Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed Ken Cuccinelli (R. VA) a huge loss:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to take up an appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down Virginia’s anti-sodomy law, halting state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s long-standing legal efforts to preserve the statute.
Cuccinelli is the Republican nominee for governor on the Nov. 5 ballot, and Virginia’s “crimes against nature” law — which bans oral and anal sex — has become a flash point in his contest against businessman Terry McAuliffe (D), who has portrayed Cuccinelli as an extremist on social issues.
Cuccinelli and other defenders of the law, including local prosecutors, have said that it is a vital tool for stopping child predators. Cuccinelli has said that the law “is not — and cannot be — used against consenting adults acting in private.” - Washington Post, 10/7/13
Here's a little more background info:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Virginia’s archaic Crimes Against Nature law made oral and anal sex a felony — even between consenting adults in the privacy of their bedroom. In 2003, the Supreme Court held in Lawrence v. Texas that sodomy bans like Virginia’s violated the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
In 2004, a bipartisan group in the Virginia General Assembly proposed updating the law to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling, by eliminating provisions dealing with consenting adults in private and leaving in place provisions relating to prostitution, public sex, and those other than consenting adults. Cuccinelli, then a state senator, opposed the bill in committee and helped kill it on the Senate floor. In 2009, he told a newspaper that he supported keeping restrictions on the sexual behavior of consenting adults: “My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong. They’re intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law based country it’s appropriate to have policies that reflect that. … They don’t comport with natural law.” As a result, the law’s text remained unchanged a decade after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
In May, a federal appeals court overturned the conviction of William Scott MacDonald, who had been charged under the Crimes Against Nature law with demanding oral sex from a 17-year-old girl. Cuccinelli argued in his appeal — and on a campaign website — that the law no longer applies to consenting adults but was still valid for “sex offenses attempted or committed against minors, against non-consenting adults, or in public.” - Think Progress, 10/7/13
Things really haven't been going well for Kenny boy lately. The government shutdown is taking it's toll on the Cooch's electoral prospects:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/...
In the tightly contested Virginia gubernatorial race, Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli apparently spent the weekend alternately cajoling and avoiding Sen. Ted Cruz, architect of the shutdown. Polls suggest that his frustration with the shutdown could be a preview for his party in other contested races across the country.
On Friday, CNN reported a frank admission from Cuccinelli about the how the ongoing shutdown is playing in his state. "Yes, it is affecting the campaign," he told the press after an event in Fairfax. A number of polls showed Cuccinelli trailing even before the shutdown took effect. But the candidate's emphasis on how his party's intransigence on the shutdown serves both to distance him from that position and suggests that not doing so could further imperil his chances.
It didn't prevent Cuccinelli from making an appearance at an event headlined by Cruz on Saturday. According to Politico's James Hohmann, Cuccinelli spoke briefly before Cruz's longer address. Hohmann describes Cruz's introduction.
"Backstage, a source said, Cuccinelli urged Cruz to work with Democrats to end the federal shutdown," Hohmann writes. "But he did not make that point, or even acknowledge Cruz, in short public comments to some 1,100 social conservatives." Cuccinelli left without posing for a picture with Cruz. - The Atlantic Wire, 10/7/13
And Terry McAuliffe (D. VA) has been slamming Cuccinelli over the shutdown and his buddy Senator Ted Cruz (R. TX):
http://www.newsleader.com/...
The federal government shutdown continued to reverberate across the Potomac River in the Virginia governor’s race Sunday as businessman Terry McAuliffe pointedly called on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to denounce the shutdown and one of its key architects, Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cuccinelli, R, — a longtime ally of the tea party movement who is running to lead a state fueled by federal spending — made no mention of the shutdown in his remarks at a campaign event.
The candidates’ joint appearance in Annandale came the day after Cuccinelli addressed a Richmond dinner at which Cruz, R-Texas, was the keynote speaker. That event — a fundraiser for the Family Foundation, a social conservative group — drew extra attention because Cruz is seen as the face of the congressional GOP strategy to withhold funding for the government unless money is cut off for President Barack Obama’s health-care law.
Cuccinelli’s campaign had spoken with Cruz’s representatives about the possibility of Cruz headlining a separate event for Cuccinelli, but that never came together. Instead, Cuccinelli has largely distanced himself from Cruz amid the intense focus on the government shutdown. Cuccinelli did not mention Cruz in his remarks in Richmond on Saturday night.
“Last night, Ken had an opportunity to stand up for Virginia jobs, to tell the Texas senator to stop hurting Virginia’s economy with his shutdown,” McAuliffe, D, said at Sunday’s event. “Instead, he didn’t stand up. He was silent. . . . Ken Cuccinelli was apparently more concerned with his reputation with the tea party than ending the government shutdown that is undermining Virginia’s economy.” - Newsleader, 10/8/13
Not to mention the shutdown has been giving McAuliffe a big boost in the polls:
http://www.wusa9.com/...
According to the latest Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University poll, Democrat Terry McAuliffe is favored for governor over Republican Ken Cuccinelli among likely voters in Virginia's gubernatorial race. Researchers say women, independents and "defecting Republican voters" give McAuliffe a 9-point lead over Cuccinelli, 47 percent to 38 percent.
Researchers add that McAuliffe holds a 5-point lead, 43 percent to 38 percent, among registered voters. Also, Libertarian Robert Sarvis was the preference of 8 percent of likely voters and 9 percent of registered voters, according to researchers.
Researchers give the following breakdown of the poll results:
"The poll shows McAuliffe with a 12-point lead among women, 50 percent to 38 percent, and a 16-point lead among independents, 45 percent to 29 percent. Cuccinelli has nearly unanimous support among Republicans who say they are most concerned with social issues (96 percent). But 11 percent of Republicans who say they are most concerned about the state's business climate say they will not vote for him - most preferring Sarvis. McAuliffe, too, shows some weakness in his base, with less support among African-American voters than President Obama in 2012 and the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate four years ago, Creigh Deeds."
In the lieutenant-governor race, the poll shows Democrat Ralph Northam leads Republican E.W. Jackson among likely voters, 48 percent to 37 percent.
The contest for attorney general race is closer: Democrat Mark Herring leads Republican Mark Obenshain among likely voters, 45 percent to 42 percent. - WUSA 9, 10/8/13
Politoc's poll gives McAuliffe an even bigger lead:
http://www.politico.com/...
McAuliffe, the former national Democratic Party chairman, is now 9 points ahead of Cuccinelli, the current state attorney general, in a race that also includes Libertarian nominee Robert Sarvis. In the survey, McAuliffe drew support from 44 percent of Virginians versus 35 percent for Cuccinelli and 12 percent for Sarvis.
Four weeks from Election Day, McAuliffe also leads Cuccinelli in a one-on-one contest, 52 percent to 42 percent.
The POLITICO poll, conducted by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling and Republican firm Harper Polling using automated survey methodology, is the first snapshot of the Virginia race to take into account the impact of the closure of the federal government. The survey tested 1,150 likely voters Oct. 5- 6 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. - Politico, 10/7/13
Not to mention this has been helping McAuliffe in the polls:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/...
To Democrats, the war on women is a winner.
Terry McAuliffe has pulled ahead of Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia governor's race almost exclusively by crushing him among female voters.
A series of McAuliffe's ads frame Cuccinelli's conservative stances on abortion, birth control and even divorce as attacks against women -- similar to the "war on women" strategy President Obama used against Mitt Romney in 2012 and that Democratic Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada, Michael Bennett of Colorado and Patty Murray of Washington used to beat back GOP opponents in 2010.
Now, in the marquee race of 2013, McAuliffe's popularity among female voters is raising Democratic hopes that the strategy will be equally effective in two of the most closely watched races of 2014: Filibustering abortion-rights hero Wendy Davis said last week she will challenge Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott for governor of Texas while North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan is fending off a Republican lawmaker who backed strict abortion limits tucked into a bill on motorcycle safety.
"What we're seeing in Virginia is incredibly validating," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which is airing a $1 million television and radio campaign against Cuccinelli. "I believe this race has set the table for these issues and for women to be determinative in 2014."
Closing the gender gap was one of the major goals identified by the Republican National Committee in a sweeping review of the 2012 election, but a new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection poll suggests the GOP is still struggling to connect with women. Only 14 percent of women said the Republican Party better represented their views. More than twice as many women, 33 percent, said the party had drifted further away, while 46 percent saw no change. - National Journal, 10/7/13
Not to mention this guy is giving Cuccinelli a major headache:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
And if a government shutdown isn’t enough to complicate Cuccinelli’s lackluster campaign, there are always the polls and Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian gubernatorial nominee. The latest numbers show Cuccinelli trailing Democrat Terry McAuliffe by about 5 points, with Sarvis running 3rd, and garnering at least 10 percent of the vote.
Third-party candidates are supposed to be asterisks or jokes, but Sarvis is neither, and that’s not good news for Cuccinelli. Sarvis, a software engineer and lawyer, is getting most of his support from white voters, men, and middle-aged Virginians. In other words, Sarvis is making a real dent among Cuccinelli’s prime voting base.
The fact that Sarvis is also doing particularly well among voters under 30 further highlights the gap between the Republican Party and younger Americans. There seems to be little that Cuccinelli can do about any of this. Underfunded, underfavored, and uncool is not where any politician wants to be. But that is exactly where Cuccinelli is right now. - Daily Beast, 10/7/13
Now all of this news is very encouraging BUT victory is only ours if our base comes out and votes. If you would like to donate or get involved with McAuliffe's campaign, you can do so here:
http://terrymcauliffe.com/