Anita Kumar has an article in this morning's Washington Post entitled, McAuliffe Battles Moran Attack With Plans and Pledges. It's an interesting article, so read the entire thing, but for now I just wanted to highlight the analysis of my former Webb campaign colleague Kristian Denny Todd (wife of Chuck Todd, by the way):McAuliffe, the ultimate Washington insider, pitched himself as a Richmond outsider who could, and would, change the way state government works.I agree, you can't "run away from it," just as Jim Webb couldn't run away from his views on affirmative action or women in combat roles. Those issues had to be addressed, head on. Same thing here, which is why I agree with Kristian Denny Todd that McAuliffe's strategy to focus on his positive vision for Virginia is "smart." We'll see if it holds up even if the primary takes a "much more negative turn next month," as the Kumar article anticipates. Meanwhile, as Kumar writes, "Democrats are bracing" themselves for more fireworks to come.
Democratic strategist Kristian Denny Todd, who worked on Sen. James Webb's 2006 campaign, called McAuliffe's strategy smart and said she expects his mantra about government change to be effective, the way it has been in other races, even if it's coming from someone who is tied to Washington. She said his campaign mailer about the bonuses received by AIG executives will resonate in Northern Virginia, where federal issues are local issues.
She said it seems "crazy" that someone with McAuliffe's strong ties to "fat cats" and "corporate people" would attempt to crusade against them. "But you can't run away from it."
Yeah, primaries may not be much fun at times, but to paraphrase Winston Churchill, they're the worst system for choosing a nominee ever invented, except for all the other ones. :)
P.S. Kristian Denny Todd works at Maverick Strategies with Moran senior strategist Steve Jarding.
