It seems that every day the over/under number on the cash register for Terry McAuliffe’s unannounced run for Governor gets a little larger.
Tim Craig at The Washington Post puts the figure on McAuliffe’s potential fund raising today at $80 million ($10 more than the previous high bid), bringing the possible cost of the entire gubernatorial campaign on both sides to well over $100 million.
I’m waiting for the auctioneer to ask “who’ll give me $125 million?”
The numbers are so astronomical that it is impossible not to speculate on McAuliffe’s fund raising capacities. And it would be foolish to suggest that money won’t have an impact. $650 million certainly helped Barack Obama.
But we still have to distinguish “having an impact” from “being decisive.” Maybe I am getting naive as I get older, but I do not believe that either the Democratic primary or the general election in 2009 will be determined primarily by who has the most money.
I said in a previous post that providing solid answers to the issues that Virginians face will determine who our next Governor is. This could be well be Terry McAuliffe. He is very impressive. But he will have to show that he has better ideas than Creigh Deeds, Bob McDonnell and Brian Moran.
This may be a quaint notion. But I have a hard time believing that “Virginians Put Trust in Big Money” will be the story of 2009 gubernatorial campaign- even if Terry McAuliffe succeeds.
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