Stephanie Mencimer: I Can’t Believe Terry McAuliffe Is Going to Be Governor of Virginia

This is scathing….

Nonetheless, the time I spent covering McAuliffe—who became head of the Democratic Party during George W. Bush’s first term—has left me dumbfounded that he (according to the polls) is poised to become the next governor of Virginia.

Allow me to explain. McAuliffe represents an unseemly slice of Washington. His primary role in politics for the past two decades or more has been raising money—most notably, for the Clintons. He cooked up the idea of essentially renting out the Lincoln bedroom during the Clinton administration as a fundraising vehicle, and he smashed all previous presidential fundraising records in the process. When McAuliffe was the Dems’ top fundraiser, a campaign finance scandal besieged the Clinton White House. Coincidence? No. McAuliffe was all about pushing the envelope when it came to the political money chase.

That alone might not be enough to render him a distasteful political candidate. What’s different about McAuliffe is his brazen mixing of his campaign fundraising activity and attempts to enrich himself personally. Many of McAuliffe’s business deals have come about due to his place in the political cosmos, not because he possesses a wealth of business skill. That tangled history has linked him to a long list of unsavory characters.

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2 thoughts on “Stephanie Mencimer: I Can’t Believe Terry McAuliffe Is Going to Be Governor of Virginia

  1. Stephanie, thanks for the old news.

    The Virginia electorate was well aware of McAuliffe’s numerous “faults,” but preferred him to the extremes of the GOP sexist Cuccinelli’s war on women. You may wish to call the predictable result, “the lesser of two evils.” if it helps reduce your dumbfoundedness at Governor elect McAuliffe’s success.

  2. What’s so scathing about making money? This is America! Making money is one of the main reasons we have lead the world in so many areas. Just because it has gotten out of hand in many areas doesn’t make it anathema at all.

    McAuliffe probably won an uphill battle and turned things around for Democrats in this country because of it. He had the expertise to know how to raise money and, most important, how to use it.

    The fact that Burke has hired experienced media professionals who worked for the President’s campaigns shows that she’s had experience along those lines. It’s tragic that Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius didn’t have the same market expertise that Burke has.

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