Behind the Ad: Building McAuliffe's narrative in Virginia

By Richard K. Barry

Who: The Terry McAuliffe campaign for governor

Where: Virginia

What's going on: Actually, not a lot. It's all about McAuliffe touting his ability to work with the other side, in this case supporting Gov. Bob McDonnell's (R) transportation bill. The point is to reassure those who might see McAuliffe as too much of a blind partisan.

The Hill:

McAuliffe focuses on his effort to help garner Democratic support for the bill, which passed over resistance from some Tea Party-affiliated Republicans in the statehouse — as well as from Virginia Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli (R), who opposed the bill until shortly before its passage.

What makes this interesting is that as polarized as American politics is, it's still important to let people know you will work for them to get stuff done and not spend all your time throwing bricks at the other side.

As The Hill points out, McAuliffe's Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli has been trying to smooth some of his own partisan edges. They note, however, that this has been made that much more difficult as the "state GOP nominated a pastor who's made controversial remarks over gays and abortion in the past to be his running mate."

Or, as Daily Kos put it:

E.W. Jackson isn't just an oppo researcher's dream, he's an oppo researcher's mescaline-fueled fantasy bender riding on pegasus-back. Every day there's something new and amazing about the Virginia GOP's lieutenant governor nominee.

Anyway, they'll be lots more about him soon enough. Here's the boring narrative building ad from McAuliffe:



(Cross-posted at Phantom Public.)