We have a three-way primary race for the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial nomination. And on paper, we have three great candidates. One of them is a state Senator who manages to get elected in a conservative rural district, and came within 400 votes of defeating the GOP's 2009 nominee when both of them ran for attorney general. Another of them is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and one of the party's most tireless cheerleaders and prolific fundraisers. The third is a former member of the state House of Delegates, a champion of progressives, and a leader of the Democratic drive to regain control of the state House of Delegates. In order, these gentlemen are state Senator Creigh Deeds, former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, and former state Delegate Brian Moran.
And yet, despite their appeal on paper, both McAuliffe and Moran continually show themselves to be unfit for the office of Governor.
If you look at Terry McAuliffe, on the face, he seems like a good candidate. He knows how to raise money, he's never backed away from a fight, and his Democratic bona fides are impeccable. Scratch the surface, however, and there's no "there" there. He's never served the commonwealth either through a political or elected role. For example, while Mark Warner's first elected position was governor, he had been state party chair and worked for years to not just support the national party, but the state party at a time when Republicans were far more popular in the commonwealth than they are today. As the Virginian-Pilot aptly put it when reviewing the environmental stances of the gubernatorial candidates, "McAuliffe has been conspicuous in his squishiness on some of the most pressing environmental issues facing Virginia. He has failed to take a position on a proposed coal plant in Surry County that would pollute the Chesapeake Bay and James River and damage air quality for residents in Hampton Roads and Richmond."
Other than supporting then-Sen. Clinton for president in 2008, I'm still not sure of what he really stands for on anything. That, combined with his lack of any experience in government or on a Virginia Democratic level makes Terry a non-starter for me. It doesn't mean he would be a bad candidate in the future, but it does mean he shouldn't be our nominee in 2009.
Speaking of Senator Clinton, Brian Moran just decided to attack McAuliffe's support for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary in a new series of radio spots. Even if we ignore that it is silly to attack someone for supporting one of two major contenders for the presidential nomination and one who is now Secretary of State, the underlying facts reveal yet another instance where Brian Moran has disgraced himself on the campaign trail.
Prominent Virginia bloggers Ken Bernstein (known as teacherken here on dKos) and Ben Tribbett (better known as "Not Larry Sabato") both take Brian to task for this. Ken in particular does a good job of laying out the absurdity, and I hope he won't mind me quoting some of his post on Blue Commonwealth:
- Terry McAuliffe was chair of Hillary Clinton's campaign. In that capacity he was a vigorous advocate on her behalf as he should be. His primary responsibilities were raising money and being a talking head on her behalf. He was not responsible for messaging or advertising beyond raising the funds to pay for it. Things like the 3 O'clock ad came from different sources, and had the full backing of the candidate, whom we might note is now serving her erstwhile opponent as Secretary of State. The ad attempts to place all responsibility for that ad upon McAuliffe's shoulders, and uses it to try to persuade the African-American community that McAuliffe was opposed to Obama as president, despite the fact that while the primary contest was on McAuliffe made clear that he would vigorously support Obama were he the nominee, a commitment he more than honored - on this point I will let the McAuliffe campaign provide the details, which are extensive, and which were acknowledged by the Obama campaign.
- The Moran ad conveniently avoids mentioning that prior to the primary Moran endorsed no one. Thus he was no more supportive of Obama during that time than was McAuliffe. While it is perfectly understandable that a candidate for office might choose not to alienate supporters of people other than whom s/he might choose to support, it is also clear that taking such a position means that in this case Moran was NOT a supporter of Obama while the nomination was still in question.
- If the standard for condemnation is negative remarks about Obama and/or his supporters, then it is hard to see how the Moran campaign can continue to use the services of Jerome Armstrong, whose vitriol towards Obama and his supporters has been noted by many across the blogosphere.
That's right, Brian Moran endorsed no one. He stayed out the race entirely and now attacks another guy who failed to support Barack Obama in the primary? While he has the likes of Jerome Armstrong on staff? The hypocrisy is stunning. Even worse is the prospect of a race-baiting element, as raised by Tribbett, with regard to the fact that these ads are only airing on radio stations aimed at African-Americans. Now, there's no denying that in a southern Democratic primary, the African-American vote is hugely important., and targeting that community is a must, but why do so with this ad instead of one that reflected serious concerns of African-American Virginians, such as the disparity in educational opportunities and monies in wealthier white communities and poorer black communities?
As I've noted in the past, we are lucky in Virginia to not be stuck with either of these two unfit candidates. State Senator Creigh Deeds is a leader on education, the environment, jobs, energy, and has led the fight for a fairer redistricting process. While in the House of Delegates, Senator Deeds wrote one of the most progressive laws in the country to preserve open space and protect the environment. For his efforts, he received the Leadership in Public Policy Award from The Nature Conservancy and the Preservation Alliance of Virginia named him Delegate of the Year. In the state Senate, he wrote Megan's Law, which allows public access to the state sex offender registry, and sponsored the Amber Alert Program to fight crimes against children.
Creigh Deeds has my support, and I hope he'll have yours as well.