Democratic Terry McAuliffe has often been referred to by Republicans and Democrats alike as an “opportunistic carpetbagger.” Just what is that?
Northern Virginians are often seen as not being “real Virginians.” Stop laughing. It’s true. I grew up in Charlottesville, therefore I have real Virginian cred which I have almost lost because I have spent my adult live here in Northern Virgina. I have even had people say, “back when you were a Virginian….” Go north of Bull Run and you are doomed. Just doomed.
Unfortunately, this Virginia state of being as also afflicted Terry McAuliffe. Even though the man has lived in Northern Virginia for 2 decades, he is still seen as an opportunistic carpetbagger because he worked D.C. rather than Virginia. Since he was beaten out of the primary for governor by eal Virginian Creigh Deeds, McAuliffe has worked on his Virginia Cred. According the the Examiner:
In December 2009, just months after finishing behind state Sen. Creigh Deeds in the Democratic primary, [McAuliffe] was already meeting with Northern Virginia Democratic business leaders. During the next two years, he was all over the state, from trips in summer of 2010 to Southwest Virginia to tour coal mines and attend the Virginia Chicken Festival, to Arlington in March 2011 for an event with young Democrats.
He also became a major benefactor to Democrats in the run-up to the 2011 General Assembly elections. McAuliffe donated $47,000 to the state party and $64,000 to candidates from around the state and held a fundraiser at his home with President Clinton that netted Senate Democrats $1 million in the days before the election.
It paid off. Even before he officially announced his bid to run in 2013, more than 400 local Democrats pledged support for him in May 2012. And so far no other candidate has emerged to challenge him for the party nomination.
It appears that we here in Northern Virginia are going to have to spend some time getting used to the fact that Terry McAuliffe is a real Virginian and we are going to have to get to know him. I know him as a Clinton campaign manager. This is a good thing but it doesn’t give him Virginia cred. I think what Democrats need to be asking themselves if they would rather give Terry a chance or if they want Ken Cuccinelli as governor? That one question is the reality of the situation.
I plan on getting to know Terry McAuliffe real well, starting today. I want him to be a household word around these parts. Real Virginian? Maybe we need to be asking ourselves if Jersey boy Cuccinelli is a real Virginian. The answer is no more so than Terry McAuliffe.
Cuccinelli scoffs at McAuliffe and chastises him for putting his car business in Mississippi. McAuliffe responded, in general:
“If we want Virginia to be the best place for business,” McAuliffe said, “we need leaders who prioritize economic growth and move beyond the ideological issues that are designed to divide us.”
Well said, Terry, well said. You have my vote.
” You have my vote.”
I’m not saying anything (right now) against McAuliffe, but tell me …since Cuccinelli is the GOP candidate, is there ANYONE on the the Democrat side that would NOT get your vote?
I only know one person running who is a dem. Howeva…there are several republicans who would get my vote in front of Cucinnelli…like all of them.
Cooch would get my vote if the following folks claimed to be Dems and running for governor: John Wayne Gacy, Sideshow Bob, Princess Winterspringsummerfall, and Honey Boo-boo.
Are your standards too high?
McAuliffe is not a household name, regardless of how long he has lived in Virginia. I sincerely think what the Democrats have done is to insure that Cuccinelli is going to be the next governor. And his right hand man may well be Scott Lingamfelter who is two steps to the right of Cuccinelli. If McAuliffe and Creigh Deeds are the best the Dems can come up with, they deserve to lose. They should be courting Jim Webb who has real creds–is not a party wonk.
Do you know anything about Terry McAuliffe, his businesses, or his politics? I personally don’t think Virginians are that far right of center to vote Cuccinelli in.
If traditional democrat voters keep trashing McAuliffe without really giving reasons, it might become a self fulfilling prophecy.
I plan of getting to know him real well…beyond a Clinton campaign manager rather than bashing him and turning off other progressive Virginians.
Opportunistic Carpetbagger = Out of state tuition student at the U of V who rolls to Sweet Briar and hits on the Commonwealth’s most eligible (and by that I mean in the monetary sense) bachelorettes.
Well, doesn’t that describe half of UVA? The lazy ones stay in town and date townies. The ones who aren’t so opportunist road trip to Mary Washington.
Also, don’t forget to make known Senator Ralph Northam who is running for
Lt. Governor. He’s a pediatric neurologist from Norfalk and definitely in the “women’s
corner”, which is important to me, especially after what the Governor and Cuccinelli
have done.
Totally agree, Punchak.
I don’t need to know much about McAuliffe to vote for him. He has Clinton all over him. Good enough for me.
“He has Clinton all over him.”
Which one?
What?
😈 👿
The imagery is to horrible to contemplate.
If a person hasn’t been involved in their own politics, is that a good thing? Less to blame on a person.
McAuliffe just has to act like a Virginian, not a northern Virginian. We are thought of as Yankees by most of the rest of the state.
Down state is very southern….much more than people realize. That’s not to say they all want to vote for Cuccinelli..just that they are southern.
@Cargosquid
Not to me. Would you like it if I had said Clinton scent?
“Would you like it if I had said Clinton scent?”
Brings to mind the same mental images, just oogier.
I think the Clintons would smell just fine. 👿
I feel certain they would both smell like lavender soap, as a matter of fact. My favorite.
@BSinVA
Honey Boo-Boo is a Democrat. One of the in-depth, informative pieces I saw on the mainstream media was an interview with Honey Boo-Boo about her politics, wherein she declared her support for President Obama. Sideshow Bob is a Republican. I recall one episode of “The Simpsons,” I think a “Treehouse of Horror” episode that outed him. Between the two, I’d have to go with Sideshow Bob, although my first choice for Governor was Bill Bolling.
I don’t like McAuliffe, carpetbagger or not. He comes across to me as the salesman at the used car dealership you try to avoid. Nonetheless, I think he will beat Cooch. Republicans are acting like Democrats used to act – nominating people whom they like on ideology rather than electability. If the election is McAuliffe versus Cooch, I’ll vote for Cooch because I want Republicans to hold as many governorships as possible. However, I would prefer to be voting for Bolling.
Oh NTK, how will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror if you vote for wild man?
I doubt that many of us really know Terry McAuliffe capmaigning for himself. I know I don’t.
His platform is fine and I also think he can beat Cuccinelli.
@Need to Know
You may have a chance to vote for Bill Bolling yet.
I am also watching Bill Bolling as he develops an independent voice (according to yesterday’s Washington Post).
I couldn’t sign up to get info about McAuliffe without donating to his campaign, so I didn’t. Also, last spring, Green Tech Automotive’s MyCar wasn’t represented at Northern Virginia’s only National Plug In Day event (held in front of The Manassas Museum and featuring several electric or hybrid cars). A few brochures for the info table would have been fine, but my understanding is, neither he or his company responded.
I like Bill Bolton ok other than he allowed all the repressive reproductive to go through. I simply could not vote for him because of it. Perhaps if he ran as an independent he sould shake off that desire to put women in burkas.
As for not being able to get padt the donation page, lots of candidates do that and I dislike it intensely. I might have to write a letter about that.
last fall
Who is Honey-Boo-Boo? Is she on PBS?
She is some brat. I refuse to watch it.
@Censored bybvbl
I would be very surprised if Bolling runs as an independent. The “Washington Post” has speculated recently that Bolling might be considering such a run, but I think that is wishful thinking on their part. The “Post” clearly wants McAuliffe to win. A Bolling independent run would clinch that victory by dividing the Republican vote.
Cooch won/will win the Republican nomination by some slick maneuvering that caught Bolling unaware. He got enough of his people elected to state committee positions to vote to change the nomination process from a primary to a convention. I don’t think Bolling even saw that coming until it was too late. He would have been very competitive in a primary. Cooch wins a convention hands down because of the enthusiasm of his supporters. Most people don’t want to take two or three days to travel to Richmond for a nominating convention. I was going to go, but don’t know now if I will.
I think that if I were advising Bolling I’d tell him to chill right now and don’t do anything rash. He’s very highly regarded among Virginia Republicans. In a straight-out race between Cooch and McAuliffe, I think that in the current political environment in Virginia McAuliffe likely wins anyway. If Bolling runs as an independent he gets the blame for Cooch losing and never plays any role in Virginia Republican politics again. If he sits this one out and behaves as a loyal Republican he will be able to come back in four years if McAuliffe wins saying “I told you so” and be competitive for the nomination then.
I thought we were done with campaign calls after the November election. However, at my home we’re getting calls from Lieutenant Governor candidates now trying to sign up delegates. I’m considering telling them that I am going to register as a delegate and will narrow my choices down to those who have NOT called me.
Why assume the WaPo wants McAuliffe to win? To assume that any newspaper staff wants anyone but Cooch is fair, however.
I don’t think that the “anyone but cooch” vote is being considered.
@Moon-howler
To me this is one of the easiest calls ever. “Washington Post” plus Cooch plus anyone else running equals “Washington Post” endorsement of anyone opposing Cooch. With all due respect to Jeremy Borden, whose writing about PWC I like very much, the “Post’s” endorsement editorial in this race is something any of us could write today and be right on the money.
In other words, it isn’t McAuliffe, its “not cooch.”
@Need to Know
Bolling might be a spoiler if he runs as an independent, but he may be the wake-up-call that the Republican party needs to bring it back to the reality that Virginia is more diverse and tolerant than Cuccinelli’s followers believe. Also, he may be subject to the antics of another line-jumper in four years if he bows out now. (Corey Stewart comes to mind – quick to jump into the pool regardless of qualifications.)
There’s a reason third parties don’t succeed. Their followers chicken out when it comes to pulling the lever and return to the old parties. If a third party made a good run, it would probably be stronger the next time around.
@Censored bybvbl
If Bolling ran as an independent or third party candidate this year he wouldn’t be stronger in four years in terms of winning the Republican nomination. He would be dead meat, blamed as the cause of Cooch’s loss this year. Actually, his run would be detrimental to having the Republicans come to the conclusion that they need candidates who can attract a broader base of support. Rather than move in that direction, they would attribute Cooch’s loss solely to Bolling’s spoiler role and conclude that in four years they need a candidate who can out-Cooch Cooch himself. Bolling’s best bet is to lay low now and not be seen in any way as an impediment to Cooch winning.
McAuliffe is not a strong candidate. He’s seen widely as sleazy and not experienced in governing. His work with Clinton was as a political operative rather than as an economic or foreign policy expert, or effective government leader. Against McAuliffe I think Cooch has a chance to win, but the current political environment will make that difficult. If Cooch loses to a weak Democratic candidate like McAuliffe in a clean, two-way race with no independent or third-party candidate to blame, then I think Republicans start reconsidering the kind of candidates they run.
Regarding other line-jumpers, that could indeed happen. I don’t take Corey seriously anymore. BVBL and Virtucon have both run polls of the Lieutenant Governor candidates. Corey polls in the bottom half even on his home turf. He has been his own undoing. In fact, I think his political career may be coming to an end. Surveying the political landscape, I don’t see any other offices for which he might be competitive. Failing to win Lieutenant Governor, which I think is a virtual given at this point, the only option I see for him is to run for reelection as PWC Chair again.
Just wait to see the free-for-all that will take place in that election on both the Republican and Democrat sides. The PWC Republican primary for Chair may include Corey, Candland, Nohe and others. John Gray ran as an independent for Chair in 2011, but is getting involved with the Republicans again. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him enter that nomination race also. The Democrats smell blood and will contest that election hard also. Given that Corey has betrayed pretty much everyone who has ever backed him, I put the odds of his winning PWC Chair again at less than 50/50.
One elaboration on my comments above. Corey is now running second to Scott Lingamfelter in Greg’s poll. However, when Greg first put it up and before Corey’s supporters mobilized to vote for him, he was running much further behind.
@Need to Know
I agree that the next BOCS elections should be entertaining.
What do you think will happen if Bolling gets some money (from those who would be reliably GOP) behind him? Do you think Virginia could be an early test of who’s going to control the GOP?
@Censored bybvbl
You mean for the 2017 election? To indulge in wild speculation about an election that is over four years away, I think an interesting scenario would be this. Bolling stays on the sidelines in 2013 as I suggest. Cooch gets thumped by a weak Democrat (McAuliffe) this year. Bolling starts saying “I told you so” right after the election and becomes an elder statesman of the Party. Sensible Republicans who are tired of losing elections put some money behind him and start promoting him and other electable Republicans. The Republican Party has a revival in Virginia nominating candidates who appeal to a broad base and can win. I can certainly live with that.
I think it is far too early to declare Mcauliffe weak. Right now, he is an unknown quantity. That is not necessarily a bad thing.
He is very pro business…maybe he is another Mark Warner.
@Need to Know
No, I mean as an independent in 2013 – if he gets the support of moderates who wish to teach the fringe a lesson. If the business community, moderate Republicans, and more conservative independents pledge to support him and leave the social conservatives and Cuccinelli to fend for themselves this election cycle, could he launch a competitive campaign? To allow Cooch and the wing nuts to represent Virginia in the media for four more years might make it impossible for the GOP to come back any time in the near future in Virginia. That’s the problem with waiting. The “I told you so” may be too late.
The fringe might need to be taught a lesson.
From Politico.com:
Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads GOP Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli by 5 percentage points, according to a Virginia gubernatorial election poll out Tuesday.
The former Democratic National Committee chairman leads with 46 percent of the vote to Cuccinelli’s 41 percent, with the rest being undecided, according to the Public Policy Polling poll of the high profile race.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/virginia-governor-election-poll-terry-mcauliffe-85921.html#ixzz2HRDfvA5l
Cuccinelli had 75% name recognition. McAuliffe did not. McAuliffe still came out on top.
What does this say about Cuccinelli? McAuliffe hasnt don’t anything yet.
It might say that it’s better to be a bit of an unknown than to be known as well as Cuccinelli.
No kidding