The Trouble With Terry

On Tuesday, Democratic primary voters in Virginia will have the chance to decide a neck-and-neck race for the gubernatorial nomination between former state Delegate Brian Moran, state Senator Creigh Deeds, and long-time Democratic fundraiser Terry McAuliffe.

A new PPP poll shows Deeds leading with 27% to McAuliffe's 24% and Moran's 22%. In a race with low expected turnout, numbers like that are essentially a tie. The win almost always goes to the best organized.

McAuliffe is the most well known among the group, but not for having served in Virginia politics (he hasn't) or for his strong ties to the state (he doesn't have any). The success that is driving him through this primary is almost entirely linked to the relationships he's built over the years with Washington insiders. McAuliffe was one of the top fundraisers in the Democratic Party. He helped get Bill Clinton elected to the presidency with his fundraising skills, and later was elected chairman of the Democratic Party, mostly for the same reason. He has a back-slapping charm that has been incredibly useful to siphon large checks from large donors, and keep the Democratic party's spigot flowing. Most recently, he served as chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, largely a fundraising position.

That McAuliffe is even registering in the polls is somewhat surprising, notwithstanding his high name identification. That name ID, after all, is attached to fairly strong memories among Obama supporters of McAuliffe's use of reckless campaign tactics during the 2008 Democratic primaries that endangered the party, and the chances of a Democratic president. Long after the numbers had clearly shown that Hillary Clinton could not win the Democratic nomination, McAuliffe continued to go on television questioning Obama's readiness to lead in ways that would become a rallying cry of the American right. Even while privately, McAuliffe understood that Obama would win the nomination, publicly, he attacked relentlessly.

But frustration toward McAuliffe ought not be confined only to those who were original Obama supporters. Die-hard Hillary fans ought to be furious with their Terry too. For months, as Barack Obama continued to rack up delegates and superdelegates on his quest for the nomination, McAuliffe reassured Hillary supporters. She can still win. When the math was impossible, her loss assured, he showed up on MSNBC and promised, she can still win. When privately, nearly every superdelegate he spoke to told him they would commit to Obama, he went on CNN and said, don't worry, the superdelegates will be with us. She can still win. And at each moment, each time he lied to her biggest supporters, promising them, reassuring them, giving them the falsest of hopes, he asked then for another donation. Don't forget to go to hillaryclinton.com, he'd repeat, the mantra of every good fundraiser.

In those final weeks, when her loss was inevitable, he helped squeeze tens of millions of dollars in small donations out of the pockets of many who could barely afford it, all on the false promise that it might actually see Hillary through to the finish line. It was as dishonest as it was exploitive. No wonder Hillary supporters were so rocked back by her eventual defeat. He'd convinced them such an outcome could never happen, even as he knew it was unfolding.

McAuliffe is running for governor because he's been in Washington long enough that he can. He's running because he's done the other things on his list of things to do. He has no ties to Virginia to speak of, and a set of personal accomplishments that, while undeniably impressive, bear no relationship to his capacity to lead a state he's never been involved in. Which is not to say that he'll be a poor governor. Given the unpopularity of governors nationwide, it's likely that he'll be able to maintain par.

But does he really deserve the office?

Virginia voters pushed hard for a new kind of politics; they voted for Obama both in the primary and in the general election. It simply cannot be the case that what they really craved, what they really said with those votes, was that they wanted their governor's mansion to become a political prize for a well-connected political fundraiser who had waited his turn for the spotlight.

Virginia should be a better place than that. On Tuesday, Virginia voters should make sure of it.

Comments

[Archontruth]

Terry McAuliffe has lived in Virginia (in my neighborhood) for more than a decade! How does he have "no ties to the state"? Are you one of those people who doesn't think Fairfax County is the "real" Virginia?

[Cratchit]

Yes.

[rf dude]

It's just temporary - as soon as Terry gets his Gov. ticket punched,

he'll move on to the Big Money in Washington...
--

[Jeffersonian1]

Thankfully, there is a progressive candidate for the Democratic nomination who will win in November -- Brian Moran.

Moran is the only candidate opposed to off-shore oil drilling. He's the only candidate opposed to the coal-fired power plant in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. He's the only candidate who'll work to repeal the Marshall-Newman amendment that went further than any other anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment in the country (the other two said they wouldn't have time to work on the issue).

Moran's support is broad, deep and committed -- from the Sheriff of Martinsville to the Chairman of the Virginia legislative black caucus, from the Mayor of Alexandria to the the retired postmistress of Appomattox.

Outside of the DC area, where retail politics still matter, McAuliffe can't get the votes he needs to win in November with money, television or Bill Clinton. There's also that clip of him on the night then-Senator Obama secured the Democratic nomination saying, "kiss my a**, Barack."

Senator Deeds is a great guy, but championing a law to allow concealed handguns in bars and then voting to override Governor Kaine's veto of that law? C'mon. I like drinkin', and I like guns; but even I'm smart enough to know that the two don't mix.

To keep Virginia Blue (Lord knows we just got there; and lots of folks like Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Brian Moran worked really hard to make it so), there's only one candidate: Brian Moran.

[sector1463]

HMMM let's see. Forgive me but I seem to remember that all of the Clinton supporters in the party went out after the convention and campaigned very strongly for Obama, including McAuliffe. And going into the convention Obama did not have a majority of the delegates. The super delagates gave him the nomoination. The difference between the Clinton and Obama delegate count was very narrow. He was her campaing manager. He did his job until the end.

Oh then there is Deeds! who when he was chairman of the Democratic Caucus saw the house Democrats lose 17 seats. And Moran who succeeded Deeds as chair, with two very strong and popular Democrats as governor was unable to recover those 17 seats. WTF. These are the leaders the Dems should nominate? We have a serious problem.

Moran complains that McAuliffe is getting his money from out of the state, then turns around and has Ethyl Kennedy raise money for him. OK from her home in McLean but the Kennedys do not claim to be Virginians.

If McAuliffe gets the nom then we need two work hard to getting him elected. If he doesn't we need to work hard to get the candidate elected. We also need to get McAuliffe to work for the Virginia Democratic Party because he can raise the money we need to get the House and the Senate back from the Republicans.

[Jeffersonian1]

Hmm, let's see. On the night that our President had secured the number of delegates to be nominated, McAuliffe said on national television, "Kiss my a**, Barack." Not "to the end" but a dead-ender.

In Virginia during the Bush years, as chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Moran fought back. The caucus went from 35 Democrats to 45, despite a Republican­-controlle­d gerrymandering in 2001. That's why the man poised to be the next Democratic Speaker of the Virginia House, Ward Armstrong, supports Moran.

As for Mrs. Kennedy (I believe her first name is spelled Ethel), she's been a Virginian for a h*lluva lot longer than Mr. McAuliffe.

As for getting the Virginia "Senate back from the Republicans", well, we won the Senate back in 2007 with the help of Mark Warner, Tim Kaine and Brian Moran. That's one of the reasons Senator, and now Chair, Patsy Ticer is supporting Brian Moran.

[sector1463]

There are currently 44 Dems in the house.

[sector1463]

Sorry Jeffersonian1 I forgot to mention that Patsy Ticer served on the Alexandria City Council with Jim Moran. She succeeded Jim Moran as mayor of our fine city. Jim Moran campaigned for her. When she decided to run for Va. Senate he campaigned for her. A connection that goes beyond the idea of a person who doesn't know him endorsing him? No. She is directly connected to the Moran boys. Jim Moran has also been seen campaigning for Bill Euille for Mayor. He is all over this city. Sort of incestuous huh.

Ya know that no matter who is the nomimee, all of the Democrats in Virginia including Mark Warner and Patsy Ticer will campaign for that person. Just like we did when the nominee for president was named. That is party politics.

[moonjumper]

Whatever.

[Marlyn]

"He did his job until the end."

He lied, continually.

[cadawa]

There's a slime factor around McAuliffe. More than any other prominant Party leader, he is responsible for leading the Democratic Party away from their roots and into the the arms of the military industrial complex. He is why we have elections but no reform.
His connection to Viriginia may be slight but his connection to basic Democratic values is even more tenuous. The good people of Virginia should find another candidate ASAP before McAuliffe's deep, dirty pockets clinch the nomination.

[widdles]

"Terry McAuliffe is running for governor because he's been in Washington long enough that he can. He's running because he's done the other things on his list of things to do. He has no ties to Virginia."

Well, let me compare this statement to another case.

Hillary Clinton ran for Senator of New York because she had been in Washington (as First Lady) long enough that she could. She ran because she had done the other things on her list of things to do. She had no ties to New York.

Yet she ran and won.

I would be interested to know of Dylan ever lived in the state of New York - more specifically, did he live there when Hillary was running for the Senate seat and if so, did he vote for her.

So, what's your problem, Dylan??

[JGatsby]

I agree with you that the "carpetbagger" slur doesn't seam all that important to me. As you point out Hillary Clinton as well as Bobby kennedy and many others have done similar things. My problem with McCauliffe isn't that he doesn't have ties to Virginia but that he is the classic example of what I hate about the democratic party. Values essentially the same as republicans only not quite as bad. Democrats should be electing people who will work for change not more DINOs.

[Jeffery Berg]

I can envision Terry losing to Bob McDonnell. He is calculating and has little appeal to VA voters. A Republican victory for governor in VA would be a maybe-Repu­blicans-ar­en't-dead-­after-all media story. I hope Creigh Deeds or Brian Moran gain some more momentum in the coming days.

[Cratchit]

Uh Oh! When the dems start wheeling out decrepit old has-beens to run for office (read: Kerry, etc.), we are in for trouble. I know Terry, and he ain't no Al Gore!

[widdles]

And Obama "ain't" no Al Gore either. So, exactly what was your point?

[AxelDC]

Creigh Deeds has huge momentum. The Washington Post heavily endorsed him, and in the last month he has picked up 10 points in the polls whereas McAuliffe has fallen 10 points. McAuliffe is viewed as a carpetbagger. Bryan Moran's brother, Congressman Jim Moran, has been cited for corruption before. Creigh Deeds is a long-time legislator from rural Virginia who is an advocate of NoVa.

Turnout is key, but momentum is clearly on Deeds' side.

[sector1463]

Jim Moran pleaded "Nolo Contendere" to a misdemeanor conflict of interest charge in "84.

[ChristianSociologist]

But if he ends up taking this, it will be the end of Blue Va. I'm sorry, but I don't think he's got a chance against McDonnell- Lord save us in Virginia.

[wizinit]

Late news is that Governors Schweitzer and Rendell will campaign for TM in VA. He is pulling out all stops. I think that calling out these "endorsements" suggests he is feeling very shaky about his chances.

Pres. Obama's nomination this week of big donors/fundraisers without meaningful foreign policy experience to important European posts contradicts what he said he would do in the campaign. It also encourages the kind of corrupting influence of money on our politics at which TM is a master.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

McAuliffe was an abysmal failure as head of the DNC, and as part of Hillary's campaign. Every election cycle he oversaw ended in a huge loss, and it was always because he told everyone to act like the Republicans.

After the DNC finally dumped McAuliffe (but not without a fight), they brought in Howard Dean, established a 50 state strategy (McAullife let the infrastructure of the Democratic party decay during his tenure), and talked like Democrats did they finally win.

Now this guy wants to be governor?

[AtillerTheHun]

If a Johnny-Come-Lately senator from Illinois can become President of USA then certainly Terry Mac from who know where can be Governor of VA.

[widdles]

That November win still stings, huh!

[Paramendra Bhagat]

It sure is a close race. Terry has been showing up in my Facebook stream for weeks, na, months now.
http://technbiz.blogspot.com

[DLSteinhardt]

Just thinking about Terry McAuliffe makes me itch. Has the man ever won an election, even for dog catcher? Maybe Clinton's reelection, but that was a gimme.

[sector1463]

Before being elected governor of Virginia Mark Warner was not elected to any offices either.

[Jeffersonian1]

I know Mark Warner. Mark Warner is a friend of mine. Mark Warner has slept in my house (going one step beyond Senator Bentsen). Terry McAuliffe is no Mark Warner.

[anonymousisawoman]

Comparing Mark Warner to Terry McAuliffe is like comparing apples to oranges. Mark Warner was very involved in Virginia politics. He managed Doug Wilder's successful gubernatorial race in 1989, making history. Doug Wilder was the first African-American to serve as governor or Virginia. After that, Warner was chairman of the state Democratic Party. And he ran for U.S. Senate against the hugely popular John Warner in 1996. Although he didn't win that election, the election results were very impressive for a neophyte taking on one of the best loved Virginia senators, who was an icon at that point.
The point is, unlike Terry McAuliffe, Mark Warner had put down deep Virginia political roots and exhibited an interest in the commonwealth long before he took a notion to be its governor.

[historymatters]

having listened to a recent NPS piece about McAuliffe and the other Democratic candidates, I remembered one of the reasons I can't stand McAuliffe. When asked why he would make a good governor, he kept talking about his business experience how he knows how business works and how to create jobs. McAuliffe is a Republican-lite Democrats, one of the guys who thinks that the Democratic party can not stand on its principles of social justice and good government in order to win elections. He thinks Democrats have to sound like Republicans (and even better, think like them) in order to win. The DNC was moribund under McAuliffe's leadership. In 2000, 2002, and 2004, Democrats tried repeatedly to win through the Republican-lite approach and they lost every time. It was only when Democrats embraced progressivism (liberalism!) and offered REAL alternatives to the GOP that they started winning.

McAuliffe is not a Democrat I will ever vote for.

[historymatters]

NPR, not NPS, sorry for the typos.

[MNinWI]

He's an opportunist & probably has no real belief system other than promoting whoever is paying him at the time or self promotion. He's one of those blinders people who is incapable of reality or big picture ideas unless it's corporate. He always gave me the creeps.

[sector1463]

Before being elected governor Mark Warner was a business man too. In virginia that is a good thing.