McAuliffe’s political brand put to the test in 2021

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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) – Terry McAuliffe is a blur of handshakes, hugs, pats on the back and smiles as he creeps through the friendly crowd at Gethsemane Baptist Church seeking to help from above.

For the former governor of Virginia who is running again for his old job, it is not necessarily the grace of God that he is seeking at this time. He’s asking for help from another Higher Power just hours north of Washington, where McAuliffe’s longtime friends in Congress are struggling to push through an infrastructure package that could help millions of Virginia residents. – and his own campaign.

McAuliffe’s desperation to turn this legislation, along with his billions of dollars for new roads and bridges, into a final argument to voters is clear when he meets Rep. Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia and a close political ally for more than ‘a decade.

“The greatest Congressman to ever serve! He’s our man! McAuliffe proclaims with his arm around the 15-term congressman. “Are you going to give me an infrastructure bill?” “

Scott pauses for a few moments of awkward silence.

“Uhhh, this will be at the last minute,” he said not so confidently as McAuliffe moved to shake another hand.

Such high-level bravado worked for McAuliffe in 2013, when he became the only Virginia candidate in 44 years to win the governor’s mansion when his party occupied the White House. But in the closing days of the 2021 election, the intensely personal political brand of the grizzled 64-year-old Democrat, who draws on decades-old friendships, frenzied practical campaigning and unbridled authenticity, faces a more formidable test. .

McAuliffe is locked in a close race with Republican newcomer Glenn Youngkin in a state where President Joe Biden won 10 points last fall. Changes in the state’s swollen northern suburbs near Washington, DC and around Richmond have benefited Democrats in recent years – especially when former President Donald Trump was in power. And while no Republican has won statewide here for more than a decade, Biden’s rough summer, dominated by the disorderly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and a stalled national agenda, threatens to undermine McAuliffe’s apparent advantages.

Much like Biden, McAuliffe is somewhat of a throwback to the politics of the past, when the Democratic Party leadership was dominated by older white men who ran business in smoky rooms where booze flowed. He developed his political playbook by looking over the shoulders of Bill and Hillary Clinton, for whom he raised hundreds of millions of dollars as a leading political fundraiser in the 1990s and 2000s.

The Syracuse, New York native wrote openly about his fundraising escapades to casinos and golf courses with the political elite in the book “What a Party!” published years before he became governor.

More recently, however, the Democratic Party has become much more diverse, much less friendly to wealthy donors, and much more responsive to the behavior of its leaders. While McAuliffe is eager to speak about his accomplishments during his unique tenure as governor, his gregarious personality may eclipse his policies during campaign shifts.

He’s just as excited to meet a 4-year-old kindergarten student as a four-term US Senator, constantly joking, asking questions, citing statistics, shrugging his shoulders. One of his favorite jokes: “I had as much energy today as the day I was born!” “

Jake Rubenstein, who served as McAuliffe’s personal assistant in his 2013 campaign and his traveling chief of staff in 2021, said his boss was the same man he always was.

“His style has never changed,” he said. “He’s on top all the time. He’s the campaign manager. He’s the chief of staff. He never stops working.

McAuliffe proudly claims he attends 10 to 15 political events every day, seven days a week. However, there were few large gatherings. Most of its gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic have been invitation-only, policy-oriented events with small groups of local health officials, educators and religious leaders, among others. Closed-door fundraising events are also part of the program.

McAuliffe will draw larger crowds when a group of high-profile longtime political allies visit the state on his behalf in the coming days, including former President Barack Obama and Biden himself. Bill and Hillary Clinton, who attended her first inauguration, were not a visible part of the campaign, although they held two private fundraising events and Hillary Clinton signed three emails from fundraiser on behalf of McAuliffe.

Democrat Del. Marcia Price, who is black, acknowledged that some of her constituents are not keen on running in the election, but suggested the pandemic was to blame far more than McAuliffe’s call.

McAuliffe remains a dominant force in Virginia politics. He won every single city and town in Virginia, winning more votes than all of his contestants put together in his party’s nomination contest this spring, which included three candidates of color.

Still, Price, who refused to back anyone in the primary, is ready for a more diverse party leadership.

“I don’t vote on who in the whole world I want to be governor. I have two choices … and Terry is the best choice, “she said in an interview.” Is it time for diversity? Yes. Is it time for the party to really recover “Absolutely. But I can walk and chew gum at the same time. Terry has to be elected.”

McAuliffe’s appeal to African Americans, who make up 20% of the state’s population and a critical slice of the Democratic base, is at the heart of his candidacy. Its focus on racial equity also plays well among whites with a college education in growing suburbs.

Almost every day on the track, he highlights his decision as governor to restore the franchise to more than 200,000 criminals, many of whom are black. He also frequently reminds voters that in 2015 he ordered the removal of a state-sponsored license plate that displayed the Confederate flag.

“That’s what they think of me. They don’t think about my age or my skin color – that’s not what they think about, ”McAuliffe said in an interview.

When asked, he didn’t say Virginia still has a problem with systemic racism.

“You still have to deal with issues that go back many years here in Virginia, but we’re in a different place than where I was governor,” McAuliffe said.

The former governor is also keen to promote his plans to overcome the pandemic, for education and to protect women’s access to abortion, which he says are all under attack by his Republican opponent. But McAuliffe is perhaps most proud of his economic record as governor, which has drawn praise from some business-conscious Republicans and independents.

As a businessman himself, McAuliffe has led more than 30 trade and marketing missions to other countries to attract new businesses to the state. Unemployment fell from 5.7% to 3.3% while he was in office. In concluding the trade deals, McAuliffe acknowledges that he worked long hours and sometimes enjoyed “a glass of wine.”

Robert Vaughn, who worked under Republicans and Democrats as a staff member and later director of the House Appropriations Committee, described the former governor as a hard worker who surrounded himself with conscientious people and s’ expected “good government”.

Vaughn, who occasionally attends business functions and social events at the Governor’s Mansion, said McAuliffe seemed to genuinely enjoy the job, including the ability to “squeeze the flesh” and entertain.

McAuliffe kept quality alcoholic drinks in stock for the holidays – and appreciated fine wine and scotch – but always emphasized that he paid for himself, according to Vaughn. He said he had seen McAuliffe before at a bar in the Shockoe Slip neighborhood, enjoying “libations” and buying people a round.

McAuliffe was outspoken when asked if he thought he should restrict the culture of the party he’s known for.

“I have nothing to change,” he told The Associated Press.

“That’s how I recruited 1,100 companies to come to Virginia. But yes, they would come, and I would stay up until 1 a.m. to talk. But I have always worked for Virginia. I had business leaders, legislative leaders. They weren’t parties. They were working hard, ”McAuliffe explained. “You bet I work hard. No one will ever surpass me. This is how I did so many things. “

Aubrey Layne, who describes himself as an independent and was McAuliffe’s Transport Secretary, said the former governor had both character and skill. He said he had high expectations for his staff, held them accountable and worked hard himself.

“He never slept,” Layne said.

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Associated Press editor Sarah Rankin in Richmond contributed to this report.

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