Mark Warner wants your money, so his campaign is willing to peddle in the typical fundraising email rhetoric and fear mongering that raises boatloads of cash for Democrats. But this gem comes with the hilarity of being a multi-edged blade. (Can a blade have more than two edges? Maybe it’s just a two-by-four being swung by a guy in a blindfold. I’ll go with that one.)
The following statements are from Mark Warner’s fundraising email but could have just as easily been sent out by Ken Cuccinelli to target Terry McAuliffe last year. Or maybe by John Warner to target, oh, let’s say Mark Warner in the 1996 Senate race.
_____________ has a career as a lobbyist and Washington insider but he has never held elected office before, so it’s unclear if he really knows much of anything about Virginia – but he definitely knows how to raise a boatload of special interest money.
Or there’s this piece of joy:
_____________ is the archetypal Washington insider. He made millions working to advance the agenda of big special interests during his extensive career as a lobbyist…
If Mark Warner really believes that no elected experience disqualifies someone from running for the United States Senate, what the heck was he doing in 1996?
If Mark Warner really wants to question how much a supposed “Washington insider” who has “never held elected office before” knows about Virginia, why the heck did he just spend the last year working to get Terry McAuliffe elected Governor?
Now, before anyone goes “wait a minute, you Republicans can’t have it both ways…” keep in mind that there were many, many, MANY substantive policy disagreements between the Warners and Cuccinelli and McAuliffe – from the economy to education to taxes and more.
Mark Warner hasn’t bothered to talk policy here. Because he loses on that discussion – having lied to Virginians about their ability to keep their insurance under Obamacare [1] – you know, peddling PolitiFact’s Lie Of The Year [2], trying to distance himself from the very policies he voted for [3], having a whopping 1.75% success rate of bills he’s sponsored passing [4], and much, much more.
Ed Gillespie poses a threat. So Mark Warner’s going to try and raise money off of his one opponent so far with any name recognition and hope it helps define him among people who don’t remember Warner’s own career or that of our current Governor.
Good luck with that.