From the McAuliffe campaign: 

To: Interested Parties
From: Brennan Bilberry, McAuliffe Communications Director
Memo: State of the Campaigns 

It is clear that the Cuccinelli campaign is seeing the same things in their internal polls that Virginians see in public polls: Terry’s position continues to strengthen while Cuccinelli’s position continues to slip as a result of his ethics scandals and extreme social agenda. Just today, the Virginian-Pilot reported that Cuccinelli is shifting his campaign staff and focus in an effort to reverse the decline.

Those facts have caused major changes in Cuccinelli’s tactics and we wanted to provide an update on what we expect to see going forward:

1.     Desperation leads to strange tactics. This week, Politico reported that the Cuccinelli campaign is considering spending their resources on 30-minute infomercials across Virginia. This expenditure is designed to earn media coverage for advertising that will have no impact on the race.

News of 30-minute infomercials came shortly after a hastily put-together web video and interview that saw Cuccinelli simultaneously apologizing and saying he did nothing wrong while admitting for the first time that he has been questioned by the FBI about his ties to Star Scientific.

2.     Second guessing becomes more common. After weeks of resisting calls for him to return gifts from Star Scientific – at first suggesting he shouldn’t have to – Cuccinelli made the political decision to give the value of the gifts away. While he guaranteed another week of news dominated by his unethical relationship with Star, Cuccinelli’s tactic was also transparently political, coming just 8 weeks out from Election Day. Voters notice when politicians only do the right thing under pressure from polls. And editorial boards already have.  

3.     Attacks become more shrill. Cuccinelli’s strategist issued an 800-word agitated memo Wednesday attacking the Virginia media for covering his candidate’s ethical lapses. Strangely, it was released the day after the Cuccinelli campaign was asking media to cover his relationship with Star by issuing a press release and video about his gifts.  

4.     The Tea Party is Back. After months of publicly seeking to paper over his Tea Party ideology, Cuccinelli has shifted gears. Cuccinelli’s new campaign leadership just announced a Tea Party rally being organized on Tuesday with a national right-wing radio host.

I wanted to highlight these changes because we know that the attacks from the Cuccinelli campaign are going to become more desperate and more outlandish. It already started when Cuccinelli’s campaign lied to workers to trick them into appearing in an attack ad they wanted nothing to do with.

As the Cuccinelli campaign is struggling in the final weeks, they’ll likely to engage in even more inaccurate and over-the-top attacks.

Our message is and will continue to be the same: Terry is focused on bipartisan solutions to mainstream issues like jobs, education, and transportation while Cuccinelli has spent his political career focused on an extreme, divisive social agenda. 

From NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia:

ALEXANDRIA – Yesterday, James Madison University students and faculty members spoke about anti-choice Attorney General candidate Mark Obenshain’s crusade to ban emergency contraception while serving as a member of the JMU Board of Visitors.

On April 18, 2003, while a member of the JMU Board of Visitors and Chair of the Education and Student Life Committee, Mark Obenshain led an effort to prohibit the university health center from dispensing emergency contraceptive pills (also known as “Plan B”).

Tarina Keene, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia, condemned this extreme effort as an example of Obenshain’s on-going crusade to restrict women’s health:

“Mark Obenshain has spent virtually his entire career attempting to insert himself in Virginians’ private, personal medical decisions. As state Senator he has made every effort to play doctor by supporting mandatory ultrasounds, crusading to close women’s health centers, and even sponsoring legislation that could banned access to abortion for victims of rape. In 2003 Obenshain decided to try his hand at pharmacy – this time by crusading to keep a common, safe, and FDA-approved method of emergency contraception from students who need it.

Like Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Obenshain has repeatedly demonstrated a complete disregard for women’s health and rights. Make no mistake: if elected Virginia’s top lawyer, Obenshain will continue to impose his extreme personal ideology on Virginia’s men, women and families. Just look at his record.”  

Mark Obenshain’s extreme record on women’s health:

• Led the charge to stop the campus health center at James Madison University from dispensing emergency contraceptive pills. In 2003, Mark Obenshain argued that the pills induce abortion because, in some circumstances, they prevent an already fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterus, despite the fact that the ‘morning after’ prescription pill contains levonorgestrel, a synthetic hormone that is officially a contraceptive. [See attached: The Washington Post, 04/24/03; Richmond Times Dispatch, 04/22/03; The Washington Post, 04/24/03; Harrisonburg Daily News-Record, 02/18/04]

·Mark Obenshain voted in 2004, along with Ken Cuccinelli, to defeat “a ‘contraception is not abortion’ bill. Mark Obenshain and Ken Cuccinelli, on February 16, 2004, were two of 24 state senators who voted to reject Senate Bill 456, which was “a ‘contraception is not abortion’ bill.”  [Richmond Times Dispatch, 02/17/04, and SB 456, 2004] 

·  Co-Patroning the “Personhood” Bill. Obenshain has repeatedly supported “personhood” legislation that would outlaw all abortion and many common forms of birth control. [HB 2797, 2007; SB 1207, 2011]

• Mark Obenshain, in 2012, voted for a “personhood” bill that would criminalize contraception. The bill would “effectively outlaw all” abortions in Virginia “by declaring that the rights of persons apply from the moment sperm and egg unite.”  Many “abortion-rights advocates call it nothing less than an attempt to outlaw all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.” [HB 1, 2012] 

· Introducing A Bill That Would Require Women To Report Miscarriages To Police. “Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, made himself a lightning rod for criticism by introducing a bill that would require a woman to report her miscarriage to police within 24 hours.” [SB 962, 2009; Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 1/28/09]

· Voting in favor of the transvaginal ultrasound bill and calling it “common sense legislation.” In 2012 Mark Obenshain voted in favor of the transvaginal ultrasound bill and the amended version of the bill. Obenshain referred to the bill as “common sense legislation” and then referred to the amended version of the bill, which changed the law form requiring a transvaginal ultrasound to a transabdominal ultrasound, the “PG version” of the bill. [HB 462, 2012; SB 484, 2012; World Virginia, 2/08/12; Obenshain Tweet, 2/27/12]

· Sponsoring a Bill To Outlaw Abortions After Twenty Weeks, Also Known As The Virginia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Or Fetal Pain Act. In February 2012, the Daily Press reported: “Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake, abstained Thursday, thereby killing a measure before the Senate Education and Health Committee that would have outlawed elective abortions in Virginia after 20 weeks. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, would have made elective abortions after 20 weeks because he said there is medical evidence that a fetus can feel pain at that point in its gestation. The measure would have allowed abortions after that point if the mother’s life or health is threatened.” [Daily Press, 2/2/12; SB 637, 2012] 

You might have seen this seriously brain-dead, crazy ad in yesterday’s Washington Post, by a new SuperPAC known as “Fight for Tomorrow”. Of course, with an Orwellian name like that, you just KNOW who’s behind it: a bunch of right-wing Republicans who want to make tomorrow much, much worse for 99% of Americans. And that’s most definitely the deal here (click here to find out more about the folks behind this one). As DNC spokesperson Mo Elleithee put it yesterday about the “Fight for Tomorrow” ad:

BWAAAAAHHH HA HA HA! Someone actually spent money to run this ad because they thought it would HELP! HA HA HA. I mean seriously! I almost wet myself laughing it’s so bad!!! BWAAAAAAAHHHH HA HA HA! Last year, terrible pro-GOP superpac ads totally backfired on their candidates. So I guess the reaction this year is to make them even worse! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!

Yeah, that about sums it up. Really, we could have just left it at that, but I figured an ad THIS BAD deserved a parody. So…that’s what I did; click on the images to “embiggen,” and (hopefully) enjoy! 🙂

P.S. Remember Stephen Colbert’s SuperPAC, “Making a better tomorrow, tomorrow?” I was thinking instead of “Fight for Tomorrow,” we could call our fake PAC “Fighting for a Worse Tomorrow, Today,” or something like that. Thoughts?

I just got off a media call with Mike Casey of NextGen Climate Action Committee Virginia, announcing this new ad hitting Ken Cuccinelli on his massive CONSOL Energy conflict of interest. According to Casey, the ad will run in the Richmond, Roanoke, and Norfolk markets for the next 10 days starting tomorrow morning, with a total purchase of $500,000.

On the call, Casey ripped into Cuccinelli, saying that although Cuccinelli attempted to dispense with the Jonnie Williams scandal a bit earlier this week, the “CONSOL scandal is far, far worse – it’s a lot more money, it’s a gross violation of public trust, and it involves an active state investigation into his office’s conduct.”  In fact, Casey added, “it appears that the only reason why [Cuccinelli himself] is not being investigated is because of the loophole in Virginia’s Inspector General law.” Casey continued:

…as Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wasn’t just enriching himself with luxury gifts and meals from Jonnie Williams, while pleading poverty…when he was faced with calls to return that money on a $194,000-per-year salary, he was taking enormous amounts of campaign cash from an out-of-state fossil fuel company while his office helped it rip off the people that elected him…Campaign shake-ups, 30-minute Hail Mary commercials, and a YouTube apology video is not going to address the very ugly timing of contributions and favors in the CONSOL scandal…

Ken Cuccinelli must release all of his office’s email contacts with CONSOL, he needs to return this dirty money, and he needs to stop ducking questions…He has run from the media, he has run from watchdog groups, and he has run from citizens – it is ridiculous…Ken Cuccinelli’s corruption is making us look like some sort of banana republic…This commercial is not going to be the last [Cuccinelli] will hear [on this issue]…

He’s in deep trouble in Southwest Virginia and he should be, because that’s where most of the people who were hurt by his actions live, and this commercial is designed to ensure that the rest of the state zeroes in on these questions and presses him for answers. We have every confidence that this is becoming not just a Southwest Virginia issue but a statewide issue…

…Being a climate denier and appearing to rent out the top law enforcement office [in Virginia] to an out-of-state fossil fuel company go hand and hand. It says something about your world view and your sense of priorities…relative to mainstream Virginia…The question is, are we going to be helped [in creating clean economy jobs] in Virginia, or are we going to read about them being created in China?…

In the world of Ken Cuccinelli, when you deny basic climate science, when you waste our money beating up on our flagship institution because you’ve got some  strange vendetta against one of the top climatologists in the country, and you think that an out-of-state coal, oil and gas company should be helped to rip off Virginians, it’s a pretty clear composite picture of who you are as a potential governor, and it’s not a pretty picture.

From Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC: 

RICHMOND —Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC and ProgressVA supporters and volunteers will gather outside the fundraiser for gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli with Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Monday to say they’re not fooled by Cuccinelli’s attempts to appear moderate on issues important to Virginia women and their health. Most recently, Cuccinelli told voters that he has a “flat position” on birth control and that he won’t touch contraception if elected governor in November — despite the fact that his record confirms he believes the opposite. 

Participants will hold bright pink “Keep Ken Out” signs and will be joined by Planned Parenthood Votes’ human-sized birth control pill pack named Pillamina. They will remind attendees of Marco Rubio’s co-sponsorship of the much-talked-about Blunt amendment, which would have allowed bosses to refuse to cover birth control in their health care plans. 

“We aren’t fooled by Ken Cuccinelli’s attempts to appear moderate and Virginia voters shouldn’t be either. We know where he really stands and that’s why we’ll be calling attention to his campaign fundraiser with Florida Senator Marco Rubio – a leading opponent of women’s health in the Senate. When it comes to women’s health, Cuccinelli and Rubio are two peas in a pod,” said Cianti Stewart-Reid, executive director, Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC. 

Cuccinelli was the first attorney general in the country to file a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act and argued that opponents of the law should be willing to “go to jail” to fight the benefit which requires insurance companies to cover the full cost of birth control, just as they would other preventive care. Cuccinelli was also a co-sponsor of a so-called “personhood” bill. If enacted, Cuccinelli’s legislation could have interfered with a woman’s personal medical decisions about birth control, access to fertility treatment, management of miscarriage, and access to safe and legal abortion. 

WHO: Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC and Progress VA supporters and volunteers.
WHAT: A rally to help Keep Ken Out of the governor’s mansion.
WHY: To hold Ken Cuccinelli accountable for his dangerous record and agenda for women’s health.
WHERE: Richmond Marriott Hotel; 500 E Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219.
WHEN: Monday, September 16 at 11 a.m. 

Like Cuccinelli, Senator Rubio has a record of extreme opposition to women’s health:

·         Rubio co-sponsored the much-talked-about Blunt amendment, which would have allowed bosses to refuse to cover birth control in their health care plans.

·         In July, Rubio published an op-ed where he called the Affordable Care Act — a law that has already benefitted 765,000 Virginia women who are receiving preventive care like birth control and cancer screenings with no additional co-pay — “disastrous.” 

·         Rubio has volunteered to be the lead sponsor on an extreme and dangerous nationwide 20-week abortion ban.

·         Rubio supports cutting off women from Planned Parenthood’s preventive health care services such as birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings, saying he has “problems with what Planned Parenthood does.”

·         Rubio refused to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. While Cuccinelli was one of only three state attorneys general to refuse to support its reauthorization, Rubio voted against the bipartisan measure to combat domestic violence and sexual assault – twice. 

Far-right-wing radio talk show host Steve Deace (among other things, he “believes the Bible is literally true and the Constitution isn’t a living, breathing document”) is particularly angry at Cuccinelli campaign consultant Brett O’Donnell. Why? For supposedly ruining the great Ken Cuccinelli, that beacon of “liberty,” the “constitution” and whatever other buzzwords the Teahadist extremists are throwing around these days to try to prove they’re not radical nut jobs (which, of course they are).

More to the point, you’ve gotta love the post mortems already beginning for Ken Cuccinelli’s shambolic gubernatorial campaign among the Tea Party set. And guess what? That’s right, the reasoning is NOT that Cuccinelli is wayyyyy to far right for Virginia (or Attila the Hun, for that matter), but that he’s been coopted by the GOP “establishment” and, as a result, he’s lost his edge, along with everything that made him “great” (to these crazy people, that is). Yes, they’re all completely delusional, but that’s the mindset we’re dealing with. Amazing, isn’t it?

P.S. Don’t miss Julian Walker’s scoop, Trailing McAuliffe, Cuccinelli changes staff, focus. Key quotes: 1) Larry Sabato says “You do not shake up a winning team…You shake up a team when its campaign seems to be losing“; 2) a “Republican familiar with the inner workings of Cuccinelli’s operation” says “They are circling the wagons, trying to rescue the campaign.”