GOP Campaign Ad: "Can You Trust Terry McAuliffe?"

by William Callahan

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Republican candidate for governor, is getting some help from the Republican Governors Associationin the form of a new ad attacking Terry McAuliffe’s business history with electric car company GreenTech.

The RGA, which has given the Cuccinelli campaign $2 million so far, spent more than $717,000 on the ad buy, according to theVirginia Public Access Project.

The ad alleges Virginians can’t put their faith in McAuliffe because of decisions to establish manufacturing plants for GreenTech outside of in Mississippi and China instead of Virginia.

“Can you trust Terry McAuliffe?” asks the narrator at the end of the ad.

“Instead of creating jobs in Virginia, Terry McAuliffe is betting on China.”

This is the latest example of the Cuccinelli camp using McAuliffe’s GreenTech dealings in an effort to discredit his commitment to creating jobs in the Commonwealth.

During their fiery debate last weekend, which turned personal quickly, Cuccinelli said McAuliffe had “put Terry first” when he chose to locate a plant in Mississippi after first considering Virginia.

“Instead of fulfilling his promise to create jobs in Virginia, Terry McAuliffe decided to look out for his own wallet and bet on China – leading many to believe the financing of his car company was in fact a ‘visa-for-sale’ scheme for Chinese investors and a poor business model,” said Gail Gitcho, RGA communications director.

McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin said the ad instead was the newest example of the GOP trying to change the conversation from Cuccinelli’s “extreme” social ideas.

“Ken Cuccinelli's Washington backers are attacking Terry to avoid talking about Cuccinelli's extreme social agenda and ongoing ethics scandals," Schwerin said in a statement. "Even their own donors know that Cuccinelli's extreme agenda is too far outside the mainstream and makes Virginia less welcoming to business.”

The GOP ad was launched on the same day as a new Democratic spot blasting Cuccinelli for running a “war on abortion.” Both spots join a growing pool of attack ads that have been launched this month.

See also: New Democratic Ad Attacks Cuccinelli's "War on Abortion"