The weekend Washington Post story about Terry McAuliffe’s thoughts on Hillary Clinton’s nascent presidential campaign are making the rounds today, with Republicans beating the drum about foreign governments making contributions to the Clinton Foundation.
I can’t get overly excited about that, particularly in light of how Terry McAuliffe’s multiple and deep foreign entanglements with his former car company failed to make much difference in the 2013 gubernatorial race.
Voters largely don’t care — or at least they don’t in Virginia.
This was much more interesting:
“You know what?” he continued, “to be honest with you, I’m personal friends with [the Clintons]. They want me to be successful. Honestly, [the] president calls all the time. I talk to Hillary all the time. They want me to be successful as a governor. I think that’s the best thing I can do.”
He said that Virginia is poised once more to be a top general election battleground and that he would focus on helping Clinton win his home state. McAuliffe is preparing for state legislative races this year and is trying to help Democrats regain control of the state Senate.
“I’m laying the groundwork and putting all the pieces in place for ’15 to get my Senate back,” McAuliffe said. “But that same team I’m putting in place and operations will be a set-up to make sure that [in 2016] Virginia’s blue.”
He wants to get “my Senate back.”
That he thinks it belongs to him is amusing…I was always under the impression it belonged to the voters (via Dominion Resources). No matter. The Governor is trying to brush away the lingering suspicion that a Clinton candidacy would lure him back on the road, full-time, as a part of the campaign. Not so. Would he still be willing to stick with Richmond if Mrs. Clinton wins next year and offers him, say, a cabinet post?
I kind of think he would go. As much as McAuliffe likes being a successful pol in his own right, and he will forever be known as “Governor McAuliffe,” when the White House calls, it’s hard to say “no.”
