Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds (D) said this morning that his opponent, Bob McDonnell (R), is running a more negative campaign than him, despite recent polling that appeared to show a backlash to Deeds's negative TV ads.

"He's running more negative points than we're running positive and negative points," Deeds said to Mark Plotkin on WTOP, a D.C. radio station. "He's the one running the negative campaign."

The McDonnell campaign and Republican Governors Association have been running ads highlighting a press gaggle with Deeds following a debate last month, in which Deeds appeared unsteady on the issue of raising taxes. Deeds thinks the ads may be having an effect on his polling -- a Washington Post poll found Deeds's lead in Northern Virginia, a key portion of the state, dwindling. "Obviously I've had an erosion because of those ads," Deeds said.

The Post poll has caused many to believe the race may be all but over, but Deeds offers a recent cautionary tale: "25 days from the Democratic primary nobody thought I was going to win." He would go on to win the same number of votes as Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran put together.

Deeds also said President Obama will return to the Commonwealth to campaign or fundraise with Deeds, as he did in August. "I'll take the President as often as I can get him," he said.

A Wall Street Journal story earlier this week reported that the White House would be backing off from the race. However, as Deeds noted, the Democratic National Committee this week cut him a $1 million check and sent more workers to help his campaign, and Vice President Biden appeared at a Deeds fundraiser last night.

"I don't know where those stories come from," said Deeds, but "I run better as the underdog."

Deeds continued to say that McDonnell's 1989 graduate school thesis puts the former state delegate's legislative record in context, noting that he focused on social issues and never introduced a job-creating bill. He also criticized McDonnell's transportation and promised to fix the funding shortfall by next year.

"I've got the only honest approach and the only approach that will work. Bob McDonnell's plan won't work," said Deeds, who says everything is on the table, including the potential to raise taxes. "If Virginia voters want to continue to sit in traffic they'll vote for the other guy."