Free Republic

If you ever doubted that money outweighs principles in contemporary politics, then the case of Richmond campaign consultant Boyd Marcus should permanently erase such ambiguity in your mind. Marcus, a prominent figure in Virginia politics for two decades, made headlines in August when he abandoned a lifetime of supporting Republicans to endorse Democrat Terry McAuliffe for governor. McAuliffe’s team and Marcus trumpeted the conversion as an important political sign that mainstream Republicans were rejecting the tea party conservatism espoused by GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli II. Instead, we learned Thursday, the primary motive was entirely mercenary. An e-mail was made public...

Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is appointing a long-time GOP operative Boyd Marcus to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Republicans panned the move shortly after it was announced Wednesday as a political payback for a GOP defector.

Boyd Marcus, the chief of staff for Cantor until 2003—who later teamed with another GOP operative Ray Allen to found the firm Marcus Allen, which Cantor employed until earlier this year—joined the McAuliffe campaign after Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, with whom Marcus campaigned, did not win the GOP nominee in Virginia. “I was looking at the candidates, and I saw Terry McAuliffe as the guy who will work with everybody to get things done,” Marcus told the Associated Press in August when he joined McAuliffe’s campaign. Cantor employed Marcus Allen until the day before Marcus left the firm to work

Boyd Marcus, a longtime Republican adviser and strategist in Virginia who has worked for former Gov. James S. Gilmore III and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, threw his support behind Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday. Mr. Marcus, who will also serve as a consultant to Mr. McAuliffe’s campaign, said in a statement he’s supporting Mr. McAuliffe because he believes the Democrat will work with both parties to advance economic growth. “Virginia needs an experienced businessman who will put the practical needs of our people ahead of political ideology,” Mr. Marcus said. “I’ve never before supported any Democrat, but...

Thomas Haynesworth sorted mail and made copies early Tuesday at his clerical job in Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II’s office. Then Cuccinelli went to work for him. In a vaulted courtroom, Cuccinelli passionately tried to convince a Virginia appeals court that Haynesworth is an innocent man. That the state made a mistake when Haynesworth was convicted of rape three decades ago. That his name should be cleared. Then the two walked back to work. “I’ll see you up there,” Cuccinelli told Haynesworth as he might any other colleague heading back to the grind. The relationship between Virginia’s top law...

Ken Cuccinelli is leading an aggressive, populist, small government campaign. His latest television ad hits squarely on the theme of big companies hiring lobbyists and consultants in a bipartisan fashion and getting both sides to carve out loopholes and benefits for those big companies. The little guy is left paying for those loopholes in his taxes. The consultants in the GOP, who’ve been profiting heavily from this sort of this, sell us “electable” candidates who cannot win against conservative candidates who will hurt their revenue stream. In that vein, we should look with interest that Boyd Marcus in Virginia is...

Boyd Marcus, a veteran Republican political consultant whose client list has included U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, is endorsing Democrat Terry R. McAuliffe and advising his campaign over GOP nominee Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia's neck-and-neck race for governor. The announcement by McAuliffe's campaign, confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday in a phone interview with Marcus, rocked Virginia politics and exposed the clearest sign to date of bad blood within the GOP between its establishment and the tea party conservatives who comprise Cuccinelli's ardent army and control the state Republican Party machinery. (snip) The...