How Terry McAuliffe and the Dems Lost Virginia

[DonViejo]

by Michelle Cottle May 9, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

When Republicans put up a nutty candidate for governor, liberals had a chance to cement the state’s purple status. They blew it. Michelle Cottle on the trouble with Terry McAuliffe.

How in the hell did Democrats wind up struggling in the Virginia governor’s race?

Virginia is an important state. An emerging purple state. A state poised to have the kind of election-swinging clout of Ohio or Florida.

Upping the ante this cycle, Virginia Republicans, for their gubernatorial standard-bearer, have tapped the proudly inflammatory Ken Cuccinelli, who has used his reign as state attorney general to, among other notable hits, crusade against climate change and on behalf of the state’s recently junked anti-sodomy laws. For a party struggling to dispel its reputation as a bastion of right-wing nuttery, putting Cuccinelli front and center is a bit like tapping Mitt Romney to dispel the GOP’s rep as a bastion of rich old white guys.

In short, the Democrats should have had this one.

full article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/09/how-terry-mcauliffe-and-the-dems-lost-virginia.html

[leveymg]

1. McAuliffe outspent all his potential Dem rivals 5-1 to get this nomination.

Last edited Fri May 10, 2013, 10:45 AM - Edit history (1)

He's almost as unpopular among progressives in Northern VA as he is among Red Staters in the west and south of the state. He's viewed as a carpet bagger and something of a joke. A Clinton Machinista.

We'll have to continue to live with GOP fruitloops in the Governor's Mansion for several more years.

[John2]

3. So you are saying,

he beat you among your own constituents with his money and not the issues? They should know their candidate before they voted for him or stick by him. Was he running on issues or just paying somebody money? Obama won this state on issues. They should be voting on the issues and not a beauty contest. The Republican Party's repugnant issues trump everything. If they elect them again, then it is on them.

[leveymg]

8. He first appeared in 2009, losing the nomination by 23 pts to Craig Deeds who lost by 17 pts to GOP

He's not wildly popular among the liberal base, and hasn't any proven state-wide draw. He is well-financed, though.

Can't be enthusiastic or optimistic about this one.

[11 Bravo]

14. I don't particularly care for him, but anyone who views him as a "carpetbagger" is ignorant.

He has lived in Northern Virginia for over 20 years.

[leveymg]

15. Before '09 he never ran for any state office, had little role in local Democratic party

affairs and is virtually unknown in the rest of the State. He just happened to buy a house in Arlington rather than in DC or suburban MD a while back while pursuing his roles on the national stage. He's basically an ambitious campaign money guy -- he once described himself as a "hustler" -- and that doesn't have much appeal for most people. It's not ignorance that causes me to say this.

It's with no glee that I'm so gloomy about this guy, as it makes it harder to muster a lot of enthusiasm to GOTV for him, no matter how much I dread and despise Ken Coocoopuff.

[sofa king]

16. He's an "occupied Virginian."

I get to say that now because I don't live there anymore, heheheh.

But more seriously, I've always identified myself as a Virginian though I was not born here and I spent the vast majority of my life in NoVa, too. I could offer some pretty goddamned impressive credentials to show that I am, in fact, a Virginian through and through, but one of them is that true Virginians do not needlessly brag.

The only thing close to a written definition of a "Virginian" I have ever seen is a framed embroidery which says something like:

Whether by birth or relocation,
Or even on one's in-law side,
Being a Virginian is a passport to the Union
And a letter of introduction to any place on Earth.

I've always liked that. It's a nice, inclusive, and ultimately probably meaningless definition that doesn't step on anyone's toes.

My opinion is that whether or not Terry McAuliffe is a Virginian--or even "Virginian enough"--was never in question. Plenty of other things about him, however, were very questionable, and it is those things that were his undoing.

[mgcgulfcoast]

17. we win this one big

+8 on election day. dem pick up.

[jehop61]

2. Election hasn't happened yet.

Why don't you let it happen and let the people decide down the line? Perhaps some Clinton dislike going on?

[Dawson Leery]

4. 6 months until the election.

[Mr. David]

5. McAwful couldn't campaign through a paper bag while he was the DNC chairman

and was dumped for Dean, who became one of the more successful DNC chairman following a different strategy. Unfortunately, Dean was dumped for some DLC troll.

I think it's still Wasserman.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. +1

.

[erpowers]

11. Kaine Not Wasserman

Tim Kaine followed Howard Dean as DNC chairman. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz was picked after Kaine left the post to run for a Virginia Senate seat.

[Recursion]

6. Hmm. I think the writer has a problem with the concept of tense

As in, nothing's been lost yet.

[frankingeneral]

7. That article is a hack job.

I mean it even admits that Virginians are wholly unfamiliar with McAuliffe, and this being 6 months out from a gubernatorial election, the polls are really meaningless. When Virginians get engaged and compare the 2, woeful though McAuliffe may be, I doubt he'll have any problem beating the Cooch. I mean we're talking about a guy who wants to uphold sodomy laws in blatant violation of the US Constitution.

In that vein, I really think someone should stage a peaceful protest of the Cooch's views on sodomy. Couples should get together, film themselves having anal sex in the comfort of their own homes, and send the videos en masse to the Cooch "anonymously" demanding that the perpetrators on the video be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. It'd be hysterical to hear the Cooch's reaction...

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. Huh?

Is the election over and we all missed it?

[Proud Public Servant]

12. Want the answer? Ask the GOP about Romney

Something the GOP shoudl have learned (but probably didn't) from the 2012 election is that, in order to win, you need to do more than hate the other guy; you also have to like your own candidate. We should have learned the same thing. Now, I don't live in VA, but I'm just across the river with a lot of Dem friends on that side, and I can tell you this: while the hatred of Cuccinelli and the VA GOP is palpable, I have yet to meet a single Virginian who likes Terry McAuliffe. Instead, they talk about his war chest and his electability.

Now, does that sound familiar? Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

[blkmusclmachine]

13. McAuliffe is this year's Blanche Lincoln.