonnell’s been a statewide office holder for the last four years and Creigh Deeds hasn’t,“ Kaine added. “But the fact that ... we’ve got a dead heat, makes me feel good. I didn’t show up ahead in public polls really until October.“

Kaine reiterated that despite the realtively quiet camapigns so far, things will pick up soon, with support from Washington.

“You’re going to see activity by the president and Vice president fairly soon,“ he said.