McAuliffe perceived as outsider

By Tyler Whitley

Published: January 4, 2009

On a radio show Tuesday night, Terry McAuliffe mispronounced the last name of defeated 5th District Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr., calling the Republican veteran "Virgil Good."

McAuliffe, who told supporters in a video message yesterday that he will formally announce his candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination on Wednesday, has lived in McLean for 16 years but has never run for office in Virginia.

He plans to travel the state during a weeklong campaign kickoff tour, starting Wednesday morning in Hampton Roads. He is scheduled to stop in Richmond for a town hall meeting at the Science Museum of Virginia on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.

Political analysts say McAuliffe's perceived outsider status may harm him as he seeks the nomination in a June primary against two rivals who have served in the General Assembly for years.

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County has been in the legislature for 16 years and ran for attorney general in 2005, losing by a razor-thin 360 votes in a race that was settled only after a recount.

Brian J. Moran of Alexandria just gave up a House of Delegates seat he held for 12 years.

McAuliffe says he is not wedded to old alliances in the legislature and is not mired in old quarrels.

But Virginia political analyst Robert D. Holsworth said he expects Deeds and Moran will challenge McAuliffe's awareness of state issues. To overcome his perceived lack of experience, McAuliffe will have to display a vision for Virginia, Holsworth said.

"He has to be careful he is not viewed as a political ATM machine," Holsworth added, noting that "the moral authority of big money is somewhat diminished at the moment."

McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a close friend of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, is known for his fundraising prowess. McAuliffe, who was chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, has had to rebut reports that he is prepared to raise $80 million for his Virginia campaign. Holsworth, on his Virginia Tomorrow blog, recently cited the "McAuliffe camp" in saying it does not expect to approach that figure.

On the radio show, WVTF-FM's "Evening Edition," McAuliffe said it isn't necessary to be a Richmond insider to run for governor. He noted that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and former Gov. Mark R. Warner did not emerge from state government.

Kaine was mayor of Richmond before he was elected lieutenant governor in 2001. He was elected governor four years later, succeeding Warner, a high-tech investor and businessman.

Spokesman Mo Elleithee said McAuliffe raised five children in Virginia, started businesses in Virginia and has a long record of supporting Virginia candidates.

"He knows the roads of Virginia, he drives them every single day," Elleithee added.

James Turpin of Nelson County, a vice chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, described McAuliffe as a "leader who is willing to lead us into the future not bound by how we have always done things before. Politics in Virginia is now closer to the national model. We need someone with experience in that setting."

McAuliffe also is making a virtue of his out-of-state contacts by promising to bring major employers to Virginia. He completed an exploratory listening tour of Virginia Friday in Southwest Virginia.

Larry J. Sabato, a government professor at the University of Virginia, said that in a low-turnout Democratic primary, McAuliffe's perceived outsider status will hurt him less than in the general election. At that point, a more conservative downstate electorate would hold it against him, Sabato said.

Attorney General Bob McDonnell, who edged Deeds in the 2005 race, is the all-but-official Republican candidate for governor.

McAuliffe's video message posted on his Web site and e-mailed to supporters yesterday mentioned McDonnell, calling him "a good man" but faulting him for "seven years of opposing the progress of the Warner and Kaine administrations." The message did not mention McAuliffe's Democratic rivals.

While McAuliffe is bright and can absorb a lot of information about Virginia in a short period, it will take him much longer to learn the nuances of the state, Sabato said, pointing to McAuliffe's mispronunciation of Goode's name.

But Steve Farnsworth, political scientist at George Mason University, said Virginia has changed so much that the carpetbagger status doesn't hurt as much as it would have a dozen years ago.

"An awful lot of Virginians were not born in the state," he added, noting that Kaine, Warner and former Gov. George Allen are not Virginia natives.

He also said that with the current budget shortfall "this is a good time to be outside of politics. You are not going to make a lot of friends in government."
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .

Staff writer Jeff E. Schapiro contributed to this report.