I know, I know, what else is new? But still: this new ad by the Cuccinelli folks and the Republican Governors’ Association is a bunch of lies, disinformation and distortion. Let’s deconstruct this…thing.
1. “The Washington Post reports that Terry McAuliffe is the Democrats’ attack dog.”
FALSE! Actually, the Washington Post article doesn’t “report” anything of the sort. What it does is provide a quote from College of William & Mary poli sci Professor Ron Rappaport, saying the following: “Even though McAuliffe was the Democrats’ attack dog, he wasn’t an ideologue. You don’t identify him with the left wing of the Democratic Party. He’s making a stylistic claim more than an ideological claim.” Notice how the quote pulled out of context, as done in the Cuccinelli ad, drastically changes the point Rappaport was making (which was that Terry was NOT an ideologue, was NOT identified with the “left wing of the Democratic Party,” and that any “attack dog” stance was more “stylistic” than anything else.) Also note that this was in the past, so Cuccinelli’s ad is purposefully putting it in the present tense to imply that Terry is STILL the “Democrats’ attack dog” – the opinion of a William & Mary professor. But even if it’s true that Terry WAS an “attack dog” for the Democrats when he headed up the DNC, what does that prove? I mean, wasn’t Bob McDonnell the same thing when he headed up the Republican Governors’ Association? Wasn’t Jim Gilmore when he was RNC Chair? Isn’t Cuccinelli’s cuckoo-bird friend Bobby Jindal now that he’s head of the RGA (note that Jindal is now a big-time “attack dog” for Cuccinelli and McDonnell)? So this ad is presumably attacking all those people too, I guess? Who knows.
2. “He’s been in politics his adult life; that’s why he just can’t tell the truth.”
Uh, alrighty, so Terry’s been involved in politics during much of his adult life (note: he’s also been a businessman during that time as well). You know who else fits the description of being in politics his adult life? How about Ken Cuccinelli, who has been heavily involved in politics pretty much nonstop since his early 30s? By the weird logic of this ad, that means that Cuccinelli also “just can’t tell the truth.” Nor can anyone, apparently, who’s been involved in politics during their adult life (like Cooch’s and Gov. Rolex’s pal Bobby Jindal, who fits that description to a “t”). Obviously, this is utter idiocy, not to mention a logical non sequitur.
3. “Now he’s falsely attacking Ken Cuccinelli on energy.”
The ad cites PolitiFact as claiming “false” attacks by Terry McAuliffe on (Koch brothers/fossil fuel tool) Ken Cuccinelli related to energy on the following dates: 1/24/13, 5/17/13, 6/21/13. I search PolitiFact Virginia’s ratings on McAuliffe, and found nothing of the sort. On 6/21, for instance, there was a rating by PolitiFact Virginia of a statement made by McAuliffe regarding abortion – nothing whatsoever to do with energy. Also, not a single McAuliffe statement labeled “false” by PolitiFact Virginia (which, by the way, is severely flawed, to such a degree that I often refer to it as “PolitiFiction,” but that’s a topic for another discussion) has anything whatsoever to do with energy. Hmmmm. As for Terry McAuliffe’s “attacks” on Cuccinelli over Consol Energy, I’d love to hear what about them is inaccurate, given that Cuccinelli’s corruption on this front has been widely reported in the press. Presumably, that’s what Cuccinelli’s trying to distract our attention from in this ad. Apparently, he thinks Virginia voters are idiots with the memory spans of dead gnats.
4. Finally, they make the audacious claim that any “attacks” on Cuccinelli, apparently just related to energy (and not to his extreme stances on social issues, government, etc, etc.) are all some sort of “desperate” attempt by McAuliffe to shift attention to an investigation of his former company Greentech Automotive. A couple problems here: a) there’s no evidence of any wrongdoing by McAuliffe; and b) the “attacks” on Cuccinelli’s extremism and corruption started looooooong before this latest news about Greentech, have been reported extensively in the media, and have also been made by many many other Democrats besides Terry McAuliffe. That’s quite a conspiracy the Cuccinelli folks are alleging here. But then again, Cooch is the same guy who believes in the false “climategate” conspiracy, who has toyed around with false “birther” lunacy, who has claimed that the government “tracks” us via our Social Security numbers, etc, etc. In short, wearing tinfoil hat is nothing new for Ken Kookinelli…hence his nickname.
Bottom line: this new ad is a hodgepodge of garbage – lies, disinformation, distortion, distraction, you name it. What it is NOT is a positive, constructive vision for Virginia, which is something Ken Cuccinelli doesn’t have. Hence, the bogus attack ads.
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