The gubernatorial candidates will square off in their first debate this weekend at the Homestead and Politico wonders whether Terry McAuliffe will be able to control himself:
Despite all the breaks their candidate has caught this year, what still keeps Democrats awake at night is chronic uncertainty over whether McAuliffe can rein in his showman’s instincts, hit his marks and present himself as, you know, gubernatorial.
McAuliffe’s friends and allies freely acknowledge that’s not necessarily an easy sell for a man who once waved a bottle of rum around on national television, while clad in a floral shirt, on the day of Puerto Rico’s 2008 Democratic presidential primary. The same expansive personality that helped McAuliffe bank nearly twice as much cash as Cuccinelli last month is also a big fat target for his opponent to bait, prod and attack.
In a sense, the matchup between Cuccinelli and McAuliffe going into the debate is a microcosm of the whole race: a Republican candidate hobbled by his ultra-ideological reputation but confident he can win an off-year campaign on his own terms versus a Democrat with a heck of an electoral opportunity in front of him, who’s still making the often unsteady transition from political fixer-cum-talking head to credible leader.
It’s a fair cop. Candidate debates are not venues for transmitting ideas or information. They are gaffe-dodging contests. As such, and as Politico notes, the Democratic Governors Association has gone out of its way to lower expectations for McAuliffe. This allows them room to brush-off minor gaffes while also giving them ample opportunity to say how great and wonderful McAuliffe’s performance was.
Some of that depends on whether McAuliffe is asked the right questions. His financial dealings with Tony Coehlo and Jim Wright..the contribution scam he helped engineer with the Teamsters…the miraculous returns on his Global Crossings investments…the GreenTech visa-for-sale problem…the stillborn Franklin Pellets…and so on.
That isn’t a debate so much as it is a cross-examination. But as this is a Virginia Bar Association event, what better place to try to get some answers about Terry’s past?
