VA GOV: Promises, Promises
The dynamics of today's final Dem debate for VA gov showed that the three candidates vying for the nomination know there's one frontrunner: Terry McAuliffe, who chaired the DNC from '01 to '05.
With three weeks until voters go to the polls to select a candidate to battle the GOP's Bob McDonnell, each of McAuliffe's rivals raised questions about the Dem's character and his vows to make big sweeping changes in the state, despite his inexperience in Richmond. McAuliffe, meanwhile, appeared to relish playing defense.
During a segment of the event sponsored by The Washington Post and News Channel 8 in which the candidates questioned each other, State Sen. Creigh Deeds rattled off a list of McAuliffe's promises to voters, ranging from paying off teachers' mortgages to making the state the film capital of the nation to building a new high school gym in Martinsville.
"Those are a few of the things you've said in public, I don't know what you've said in private," Deeds said, perched in the middle of the candidates at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale.
Later, Moran targeted McAuliffe for claiming on the campaign trail that he has created thousands of jobs. Moran said McAuliffe has suggested he's employed 100K people, which, he noted, would be "more than Bill Gates and Microsoft." Moran added that McAuliffe cashed in an investment in now-defunct telecommunications giant Global Crossing that earned him $20M (McAuliffe's team has suggested he make $8.1M, reports indicate he could have reaped as much as $18M). And Moran said that the five VA businesses McAuliffe says he created were all limited liability corporations that were run out of his McLean home and did not create jobs.
McAuliffe was unfazed. He called Moran's attack, "the politics of personal destruction."
"People are sitting home watching this today saying, 'What are you going to do for me?'" McAuliffe said. "... I can justify everything I've done."
When his turn rolled round, Moran tried another tactic, suggesting that McAuliffe, who is airing an ad that advocates for protection from payday lenders, doesn't understand how state government functions.
"I don't have time to teach you the legislative process nor do Virginians have time for you to learn," Moran said, prompting some boos in the audience.
Moran added, "This isn't the politics of division. This is the politics of record."
And on it went. The race, upended by McAuliffe's entry, remains imbalanced. A veteran of bruising national campaigns, McAuliffe seemed unmoved by the attacks of Deeds and Moran, deflecting them easily and advising, as he has throughout the contest, that he can "shake it up" in Richmond. McAuliffe said he'll think out of the box and that he hasn't been part of the partisan battles of the past.
Moran, for his part, said that having a toiled in the trenches of state government -- he was a state delegate for 13 years -- will help him get legislation through the GOP-dominated General Assembly.
"Records are important," he said. "I have a twenty year record of fighting for Virginians."
In a strong closing, Deeds cast himself as the candidate "who can go best head-to-head" against McDonnell, who resigned as AG in February to run fulltime for governor. Deeds lost the '05 AG contest to McDonnell by fewer than 400 votes, and today he said that "middle class families don't stand a chance with Bob McDonnell in the governor's mansion." He also said that McDonnell is outside the mainstream of VA voters in opposing stem cell research and a woman's right to have an abortion.
The candidates parsed positions on drilling for offshore oil. McAuliffe said no to drilling but that he wants all other options on the table, and he used the opportunity to pitch his recent endorsement by the League of Conservation Voters. "I get excited about alternative energy," he crowed, implementing a trademark line.
Meanwhile, Moran opposes offshore drilling, a position he said today is in sync with that of the U.S. Navy.
And Deeds said he'd be supportive if it's environmentally safe. "We can do the offshore drilling if we get royalty payments," Deeds said, adding, "whatever's off the coast of Virginia is not the panacea."
Not one of the candidates offered a surefire way to cure the state's traffic woes, which plague the Washington suburbs, though each advocated for high speed rail and suggested that a solution is critical to jumpstarting the state's economy.
In the waning weeks of the contest, as much was to be gleaned from the body language onstage as from the substance of the discussion.
When Deeds questioned McAuliffe, he slipped on his eyeglasses, glancing at the Dem from above the frames. He mentioned that he had solicited voter questions for his rivals in the days before the debate. Moran, by contrast, grew red in the face while querying McAuliffe. McAuliffe, always animated when speaking, mostly looked straight into the distance while his rivals answered questions. At times it appeared he wasn't even listening.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)