The headline reads, “McAuliffe avoids position on EPA rules, Cuccinelli dodges on House spending vote,” because just like Virginia’s Democrat gubernatorial nominee, Terry McAuliffe, the left-wing Washington Post wants to have it both ways. In an article published Friday, the Post tries to mitigate the damage President Obama’s new strict carbon emission limits will have on the McAuliffe campaign by also putting a pox on Republican nominee Cuccinelli’s house over, bizarrely, DC’s ongoing budget battles.
But as hard as the Post might try, there is just no comparing the latest round of federal budget battles to the effect Obama’s war on coal will have on Virginia and working class Virginians.
At the bottom of its article, the Post is eventually forced to admit that the Cuccinnelli campaign — if not the man himself — actually did comment on the possibility of a government shutdown:
“It’s pretty rich that in the same week it was revealed that Terry McAuliffe wants to shut down Virginia’s government, he’s now focused on whether the federal government is going to do the same,” Cullen said, referring to remarks by McAuliffe that he would not sign a budget as governor if it did not include funds for expanding Medicaid. “No one wants to see the federal government shut down, period. Ken Cuccinelli is not running for Congress, he’s running for governor. . . . Ken Cuccinelli would more than welcome a debate with Terry McAuliffe on the issue of Obamacare.”
Fast Terry, however, has yet to stand up for the state’s southwest coal country, and who knows how many middle class jobs. Instead of staking a position one way or another, the McAuliffe campaign punted with a statement that tries to please everyone and promises to take a position sometime in the future:
Terry agrees with the broad swath of scientists, economists, and military leaders, who view climate change as a looming problem for Virginia,” campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin wrote in an e-mail. “While he agrees that there needs to be some limit on carbon pollution and believes that Virginia can and should lead the way in building new plants that create low-cost, low-carbon energy, he looks forward to further reviewing the President’s proposed rules in detail and studying their impact on Virginia’s economy.”
Cuccinnelli was quick to jump on the Obama administration:
“The administration renewed its war on coal today,” Cuccinelli said, adding — as he often does — that “a war on coal is a war on the poor” and that Virginia “needs a governor who’ll fight for those folks” who depend on the coal industry.
It is doubtful Virginia voters will care one or another if a potential governor chooses to focus on his state as opposed to the latest drama unfurling in the nation’s capitol. These new carbon emission controls, however, directly affect the state and thousands of Virginia jobs.
Instead of choosing a position, McAuliffe is likely hoping to dither through the last five weeks left in the campaign. And as we have already seen, the Washington Post will be right there to hold his hand.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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