Remember this? That was embarrassing.

Creigh Deeds needed to find a way to avoid more verbal fumbles. Saying something new revealed a serious weakness for Deeds: he really can’t discuss the substance of an issue without doing fatal damage to his tax-raising campaign. So what’s the solution? Instead of saying anything new, Creigh is just repeating himself:

In a gubernatorial debate that covered little new ground, Virginia Democrat R. Creigh Deeds went to an extreme.

Mr. Deeds, during the candidates’ fourth debate Tuesday night, repeated nearly verbatim the two-minute closing remarks he delivered during their third debate the previous week, even though polls show voters are not identifying with the message…

“Creigh has a stump speech,” said Deeds spokesman Mike Gehrke. “He likes to get across certain points about who he is and why he is running and that is not something that changes for him. His story is what it is and he’s comfortable with it.”

Well, there’s a certain elegance to this solution. At this point Deeds’ campaign is mostly about avoiding mistakes that will lead to major downballot losses in the State legislature. If Deeds can just avoid making headlines, Democrats might still keep a few seats in Richmond. And recognizing that it’s hard for a gubernatorial candidate not to make headlines at all, perhaps the next best thing is to make the headlines for repeating the same things over and over again.

Remember: Any help you give Bob McDonnell will benefit candidates up and down the ticket.