Free Republic

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli does not follow the prototype of what a politician should be. In fact, he may be everything a politician should not be. He thinks outside the box and his brain is like a dictionary. Think “Encyclopedia Brown the Detective”; he deals in fact yet keeps things close to everyone’s hearts first. Oh–and he loves playing basketball. This white dude can jump. While he was a State Senator, I called Ken on various complaints and subjects within our neighborhood, from bullying in the schools to roads with crosswalks that went from 25 to 45 mph. I...

Things could look brighter for Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s attorney general and Republican gubernatorial nominee. You don’t have to be Nate Silver to figure out that the last few months’ polls have largely been bad news for him, ranging from not-optimal (not trailing as badly as he had been!) to apocalyptic. But Virginia Republicans are holding out hope, and conversations with a range of the Commonwealth’s political insiders show a broad consensus about the AG’s prospects: His chances of victory, while bleak, aren’t nonexistent. Here’s a potential path, as laid out by onlookers: First, insiders who spoke with National Review Online...

It seemed a novel, relatively simple way for Virginia political candidates to engage with high school students across the state — and one that has been done for four years now. In April, the gubernatorial campaigns of Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II were asked if they would provide videotaped responses to five questions culled from 5,300 queries submitted by high school students across Virginia. The candidates agreed and confirmed when reminded of the project four weeks ago. But two weeks ago, Mr. McAuliffe abruptly backed out — angering administrators and fitting an emerging pattern of evading...

Union bosses and other out-of-state liberals–from Hollywood to New York–are pouring millions into the Virginia governor’s race. They are, without a doubt, hell-bent on defeating Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and putting long-time Democratic party boss and fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe into the governor’s seat. More than that, however, the Left (just as they are targeting Texas and other Southern states) may be using the governor’s race to put the final nail in the coffin for Republicans in a state that has swung from reliably red to almost-but-not-quite blue. While the polls in the seem to be tightening from a McAuliffe shoe-in...

Bill Clinton joined fellow Democrat Terry McAuliffe in downtown Roanoke on Wednesday afternoon to add the former president’s clout as McAuliffe’s campaign to be Virginia’s next governor approaches Tuesday’s election. Clinton emphasized that the state, the nation and the world need leaders who will embrace cooperation instead of inciting ideology-driven conflict. He and McAuliffe spoke to a crowd of about 450 people gathered in Charter Hall in the City Market Building. Both men were clearly preaching to the choir. The McAuliffe campaign had handed out about 300 tickets to the event. Clinton said extremism provokes fanaticism, anger and anxiety. “If...

Terry McAuliffe’s campaign worked swiftly to limit the fallout from his latest embarrassment. Joseph Caramadre now rots in prison for stealing identities from terminally ill patients to further an investment annuity scheme — a scheme in which McAuliffe invested several years ago. When the story broke recently, McAuliffe hastily donated his hefty gains from the deal — along with another big chunk of change Caramadre had given to McAuliffe’s 2009 gubernatorial campaign — to charity. < snip > McAuliffe’s campaign says he was merely a “passive investor.” It is easy to be a passive investor in, say, Coca-Cola by purchasing...

In polite society at least, questioning the fundamental claims that people make about themselves is rather frowned upon. If a person says that he is a Catholic, then one is expected to believe that he is a Catholic, even if there is no evidence for this whatsoever. If a person says he is a conservative when he clearly agrees with not a single conservative position, we are likewise expected to smile and nod grimly. “No, you’re not!” is not a socially acceptable response to erroneous self-description, alas. There is some virtue in this convention, I suppose, even if it is...

Next Tuesday Virginians will elect a new governor. The choices could hardly be more stark. Ken Cuccinelli is the pro-life Attorney General; Terry McAuliffe is a pro-abortion Democratic operative with close ties to Bill and Hillary Clinton. The major newspapers loathe Cuccinelli and have clobbered him hammer and tong. Negative advertising by the McAuliffe camp and his pro-abortion allies (such as Planned Parenthood’s political arm) has washed over the airwaves in Northern Virginia where my family lives. But with just a handful of days to go, Cuccinelli received his first good news in a long while. The respected Quinnipiac University...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is headed to Virginia to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli in the waning days of the campaign. Walker's campaign spokesman Jonathan Wetzel said Wednesday he is scheduled to be with Cuccinelli on Saturday, just three days before the election. Cuccinelli faces Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the hotly contested race. Most polls have showed McAuliffe with a comfortable lead over Cuccinelli. Walker is popular among conservatives after he became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election. The recall last year was spurred by anger over his 2011 proposal that effectively ended...

Former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a tea party and libertarian hero, will campaign for Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Monday — a day before voters go to the polls to choose Virginia’s next governor. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, will also make appearances on behalf of Mr. Cuccinelli in the days leading up to Election Day. Mr. Walker is scheduled to campaign with Mr. Cuccinelli in Prince William and Spotsylvania counties Saturday, and Mr. Rubio is scheduled to appear in Warrenton and Culpeper Monday. News of the appearances was first reported by...

Two new polls sure to shake up the Virginia gubernatorial race suggest that longshot Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is mounting a last minute comeback, prompting front-runner Terry McAuliffe to bring in a big gun to keep his hopes alive: the original Comeback Kid, former President Clinton. A new Wenzel Strategies survey of likely voters suggests a 1-point race, with McAuliffe at 41 percent and Cuccinelli at 40 percent. Other polls have given McAuliffe a double digit lead. But Wenzel echos a new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday showing McAuliffe’s lead shrinking to just 4 points. What’s key about the Wenzel...

The Virginia governor's race is going down to the wire with Democrat Terry McAuliffe clinging to a slight 45 - 41 percent likely voter lead over Republican State Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, and 9 percent for Libertarian Party candidate Robert Sarvis, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to the results of an October 23 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, showing McAuliffe up 46 - 39 percent, with Sarvis at 10 percent. Today's survey shows that if Sarvis were not in the race, McAuliffe would have 47 percent to 45 percent for Cuccinelli, too close...

President Barack Obama will campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe this weekend, giving a late boost to McAuliffe as he seeks to energize core Democratic voters in an off-year governor’s race, Democratic sources told POLITICO. Obama is set to appear at a Sunday afternoon get-out-the-vote rally in Northern Virginia. It will be the president’s first campaign appearance for McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. McAuliffe’s campaign has been working to activate many of the same voters who carried Virginia for Obama in 2008 and 2012: young people, independent women and African American, Latino and Asian American...

Terry McAuliffe (D) opens a double-digit lead over Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) among likely voters in a Washington Post/Abt SRBI poll, as majorities say both candidates are running negative campaigns.

President Barack Obama will campaign for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe this weekend, giving a late boost to McAuliffe as he seeks to energize core Democratic voters in an off-year governor’s race, Democratic sources told POLITICO. Obama is set to appear at a Sunday afternoon get-out-the-vote rally in Northern Virginia. It will be the president’s first campaign appearance for McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. McAuliffe’s campaign has been working to activate many of the same voters who carried Virginia for Obama in 2008 and 2012: young people, independent women and African American, Latino and Asian American...

Rand Paul Targets 'Nanny' Bloomberg & McAuliffe at Cuccinelli Rally in Fairfax VA - YouTube

Tea party hero Rand Paul warned scientific advancements could lead to eugenics during a Monday visit at Liberty University, looking to boost the political fortunes of fellow Republican Ken Cuccinelli's bid for governor. During a visit to the Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell, Paul looked to energize conservative supporters by warning that people who are short, overweight or less intelligent could be eliminated through abortion. With one week remaining, Cuccinelli is hoping the joint appearance with the U.S. senator from Kentucky will encourage the far-right flank of his party to abandon third-party libertarian spoiler Robert Sarvis. "In your lifetime,...

On Saturday, the Washington Post revealed further details on a scheme investing in the pending deaths of terminally ill patients which attracted the capital of Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. Earlier this month, Breitbart News reported that McAuliffe admitted he was a "passive investor" in an investment fund organized by his friend and donor, Joseph Caramadre, that preyed on terminally ill patients. Caramadre's fund would pay terminally ill patients a small amount of cash before their death and, at the same time, would purchase life insurance policies on them. When the patient died, Caramadre and his investors reaped huge...

Down in the polls, Republican Kenneth T. Cuccinelli on Thursday launched his sharpest attacks of Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign, accusing Terry McAuliffe of being a liar and of lacking substance while the Democrat said the attorney general’s economic plan would wreck the state’s economy. The candidates’ third and final debate covered little new ground but was marked by increasingly sharp exchanges, with Mr. Cuccinelli saying that being in favor of jobs and education is all well and good, but that talking is different from laying out a plan. “They’re not plans. I like those, too. I like education — I like...

WINCHESTER, Va. — Nothing's more elusive in the Old Dominion than a voter who wholeheartedly supports a candidate for governor. Take Bob Courtney, for example. Standing under a post office awning here as a misty rain fell, Courtney said he would “hold my nose and vote” — adding, after a long pause, that he'd pick the Republican as “the lesser of two evils.” With the election nine days away, that Republican — Ken Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general — trails Democratic fundraiser extraordinaire Terry McAuliffe by nearly 18 points in one recent poll. Libertarian Robert Sarvis is a distant third....