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Bull's-eye on McAuliffe in Va. race
With just over two weeks to go until Virginia's June 9 Democratic primary for governor, a new issue has emerged to crowd out all the others: Terry McAuliffe himself.After a largely genteel campaign, McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, has suddenly become the axis around which the race turns as state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and former Del. Brian Moran zero in on everything ranging from McAuliffe's stewardship of the national party to his business dealings to his penchant for hyperbole. With little to distinguish between the candidates on the issues, the attacks have taken an unusually personal angle. Moran's website features "The Pinocchio Report", which fact-checks McAuliffe's campaign trail claims and generally concludes they are, at best, disingenuous. "Running for Governor is serious and it requires serious leaders, not people who make it up as they go," the blog writes. Moran's first television ad Tuesday was a hard-hitting spot that questioned McAuliffe's "insider deals." A radio ad refers to McAuliffe's involvement in the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and challenges his loyalty to President Barack Obama. "The truth is, Terry McAuliffe led the campaign that ran the '3 a.m.' attack ad against Barack Obama," an announcer says. "McAuliffe worked to put up the ads that questioned Obama's ability to be president. The fact is, if Terry McAuliffe had his way, Barack Obama wouldn't be our president today." The Deeds campaign launched its own radio spot last week drilling McAuliffe over his claims that the state legislature was not doing enough to crack down on payday lenders. In a debate held Tuesday, both Deeds and Moran attacked McAuliffe over what they said were "duplicitous" positions and outlandish job creation promises. "This primary is about who has the best chance to beat [expected Republican nominee] Bob McDonnell and who is best prepared to stand up for working families," said Deeds in his closing statement. "I'm not convinced that hard-working Virginians want a nominee who made millions on a high-interest credit-card deal and stands with Donald Trump and Wall Street executives and gets over 80 percent of his campaign contributions from out of state." Posted by: Fred 2009-05-25 |
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