Republican Election Shenanigans in Virginia

AG candidate Mark Obenshain (right)

From Salon: 

Last Friday, after most of the counties had finished going through their provisional ballots but while Fairfax County still had a fair amount of work to do, the state Board of Elections issued a directive telling Fairfax County and the rest of the state boards that they cannot have legal representatives (or party lawyers) stand in for voters to advocate that certain votes be counted. Fairfax County said its representatives had been allowed to do so in the past. The state board, which has two Republican members and one Democratic member, said it issued its clarification on the legal advice of the attorney general’s office in an effort to assure uniformity. From that point on, voters would have to argue for themselves that their provisional ballots deserved counting.

Democrats cried foul, noting that the rule change emanated from failed Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s office and came after the other counties were done counting, while Herring was closing the gap. Fairfax County—it should be noted—tends to skew Democrat. It looked like a rule change midstream, intended to benefit Obenshain, the Republican. Monday, however, the Virginia Board of Elections issued a further clarification, stating that Fairfax was the only county with this supposed policy (allowing outside advocates to argue for provisional ballots) and that it would be unfair for Fairfax to use this different rule. The board further clarified Monday that a voter would not need to show up in person but could supply any missing information by email or fax.

How Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) Helped Pedophiles

Virginia: McAuliffe (D) Takes 8 Point Lead Over Cuccinelli (R)

From the Washington Post: 

The shift in the race has come almost exclusively from female voters, who prefer McAuliffe by a 24-point margin over Cuccinelli. The candidates were effectively tied among women in a Washington Post poll in May.

McAuliffe’s strength among women is likely due in part to an intense campaign to portray Cuccinelli as a threat to women and the issues they care about most deeply. A new McAuliffe ad, for instance, features a Norfolk OB-GYN speaking directly to the camera about how she is “offended” by Cuccinelli’s position on abortion.

The challenge for Cuccinelli is stark: Nearly half of all voters view him unfavorably, and they trust his opponent as much as or more than the Republican on every major issue in the race, according to the poll. On trust to handle issues of special concern to women, McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli by 23 points. 

Both candidates have very deep flaws (both have favourability numbers that are upside down) and they both have challenges which the article goes into more deeply, but it seems that Cuccenilli's negatives outweigh McAuliffe's.

How Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) Tried to Quash His Corruption Scandal

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Gambling he can start talking about issues other than himself, the Republican nominee for governor announced Tuesday that he is donating to charity $18,000 — roughly the value of controversial gifts and goodies from Jonnie Williams Sr., the rich political uncle Cuccinelli and Bob McDonnell now wish they never had.

As an exercise in damage control, it could prove too little, too late.

Republicans tried waving off Giftgate as trite and insignificant when it exploded in late March. Nearly six months later, the scandal is wrecking McDonnell’s governorship and threatens to prevent Cuccinelli’s.

Pleading poverty, Cuccinelli said in July that he could not reimburse Williams for his beneficence. That is, three getaways to Williams’ lakeside manse, one of which included a Thanksgiving feast for the Cuccinelli family; jet flights to New York; and a cache of pills manufactured by Williams’ struggling company, Star Scientific.

Ken Cuccinelli Turns on Bob McDonnell

Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA)

From the New Civil Rights Movement: 

A new Quinnipiac poll that has Cuccinelli down 6 points to Democrat Terry McAuliffe, seems to have spooked The Cooch. After weeks of hitting McAuliffe with one brutal attack ad after another, McDonnell and the Virginia Republican party seemed to have decided Governor McDonnell’s ethics scandal has become a drag on the ticket. We all know what that means, it’s under-the-bus time.

Late last week Cuccinelli released a new TV ad called “Facts”, in which he claimed credit that he “personally launched the investigation into Bob McDonnell and called for reform to strengthen ethics laws.” The ad fails to mention Cuccinelli also took $18,000 from Bob McDonnell’s sugar daddy. No doubt just an oversight.

“Cuccinelli’s actions tell me he knows he has a problem.” Chuck Todd said. He added that four months ago, Cucinelli planned on using his close relationship with Bob McDonnell to persuade moderates he was not as conservative as they might think.

Michael Steele, past chairman of the RNC, analyzed Cuccinelli’s old McDonnell problem. “The voters of Virginia know that the governor is not going to be on the ballot. They can’t show their disgust, disdain, dislike for what he’s done at the ballot box. The next best thing is to take it out on the leading candidate for the GOP.”

Virginia GOP Advisor Favors Terry McAuliffe (D-VA)

McAuliffe (left) & Cuccinelli (right)

From Washington Post: 

"Re: St. Petersburg International Film Festival / "Guest of Honor" Invitation

Dear Ms. Averbakh:

- See more at: http://instinctmagazine.com/post/wentworth-miller-rejects-russian-film-festival-invite-gay-man-i-must-decline#sthash.jlqCOZ9u.dpuf

Boyd Marcus, a veteran Republican political consultant whose client list has included U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, is endorsing Democrat Terry R. McAuliffe and advising his campaign against GOP nominee Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia’s neck-and-neck race for governor.

The announcement by McAuliffe’s campaign, confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday in a phone interview with Marcus, rocked Virginia politics and exposed the clearest sign to date of bad blood within the GOP between its establishment and the tea party conservatives who comprise Cuccinelli’s ardent army and control the state Republican Party machinery.

Marcus, who most recently guided the aborted gubernatorial campaign of Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, became a paid adviser to McAuliffe knowing it would sever many longtime GOP ties for him. But he felt it necessary.

“I was looking at the candidates, and I saw Terry McAuliffe as the guy who will work with everybody to get things done,” Marcus told the AP in a telephone interview...

Virginia Gubernatorial Race: MacAuliffe Leads Cuccinelli

Terry MacAuliffe

From Huffington Post: 

Democrat Terry McAuliffe has a 6-point lead over Republican state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, with McAuliffe taking 48 percent to Cuccinelli's 42 percent among Virginians likely to vote in this year's election.

Neither candidate is especially popular, and both have faced a spate of unflattering headlines: Cuccinelli received thousands of dollars in gifts from a controversial political donor, while an electric car company McAuliffe helped to found is under investigation by the SEC.

Voters were torn on McAuliffe, with 34 percent viewing him favorably, 33 percent unfavorably, and 31 percent saying they hadn't heard enough. Cuccinelli had more detractors, with 35 percent rating him favorably, 41 percent unfavorably, and 22 percent undecided.

Few believe the race has focused on the issues: only 32 percent said Cuccinelli spends more time outlining his ideas than attacking McAuliffe, and just a quarter thought McAuliffe spent more of his time explaining his platform.

Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) Gets Trolled on Facebook

To Cenk's point at the end, it is completely valid. Some people, primarily Cuccinelli's supporters, would say that it is none of anyone's business what Mr. Cuccinelli does with his wife. I would have two responses to this claim. One: if it is none of the voters' business what an elected official does with his partner, why is what the voters do with their partners any of the government's business? Two: what we are really talking about is whether or not the potential governor - leader of the Commonwealth of Virginia - has violated the very law for which he has ardently expressed support on multiple occasions. Asking a political candidate whether or not he has broken a law is completely above board. If the question is of too personal a nature for him to want to answer, then he needs to re-evaluate his support of that law.

This trolling couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.

Cuccinelli Makes Virginia a Punchline...Literally

GOP Candidate Ken Cuccinelli & Southwest Virginia

From Tricities.com:

...Unfortunately, Ken Cuccinelli realizes this area exists; it is his target for creating greater disparity, less hope for jobs, and diminished health care, while literally making false plans for what he calls tax equity. 

By the proposed elimination of coal employment tax credits, Cuccinelli would place at risk the remaining 5,100 direct coal miner jobs that depend on these incentives to be competitive in the global energy market. 

Cuccinelli's opposition to the state transportation plan, which he refuses to say whether he would retain or repeal, places at risk the construction of the so-called Coalfield Expressway, a $5 billion highway that would break the isolation of the region and create hundreds of public-private construction jobs and new manufacturing opportunities. 

The attorney general's shrill opposition to Medicaid extension would not only deny health care services to 400,000 poor, blind, elderly and disabled Virginians, but specifically 25,000 to 30,000 in the coalfields...

The sad thing is that many of the people very likely to vote for (from a demographic perspective) are also very likely to be negatively affected by his policies should he win the gubernatorial election. 

E.W. Jackson Is Not Ready For Virginia

For those who do not know, this man - E.W. Jackson - is the man the Virginia Republicans chose to be their candidate for Lt. Governor in the 2013 election. With that context in mind, let's move on...

Jackson has every right to express his views, both as a citizen and as a candidate. Having said that, the views he is expressing do not paint a flattering picture of him. His campaign thus far has been marked by statements that are very far out of line with mainstream Virginia. For example, he went on-record as saying that practicing Yoga can lead to satanic possession. He also has gone out of his way to talk about how evil homosexuality is, even tweeting that gays are "icky." Does this sound like a man who is running for the #2 office in a swing state? If Bishop Jackson is being marginalized, it is solely because he himself has placed himself on the margins of today's Virginia.

As far as being persecuted, only overly-sensitive politicians say that. He is not being persecuted, he is being called on his crap.  There is a huge difference between the two. Politics is an arena where you have to learn how to take a hit. This is what happens when you put yourself out there in the spotlight for millions of people to see and hear. People will disagree with you no matter what position you take on any given issue. When they disagree, they will voice that disagreement. That is how democracy works. That is how freedom of speech works. Those are clearly two notions with which Bishop Jackson is unfamiliar. I guess being in a church where everyone agrees with you has made Bishop Jackson unfamiliar with dissent. Jackson needs to realize that he is on a statewide stage engaging in a dialogue with potential constituents to whom he would have to answer, not in a church performing a sermon. If he can not stomach hearing disagreement then his skin is far too thin for politics.

I also believe that it is categorically pretentious of Jackson to say that he is representing every Bible-believing Christian. Wrong again Sir. I am sure there are lots of Bible-believing Christians in the Commonwealth who hear what this guy has to say and think "Is this guy for real?" Sure, he represents SOME Christians, but only the ones who are to the far right of the political spectrum. The mere fact that Bryan Fischer, the leader of a group (the American Family Association) which is widely considered to be a hate group is on his side, speaks volumes. Both men are incredibly out of the mainstream of America in general and Virginia more specifically.

After their 2012 autopsy it seemed clear that the GOP needed to modernize and get in-line with an ever-changing America, especially in swing states like Virginia. Apparently the GOP's Virginia sect did not get the memo. Now they are stuck with a candidate who acts like he is running for Preacher-in-Chief. Instead of focusing on the bread-and-butter issues facing the Commonwealth, he is focusing on fire and brimstone. Virginia needs (and deserves) serious candidates and serious problem-solvers, not punch lines.

Virginia Republican: Yoga Leads To Satanic Possession

From Huffington Post: 

E.W. Jackson, Virginia's GOP lieutenant governor candidate, is no stranger to controversy. A conservative pastor, Jackson has previously come under fire for comparing Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan, calling gay rights "ikky" and saying President Barack Obama has a "Muslim perspective." 

This week, Jackson is being skewered yet again -- this time for saying that doing yoga may leave unsuspecting people vulnerable to satanic possession. 

In a post for the National Review on Wednesday, Betsy Woodruff highlighted some quotes from Jackson's 2008 book Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life: Making Your Dreams Come True. Among them was one about the hazards of yoga. 

"When one hears the word meditation, it conjures an image of Maharishi Yoga talking about finding a mantra and striving for nirvana," Jackson wrote in his book, according to Woodruff. "The purpose of such meditation is to empty oneself. [Satan] is happy to invade the empty vacuum of your soul and possess it. Beware of systems of spirituality which tell you to empty yourself. You will end up filled with something you probably do not want."

Jackson was chosen to be the GOP nominee for Lt. Governor by way of a sparsely attended convention instead of having a statewide primary vote. You would think that they would have chosen a reasonable candidate with a level head. Instead, they chose Jackson, who is very far out of the mainstream. In an increasingly purple state like Virginia, such a candidate will have a difficult time getting elected. His running mate, Ken Cuccinelli (who is quite out of the mainstream himself) is ever-so-delicately distancing himself from Jackson's extreme statements, which show no signs of ending. Cuccinelli has stated that he will not spend his campaign defending what Jackson says.

Jackson's views will quite likely only serve to make his fellow Republican candidates (Cuccinelli for governor and Mark Obenshain for attorney general) look extreme by association. As I have stated before, it appears that the GOP has not learned from the mistakes of the 2012 election.

GOP Women Running From Virginia's GOP Ticket

From Politicus USA: 

Former President of the Virginia Federation of Republican Women Jan Schar and former Republican and Independent Delegate Katherine Waddell are reportedly none too impressed by the Virginia GOP gubernatorial ticket of Ken Cuccinelli and EW Jackson. Speaking to Lowkell at Blue Virginia Wednesday morning, Waddell called “the worst ticket ever”, adding that she was “completely embarrassed and mortified by the Republican ticket of Cuccinelli and Jackson.” 

Jan Schar told Blue Virginia that although she’s been a Republican for years, “I simply cannot support them,” as they would “end a woman’s right to make her own health care choices, including access to birth control.” 

Schar was disturbed by the Republican ticket’s attack on Planned Parenthood, “which does so much good for women in Virginia…. to call them a racist group is simply beyond the pale and hopefully will frighten Virginians from voting for them. This team of three would take us back to their ideology.” Schar concluded, “I know so many Republicans who just can’t support [this ticket].” 

Waddell (I/R) called Cuccinelli “extreme”, according to Blue Virigina, due in part to his “dangerous… anti-woman health agenda.” Reacting to the ticket’s charges against Planned Parenthood, she pointed out that it made “absolutely no sense to accuse Planned Parenthood of being a racist organization; it’s an organization which brings much needed health care to many.” 

Election 2013: Virginia's Extreme GOP Slate

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The Virginia GOP's Ticket Problem

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: 

“Something happened that wasn’t supposed to,” [campaign strategist Kenny] Klinge said Tuesday. 

That “something” was the repudiation of what remains of Establishment Republicanism. 

Senior party officials and legislators were perceived by the grass roots — religious conservatives, gun-rights activists, tea partiers and home-schoolers — as intent on installing a mainstream candidate, presumably social-media millionaire Pete Snyder.

~

The first problem this ticket must solve: erase the impression that party leaders aren’t fully behind it. 

During the protracted balloting — it went four rounds before Jackson was declared the winner — backstairs talks began, aimed at stopping Jackson, according to operatives. The objective: force Corey Stewart, the immigrant-hostile Prince William County supervisor and tea-party favorite, to endorse Snyder. 

The talks included Republican senators for whom the stakes of the lieutenant governor election are especially high. The Virginia Senate is evenly divided — 20 Democrats, 20 Republicans. But a GOP lieutenant governor currently guarantees the party’s control. If Republicans lose for lieutenant governor; in effect, they lose the Senate. And that could cripple a Ken Cuccinelli governorship.

Sanford Pulls Out a Win

Tweet of the Day: May 7, 2013

Congressional Debate or Jerry Springer Episode?

Mark Sanford Loses GOP Backing

From Politico:

“Mark Sanford has proven he knows what it takes to win elections. At this time, the NRCC will not be engaged in this special election,” said Andrea Bozek, an NRCC spokeswoman.

Sanford is facing Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, a Clemson University administrator and sister of comedian Stephen Colbert, in a race that has grabbed the national spotlight.

The NRCC’s move comes hours after Tuesday night’s report by the Associated Press that Sanford’s ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, filed a court complaint accusing him of trespassing at her home in early February – which would be a violation of the terms of their divorce agreement.

Republicans said they were caught off guard by news of Jenny Sanford’s complaint. They worry other damaging revelations about Mark Sanford’s personal life that they aren’t aware of could come out in the coming weeks.

The NRCC has spent a nominal amount on the race on polling and other activities. But officials determined that devoting potentially millions more — which was under discussion — isn’t worth it.

Virginia GOP Candidate Ripped By Business Leaders

From Politico:

...In a weekend interview with POLITICO, however, [Gary] Shapiro [CEO of the Arlington-based Consumer Electronics Association] expressed deep reservations about Cuccinelli and said he feared hard-core social conservative policies would make Virginia less attractive for business.

“I’ve told Cuccinelli I would not support him,” said Shapiro,an independent who supported Mitt Romney last year and has criticized Cuccinelli in a Washington Post op-ed. “Virginia’s incredible tilt rightward, thanks to a lot of Cuccinelli initiatives, has not been helpful at promoting Virginia as a diverse, pro-business state.”

With Cuccinelli as the national party’s most prominent off-year candidate, Shapiro said he was concerned about “how the United States views Republicans in 2013.”

That’s partly why Friday’s back-and-forth is so embarrassing for Cuccinelli: A coming-out party for the attorney general in front of a national big money crowd turned into another reminder of the internal difficulties he’s faced since pushing Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling from the race in November...