From the DPVA, Cuccinelli hits yet ANOTHER new low – even for him!  Of course, he really ISN'T “in that category” – of anyone normal, sane, ethical, non-extreme, not unhealthily obsessed with telling other people what they can and can't do in the bedroom (or with their own bodies), etc.  

Today during a radio interview Ken Cuccinelli said he doesn’t have to take accountability and return $18,000 in Star Scientific scandal gifts because he only took luxury trips, dinners and other gifts from the company and CEO Jonnie Williams, not “watches and clothes.” 

Cuccinelli’s insistence on drawing imaginary lines between his unethical behavior and others’ is just more evidence that Virginians cannot trust him to put their best interests ahead of his own. 

If he recognized that letting a company and CEO shower him with gifts and trips while he was supposed to be fighting them in court to reclaim $1.7 million in unpaid taxes is wrong, he would give the gifts back and apologize for letting his desire for personal spoils damage Virginia’s reputation for clean government. 

The full transcript of Cuccinelli’s absurd excuse for refusing to take accountability for his actions on WVTF this morning is below:

HOST: You told reporters that Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams didn’t give you the kind of gifts that can be returned—about $18,000 worth. So you haven’t returned them and you have said “there are just some bells you can’t un-ring.” My question here is couldn’t you determine the value of a meal or a trip or a private jet trip and pay the benefactor back?

CUCCINELLI: Well the you know, what we’ve done is, is is identify all of these to folks. And obviously report them, and then and then I took the extraordinary step of handing my own matter over to a Democrat Commonwealth’s attorney to review and he cleared me. And so I think that’s what really matters in this case and the fact that some of this stuff was out of the blue. Like a $6,000 box of these little food supplements, I mean what do you do with that? I just gave them away. And I don’t think that’s what people normally think of when they think of this stuff. And I think the real focus ought to be on solving the problem which is why I called for a special session and supported a variety of the proposals for the things that have been put out there. Things like an independent ethics commission and things like gift caps and bans and those kinds of efforts that I think the people of Virginia just in my travels around the state would like to see.

HOST: Drawing that line, this is $18,000 worth. In McDonnell’s case it’s over $100,000 worth. His decision was to return the monies, yours wasn’t. Could you again delineate, why the difference?

CUCCINELLI: Well, of course, I didn’t get any money, I didn’t get any loans, I didn’t get any stuff. I didn’t get watches and clothes. That’s what they returned, it’s because that’s what they got. I’m not in that category. 

From the DPVA, Cuccinelli hits yet ANOTHER new low – even for him!  Of course, he really ISN'T "in that category" – of anyone normal, sane, ethical, non-extreme, not unhealthily obsessed with telling other people what they can and can't do in the bedroom (or with their own bodies), etc.  

Today during a radio interview Ken Cuccinelli said he doesn’t have to take accountability and return $18,000 in Star Scientific scandal gifts because he only took luxury trips, dinners and other gifts from the company and CEO Jonnie Williams, not “watches and clothes.” 

Cuccinelli’s insistence on drawing imaginary lines between his unethical behavior and others’ is just more evidence that Virginians cannot trust him to put their best interests ahead of his own. 

If he recognized that letting a company and CEO shower him with gifts and trips while he was supposed to be fighting them in court to reclaim $1.7 million in unpaid taxes is wrong, he would give the gifts back and apologize for letting his desire for personal spoils damage Virginia’s reputation for clean government. 

The full transcript of Cuccinelli’s absurd excuse for refusing to take accountability for his actions on WVTF this morning is below:

HOST: You told reporters that Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams didn’t give you the kind of gifts that can be returned—about $18,000 worth. So you haven’t returned them and you have said “there are just some bells you can’t un-ring.” My question here is couldn’t you determine the value of a meal or a trip or a private jet trip and pay the benefactor back?

CUCCINELLI: Well the you know, what we’ve done is, is is identify all of these to folks. And obviously report them, and then and then I took the extraordinary step of handing my own matter over to a Democrat Commonwealth’s attorney to review and he cleared me. And so I think that’s what really matters in this case and the fact that some of this stuff was out of the blue. Like a $6,000 box of these little food supplements, I mean what do you do with that? I just gave them away. And I don’t think that’s what people normally think of when they think of this stuff. And I think the real focus ought to be on solving the problem which is why I called for a special session and supported a variety of the proposals for the things that have been put out there. Things like an independent ethics commission and things like gift caps and bans and those kinds of efforts that I think the people of Virginia just in my travels around the state would like to see.

HOST: Drawing that line, this is $18,000 worth. In McDonnell’s case it’s over $100,000 worth. His decision was to return the monies, yours wasn’t. Could you again delineate, why the difference?

CUCCINELLI: Well, of course, I didn’t get any money, I didn’t get any loans, I didn’t get any stuff. I didn’t get watches and clothes. That’s what they returned, it’s because that’s what they got. I’m not in that category. 

by Paul Goldman

Is Ken Cuccinelli really that weak politically, is Terry McAuliffe really that strong, or is Virginia politics entering a new era in terms of statewide elections?

My sweep thesis is premised in some measure on the new era analysis, but resting even more on the relative strengths of the campaigns for Governor. If I sound like a broken record, then that’s because the song I have been singing over the summer is more popular with Virginians than Robert Thicke’s Blurred Lines. However, I will concede his video is better than mine.

Back to the politics: The polls right now are indicating either: 1) Democrats are a lot more juiced up to vote or; 2) Republicans are down in the political dumps for various reasons, too numerous to name really (which explains the GOP grassroots sour mood).

At this point, it really is pointless to point fingers at the campaign or the candidate or the strategy guy or the policy person. Whatever the reason: Cuccinelli is facing the “Perfect Storm,” but at least George Clooney was in a movie, not on the actual ship in an actual storm, just a Hollywood set. Cuccinelli is registering an all-time low (or nearly so) in the polls for a GOP candidate going into Labor Day. This is the reality. Governor McDonnell’s numbers are actually way better than Cuccinelli’s.

So, Cuccinelli’s campaign strategy guys may soon realize: if Bob McDonnell doesn’t get indicted, they will not be able to blame the Governor if the GOP loses in the biggest such defeat since 1985! My sweep thesis doesn’t predict the margin; indeed once you are inaugurated, the margin is irrelevant for policy purposes, and usually the politics for the first year or so. Nor is the thesis based on a sea change in the turnout model.      

 

BUT:  If the turnout model in a Virginia GUV election is now what the polls are predicting – a substantial statistical advantage for Democrats – then of course we are talking about 2013 marking a watershed moment in the Old, now New, Dominion.

So you ask: “Well, Paul, is 2013 such a marker?” The answer: As you know, I don’t believe Governor McDonnell should get indicted based on my understanding of the law and the evidence. I don’t buy the rat theory of criminal law. Assuming, therefore, that this is the case, then it is very possible for the Governor to NOT be a drag on the Cuccinelli campaign in the final analysis, as amazing as this might have seemed only a week ago.

By election day, McDonnell could very well have a very good image with almost all Republicans and a decent one with independents IF HE CALLS A SPECIAL SESSION and continues getting high marks for his performance in the job, as opposed to personal failings. Virginians are forgiving; we all need to be in that regard when possible. Assuming, therefore, that this is the situation, then a big relative jump in Democratic vs. Republican turnout statistics suggests something bubbling up in the Virginia electorate.

A sweep would also leave Republicans at an historic 50-year low in folks elected statewide (they would have NO ONE!).  That strikes me as more than just a bad 2013 ticket or bad 2013 strategy.  However, it would take a confirming election in 2017 to prove it.

Bottom line: If the polls keep showing the same relative projected electorate, and there is nothing to make the election year unusual in any basic DEM v GOP way, then the odds will grow that the 2013, in retrospect, will have been a marker for a new era. It is still the lesser of the likely cases at this point, but the polls continue to suggest the 2009 electorate, so fairly to McDonnell, is not likely to repeat. As I have written, that alone could be enough to defeat the GOP ticket this year without anything more.      

Truly amazing: In the “press scrum” earlier today following the fossil-fuel-friendly energy forum in Arlington, Ken Cuccinelli basically insulted a lot of Virginians – particularly those who live in Southwestern Virginia and have been adversely impacted by CONSOL Energy screwing them over – by blowing off a question about it, claiming it’s not an “actual question.”

Well, yes Ken Cuccinelli, it very much IS an “actual question” from people like this 76-year-old landowner, like Ken Osborne of SW Virginia, and like Shirley Keene of SW Virginia. Why are you, Ken Cuccinelli, insulting the people of Southwestern Virginia by claiming that their serious questions about your cozy relationship with an out-of-state natural gas company that screwed them over are not “real?”

In addition, check out this video to learn how Cuccinelli has helped CONSOL avoid paying Southwest Virginia landowners millions in gas royalties that they are due. The question is, why won’t Ken Cuccinelli answer real questions from real Virginians?!? What is Ken Cuccinelli so afraid of?

From the forum earlier today in Arlington, check out the video of Terry McAuliffe ripping Ken Cuccinelli a well-deserved “new one” for being an extremist nutjob.

…Virginia has to be a Commonwealth that is open to businesses and welcoming to all. I talk to business leaders from both parties every single day. I constantly hear that politicians focusing on a social, ideological agenda is not helpful for business. We cannot keep putting walls up around Virginia by attacking women’s rights, scientists, or gay Virginians. This is a fundamental difference in this race. I know we need to focus on the economy…Ken Cuccinelli has shown that he will spend his time in office on a social, divisive, ideological battles...that have defined his career.

[The Washington Post report this morning] was shocking. It detailed his ties to a radical group that fought against adequate child support because they think it is quote punitive unquote to men…and contend that men are frequently victimized by false allegations of domestic abuse unquote. According to the Washington Post, my opponent even took the unusual step of handling the private case for a leader in these groups while he was sitting Attorney General. Ken Cuccinelli has worked to implement their agenda on trying to restrict women’s health care rights…Quote Cuccinelli was also the long Senate vote against legislation to increase child support payments by tying them more closely to inflation unquote. Opposing adequate child support is inexplicable and it’s just plain wrong…

…Why would you introduce legislation that would punish people who want to get out of a bad marriage?…Cuccinelli was one of three [Attorneys General] who did not sign [a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act]. My opponent still won’t explain what he dislikes so much about the Violence Against Women Act, but that group he is tied to believes that many women make up claims of domestic abuse.

During this campaign, there are many issues where Ken Cuccinelli and I have disagreed, and on some of them, I can at least understand his position, even if I don’t agree with it. But the positions laid out today in the Washington Post on child support, the Violence Against Women Act and on family law is just beyond my comprehension, and I believe beyond the comprehension of most Virginians…

…Ken Cuccinelli’s social agenda is more than just extreme, it is bad for business. The Republican Lt. Governor said just this week, quote, he is a rigid ideologue who thrives on conflict and confrontation…Virginia simply can not afford to have their leaders pursuing their own rigid ideological agenda…

The truth hurts.