Hey Virginians, one of your own right-wing psychopaths is back to help another right-wing psychopath become Governor:
http://www.politico.com/...
Rick Santorum is signing up volunteers for a “strikeforce” to help Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his bid to become governor of Virginia.
Santorum’s PAC, Patriot Voices, is recruiting supporters to go door to door Nov. 1-3 in Virginia to plug the Republican candidate for governor on its website.
In a plea from the PAC sent to supporters, Santorum, who endorsed Cuccinelli last year, also asks for those who can’t volunteer their time to donate money to pay for travel, meals, signs and literature for the strikeforce, according to Right Wing Watch. - Politico, 10/22/13
Here's Santorum's e-mail to supporters:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/...
Friend,
In less than three weeks, voters in Virginia will go to the polls to cast their ballot for their next governor.
Ken Cuccinelli, an unapologetic conservative, is running against liberal, Clinton-insider Terry McAuliffe. The polls show McAuliffe leading, but Ken can pull off a victory with our help.
Here's how.
Patriot Voices PAC is enlisting members for a Strikeforce to get out the vote for Ken in Virginia the weekend before Election Day.
Our Strikeforce will go door-to-door and hold sign waves during the weekend of November 1-3 to help get Republican voters to the polls!
If you are interested in joining our Strikeforce team or learning more, click here to sign up and someone will be in touch soon.
We realize that not everyone can pick up and head to Virginia, but there is another critical way for you to help Ken.
Make a contribution for one of the following amounts to ensure our StrikeForce volunteers have what they need:
Donate $10 for the literature our Strikeforce team will use to recruit voters.
Donate $25 to purchase signs.
Donate $50 to purchase meals for our Strikeforce team after a long day of campaign activity.
Donate $100 to help pay for lodging and transportation for out of state volunteers.
Remember, nothing can replace people interacting with voters. Technology and advertising are helpful, but at the end of the day, close races are won because of enthusiastic volunteers talking with voters and making sure they vote. We can make a real difference in this race!
Your contribution of your time and financial resources will make a direct impact on our Strikeforce team's ability to get Republicans to the polls on Election Day.
Thanks and God Bless,
Rick Santorum
Santorum and Cuccinelli are two peas in a pod. They're both devout Catholics of Italian ancestry who are both devout Catholics and outspoken social conservatives. The only difference is Santorum was actually born in Virginia whereas Cuccinelli is from New Jersey. But Santorum lived in Virginia for most of his time in the U.S. Senate while happily taking advantage of Pennsylvania's home schooling system. So it makes sense that Santorum would be out helping Cuccinelli. Especially since he endorsed him last year:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
"I have known Ken for years and consider him not only a strong leader for conservative principles but a dear friend who I have been proud to stand side-by-side with in the fights crucial to the future of our nation," Santorum said in a statement released by his political action committee, Patriot Voices.
"Ken's conservative leadership will serve the commonwealth of Virginia well and will be an example for state executives across this country," Santorum said. "From before the revolution itself, the governorship of Virginia has been held by some of the greatest defenders of America's foundational principles, and I am excited to support Ken's candidacy to help him continue this tradition as Virginia's next governor," Santorum said.
Santorum refers to Cuccinelli upholding "traditional values," but made no reference to the staunch anti-abortion position he shares with the attorney general. The issue roiled the Virginia General Assembly last year in proposed GOP legislation to restrict access to abortion and potentially criminalize the practice, and will surely be raised by Democrats in the 2013 election. - Huffington Post, 12/14/12
Cuccinelli and Santorum share the same level of hated towards LGBT Americans:
http://www.metroweekly.com/...
But, as they say, when God closes a door he opens a third-floor window, so we now have Virginia's attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli, who's pretty much Rick Santorum with a better haberdasher. For someone like me who lives in the urban/suburban, multicultural mixing bowl of Northern Virginia where I hear at least four different languages spoken each day and can't drive anywhere without running across a car or house with an equality sign on it, the idea that someone as Neanderthalish as Cuccinelli would be a serious contender for governor is a little mind-blowing.
Cuccinelli has already achieved notoriety for wanting to force Virginia's state universities to stop protecting their LGBT employees from discrimination and fighting to block LGBT protections in the juvenile justice system; for mounting a nuisance legal campaign against a scientist who has done significant work on climate change, because that's apparently what Republican attorneys general do these days; and for mounting a ferocious attack on abortion rights in the state. His recent quixotic court quest to keep Virginia's antiquated (and rather notably unconstitutional) sodomy law on the books is not surprising, but rather simply a sign of where the Cooch intends to go if he by some accident of fate ends up residing in the governor's mansion.
So Cuccinelli is a frothing hater of all things LGBT; a climate-change denier who has no problem using the powers of the state to pursue his flat-earth agenda; a proponent of freedom from the tyranny of government health care, except in the case of women's vaginas, which he believes should be open to constant inspection by the state; and a bully who tries to impose his personal religious beliefs on those who don't share them.
And his nickname is ''Cooch.''
If it talks like Santorum and walks like Santorum, then it's probably the Cooch. The only thing stifling my laughter is that Cuccinelli has a shot at winning in a state that, politically speaking, is like the result of Kentucky and Massachusetts hooking up and having a baby. That'll be no joke for those of us living here. - Metro Weekly, 4/11/13
Not mention both men have a strong disgust for women's health:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), has given thousands of dollars in donations to “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs). Those right-wing organizations typically present themselves as viable alternatives to abortion clinics — but in reality, they prey on their patients’ emotions and actively spread misinformation about women’s health.
As Mother Jones reports, the GOP lawmaker’s tax returns reveal that he donated $4,038 to CPCs between 2008 to 2012. That works out to be about 13 percent of Cuccinelli’s overall charitable giving for that time period.
Thanks to NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, which has been investigating the state’s CPCs for years, the type of tactics that these groups use are no secret. In August, one of NARAL’s undercover investigations recorded CPC employees lying to women about the dangers of birth control. Women often assume they are receiving unbiased medical information at CPCs, but end up being told misleading information about the risks of hormonal contraception and the false link between abortion and depression.
One of the CPCs that Cuccinelli financially supported tells patients that abortion will increase their chance of getting breast cancer, and that choosing to end a pregnancy will “haunt” them for the rest of their lives. - Think Progress, 10/22/13
So yeah, not sure if Santorum is going to be helpful for Cuccinelli's campaign. But the Cooch keeps on trying:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...
Unsurprisingly, Cuccinelli’s speech barely touched on social issues. Instead, he repeatedly called on Kathleen Sebelius to resign as secretary of health and human services and redoubled his attacks on the Affordable Care Act, which he described as unconstitutional and badly implemented. Cuccinelli also mentioned that he was for canned food drives and against human trafficking, neither of which are considered particularly contentious stands.
The attorney general’s troubles were reemphasized when, at a press availability after his stump speech, he was asked repeatedly about the government shutdown—to the point where his spokesperson wondered aloud whether anyone had “any new questions.” At one time in the campaign, the gubernatorial hopeful would have been relieved to field a question that wasn’t about social issues. Now Cuccinelli sought to avoid talking about the shutdown, instead attacking Washington as “frozen.” After all, he couldn’t risk alienating the loyal Tea Party base he was relying on to turn out and volunteer for him in two weeks. But a significant number of Northern Virginia’s voters are government employees or government contractors who suffered during the shutdown. So the candidate was stuck bobbing and weaving, with no good answers.
Cuccinelli reiterated his belief that his campaign could win through the ground game and noted that he had come from behind in past races. Yet each of the four state attorneys general preceding him made a slightly different pitch for volunteers in a campaign plagued by problems with its field effort. Nick Antich, a cane-wielding anti-abortion rights attendee from Vienna, Virginia, said he had reached out to the campaign about volunteering months ago and never heard back. Antich said he wasn’t volunteering now but would at least mention and urge a Cuccinelli vote if it came up in conversation. The level of organization seemed to be summed up by a white board in the campaign office emphasizing that only 17 days remained in the race—a milestone that had been reached 48 hours earlier. - The Daily Beast, 10/22/13
The Cooch has tried to make himself look less like Santorum and more like a raging Tea Partier who hates the government:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Cuccinelli’s outline for dramatic change in the way the commonwealth makes transportation decisions and pays for them figures to cast the limelight on the issue in the final days of his race against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
It creates a stark difference between the two men. McAuliffe’s approach envisions enhancement of Richmond’s central role in transportation planning and continued state responsibility for secondary roads unless a county opts otherwise.
He sees the Virginia Department of Transportation playing a stronger hand in repairing aging highways and bridges, building partnerships with private investment groups and working with local officials on strategic planning.
Cuccinelli would diminish that VDOT dominance, demanding that local governments play a greater role in establishing project priorities to deal with congestion and road capacity. The state would set up a block grant program for counties equal to funding levels currently spent in their jurisdictions, and they would assume responsibility for secondary roads now maintained by VDOT. - Washington Post, 10/21/13
But again, all of this is too little too late. The major right-leaning newspaper has refused to endorse Cuccinelli:
http://www.rawstory.com/...
When Virginians consider the choice between hard-right conservative Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and former Clinton staffer Terry McAuliffe, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has decided to go fishing instead. The headline says it all.
“Our choice for governor in 2013: none of the above.”
For context, Virginia’s largest newspaper leans conservative. The Times-Dispatch endorsed George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Its editorial board backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq and a proposal for a flat income tax.
But the paper seems to have drawn a line with Cuccinelli. “The major-party candidates have earned the citizenry’s derision,” the editorial board wrote. “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.” - Raw Story, 10/20/13
So yeah, things really aren't going well for the Cooch. But things are going very well for T-Mac (D. VA). He's getting his share out outside help:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/...
As the former head of the Democratic National Committee running in one of only two governors races this year, Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe has attracted a lot of outsized attention, with a million dollars supporting his candidacy from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and scheduled campaign events with former President Bill Clinton.
A businessman and close friend and adviser of both Bill and Hillary Clinton, McAuliffe is currently leading his opponent, Republican state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, by single digits, in the latest polls. The two will face off at the ballot in two weeks.
CNN has confirmed a new $1.1 million ad buy from the Independence USA PAC formed by Bloomberg, the multibillionaire who has spent millions of dollars supporting gun control throughout the country, via his political action committee and the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
"Ken Cuccinelli opposed closing the gun show loophole - against comprehensive background checks at gun shows for criminals and the dangerously mentally ill. Siding with the NRA and undermining law enforcement," says the announcer in the new spot. - CNN, 10/22/13
By the way, conservative are really pissed off that Hillary is helping McAuliffe run for.... Senate?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
The Conservative Campaign Committee made a big mistake in an email to supporters while asking for donations to help support efforts backing Ken Cuccinelli in the race for Virginia governor.
While "asking 125 or more supporters to contribute $100 today" to help pay for TV and radio ads, the conservative group attacked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for helping "propel the Democrat's [Terry] McAuliffe to the Senate."
But McAuliffe isn't running for Senate -- he's running against Cuccinelli for governor. - Huffington Post, 10/20/13
Not to mention, McAuliffe's wife is helping out on the campaign trail:
http://www.roanoke.com/...
Former Del. Shannon Valentine looked at a crowd of about 150 people at a Democratic Party candidates rally in the old Rivermont Avenue firehouse Monday and said, “There is a gender gap in this race.”
The gender she was referring to is ready to vote, and heavily for Democrats, Valentine implied.
The crowd was about 75 percent female, and had come to hear speeches by Dorothy McAuliffe, wife of gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, and by Katie Webb Cyphert, the Democratic candidate for House of Delegates.
Dorothy McAuliffe told the crowd, “I’m kind of new at this,” but she managed to deliver a message for Cyphert and for her husband, whose lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the polls is mostly attributed to support from female voters.
“Terry and his ticket are focused on jobs and the economy and how do we move Virginia forward,” McAuliffe said of her husband and his running mates, Sen. Ralph Northam for lieutenant governor and Sen. Mark Herring for attorney general. - Roanoke Times, 10/22/13
And T-Mac is kicking ass in the polls:
http://www.politico.com/...
Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is winning the early vote in the Virginia governor’s race, a new poll found.
The survey, conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling for the League of Conservation Voters, a liberal environmental advocacy group, found McAuliffe taking 57 percent of early voters, compared with 39 percent for GOP Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
That margin is similar to current GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell’s early vote leads in 2009: four years ago, according to figures from the state Board of Elections cited by PPP, he led among early voters by 18 points as well, 59 percent to 41 percent. - Politico, 10/22/13
Plus I'm sure McAuliffe is happy about this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
The Associated Press has fired a reporter and editor over an erroneous Oct. 9 report that Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe lied to an investigator in a federal fraud case, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The AP retracted the article in question roughly an hour and a half after publication, and last week, suspended its author, veteran political reporter Bob Lewis.
According to sources, Lewis has since been fired. He could not be reached for comment.
The AP has also fired Dena Potter, a Richmond-based news editor for Virginia and West Virginia. When reached by phone, Potter directed inquiries to Paul Colford, the AP’s Director of Media Relations. Colford declined to comment on personnel matters.
Another editor is expected to be reprimanded over the incident, sources say.
The firings on Monday stemmed from the AP's erroneous reporting on McAuliffe's relationship to Joseph A. Caramadre, a Rhode Island real estate planner charged in a federal fraud case. - Huffington Post, 10/21/13
And Senator Claire McCaskill (D. MO) is lending a hand by comparing Cuccinelli to former Tea Party Congressman Todd Akin (R. MO):
Last year we sent a powerful message that Missouri wouldn't put up with politicians who think they know more about women’s healthcare than women and their doctors do.
And while Republicans claimed they’d stop nominating candidates like Todd Akin, this year's gubernatorial election in Virginia shows that they haven't made any progress.
Ken Cuccinelli (the Republican candidate for governor in the race the press believes is the most important and most competitive of the year) seems to have copied Akin's platform on women's healthcare line by line.
Will you join me in supporting his opponent, Terry McAuliffe, and the women of Virginia to stop Cuccinelli like you helped me stop Akin? Election Day is just two weeks from today, so we need to act quickly.
Make a $10 contribution to Terry's campaign for Virginia governor today, and help him win in the November 5th election:
https://secure.actblue.com/...
Here are the facts:
Todd Akin sponsored a Personhood Amendment that could ban many forms of birth control, including the pill. So did Ken Cuccinelli.
Even after he was forced to apologize for saying "legitimate rape," Todd Akin maintained his belief that safe and legal abortion should be a crime, even in cases of rape and incest. Cuccinelli too.
Akin voted to prevent any federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood. And guess what? Ken Cuccinelli almost derailed Virginia's 2008 budget by trying to forbid funding of Planned Parenthood.
Last year, we sent the message that this anti-women agenda has no place in 21st century governance. But our fight isn't over. We have to stand our ground and do it again this year.
Join me in standing up for women by making a $10 contribution to Terry's campaign today -- before the election in two weeks:
https://secure.actblue.com/...
Thanks for continuing to fight alongside me,
Claire
you can click here to contribute to McAuliffe's campaign:
https://secure.actblue.com/...