Why Terry McAuliffe barely won (RNC pulled $ from Cuccinelli, gave it to Christie)

Politico ^ | 11/6/13 | JAMES HOHMANN

[jimbo123]

How the heck did that happen?

Most public polls leading up to Election Day had Democrat Terry McAuliffe coasting to victory, some by double digits, in the Virginia governor’s race. Instead he squeaked by, beating Republican Ken Cuccinelli by less than 3 percentage points.

-snip-

McAuliffe outraised Cuccinelli by almost $15 million, and he used the cash advantage to pummel him on the airwaves. A lack of resources forced the Republican to go dark in the D.C. media market during the final two weeks.

The Republican National Committee spent about $3 million on Virginia this year, compared to $9 million in the 2009 governor’s race.

The Chamber of Commerce spent $1 million boosting McDonnell in 2009 and none this time.

“If the Republicans would have rallied around the nominee instead of refusing to support Cuccinelli, he would have won,” said a GOP source involved in the race.

-snip-

RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski defended the committee, saying that it has to make hard choices about how to spend limited resources.

[grania]

Not hopeless

It should be the end of the Republican Party. Christie didn't need the money to win; Cuccinelli did. It's another negative against Christie...his responsibility was to say to the RNC: "I've got this one in the bag. My friend Cuccinelli needs our help in VA".

Why weren't the smart guys in the conservative movement out in front of this before the election? Are they in favor of us being forced into a hillary vs Christie situation?

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The point is that we need to defund the RNC and Karl Rove and also send them a message by primarying McConnell, Graham, Cornyn, Alexander and the rest of the GOP-e sleazes”

Not sure that explanation helps.

We been doing that for a few years now, but if we are calling for defunding GOPe (as the past few years) then how can we blame lost elections of conservatives on not getting enough help from GOPe ?

This founds like a model for failure.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Jack Sprat would eat no fat, his wife would eat no lean.....

I hadn’t thought of that children’s nursery rhyme in years, but it applies here!

[sickoflibs]

RE :”It's the hypocrisy. WE need to unify with THEM,..”

You think we need to unify with GOPe?

[Williams]

Absolutely sick, and the worst is that the GOP didn’t realize or didn’t care that there would be a huge backlash against Obamacare at this time.

They are running around trying to give about 50 million foreigners citizenship.

[EricT.]

The resources of the RNC are going o get a whole lot worse, as people stop giving to Dem Lite

I'd like to see a breakdown of contributions to the RNC. Something tells me we'll find that individual contributions are nearly non-existent, but corporate and lobbyist donations make up the bulk of their funding. They sure do work hard to keep the crappy government-as-usual applecart from being tipped.

[Don Corleone]

The RNC is not a friend of America. Nothing could be more obvious. This will not be solved until we can once again drink salty tea from the waters of Boston Harbor. Sic Semper Tyrannis! Don’t Tread on Me! etc. etc. etc! We can see the RED of their eyes...so its time to “Fire!”

[SoFloFreeper]

Map of Virginia election results:

The RNC, the national party bears THE ENTIRE BLAME FOR THIS LOSS.

The Tea Party nearly singlehandedly won this race, and if the national party, instead of kissing Chris Christie's butt, had put some EFFORT into backing a real conservative, this race could have been won.

We need a leadership change in the Republican party.

I quit giving to the national party several election cycles ago, giving only to candidates I agree with...wake up, RNC. I know you have trolls here....your hatred of conservatives isn't helping you.

[sport]

The people will once again, get the Government they deserve.

[jimbo123]

The only way to get the GOP-e to start doing the right thing is to cut off the money and primary their RINO darlings. RNC donations have plummeted. So have donations to Karl Rove’s PACs. In fact, Karl Rove is running internet ads begging for money for his PACs since he can’t afford to run TV ads anymore.

The RNC’s abandonment of Cuccinelli isn’t an excuse. It’s another illustration that they are not on our side.

[Resolute Conservative]

Can’t even get Cuccinelli elected over the turd MacClinton and you think we will get the old school primaried? I have begun to lose all hope for our dear republic. It is sinking in finally that we are beyond the tipping point and it will take some sort of conflict to right the ship.

It is shameful that being elected means having a bigger wallet. To hell with ideas and message, it is all about how much crappy signs and buttons you can buy I guess.

[Hoodat]

I have a family member living in Virginia who answered a GOP plea for money for the VA gubernatorial election by stroking a sizable check. And now she learns that her money went to Chris Christie in New Jersey while she's stuck with Terry McAuliffe for the next four years? Talk about betrayal!

Forget about winning elections for now. First we must take control of the GOP. Then and only then will we have a chance at winning elections.

[central_va]

I’m glad the battlelines are becomeing more defined between Tea and GOP. This is a good thing.

[jimbo123]

Your family member living in Virginia should get a thank you note from Chris Christie and Karl Rove for the contribution.

[Personal Responsibility]

See, they (RNC, GOPe types) had to spend more money on Christie - even though he’d have won anyway - to make sure he won by a large enough margin to still be seen as the presumptive nominee in 2016.

They (RNC, GOPe types) also didn’t like Cuccinelli being a Tea Party favorite.

[Venturer]

I am not sure we can judge the RNC donations by what is said here in Free Republic.

I know the RNC will never again receive a dime from me, and that appears to be the message here.

However it would be nice to see where the monies they do receive come from.

I am a registered Republican now because I haven’t found another place to go, the party has left me. This latest with Cuccinelli has frosted my balls.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The RNC’s abandonment of Cuccinelli isn’t an excuse:

It is the way this post article is written. It says 'our guy lost because THEY didnt help enough' and Levin with same theme.

But to your post : on the Morning Joe they concluded that the ‘business’ wing of the GOP gave the Tea Party a schooling last night.

[Prole]

McAuliffe had 15 million dollars in his campaign.

How much of this money was from the Saudis or other foreign interests?

[oldbrowser]

“The shutdown demoralized a chunk of the Republican base and really energized a chunk of the Democratic base,” said GOP pollster Wes Anderson

So it was really the Tea Party that caused the loss? /sarc

[Buckeye McFrog]

When I get those fundraising appeals in the mail from the RNC I print out a handful of McCain Pesos and send them back in the prepaid envelope.