Tag Archives: McDonnell

Yes, I’m Enjoying This Tremendously

From “Bob McDonnell’s stunning fall from grace,” Alexander Burns, Politico:

“In 2010, the political world pegged Bob McDonnell as a president in the making. Last year, they put him on every VP list. As recently as May, they called the popular Virginia governor a political model for his would-be successors in Richmond, Democrat and Republican alike.

“And now – well, now nobody’s sure what to call Bob McDonnell.

“Suddenly under legal and political siege, McDonnell is the subject of one of the swiftest downfalls in recent memory: once known as a spotlessly clean, law-and-order politician, the governor stands accused of questionable financial dealings that range from the tacky to the jaw-dropping.

 

 

“The McDonnell saga has gripped Richmond – and increasingly Washington – as a cascade of embarrassing disclosures have buffeted the governor and his wife, Maureen. A series of Washington Post stories have documented their cozy relationship with a donor, Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams, who gave financial gifts to the McDonnell family including a cumulative $120,000 in the form of a check to Maureen McDonnell and a cash infusion to a family company.

 

“With a federal investigation well underway, downcast McDonnell allies say they see little hope that the governor’s reputation will recover, and some privately express doubt that he’ll be able to serve out his term. They describe a pervasive mood of shock and gloom throughout the governor’s extended political family.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/bob-mcdonnell-fall-from-grace-94061.html#ixzz2YqyvkJrt

Shock and gloom.  That’s what women feel when they are forced to suffer unnecessary ultrasounds imposed by their shamelessly corrupt governor.

Resign — And Take Your Ultrasound Wand with You

From “Gov. McDonnell must answer questions about scandal,” Editorial Board, Washington Post:

“Yet as Mr. McDonnell was touting the virtues of public-sector austerity, his personal life was a counter-example of profligacy, irresponsibility and entitlement.

“…Mr. McDonnell and his family accepted upward of $200,00 in cash handouts, extravagant gifts and so-called loans…from a Virginia businessman who sought the governor’s imprimatur and favorable treatment from the state for his company.

“Much of it went unreported on the disclosure forms that Mr. McDonnell filed annually with the state, thanks to lawyerly maneuvering, definitional hair-splitting and slippery accounting.

“Mr. McDonnell’s head-spinning hypocrisy has stained his reputation and shredded the bods of trust that any governor must maintain with the public if he wishes to be effective and credible.  It’s time for him to stop dodging hard questions and hiding behind legal niceties; it’s time for Mr. McDonnell to level with Virginians about what has become the state’s most toxic scandal in years.”

Governor, if you look at your ill-gotten and unreported Rolex, I think it will tell you it’s time to go.

O Up by Eight in Virginia

A new Washington Post poll shows President Obama leads Mitt in Virginia, 52 to 44%.

Virginia is one of the states Obama won that Mitt really needs to pull back into the GOP column, but it’s a state where the Tea Party has over-played its hand.

The Obama campaign sends its thanks to Gov. Bob “Ultrasound” McDonnell.  The state’s obsession with lady parts since 2010 has the ladies parting with the GOP.

Mormon Taps Catholic for “Hail Mary” Pass

Nate Silver* on the desperation Mitt’s Ryan pick reflects:

“When a prudent candidate like Mitt Romney picks someone like Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate, it suggests that he felt he held a losing position against President Obama.  The theme that Mr. Romney’s campaign has emphasized for months and months — that the president has failed as an economic leader — may have persuaded 47 or 48 or 49 percent of voters to back him, he seems to have concluded.  But not 50.1 percent, and not enough for Mr. Romney to secure 270 electoral votes.

“The forecast model I developed for FiveThirtyEight…estimated as of Friday that Mr. Obama was about a 70 percent favorite to win re-election.

“Conventional wisdom suggests that you play toward the center of the electorate, while various statistical measures of Mr. Ryan peg him as being quite conservative.  Based on his Congressional voting record, for instance, the statistical system DW-Nominate evaluates him as being roughly as conservative as Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

“[A] recent analysis I performed placed Mr. Ryan 10th among 14 potential vice-presidential picks in terms of his immediate impact on the Electoral College.  If Mr. Romney wanted to make the best pick by this criterion he would have been better off choosing an alternative like Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, or Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia.

“Mr. Ryan’s budget plan, which polls poorly, will obviously get much more attention.  The fate of the presidential race and the fate of the Congressional races may become more closely tied together.

“Taking risks like these is not what you do if you think you already have a winning hand.  But Mr. Romney, the turnaround artist, decided that he needed to turn around his own campaign.”

John McCain decided the same thing four years ago.  His bold move backfired, as will Mitt’s.

* “The Rationale Behind an Audacious Move,” NYT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mitt Wants GOP Govs to Cool It on the Good News

Reports have emerged (denied by both sides) that Mittens asked Florida Governor Rick Scott to stop talking about how the economy is improving there because it kind of, you know, steps on Mitt’s diametrically opposed message that the economy is terrible and will never get better under President Obama.

If such a message was sent, Scott isn’t listening.  Speaking at the NALEO conference today, Scott went on and on about how great Florida’s doing in terms of jobs and tourism coming back and housing prices stabilizing.  His rosy picture was very much at odds with Mitt’s gloom and doom.

Mitt needs to win Florida, but Scott isn’t going quietly under Mitt’s “Believe in America” bus.

Mitt has this same problem with a number of GOP governors in states he must win or thinks he has a chance, states like Ohio (Kacich), Wisconsin (Walker), Virginia (McDonnell), Michigan (Snyder).  Even in Obama-safe states, it doesn’t help Mitt to have a GOP governor with a national spotlight talking positively about the economy.  That would be you, Chris Christie.  When it comes to the economy, Mitt and his party’s govs are not singing from the same hymnal.

It’s amazing to have this large group of GOP governors providing a Greek Chorus to Obama’s claims that the economy is, indeed, improving.

How Veepstakes Look from the Beltway

The National Journal offers its latest rankings for Mitt’s VP choice:

# 1  Ohio Senator Rob Portman (up from #4)

# 2  Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (up from #7)

# 3  Florida Senator Marco Rubio (down from #2)

# 4  Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan (down from #1)

# 5  Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (up from #8)

# 6 Wild Card (up from #10)

# 7  Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (not ranked)

# 8  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (down from #5)

# 9  Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (down from #3)

#10  New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte (down from #6)

Nobody on this list would get me to vote for Mitt.  I think he’d have to kidnap my son and hold a gun to his head to get me to vote for him.

As Virginia Goes?

President Obama is leading Mitt in Virginia by 8 points — 51 to 43.  Among women, the President is leading by 17 points — 55 to 38%.  Thank you, Bob McDonnell, Governor Ultrasound!

Six percent of those who voted for Obama in 2008 say they will vote for Mitt this time.  But 12% of those who voted for McCain say they will vote for Obama.