Terry McAuliffe stepped up when Va. Dems looked doomed. They bounced back, but he's not quitting.
PETERSBURG, VA. — Terry McAuliffe is running. Not for president. Not for Virginia governor again. Just plain running — down the street, alongside a Democrat he’s trying to pull over the finish line in the state’s Nov. 5 election.
He and Sheila Bynum-Coleman, who’s running for the House of Delegates, are supposed to be riding in a blue pickup as part of Virginia State University’s homecoming parade. But McAuliffe, in dress shirt, windbreaker and slacks, was not content to wave. So they are jogging, shaking hands along the route. “Vote for Sheila here!” he bellows while trotting.
McAuliffe is playing a major role in Virginia’s pivotal General Assembly election — in a hands-on way that’s unusual for an ex-governor. He stepped up early this year when his successor and fellow Democrat, Gov. Ralph Northam, seemed sidelined by a blackface scandal.
But McAuliffe’s barnstorming — logging 122 campaign appearances for Virginia Democrats in cities, suburbs and rural districts as of Wednesday — is fueling speculation that he will run for governor again in 2021. He did not have that option when his term ended in January 2018 because Virginia prohibits governors from serving back-to-back terms. But the state puts no limit on nonconsecutive terms.
As things have turned out, Northam recovered from scandal better than anticipated. His response to a May 31 mass shooting in Virginia Beach — calling a special session on gun control that Republicans swiftly shut down — teed up Democrats’ most compelling argument for flipping the General Assembly blue. Though Northam’s fundraising has lagged, he’s on track to donate $1.5 million to Democrats by Election Day and is back on the stump for candidates.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/terry-mcauliffe-stepped-up-when-va-dems-looked-doomed-they-bounced-back-but-hes-not-quitting/2019/10/31/20855980-f50e-11e9-a285-882a8e386a96_story.html
