It's good to see the McAuliffe campaign defending itself against the bizarre, "Karl Rove-style attack[s]" coming out of the Moran campaign. Read what Mike Henry has to say; this guy knows Virginia politics better than anyone - ran campaigns for Tim Kaine and Mark Warner - so when we he says he's never seen anything like the Moran campaign's "smear tactics" before, people should definitely listen up.
Today, one of our Democratic opponents took their attacks against Terry too far. Virginia Democrats have worked too long and too hard to stand by and watch the divisiveness that's plagued the Republicans start poisoning our Party just when we've had great success.
Everyone knows that Terry McAuliffe supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries. But the day after she got out of the race, he hit the road fighting for Barack Obama. Terry spent the last 30 years of his life volunteering to advance Democratic causes; he even built from scratch the voter file that that helped Barack Obama win in Virginia. And to insinuate that he is a traitor to our Party is beyond nonsense -- it is a Karl Rove-style attack.
I've always said that this primary was going to get rough, but in all the years I've worked in Virginia politics, I've never seen another Democrat use the kind of smear tactics that are being used against Terry for taking a bipartisan approach to politics - just like Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb and Barack Obama.
Click Here to Get the Facts about the Attacks Against Terry.
Terry's the most positive person I've ever come across, and we've made it clear from day one that this campaign isn't going to attack other Democrats. Republican nominee Bob McDonnell is the one who's fought Governors Warner and Kaine's agenda to move Virginia forward over the last seven years, so we're saving our criticism for him.
But you better believe that we're going to set the record straight when our opponents start flinging mud Terry's way. That's why today, I want to share with you a portion of our website where you can get the information you need to fight back against misleading attacks and spread the truth. We're counting on you.
Click Here to Get the Facts about the Attacks Against Terry.
We cannot let these petty political games get in the way of the real issues facing our Commonwealth. That's why Terry's taken a different approach in this campaign.
Just yesterday the Richmond Times Dispatch wrote that "McAuliffe invites other contenders to focus on issues of genuine substance rather than petty personal attacks and cheap, zinger-of-the-day point-scoring." The newspaper said that "his substantive pitches have raised expectations and pointed the way toward a different, more high-toned campaign."
This campaign starts with you. And we're counting on your help to spread the truth so that we can focus on urgent economic problems staring us in the face.
Click Here to Get the Facts about the Attacks Against Terry.
The bottom line is that stakes are way too high for Democrats to be tearing each other down. Sustained job creation, health insurance for our families, and progress in public education all depend on continued forward-thinking Democratic leadership in the governor's office.
Thanks,
Mike Henry
Campaign Manager
P.S. The "Stand up for Barack Obama" letter from Brian Moran's campaign that prompted this is in the comments section.
