Mcauliffe, Cuccinelli Take Their
Bitter Battle To The Airwaves
(By Laura Vozzella and Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, 25
September 2013)
Democrat
Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli II brought their bitterly
personal battle for governor to a crucial debate in Northern Virginia on
Wednesday night, each casting the other as unfit for office, untrustworthy and
wrong for the commonwealth. McAuliffe
hammered Cuccinelli, the state’s attorney general, on conservative social
stances that he contends are too extreme for Virginians. And Cuccinelli said
McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman who has never held
elective office, lacks the gravitas and experience to lead the state. “There are consequences to this mean-spirit
attack on women’s health, on gay Virginians,” McAuliffe said. “If we’re going
to build a new economy in Virginia, we’re going to do it by bringing everyone
together.”
( Read a transcript of the debate )
Cuccinelli
fought back by highlighting two recent business endorsements and the softer
side of his record, including working with homeless and mentally ill people,
helping to free a wrongly convicted man, and establishing a program to help
victims of sexual assaults on college campuses.
“I’m the only candidate in this race with a lifetime of fighting for
Virginians,” Cuccinelli said. “I’ve also served in state government for over 10
years. And I know how it works. I’m the only candidate in this race who won’t
need on-the-job training.”
The debate
came at a pivotal moment in the race for governor, with recent polls showing
McAuliffe building a small but solid lead. Yet both candidates carry political
baggage that has limited their likability with voters and given each an opening
to attack the other. McAuliffe linked
Cuccinelli to the tea party movement that has helped fuel a threat to shut down
the federal government, while Cuccinelli cast his opponent as a glib operator
who improperly mixes business and politics.
“If Terry becomes governor, we’ll have to change the state’s motto from
‘sic semper tyrannis’ to ‘quid pro quo,’ ” Cuccinelli said. Earlier, he said: “My opponent has spent a
lot of time telling you why you shouldn’t vote for me for governor but not much
time telling you why you should vote for him.”
There was no
obvious gaffe in the debate, and the sparring featured no game-changing
pronouncements or exchanges. When McAuliffe said he would sign legislation to
legalize gay marriage, Cuccinelli corrected him on a point of process: That
sort of change would not come by way of a bill but as an amendment to the
Virginia Constitution. Both men ducked
questions: McAuliffe on the cost of raising teachers’ salaries, funding
pre-kindergarten programs and other priorities on his agenda; Cuccinelli on
what tax loopholes he would close to pay for his promised $1.4 billion tax cut.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Cuccinelli said it would take him a year to
determine what to eliminate. Cuccinelli
also ducked a question about why he accepted $18,000 in gifts from a Richmond
area businessman, instead pointing to the fact he met the businessman through
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R).
The recent
polls highlighted what has become a central theme of the race: Cuccinelli’s
record on issues of importance to women. The topic arose during the debate, with
McAuliffe casting Cuccinelli as a threat to women, and Cuccinelli on the
defensive. McAuliffe cast himself as a
bipartisan businessman who would place the state economy above everything. He
emphasized that he would govern as a moderate, repeatedly invoking the word
“mainstream” and the fact that some Republicans have crossed party lines to
endorse him. When asked about a Virginia
law that prevents many school districts from opening before Labor Day,
McAuliffe said he supports it because it helps the tourism industry. “The tourism business is too important,” he
said. Cuccinelli shot back: “Children
outrank tourism.”
The
Republican sought to cast himself as the only experienced leader in the race.
His effort to soften his image came just days after two new polls showed that
nearly half of all voters view him unfavorably.
Cuccinelli had some of the best lines of the night, which came as a
surprise given the former engineer’s generally understated manner and his dour
tone in the last debate. “Unlike my opponent, I do my homework,” Cuccinelli
said, playing up a narrative that came into focus after McAuliffe bungled an
endorsement interview with a business group.
On gun
control and the recent Washington Navy Yard shooting, Cuccinelli said the
answer was better mental-health care. McAuliffe said he supports universal
background checks for gun buyers. On the threat of a government shutdown over
whether to defund the Affordable Care Act, Cuccinelli countered that although
he wants to defund Obamacare, he also recognizes that both parties must
compromise. “None of us want to see a
government shutdown,” Cuccinelli said, declining to say whether he supports
efforts by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to delay funding legislation and force a
confrontation in Congress. “Since I’m running for governor, this is not the
kind of thing you’d see in a Cuccinelli governorship.” Cuccinelli accused McAuliffe of threatening a
budget showdown of his own, based on McAuliffe’s statement at several campaign
appearances that he would not sign a budget unless it expanded Medicaid. “You’ve heard over and over here tonight on
how this is his major funding mechanism for doing everything he wants to do,”
Cuccinelli said. “This is not an appropriate tactic.” Then he added: “If you like the way
Washington works, you will like Governor McAuliffe.”
Neither
candidate took a position on one of the more surprising questions from
moderator Chuck Todd, chief White House correspondent for NBC News: Whether the
Washington Redskins should change the team’s name because some people find it
offensive. In a rare moment of agreement, both men said it was not their place
to tell a private enterprise what to call itself. The candidates opened the forum with
endearing biographical details. Cuccinelli recalled a grandfather who worked in
a scrap yard and as a “bare-knuckle boxer.” McAuliffe, often derided as a
carpetbagger, noted that he and his wife have lived in McLean for two decades
and raised five children there. The
debate, sponsored by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and NBC4 Washington
at the Capital One Conference Center, was a high-stakes appearance for both
candidates in a state that has tended to choose middle-of-the-road governors.
The only
competitive governor’s race in the country this year, the contest has drawn
national attention and millions in out-of-state funding. McAuliffe leads by 47 percent to 39 percent
among likely voters, according to a Washington Post poll released this week,
which also put Libertarian Party candidate Robert Sarvis at 10 percent. It was
a tighter race, 49 percent to 44 percent, between McAuliffe and Cuccinelli
without Sarvis in the mix, the poll found.
Sarvis was not included in the debate but attended to draw attention to
his exclusion. He said he hopes to be included in the next debate, at Virginia
Tech on Oct. 24. “It would be much
better with me in it,” Sarvis said. “It would be more substantive, less
negative. I’d be talking issues.”
Auliffe
Avoids Position On EPA Rules, Cuccinelli Dodges On House Spending Vote
(By Ben Pershing and
Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, September 20, 2013)
Just before
9 a.m. Friday, the Obama administration issued
strict new carbon emissions limits that could have a major impact on
Virginia’s coal and electricity industries. Two hours later, the Republican-led
House approved
a bill that would keep the government running for a few months but withhold
funding for the Affordable Care Act, potentially increasing the chances of a
federal shutdown Oct. 1. The
back-to-back events put both Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) and
businessman Terry McAuliffe (D) on the spot, as the two leading candidates
to be Virginia’s next governor each avoided taking clear positions on the
actions of their fellow party members.
McAuliffe and Cuccinelli both gave lunchtime speeches at a
small-business summit in Fairfax, and Cuccinelli made a point of condemning
the EPA’s proposed rules, saying they would effectively prohibit the
construction of coal-fired power plants, further devastate the commonwealth’s
hard-hit coal fields and boost energy prices for everyone. “The administration renewed its war on coal
today,” Cuccinelli said, adding — as he often does — that “a war on coal is a
war on the poor” and that Virginia “needs a governor who’ll fight for those
folks” who depend on the coal industry. McAuliffe’s
campaign issued a statement reserving judgment on the new rules. “Terry agrees with the broad swath of
scientists, economists, and military leaders, who view climate change as a
looming problem for Virginia,” campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin wrote in an
e-mail. “While he agrees that there needs to be some limit on carbon pollution
and believes that Virginia can and should lead the way in building new plants
that create low-cost, low-carbon energy, he looks forward to further reviewing
the President’s proposed rules in detail and studying their impact on
Virginia’s economy.”
McAuliffe reiterated those points while speaking to
reporters after his speech Friday. He said he would review the new rules “very
quickly” but would not specify how long it would be before he would take a firm
position on them. McAuliffe also did not give a direct answer when asked
whether he believed any more coal-fired power plants should be built in
Virginia. (He said during the 2009 Democratic primary that he
hoped to never see another coal plant open in Virginia.) During his speech at the summit, McAuliffe
sought to link Cuccinelli to the Republicans on Capitol Hill who believe
Congress should not approve another short-term spending bill unless it defunds
Obama’s health-care measure. “I hope
when he speaks here today, Mr. Cuccinelli will encourage his tea party allies
in Congress to stop using the threat of a federal government shutdown to
achieve their ideological goals,” McAuliffe said. “These are my opponent’s top
allies and supporters, and he has an obligation to protect Virginia.”Cuccinelli did not address the issue during his remarks, and he did not speak to reporters after the event because, his campaign said, he was late for a session to prepare for next week’s candidates’ debate. Asked whether Cuccinelli had a position on linking Affordable Care Act funding to the government spending bill, Cuccinelli spokesman Richard Cullen did not give a direct answer and instead turned his fire on McAuliffe. “It’s pretty rich that in the same week it was revealed that Terry McAuliffe wants to shut down Virginia’s government, he’s now focused on whether the federal government is going to do the same,” Cullen said, referring to remarks by McAuliffe that he would not sign a budget as governor if it did not include funds for expanding Medicaid. “No one wants to see the federal government shut down, period. Ken Cuccinelli is not running for Congress, he’s running for governor. . . . Ken Cuccinelli would more than welcome a debate with Terry McAuliffe on the issue of Obamacare.”
Cuccinelli gave
a similar answer in the past when asked whether he would support a proposed
comprehensive immigration bill, noting: “I am running for governor. That’s a
state office.” But he also made a point
of taking
a clear stance against military intervention in Syria this month, while
criticizing McAuliffe for declining to take a position. “How is that even possible? I’ve yet to meet
one person who doesn’t have strong feelings about this issue,” Cuccinelli
wrote of Syria on his Facebook page.
Mcauliffe On Defensive As Cuccinelli Gets A Boost
(By Laura Vozzella, Washington Post,
18 September 2013)
Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that he
knew nothing about a failed effort by his supporters to wrest an important
business endorsement from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, his Republican
rival in the governor’s race. McAuliffe
also dismissed accounts that he had flubbed his interview for that endorsement
by touting his ability to schmooze. And he backed off a campaign pledge that
Republicans said amounted to a threat to shut down the government over Medicaid. McAuliffe made those comments on a morning
that began with a new Quinnipiac
University poll showing
the pair in a virtual tie. Talking with reporters after a Richmond forum on the
economy and education, McAuliffe was on the defensive on a number of issues
even as he projected an air of confidence.
“I’m not paying attention to polls,” he said. “I feel great about where
we are.”
Cuccinelli, who
also spoke at the forum, relished a seeming change in fortune, beginning with
revelations over the weekend that McAuliffe supporters had tried to pressure
the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s political arm to reverse its plan to
endorse Cuccinelli. “I think we have a
lot of momentum, especially this week after the NVTC endorsement and how the
other side handled it,” Cuccinelli said.
The NVTC’s TechPAC voted to endorse Cuccinelli last week but held off
announcing that endorsement after McAuliffe allies protested. The Democrat’s
camp devoted the weekend to furious but ultimately fruitless arm-twisting.
Cuccinelli formally received the nod Monday.
Asked about the
behind-the-scenes push to change the endorsement, McAuliffe said he was in the
dark. “I don’t know anything about it,” he said, pivoting immediately to
another subject. The endorsement episode
seemed especially damaging to McAuliffe because some members of TechPAC board’s
said McAuliffe came off as ill-prepared and superficial in his interview with
the group. As an Irish Catholic, he’d be good at schmoozing with people to
support his agenda over drinks, McAuliffe told the board, two members told The
Washington Post. “These were partisan
attacks. I mean, come on,” McAuliffe said when asked about the account. “I
think what everybody knows is the amount of time that I have spent traveling to
every nook and cranny in Virginia, talking about those issues that matter. I
have put out a very substantive policy plan on all different issues. This is
what I talk about from morning till night, seven days a week.”
McAuliffe also
seemed to back off what had sounded like a solemn vow: not to sign a budget
that does not include money to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
GOP leaders have said the campaign promise amounts to a threat to shut down the
government given
opposition to expanding the health-care program in the Republican-dominated
House. Asked whether he really meant
that he would not sign a budget without the expansion, McAuliffe said: “I
always say, ‘Please make sure you send a budget that has the Medicaid
expansion.’ ” He has left off the “please” in at least three campaign
appearances. When pressed on his
previous statements, McAuliffe suggested that he could talk reluctant
Republicans into supporting expansion with a series of one-on-one meetings over
meals. “Here’s what we’re gonna do,
after I get elected, the day after I get elected, I’m going to spend the
ensuing couple months — I’m going to visit every single Republican House of
Delegates member, every Republican state senator,” he said. “Breakfast, lunch,
dinner, whatever it may be. I’m going to visit every single one of them.”
The candidates
gave back-to-back addresses at the Virginia Summit on Economic Competitiveness
and Higher Education, held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. In his speech, McAuliffe stressed the need
for Virginia to diversify its economy through investments in education,
particularly with the state’s defense-heavy economy likely to take a hit from
federal budget cuts. He also said that Cuccinelli would make the state seem
unwelcoming to scientists and gay university professors because of his
conservative stance on gay rights and his “witch hunt” against a University of
Virginia climate scientist. “The
commonwealth is a place [where] our professors, our scientists and innovators
feel welcome,” McAuliffe said. “We cannot be putting walls up around Virginia.
We have to attract the best and brightest.”
Cuccinelli
touched on plans to promote school choice and shape energy policy. Happily
playing the wonk, he delved into the nitty-gritty on some of those items and
directed the audience to look up his detailed policy proposals on his campaign
Web site. “If you’re having trouble
sleeping, you can try to read them all at once,” he said. The speeches themselves fed into the
narrative that emerged from the TechPAC flap: that McAuliffe is breezy while
Cuccinelli grasps the details and gravity of the job. Both candidates had 45
minutes to address the group. Cuccinelli gave a 39- minute address heavy on
wonky details. McAuliffe gave his standard 16-minute stump speech.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcauliffe-on-defensive-as-cuccinelli-gets-a-boost/2013/09/18/6a81f7d4-206a-11e3-8459-657e0c72fec8_story.html
Our Choice For Governor In 2013: None Of The Above
(By Richmond
Times Dispatch editorial board 20 October 20, 2013)
The words that follow should not come as a
surprise. During recent months, numerous editorials in The Times-Dispatch have
lamented the gubernatorial campaign. The
major-party candidates have earned the citizenry’s derision. The third-party
alternative has run a more exemplary race yet does not qualify as a suitable
option. We cannot in good conscience endorse a candidate for governor. This does not gladden us. Circumstance has
brought us to this pass. This marks, we believe, the first time in modern
Virginia that The Times-Dispatch has not endorsed a gubernatorial nominee.
The displeasure
with the gubernatorial contenders does not apply to the rest of the statewide
tickets, as the editorials below suggest.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli rigged the process for the Republican
nomination when his minions changed the system from a primary to a convention,
which they considered more likely to produce their desired outcome. The switch
mocked Cuccinelli’s advertised fealty to first principles. The expression of
raw power would have delighted sachems of Tammany Hall. Virginia does not
welcome an in-your-face governor.
McAuliffe
received the Democratic nomination by default. His bid for the 2009 nod failed
miserably. A weak bench left him as the
only one in 2013’s game. Republican gerrymandering contributed to this. When
they redrew electoral maps after the 2010 census, Republicans in the House of
Delegates eviscerated the district held by Ward Armstrong, floor leader of the
chamber’s Democrats. If Armstrong had
not lost his seat, he would have rated as a formidable candidate for governor.
The Times-Dispatch would have endorsed him over Cuccinelli; we would have
endorsed Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling over McAuliffe.
McAuliffe’s
performance four years ago offered glimpses of his persistent debilities. He
lost the nomination in large part because he and fellow challenger Brian Moran
spent the campaign spitting on each other.
Creigh Deeds won by staying above the fray. McAuliffe may be a
deal-maker, but he is not the conciliator necessary in times as nasty as these. Libertarian Robert Sarvis has neither
embarrassed himself nor insulted the commonwealth. He lacks the experience the
job demands, however. Moreover, while
The Times-Dispatch finds considerable merit in the libertarian ethos, the
libertarian ideology is a luxury afforded by a political, economic and social
climate that, despite the nation’s commitment to liberty, was not created by
libertarian doctrine. We fear Sarvis would be in over his head. Still, a vote for him would not be wasted but
would serve notice to Republicans and Democrats that the electorate rejects
their surly antics. Citizens whose votes reflect their ideals do not throw away
their ballots.
On Sunday, Oct.
13, The Times-Dispatch’s news pages featured a summary of the three
gubernatorial candidates’ positions on various issues. Readers learned that the
contest cannot be reduced to one of good versus evil or to one of communism
versus fascism. Most of our brief relates to political character. All three support the Second Amendment,
although McAuliffe appears more amenable to restrictions on the right to bear
arms. As governor, none would attempt to remove guns from the hands of the
law-abiding. On social issues such as
abortion and homosexual rights, Cuccinelli not only takes stands we find
objectionable but pursues his divisive agenda with a stridency that was
unbecoming in an attorney general and would be unbecoming in a governor. We do
not support abortion for any reason at any time and have embraced bans on
late-term abortions, for instance; we remain troubled by Cuccinelli’s approach
to personhood and to regulations on clinics. Questions involving abortion will
be resolved not by government policy but by transformation of the human heart. Cuccinelli’s hostility to marriage equality
offends. The rights applying to human beings by definition apply to
homosexuals. The concerns relating to Cuccinelli do not relate to McAuliffe and
Sarvis. In any case, the challenges
confronting Virginia’s next governor will concern the economy and related
matters.
We disagree with
Cuccinelli’s opposition to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s transportation package.
McAuliffe scores points here. The Democrat stumbles when he proposes major
spending hikes, which he claims can be financed by the federal dollars the
state would receive by expanding Medicaid. He offers an easy answer to a tough
question. His inclinations do not
conform to Virginia’s history of fiscal restraint. Regarding uranium mining,
the three wannabes opt to lead from behind.
On energy generally, McAuliffe has spun like a top and now supports
items he once opposed, such as the exploration for energy sources off
Virginia’s shores. Cuccinelli and Sarvis did not need electoral considerations
to persuade them to do the right thing. McAuliffe’s endorsement of the EPA’s
new regulations on coal-fired power plants counters sentiment in Virginia’s
coalfields, nevertheless.
All the
candidates favor top-quality education, imagine that. Their platforms conform
to nostrums offered by their respective philosophical inclinations. We see
little to repudiate out of hand; little thrills us, either. Education reform is
a tough slog and must coincide with a comprehensive assault on poverty and
family disintegration. Experience makes
a difference, and Cuccinelli, McAuliffe and Sarvis fall short. Cuccinelli may
have performed the legal tasks of his office with professional competence, but
his focus raises questions about his gubernatorial ambitions. As AG, he stressed things he did not have to,
and, if he stayed in character, he would do the same as governor.
McAuliffe styles
himself a businessman and entrepreneur. He inhabits the crossroads where the
public and private sectors intersect and sometimes collide. His experience with
GreenTech does not generate confidence. He located the plant in Mississippi,
which is not known for its social enlightenment. The company has not lived up
to expectations. If it eventually does, no credit will accrue to McAuliffe, for
he has, he says, stepped away from it. He is not the reincarnation of Henry
Ford.His ignorance of state government is laughable and makes Rick Perry, the
notorious governor of Texas, look like a Founding Father.
Sarvis has no
experience applicable to the governorship, period. Being a fine fellow is not
enough. The encouraging news is that an excellent and loyal state workforce
will ensure that Virginia will win high marks for efficiency and management,
regardless of the person elected to lead the commonwealth.
And so it has
come to this. Voters do not expect perfection in candidates. No one is always
right. Hubris claims many at all points along the political spectrum. In the past, The Times-Dispatch has endorsed
candidates with varying degrees of enthusiasm. We find it impossible to endorse
any of the 2013 candidates with even minimal zeal. Elections make voters complicit in the
government they receive. If we would not
urge a family member to vote this way or that, then we have no business
recommending Cuccinelli, McAuliffe or Sarvis to our readers. Virginians of a poetical bent understand why
Abelard and Heloise retreated to “the deep solitudes and awful cells, where
heavn’ly-pensive contemplation dwells.” We have had enough.
The Richmond Times Dispatch’s Non-Endorsement
— And What It Means
(By Chris Cillizza, Washington Post, 21 October 2013)
The major-party candidates have earned the citizenry’s
derision. The third-party alternative has run a more exemplary race yet does
not qualify as a suitable option. We cannot in good conscience endorse a
candidate for governor. This does not gladden us. Circumstance has brought
us to this pass. This marks, we believe, the first time in modern Virginia that
The Times-Dispatch has not endorsed a gubernatorial nominee.
Ouch.
Anytime there’s noteworthy endorsement or, in this case,
non-endorsement we like to roll out the Fix
Endorsement Hierarchy – our look at which endorsements matter, which don’t
and how they all fit together. On its
face, the RTD op-ed is a clear example of a non-endorsement endorsement. (For a
full list of every category in the Fix Endorsement Hierarchy, scroll to the
bottom of this page.) You could also call this the
you-say-it-best-when-you-say-nothing-at-all endorsement because in not
endorsing in the race, the RTD is making its views on the contest quite clear.
Here’s why: The Times-Dispatch editorial board is reliably
conservative. In 2009, they endorsed then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R).
The RTD
endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign. The paper
endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential race. In short, its editorial
board reliably backs GOP candidates. Which means its non-endorsement is rightly
read as a negative commentary on the candidacy of state Attorney General Ken
Cuccinelli.
Just in case you missed that memo, the RTD drives the point
home with a slashing rhetorical assault on Cuccinelli’s work to change the
nomination process from a primary to a convention, which virtually ensured that
the most conservative candidate (him) would win the Republican nomination. “The
expression of raw power would have delighted sachems of Tammany Hall,” wrote
the editorial board. “Virginia does not welcome an in-your-face governor.” (You
can bet that last line will wind up in an ad for Democrat Terry McAuliffe
sometime very soon.)
In short, Cuccinelli lost by not winning. The seeming
neutrality of the RTD’s decision to stay out of the race isn’t neutral at all.
It takes an expected validator for Cuccinelli off the table. Is this make or break for Cuccinelli?
Absolutely not. As we have long noted when it comes to endorsements, most don’t
matter. This one may matter more than most, however, because it plays
into the idea — long forwarded by McAuliffe and his allies — that even many
loyal Republicans can’t support Cuccinelli.
The Fix Endorsement Hierarchy (ranked in order of
influence)
* The Symbolic Endorsement: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush
endorsing Mitt Romney for president.
* The National Endorsement: Former Minnesota governor Tim
Pawlenty for Romney.
* The In-State Statewide Endorsement: Florida Gov. Charlie
Crist throwing his support to Sen. John McCain just before the Sunshine State
presidential primary in 2008.
* The Celebrity Endorsement: Chuck Norris for Huckabee in
2008; Oprah for Obama.
* The Newspaper Endorsement: The Washington Post endorsing
state Sen. Creigh Deeds in the 2009 Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary.
* The What Goes Around Comes Around Endorsement: Former New
York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsing Rubio.
* The Obligatory Endorsement: George W. Bush endorsing
McCain’s presidential bid in 2008.
* The “Me for Me” Endorsement: Former senator Chuck Hagel
(R-Neb.) endorsing Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak’s (D) 2010 Senate campaign.
* The Non-Endorsement Endorsement: Louisiana Gov. Bobby
Jindal (R) passing on an endorsement of Sen. David Vitter’s (R) 2010 reelection
bid.
* The Backfire Endorsement: Former Vice President Al Gore
endorsing former Vermont governor Howard Dean in the 2004 presidential race.
* The Pariah Endorsement: Jailed former congressman Randy
“Duke” Cunningham backing Newt Gingrich.
Greentech Fits Pattern Of Investment That Has Made Big Profits For Mcauliffe
(By Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten, Washington Post, 21 September 2013)
The pitches to potential investors in a new electric-car company have been unabashed about its promise: It will enjoy “billions” in government subsidies and tax credits, will rise to a dominant position in the U.S. electric-car industry and, perhaps most critically, has a politically connected founder with the savvy to make it all happen.
That founder, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D), is listed in a recent confidential memorandum to prospective investors as GreenTech Automotive’s “chairman emeritus.” The 70-page document includes photographs and references to McAuliffe’s close ties to former president Bill Clinton. It recounts his political pedigree in detail, from serving as finance director for Jimmy Carter’s 1980 presidential reelection campaign to breaking fundraising records for the Democratic Party and chairing Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign.
A section dedicated to GreenTech’s public relations efforts cites only one specific initiative: McAuliffe’s past promotion of electric vehicles on “national television news programs.” Dated March 12, the previously undisclosed prospectus, provided to The Washington Post by the nonprofit watchdog group Cause of Action, notes that McAuliffe is “currently the largest individual shareholder” of GreenTech. The prospectus, along with other documents reviewed by The Post, shows how GreenTech fits into a pattern of investments in which McAuliffe has used government programs, political connections and access to wealthy investors of both parties in pursuit of big profits for himself.
That formula has made McAuliffe a millionaire many times over, paving the way for a long list of business ventures, including his law firm, from which he resigned in the 1990s after profiting — along with his partners — from fees paid by domestic and foreign clients seeking results from the federal government. A review of McAuliffe’s business history shows him often coming out ahead personally, even if some investments fail or become embroiled in controversy. One high-profile example involved Global Crossing, a telecommunications firm whose demise in the 1990s cost investors billions of dollars. McAuliffe was working as a consultant to Global Crossing founder Gary Winnick, a prolific political donor, and became an investor in the company. McAuliffe sold some of his Global Crossing shares before the stock price plummeted and made an estimated $8 million before the company went sour.
Few of McAuliffe’s investments have been as ambitious as GreenTech, which the Democrat pointed to when he launched his candidacy as evidence of his entrepreneurial skill. But in April, McAuliffe sought to distance himself from GreenTech. He issued a surprise statement saying that he had resigned as chairman that previous December — an announcement that came amid growing questions about GreenTech’s ambitious promises and its conduct in soliciting investors through a special visa program. Nevertheless, the company’s confidential March memo implies to investors that he would remain involved. Were McAuliffe to win his race for governor, the memo says, he would “resign all positions with [GreenTech] and appoint a representative to vote his shares.” McAuliffe’s campaign declined to make him available for an interview. Spokesman Josh Schwerin said in an e-mail that the memo “appears to have been written long after Terry resigned and he never saw or approved of this document. Terry left the company in early December and since then has had no official role and no responsibilities. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not correct.”
GreenTech, in an e-mailed statement, said that McAuliffe was “no longer involved in the day-to-day operations of the company” and that his emeritus title “recognizes his previous contributions to the board’s efforts.” The firm declined to comment on the 70-page “Private Placement Memorandum,”saying that securities counsel advised that it “may not comment directly” on the memo “as these are communications with prospective investors that contain confidential nonpublic information about the company.” Since the time McAuliffe says he resigned as chairman, GreenTech has become the focus of scrutiny in Washington. The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation this year looking in part at the firm’s claims to potential investors interested in using the visa program, known as EB-5. The SEC has subpoenaed documents from GreenTech and a sister company, Gulf Coast Funds Management, which is led by Anthony Rodham, brother of Hillary Clinton. Both firms have said they are cooperating.
It is not known precisely what the SEC is investigating. But agency investigators have examined possible fraud among other participants in the visa program, in which foreign investors pay at least $500,000 to companies to gain access to permanent U.S. residency for themselves and their families. The program requires that the investments create jobs. But critics say the program is loosely regulated, allowing U.S. companies to profit from foreign payments and fees sometimes with little job creation to show for it. In the meantime, these critics say, investors gain entry to the United States, even if they have little direct involvement in the fate of the companies they have ostensibly invested in.
GreenTech has also become a focal point in an increasingly vitriolic dispute within the Department of Homeland Security, where several career employees have raised concerns about favoritism shown to the firm and about whether there has been sufficient scrutiny of foreign nationals whose investments in GreenTech have entitled them to special immigrant visas. The courtship of Chinese investors by McAuliffe and his partners has already proved fruitful — dozens of investors have contributed tens of millions of dollars to the effort. The March prospectus says that the company has received about $46 million from EB-5 investors, with a goal of $60 million. The investments have led to little in the way of making cars. In Tunica County, Miss., where a mostly vacant lot sits where GreenTech plans to build a plant, local officials remain hopeful but a bit nervous. “At this point, it sounds like they’re selling visas,” said state Rep. Gene Alday (R), whose district includes Tunica County.
Special treatment alleged
In Washington, GreenTech’s aggressive pursuit of the special investor visas has prompted complaints by career immigration service staffers who say top managers have given the firm and other politically connected applicants special treatment. The complaints about Department of Homeland Security managers, now under investigation by the department’s inspector general, have stalled the nomination of the immigration agency’s top official for the No. 2 post at DHS. Department officials and GreenTech have denied that the company received any favorable treatment. McAuliffe and his partners have complained of repeated delays by the government in approving visa applications, which they said put the project at risk of losing much-needed capital. But eight career employees of the division have requested “protected status” as whistleblowers so they can make their “preferential treatment” case to members of Congress. Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) have reviewed the employee complaints and say they are concerned.
Many of the whistleblowers cite alleged favors provided to McAuliffe’s company — among others — to support their claim. “It’s not often that so many whistleblowers come forward on the same subject, with similar concerns,” Grassley said Friday. “It shows that this isn’t just one person who has a gripe with their boss, but rather fundamental concerns by several career civil servants about political favors and national security.”
Some whistleblowers claimed that top managers ignored or waved off warnings that some GreenTech investors from China merited extra scrutiny before being granted immigrant visas. Whistleblowers who talked with Senate staff in the past two weeks said their concerns about GreenTech visas were heightened late last year when they learned that some company officials had previously been affiliated with a Chinese firm that had been the subject of a classified government inquiry about national security risks. Ties with the previous firm were severed before McAuliffe joined the newly formed company as a co-founder. A DHS official familiar with the matter rejected the employee claims, saying staff concerns were heeded. Holds were placed on several GreenTech applicants and were removed “only after further checks were made in coordination with other law enforcement agencies,” said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
Self-described entrepreneur
McAuliffe, 56, has long described himself as an entrepreneur, pegging his start to a driveway-sealing business he launched as a precocious 14-year-old in Syracuse, N.Y. In the 1980s, McAuliffe was the chairman of a small financial institution, the Federal City Bank of Washington, which made loans to several top Democratic Party leaders. It was cited by regulators in the early 1990s for unsound banking practices and then merged with another bank. After Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, federal investigators examined a $375,000 fee paid to McAuliffe in case his services were needed to help secure a lease of office space from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. Ultimately, the payment was deemed improper. McAuliffe was not accused of any wrongdoing, but the leasing company — Prudential Insurance — was required to pay a fine.
In the 1990s, McAuliffe launched what might be his most lucrative and substantive business, American Heritage Homes, with Carl H. Lindner Jr., who headed Chiquita Brands International. During this period, the Clinton administration initiated a favorable policy on a complex banana tariff issue, and Lindner, a longtime GOP donor, stepped up his donations to Democrats, staying overnight as Clinton’s guest in the Lincoln Bedroom. In 1999, the Labor Department reviewed a real estate venture involving McAuliffe that used money from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ pension fund. The department sued the union, saying the deal was a bad investment for its members. Union officials said the deal ultimately provided profits to the labor group. McAuliffe, who had invested only $100, made millions. McAuliffe has not disclosed his net worth. His campaign referred to the Virginia financial disclosure form that he was required to submit as a candidate, but the form is vague. He lists, for instance, 25 assets worth a minimum of $250,000 each.
Predictions of jobs
McAuliffe joined GreenTech soon after his failed 2009 bid for Virginia governor. At the start, company documents predicted the firm would have 25,000 employees in the United States capable of producing 1 million electric cars in 2015-17. In speeches in Virginia and elsewhere, McAuliffe has offered varying predictions of the jobs that would be created by his company. Several times in 2012, he told reporters that 900 U.S. jobs would be created by the year’s end by GreenTech, which is based in McLean. The firm has produced few, if any, cars, and a statement from the company says it employs “more than 80 full time employees.”
The documents obtained by The Post show that GreenTech’s success depends on government help. A 2009 prospectus said that billions of dollars in subsidies could potentially be granted by Mississippi to support the plant. The current prospectus estimates the combined value of its local and state government aid in Mississippi to be $25 million. So far, the numbers are much smaller. The state lent GreenTech $3 million under the condition that the firm create 350 jobs by December 2014, according to Mississippi Development Authority spokesman Jeff Rent. Tunica County, using a separate $2 million loan from the state, purchased the land where the company has said it will build the factory. In an e-mailed statement to The Post, the company said that “market and financial conditions and other current events have led GTA to reexamine our original target market and, therefore, our initial projected capacity needs.”
GreenTech’s struggles have become fodder for Republicans and their allies, who have spent months scouring McAuliffe’s business record. Cause of Action, which provided the confidential investor memo to The Post, received more than $900,000 two years ago from the libertarian-leaning Franklin Center, whose Watchdog.org Web site has been sued by GreenTech for defamation. McAuliffe put his bipartisan political muscle on display during a star-studded event at the GreenTech site in Mississippi last year with former governor Haley Barbour and Bill Clinton. The event showcased models of the “MyCar,” the golf-cart-like 40-mph vehicles that would be the signature product of GreenTech. Barbour, in an interview, said he had no regrets. “We felt that if they invested $60 million of hard cash, we’d be willing to take a couple-million-dollar risk,” he said.
Barbour, a McAuliffe friend who left office in 2012 after two terms, said McAuliffe’s role was not a factor in the state’s decision to provide help. “It doesn’t disqualify you to know the governor, but you’ve still got to meet the same standards” as any firm appealing for state development aid, he said. The confidential 2013 memo to potential investors explained in some detail how McAuliffe’s run for governor would affect his role in the firm. “Until the election, Mr. McAuliffe will dedicate his full time to the election campaign but will remain as a shareholder of GTA’s Parent,” it says. “If Mr. McAuliffe becomes Governor of Virginia, federal and state law requires that he resign all positions with GTA and appoint a representative to vote his shares of GTA’s Parent. “On January 7, 2013, the board of directors of GTA assigned to Mr. McAuliffe as Chairman of the Company the duties and responsibilities appropriate for a Chairman Emeritus during the course of his gubernatorial campaign,” the memo added. Describing that job, it says: “The Chairman Emeritus of the Company will have such duties and responsibilities as designated by the Board of Directors from time to time.”
Ad Targets Cuccinelli Fight With Climate Scientist
(By Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, July 29, 2013)
The newest TV ad in the Virginia governor’s race focuses on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s legal battle with a University of Virginia climate scientist. Titled “Witch Hunt,” the commercial recalls a two-year effort by Cuccinelli, the GOP nominee for governor and a climate change skeptic, to obtain records from Michael Mann, then a U-Va. researcher. The campaign of Terry McAuliffe, Cuccinelli’s Democratic rival, released the ad Monday. It declined to say where it will run and for how long. “It’s been called ‘Cuccinelli’s witch hunt.’ ‘Designed to intimidate and suppress,’ ” a narrator for the 30-second spot says, quoting newspaper editorials from the time. “Ken Cuccinelli used taxpayer funds to investigate a U-Va. professor whose research on climate change Cuccinelli opposed. Cuccinelli, a climate change denier, forced the university to spend over half a million dollars defending itself against its own attorney general. Ken Cuccinelli — he’s focused on his own agenda, not us.” The ad is part of McAuliffe’s broader strategy to portray himself as a business-oriented moderate and Cuccinelli as someone outside the mainstream on a range of cultural issues. The opening image of the ad shows McAuliffe sitting at table, having a seemingly productive discussion with others gathered there.
In 2010, Cuccinelli issued a civil investigative demand — essentially a subpoena — for grant applications and correspondence exchanged among Mann, research assistants, and scientists around the country. He based that demand on a 2002 state law designed to combat government employees defrauding the public of tax dollars. Cuccinelli said he was trying to investigate if Mann had, while seeking grants to study climate change, had used manipulated data to show that there has been a recent spike rise in the Earth’s temperature.
Skeptics of global warming seized on Mann after references to a statistical “trick” he used in his research came to light in e-mail leaked from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit. Mann and others have said that the word was taken out of context. Several inquiries, including one by the National Science Foundation, found no evidence that Mann had falsified or suppressed data.
U-Va. refused to turn over the records, contending that the demand exceeded Cuccinelli’s authority and infringed on the rights of professors to conduct research free from political pressure. Using $570,698 in private funds, the university hired outside counsel and ultimately fought Cuccinelli all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court. In March 2012, the court sided with the university, finding that Cuccinelli lacked authority to demand the records. “The investigation referenced was never about science itself, but rather whether taxpayer money was used improperly,” said Anna Nix, a spokeswoman for Cuccinelli’s campaign. “What is indisputable is that Terry McAuliffe and Michael Mann joined together to campaign in support of an energy policy that will raise electricity prices for all Virginians and put people in Southwest Virginia out of work.”
Va. Supreme Court: U-Va. Doesn’t Have To Give Cuccinelli Documents
(By Anita Kumar, Washington Post, March 2, 2012)
After two years and more than half a million dollars in legal fees, the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday rejected Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s assertion that the state’s flagship university had to turn over documents related to global warming. The decision was a defeat for Cuccinelli (R), a global-warming skeptic who has garnered national attention for a string of high-profile lawsuits, just as he kicks off his campaign for governor next year. And it comes months after a federal appeals court tossed out Cuccinelli’s challenge to the new federal health-care law. The state’s highest court wrote in an opinion that Cuccinelli lacked the authority to subpoena records — including e-mails, drafts and handwritten notes — from the University of Virginia involving well-known climate scientist Michael Mann’s research.
Mann, now a professor at Pennsylvania State University, accused the attorney general of engaging in a two-year “character assassination’’ against him. He just completed a book, “The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars,” about global-warming skeptics, including Cuccinelli, and what he calls their attacks on scientists. “It’s a victory for science,’’ Mann said of Friday’s decision. “I hope that this is the end of this long and unfortunate episode so I, and other scientists, can get back to work.”
In 2010, Cuccinelli issued a civil investigative demand — essentially a subpoena — for Mann’s grant applications and correspondence between Mann and research assistants, secretaries and 39 other scientists across the country. Cuccinelli used a 2002 state law designed to catch government employees defrauding the public of tax dollars to investigate whether Mann, to obtain grants, used manipulated data to show that there has been a rapid, recent rise in the Earth’s temperature. “From the beginning, we have said that we were simply trying to review documents that are unquestionably state property to determine whether or not fraud had been committed,” Cuccinelli said in a statement.
In an unusual step, U-Va. hired its own attorney and fought back, arguing that the demand exceeded Cuccinelli’s authority under state law and intruded on the rights of professors to pursue academic inquiry free from political pressure. U-Va. spokeswoman Carol Wood said the school spent $570,698 on legal fees — all of which came from private funds. “This is an important decision that will be welcomed here and in the broader higher education community,” U-Va. President Teresa Sullivan said in a statement. “I am grateful for the ongoing support of our own faculty and the faculty at many institutions around the world.”
Mann’s work has long been under attack by global-warming skeptics, particularly after references to a statistical “trick” he used in his research surfaced in a series of leaked e-mails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit. He and others have said that the e-mail was taken out of context. Some of his methodology has been criticized by other scientists, but several inquiries, including a high-profile one by the National Science Foundation, concluded that there was no evidence that Mann engaged in efforts to falsify or suppress data. “For two years, the attorney general has joined a small but vocal minority in a pointless and costly investigation that has done nothing but distract Virginia from the real challenge: mitigating and adapting to climate change,’’ said Michael Halpern, a program manager for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ scientific integrity program.
A Circuit Court judge initially dismissed the subpoena, ruling that Cuccinelli had failed to provide evidence of wrongdoing by Mann or any other climate scientist. Cuccinelli then filed a new, more specific demand pertaining to just one $214,700 state grant, but he also appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that the state anti-fraud act does not authorize the attorney general to issue civil investigative demands against U-Va. or other state agencies because under the act, they are not considered “persons.” A spokesman for Cuccinelli said he has no recourse for appeal. Both sides said they will ask an Albemarle County Circuit Court judge to dismiss the case.
Cuccinelli Sues Federal Government To Stop Health-Care Reform Law
(By Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post, 24 March 2010)
Not five minutes after President Obama signed health-care legislation into law Tuesday, top staff members for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II made their way out of his office, court papers in hand and TV cameras in pursuit, and headed to Richmond's federal courthouse to sue to stop the measure. Thirteen other state attorneys general also sought to stop the health-care law Tuesday, jointly suing in Florida. But Cuccinelli (R) went his own way, arguing that a Virginia law enacted this month that prohibits the government from requiring people to buy health insurance creates an "immediate, actual controversy" between state and federal law that gives the state unique standing on which to sue.
The move was classic Cuccinelli -- bold, defiant and in-your-face, an effort to use any means at his disposal to stop what he sees as a federal government gone wild. That approach has transformed him in just a few months from being a fairly obscure state senator into a national conservative folk hero -- a tea partier with conviction and, more importantly, power. Since vowing last week to sue to stop health-care reform, Cuccinelli has become a fixture on national cable TV news shows. A conservative blog posted a cartoon of his head atop Superman's body, with the caption: "You don't tug on Superman's cape . . . and you don't mess around with Ken." His Facebook page is full of messages of support from across the country, some next to the yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flag, which Cuccinelli has embraced -- one sits next to the Virginia flag in his office.
To his supporters, Cuccinelli is the necessary antidote to Obama, determined to put government back where he thinks it belongs and follow the letter of the law, without regard to political consequences. "People are tired of the middle-of-the-road, wishy-washy political talk. . . . They want people who will shoot straight and do what they say they will. And that's Ken," said Jamie Radtke, chairman of the Federation of Virginia Tea Party Patriots. "He was a tea party person before there was a tea party," she said.
But as the fervency and number of Cuccinelli's supporters have grown, so has the vigor of his detractors, who are convinced that he is an ideologue using his office to further a political agenda and that he is interested only in representing those who share his views. "He thinks he's the attorney general for Fox News," said Paul Goldman, a Richmond lawyer and former head of the Virginia Democratic Party. "He wants to be Glenn Beck's favorite attorney general, and he's moving right on up there." Before filing his lawsuit Tuesday, Cuccinelli had filed briefs to challenge the science of global warming and the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gases. This month, he wrote letters to every public college in Virginia to say that they could not adopt nondiscrimination policies that protect gays without authority from the General Assembly. About 50 students and alumni associated with campus gay rights groups protested Cuccinelli's appearance Tuesday evening at George Mason University's law school, of which he is an alumnus, holding signs reading "Cuccinelli: Bad for Virginia" and "Virginia Is for All Lovers."
In his suit to stop the health-care law, Cuccinelli says the legislation's requirement that individuals buy health insurance exceeds the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce under the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (R) and joined by other attorneys general presents a different argument. It says the new law violates the 10th Amendment by forcing states to carry out its provisions while not reimbursing them for the costs. Legal experts have expressed skepticism about the likelihood of success for either approach but have indicated that there are few direct precedents in either case on which to predict Supreme Court action.
It's not just Cuccinelli's aggressive challenge to the federal government that gratifies many grass-roots activists -- it's his willingness to rock the boat in defense of his agenda. "This is what we hired him for," said Ron Wilcox, a Fairfax County resident and organizer with the Northern Virginia Tea Party. During his campaign last year, Cuccinelli met with tea party groups across Virginia. When more than 1,000 rallied in Richmond in January in support of the state's anti-individual mandate bill, Cuccinelli took to the stairs of the historic bell tower in Capitol Square to address the crowd. "It's time for people like you all to step up and to draw the lines that our Founding Fathers thought they drew very clearly," Cuccinelli told the crowd. "We need to reemphasize that there are sovereigns in America. One of those is the Commonwealth of Virginia." At the state's Republican convention in May, Cuccinelli promised not to just "go along to get along," which he termed the "toughest test" of conservative principles.
Cuccinelli's newfound stature in his party could create tension in Richmond, where just a few short weeks ago it was Gov. Robert F. McDonnell who was being held up as the new face of the Republican Party, chosen by national leaders to deliver the response to Obama's State of the Union address. Although ideologically in line with McDonnell, who was also elected in November and supports Cuccinelli's lawsuit to stop the health-care law, Cuccinelli and his confrontational style could complicate the governor's efforts to rebrand the GOP as inclusive and pragmatic.
Cuccinelli did not alert McDonnell's office before sending his letter on nondiscrimination policies to colleges and universities, leaving officials to learn of it through a media inquiry. Although McDonnell agreed with Cuccinelli's legal reasoning, protests that followed were a distraction while McDonnell was trying to help legislators adopt a budget and conclude the first legislative session of his term. "This back-of-the-hand, gratuitous, finger-in-your-eye, hand-on-the-chest stuff -- people don't feel good about it," said a senior Republican strategist in Richmond, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid creating a rift in the party. "It's not how you build a broad-based coalition."
Democrats have sought to feature Cuccinelli in fundraising appeals and make him a favorite of liberal blogs and prime-time coverage on MSNBC. Audio of Cuccinelli answering questions about how courts could be used to challenge Obama's citizenship quickly made its way around the Internet, along with a video shot during the campaign of Cuccinelli discussing how the government could use Social Security numbers to track people. Cuccinelli said that he was answering hypothetical questions about Obama's citizenship and that he believes the president was born in the United States.
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